(Gigabyte) Z890 Aorus Elite WiFi7 in test with Core Ultra 9 285K

We’re kicking off a round of Z890 motherboard tests loaded with the most powerful CPU for the LGA 1851 platform – the Core Ultra 9 285K. We’re doing this with Gigabyte – the Z890 Aorus Elite WiFi7 from the mid-range, or the upper mid-range, if you like… There will be competing models in a similar category later on, but now to the motherboard, which has undergone many changes from the Z790 Aorus Elite AX of the previous generation.

The tested Z890 Aorus Elite WiFi7 motherboard is designed for the new Intel Arrow Lake, or Core Ultra, processors. It is mainly characterized by the new LGA 1851 socket. It appears on motherboards with Intel Z890 chipset for the first time ever.

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Z890 Aorus Elite WiFi7

Categorically, the Z890 Aorus Elite WiFi7 is roughly in the middle of Gigabyte’s product range, when it comes to motherboards for the Intel LGA 1851 platform. There are more expensive models available
(Extreme AI, Master, Pro Ice, …), but also cheaper ones (Gaming X WiFi7, Eagle/WiFi7, UD WiFi6E, …).

The physical format is ATX, i.e. with a PCB measuring 305 × 244 mm. The front side will be discussed in more detail in a bit, as for the back side, we will only note that although the board as such does not have a backplate, the first PCIe ×16 slot is already equipped with one.

   

A backplate for the PCIe ×16 slot is a bit of a rarity, but one that is specific to several Gigabyte motherboards. Considering heavier and overall larger graphics cards, such an element is justified as long as it protects the slot or its contacts from damage. In transport, where protruding components (such as the graphics card) exert a great deal of leverage on the motherboard, there is a certain danger in combination with shocks and the effects of more significant kinetic energy.

There is also a button to release the latch for the first PCIe ×16 slot, which is useful. This is because it greatly facilitates the removal of an expansion card, which is immediately below a potentially large tower CPU cooler with wide fins. In such conditions, access to the latch directly on the slot is complicated, and the remote button for unlocking the slot makes the work much easier. As is the case here, on the Z890 Aorus Elite WiFi7 motherboard. Gigabyte calls this mechanism the PCIe EZ Latch Plus.

In total, the Z890 Aorus Elite WiFi7 motherboard has seven expansion slots, into which PCIe lanes are brought out. Four of these are M.2 slots for SSDs, two of which are connected to the processor. One of these M.2 slots – the first – has PCIe 5.0 support and also features a larger cooler. The latter may come in handy when using the highest performance NVMe SSDs, which at maximum sequential transfer performance may need additional cooling by such a cooler. The one from Gigabyte on the Z890 Aorus Elite WiFi7 weighs 90 grams and has a profile height of approximately 17 mm.

The second and third M.2 slots are then connected to the south bridge of the Z890 chipset. This is “only” PCIe 4.0 lanes, but always four of them, i.e. the full number. The last M.2 slot also supports SATA SSDs (no longer commonplace) and both SSDs up to an above-standard length of 110 mm. These slots, along with the second slot, use a shared cooler with a large surface area. The latter (as well as the M.2 slots, naturally) is situated between the first and second PCIe ×16 slots. The advantage of such a solution is also in the 80 mm that separates the first from the second PCI Express slots. This prevents the second slot (PCIe ×16) from being blocked even when using thick graphics cards like the GeForce RTX 4090.

The first slot (PCIe ×16) connected to the CPU and supporting the exclusive modern PCIe 5.0 interface is traditionally designed for high-performance graphics cards. The remaining two PCIe slots are also physically in the “×16” format, but electrically have only four PCI Express (4.0) lanes. They are thus suitable for connecting simpler expansion cards with USB controllers, for a network or sound card. There are more options…

In the upper right corner of the motherboard, Gigabyte has grouped the control buttons, which now also includes the Q-Flash button. If you were looking for it on the back panel where it used to be, it’s now in these locations. It’s next to the start and reset buttons. These, brought out separately like this, were not common on this class of motherboards, and you wouldn’t find them on the predecessor of this motherboard either. Nor would you find a segmented POST display. The latter is also new here.

The audio is done using the Realtek ALC1220 adapter, which may be reassuring news for those who aren’t sympathetic to the ALC897. This simpler variant has also appeared on relatively more expensive Gigabyte motherboards in the past, but in this case it’s already built differently, more sensibly? We’ll leave that up to your judgement and experience. We still don’t have a test methodology ready for rigorous testing of audio adapters.

The power delivery (VRM) is 19-phase (with 16 Vcore phases), cooled by a 470-gram heatsink made up of two aluminum monoliths interwoven with heatpipes. This heatsink mainly sits on the Renesas ISL99380 integrated circuits, which require the most cooling. The maximum current carrying capacity per phase is up to 80 A. However, to achieve high power efficiency (and for the VRM to be coolable at all by the available aluminum heatsink), the load must be fractional, in the lower tens of %. But given the significant oversizing, a processor like the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K can also run smoothly without power limits.

   

Ethernet connectivity is provided by the Realtek RTL8125 chip with a bandwidth of 2.5 Gbps. For even faster network connectivity, there is a MediaTek MT7925 wireless module with WiFi 7. This is installed vertically, in the slot between the external connectors on the back panel of the motherboard. This placement should also significantly suppress (compared to a situation where the module would be nested deeper into the motherboard) interference to its signal.

Ten USB ports (including one 40-gigabyte Type-C port with Thunderbolt 4 support) are brought out to the rear panel, four of which are 2.0 standard. So, they’re slow, but for connecting peripherals (mouse, keyboard, headphones with microphone, …) they’re fast enough. Regarding the connectors for WiFi antennas, it is worth highlighting the push-pin system that you have encountered in the past, for example on the B650E Aorus Pro X USB4 motherboard. So installing the antennas is quick, no screwing – just snap them on.

   

The audio connector selection is more modest, there are only two 3.5 mm ones – line in and line out, which are complemented by an S/PDIF optical output. Although 8-channel (7.1) speaker arrays are supported, you won’t get anywhere with analogue. However, such options are not even normally required by users and that’s also why the audio connectivity is implemented as it is.

There is only ARGB lighting within the small Aorus logo on the VRM cooler cover. Gigabyte has cut back significantly in this regard and its motherboards already light up significantly less than in the past, where there were LEDs even between the DIMM slots, for example.

We also have the individual elements of the Z890 Aorus Elite WiFi7 motherboard on the visual materials that we made for technical high schools for teaching purposes as part of the HWCooling Techtour conferences. You can find them in the picture below. The text on them is localized into Slovak only.

Please note: The article continues in the following chapters.