ASRock Z790 Riptide WiFi assessment

The newest Z790 refresh board we now have in for assessment is the ASRock Z790 Riptide WiFi. It is part of ASRock’s Phantom Gaming lineup. It is an reasonably priced choice that comes with out of the field assist for Intel’s 14th Gen processors, although after all it helps twelfth and thirteenth Gen processors as effectively. 

Some will say these newest Z790 motherboards are the identical as their predecessors with a brand new coat of paint. There’s a case to be made for that viewpoint, however not everybody upgrades yearly. Should you’re upgrading from a system that is just a few years previous, then Z790 refresh fashions have lots of attraction. They embody the most recent connectivity options, electrical refinements and assist for quick reminiscence for starters. And though many Z790 refresh boards have taken one more step up in value, some boards just like the ASRock Z790 Riptide nonetheless handle to supply an entire lot in your cash. 

At simply $250, The Z790 Riptide WiFi has options that make some dearer boards look fairly common as compared. It contains WiFi 7, assist for DDR5-8000+ reminiscence, 5 M.2 slots and eight SATA ports. Add to that PCIe 5.0 SSD assist and you have got a wonderful core function set.

The Z790 Riptide WiFi is a transparent step ahead over its Z790 Riptide predecessor. Because the identify suggests, the latter does not embody WiFi in any respect. The brand new mannequin options quicker reminiscence assist, an improved VRM, a refined audio part, and curiously, an rear-mounted embedded DisplayPort connector appropriate to be used with ASRock’s 13.3-inch facet panel equipment. 

The Z790 Riptide WiFi incorporates a easy all black aesthetic with slightly splash of metallic blue and purple above the rear I/O. There is a strip of RGB LEDs underneath the underside most M.2 heatsink which could be very vivid should you look straight at them. On high of that you simply get three ARGB headers plus one other RGB header that helps 36W strips. There are seven fan headers, so it is a cooling and RGB pleasant choice.

ASRock Z790 Riptide WiFi overview and specs

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Spec clever, there’s loads to cowl. The 4 reminiscence slots assist speeds of 8000MHz+. Twin rank modules are supported at 6800MHz+ whereas a full 192GB complement of 4 twin rank modules can run as much as 5600MHz+. That claims loads concerning the improved reminiscence controllers of 14th Gen processors and {the electrical} tweaks of Z790 refresh boards that at the moment are higher in a position to deal with massive quantities of high-density reminiscence.

Storage-wise, the Z790 Riptide WiFi places some boards at twice the worth to disgrace. It options at least 5 M.2 slots. The first slot helps PCIe 5.0 SSDs and it comes with a fairly excessive floor space heatsink that is connected by way of a easy screwless mechanism. That is changing into an more and more frequent function, and a welcome one at that. The opposite 4 slots all assist PCIe 4.0 drives and all slots are lined by screw-in heatsinks.

Reasonably priced boards with 5 slots are unusual sufficient, however once you add to that eight SATA ports you’ve got received a motherboard with greatest in school storage potential. There aren’t many boards at any value that assist that many drives.

An ordinary ATX board solely has some a lot space, so with 5 M.2 slots, the PCIe slot complement is considerably restricted consequently. The first x16 slot helps PCIe 5.0 playing cards. There is a secondary bodily PCIe 4.0 x16 slot (x4 electrically) and a PCIe 3.0 x1 slot. The secondary slots are effectively positioned, and will not be impeded by a triple slot graphics card.

The VRM is a powerful one for a board at this value. It is a 16+1+1 part design with 90a levels, which implies it’ll deal with any LGA 1700 processor you care to call. The heatsinks are comparatively chunky, however they don’t seem to be related by way of a heatpipe, and I discovered them to get sizzling to the contact. Not alarmingly so, however you will undoubtedly want a great quantity of airflow should you plan to recurrently thrash a Core i9 14900K or 13900K. That is a mixture that most likely is just not going to be too frequent with a $250 board, so I’ve no actual complaints.

The rear I/O has a good sufficient complement of ports. Although I wish to see a 20Gbps USB port, I can not actually complain at this value. There’s a 20Gbps case header, so that each one however makes up for it. The rear USB complement is made up of two Kind-A 10Gbps ports and 5 5Gbps ports, one in all which is a Kind-C. There are additionally two USB 2.0 ports. ASRock refers to 2 of the 5Gbps ports as Lightning Gaming ports. It says they’re related to 2 completely different controllers with the goal of minimizing mouse and keyboard latency. Sounds good. I assume.

The Z790 Riptide WiFi comes with a DP 1.4 port and HDMI 2.1 port. That is along with the aforementioned eDP connector which helps 1080p at 60Hz.

Ethernet duties are supplied by a Killer E3100G 2.5G controller. That is changing into a rarer sight on fashionable motherboards as producers have a tendency to make use of Intel branded i225 and i226 variants for two.5G networking . The star of the networking present is the inclusion of WiFi 7. I would not have criticized ASRock if it went for a 6E controller at this value, so the inclusion of WiFi 7 could be very welcome certainly.

Audio duties are dealt with by a Realtek ALC1220 codec. It is a welcome improve over the ALC897 of its non WiFi predecessor. ASRock has added separate PCB layers for every stereo channel and there is impedance sensing for various kinds of headphones. Nahimic software program is included.

ASRock Z790 Riptide WiFi efficiency

System Efficiency

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Gaming Efficiency

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ASRock Z790 Riptide WiFi evaluation

The Z790 Riptide WiFi, when examined with a 14900K carried out adequately. I did be aware that the bus pace ran at round 99.75MHz. In principle that’d lose you 0.25% of efficiency. Not that it issues. 

The identical common conclusions apply to all Z790 refresh boards. After years of expertise, BIOS engineers are very acquainted with the underlying microcode of LGA 1700 processors and motherboards. Like-for-like techniques are virtually completely differentiated by small efficiency variations.

The ASRock did notably effectively within the 3DMark storage check. Although not the final work in SSD testing, the 2 runs have been each quicker than every other refresh board I’ve examined thus far. That is a cherry on high for the Z790 Riptide WiFi’s class main storage potential.

In terms of gaming efficiency, the motherboard makes little distinction in comparison with the CPU and notably GPU. The Z790 Riptide WiFi will not have any downside on the coronary heart of a gaming system, even with a 14900K and RTX 4090, so long as you could have good case airflow to maintain the VRM cool with that sort of combo.

Armed with a set of G.Talent Trident Z DDR5-7200, I used to be in a position to hit DDR5-8000 however could not get 8200Mhz secure. It is potential my equipment is just not able to reaching these speeds. I will not know till I pay money for a DDR5-8000 equipment, which I’ll get my grubby mitts on quickly. Normally, the board did every part I requested of it. Boot instances have been good—notably in comparison with AM5 techniques, and I’ve all the time appreciated the sub-menu structure of ASRock’s BIOS.

ASRock Z790 Riptide WiFi verdict

The newest era Z790 motherboards start at across the $190 to $200 mark, however these with WiFi 7 start at concerning the ASRock Z790 Riptide WiFi’s $250 value. That alone would earn a praise, however once you add to that 5 M.2, one in all which has PCIe 5.0 assist, eight SATA ports, a VRM that is a step above that of entry degree boards, entrance 20Gbps USB and DDR5–8000+ assist and immediately an entire lot of dearer motherboards look overpriced.

Positive, in order for you 10GB LAN, a flowery OLED display, an M.2 add-in card, or a gazillion amp VRM for ln2 overclocking then you definitely’ll need to pay extra, however for these of you on the lookout for a strong, mature and have packed price range choice, I discover it onerous to look previous the ASRock Z790 Riptide WiFi.

Would it not be good to have a rear 20Gbps USB port? Positive it will. Having VRM heatsinks with slightly extra beef could be good too, however you possibly can’t have every part on the $250 value level. Admittedly, you will not have the ability to drop a next-gen processor in, however that is true of all LGA 1700 boards.

However one or two shortcomings will not be even that. They’re wishlist objects. In the long run, the ASRock Z790 Riptide WiFi does not miss a beat. It is a class main LGA 1700 motherboard with an unbeatable set of options for the cash. I’ve no issues giving it an Editor’s Alternative award.