Asus Prime PRIME Z790-P WIFI Gaming Desktop Motherboard - Intel Z790 Chipset - Socket LGA-1700 - ATX - Core, Pentium Gold, Celeron Processor Supported - 128 GB DDR5 SDRAM Maximum RAM - DDR5-7200/PC5-5

After a less-than-ideal experience with the Ryzen 7900x3D CPU and Gigabyte motherboard, I made the strategic decision to change course and try the ASUS Prime Z790-A WiFi 6E LGA 1700 ATX Motherboard, coupled with the Intel i7 14700k CPU. This combo has proven to be nothing short of a revelation, setting a new standard in performance, stability, and ease-of-use.The need for a dependable system prompted the switch from Ryzen to Intel, and the Intel i7 14700k CPU, in conjunction with the ASUS Prime Z790-A motherboard, has exceeded all expectations. The stability and performance offered by this combination are unparalleled, a stark contrast to the issues I faced with the previous setup.The ASUS Prime Z790-A motherboard stands out with its advanced design and rich feature set, which includes support for the latest Intel 14th, 13th, and 12th generation CPUs, robust power delivery via 16+1 DrMOS power stages, and DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 compatibility. The motherboard's forward-thinking design ensures preparedness for future upgrades, offering a level of flexibility that was absent in the Gigabyte motherboard.When it comes to overclocking, the ASUS Prime Z790-A motherboard shines with its stability, allowing me to push the Intel CPU to its limits without any system instability or overheating. This has been a breath of fresh air, especially compared to the Gigabyte board that struggled to maintain stability during overclocking.A significant advantage of the ASUS Prime Z790-A motherboard is its user-friendly setup process. It features clear boot indications and debugging lights, which make troubleshooting straightforward, ensuring any potential issues can be quickly identified and resolved. This is a considerable improvement over the Gigabyte board, which lacked these useful features.The ASUS motherboard comes with a detailed, comprehensive manual that makes the installation process a breeze. The clarity of instructions and the overall user-friendliness of the BIOS setup was a refreshing change from the unclear and ambiguous instructions that accompanied the Gigabyte motherboard.Connectivity is another area where the ASUS Prime Z790-A excels. With built-in WiFi 6E, a 2.5 Gb LAN port, and multiple USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports including a front panel Type-C, it caters to all connectivity requirements. The inclusion of Thunderbolt 4/USB4 and DP ports further adds to its versatility, ensuring a broad range of devices can be connected with ease.The motherboard also supports future-ready technologies like DDR5 and PCIe 5.0, and features four M.2 slots for storage expansion. This allows for a clean, clutter-free build, a significant upgrade from the SATA-dependent Gigabyte board.In conclusion, the ASUS Prime Z790-A WiFi 6E LGA 1700 ATX Motherboard, when paired with the Intel i7 14700k CPU, offers a transformative upgrade to any PC build. This combination outshines the Ryzen 7900x3D CPU and Gigabyte motherboard in terms of performance, stability, ease of setup, and user-friendly features. If you're seeking an unrivalled computing experience, this CPU and motherboard combo comes highly recommended.

I'd read a number of horror stories about the current crop of Asus motherboards, but this motherboard has been just great, and I think most of those reviews reflect misunderstanding on the customer's part. (Amazon should remove the reviews for the obsolete models which no longer apply, e.g., the current model has WiFi.)First off, there have been complaints about bent pins. The manual contains a warning that if the protective cover has come loose in transit, pins can be damaged. Check first to make sure that the pins are OK, and send back if there's an issue.Then, there are complaints to the effect that four sticks of memory don't work at XMP rates. Well, they won't, and nobody ever said the would. You cannot combine two sets of overclocked memory; you would need a set of four. Even then, unbuffered memory isn't going to give you full speed with four modules installed. *People should check the Asus QVL before buying memory, as well as the QVL of the memory manufacturer, which has tighter standards. Pay attention to the number of sticks.*The memory I chose, 2 x 32 G Skill Trident 6400, was on the Asus QVL but not Gskill's. However, someone here said it worked, and GSkill listed all the other Asus motherboards of this generation, so I took a risk and it worked fine with XMP. I suspect I could overclock it beyond that if I tried. (There are also new 48 GB chips as well as faster ones, but in the absence of information I chose not to take that risk.) In any case, it does fine with Memtest86.One caveat: I'm using this with an i7-14700. The 13th gen chips may not have as much headroom in their memory controllers.That out of the way, the motherboard is built like a tank and has just about anything I could want, without the gamer bling that isn't of use to me. Such limitations as there are are mostly due to Intel's chipset, which has an inadequate number of PCIe lanes. That means that if you were to install a PCIe Gen 5 SSD -- which would require an accessory card on this motherboard -- you would have to change the first PCIe slot from x16 to x8. (Wish I could afford or justify a HEDT machine!) But PCIe 5 was of little use to me, since there are few SSD's that use it at this point.Another consideration that has nothing to do with Asus is that the Z790 is a dead-end board -- the next generation of chips will not be compatible. Those who can wait may want to do so. And the current Intel chips run hot hot hot hot hot!If I have a complaint, it's that I wish there were more USB slots on the back. It has a strange arrangement whereby two DP outputs from the graphics card can be plugged in at the back and the video taken out again via the Firewire ports, but I'm not sure why someone wouldn't just run DP cables. Anyway, isn't useful for me and it would just occupy a Firewire port that could be used for something else.Another limitation -- not as many slots as I'd like. Again, Intel -- it seems the processor manufacturers want to sell those HEDT boards something fierce.Finally, a major caveat -- Asus's support is famously bad. If you get this board, make sure it works well within Amazon's 30-day return window.The manual is well organized and excellent, and I love the layout of the BIOS. Warning: With Asus manuals, you *must* read all the fine print. It often contains crucial points.Value: Asus motherboards carry a premium. I've always had good luck both with the motherboards and their BIOS support. Some other motherboards may be as good -- I don't know, since I read and hear contradictory things. I just know that they work for me and it isn't worth it to me to take a risk.But most of these are quibbles. It's a great motherboard and my experience has been good so far.