The TUF Gaming Z890-PRO WIFI is a decently-specced mainstream Intel Z890 motherboard offering targeted at white-themed mid-to-high-end Intel Core Ultra 200S PC builds.

On 10 October 2024, Intel finally lifted the veil on its next-gen Core Ultra 200S series processors (codenamed "Arrow Lake-S") and the accompanying Z890 chipset. As the successor to Intel's 14th Generation "Raptor Lake Refresh", could "Arrow Lake-S" be the salve that Intel needs to fend off the onslaught from AMD's Ryzen 9000 and 7000 series of processors?

In the lead-up to the Core Ultra 200S's availability at retail, likely by the end of this month (October 2024), ALKtech takes a look at a mainstream Intel Z890 motherboard that is targeted at consumers looking to build a white-themed Intel Core Ultra 200S PC - the ASUS TUF Gaming Z890-PRO WIFI. Sporting features such as a beefy VRM setup, PCIe Gen 5 support for a graphics card and a M.2 drive, dual Thunderbolt 4 ports, WIFI 7 support and so on, read on to learn more about this motherboard!

Summary of Specifications

Processor Support: Intel Core Ultra 200S Series
Chipset: Intel Z890
Memory: 4x DDR5 slots, max 192GB, up to DDR5 8600+ (OC) support (as of October 2024), CUDIMMs supported
Audio: Realtek ALC1220P audio codec
LAN: Intel I226-v 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet
WIFI: MediaTek MT7925B22M WIFI 7 module with built-in Bluetooth 5.4
Expansion Slots: 1x PCIe 5.0 x16, 2x PCIe 4.0 x1, 1x PCIe 4.0 x4, 1x PCIe 4.0 x16 (operates at x4 mode)
Storage: 4x SATA III, 1x PCIe 5.0 x4 M.2, 3x PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 (only M.2_4 slot supports both NVMe and SATA drives, the first three slots support NVMe drives only)
Form Factor: ATX
Official Product Page: https://www.asus.com/motherboards-components/motherboards/tuf-gaming/tuf-gaming-z890-pro-wifi/

Packaging & Contents

As a motherboard offering that is targeted at white-coloured PC builds, the TUF Gaming Z890-PRO WIFI comes in a box that sports a white and light grey colourway with the TUF Gaming motif featured prominently on the front, while the usual summary of board specifications can be found on the rear of the box.

The board comes with the following accessories:

• WIFI antenna
• Quick Start Guide
• ASUS WebStorage promotional leaflet
• TUF Gaming sticker sheet
• 2x SATA III cables
• 2 packs of M.2 drive rubber pads
• 1x M.2 drive standoff and screw
• 1x Q-Slide attachment
• 1x TUF Gaming VRM aesthetic accessory

Board Aesthetics

In terms of aesthetics, we see that ASUS has gone for a predominantly silver-and-white appearance with some black components for contrast – this is one of the rare instances that ASUS has put out a white-themed motherboard from the TUF Gaming line-up. As can be seen, the board comes with an integrated I/O shield design, and has a white-coloured PCB with large silver heatsinks all around – as a result, this motherboard seems to be more silver than white, given the size of the heatsinks.

Over on the rear, we see that the PCB is coloured in grey with a TUF Gaming motif on the bottom half of the board.

The Z890-PRO WIFI comes with no shortage of TUF Gaming marketing text on it, as evidenced by the gamer-oriented words found on one of the VRM heatsinks.

While still on the topic of the VRM heatsinks, for some reason, ASUS has opted to include a plastic slide-on accessory to "spruce up" the board’s appearance, should you choose to install it.

Heatsinks galore, for ASUS has included full heatsink coverage for all four M.2 slots that the Z890-PRO WIFI comes with. The Intel Z890 chipset is a direct beneficiary of this arrangement, where it has a passive heatsink that is located beneath the second M.2 slot's large slab of a heatsink - I guess a heatsink cooling a heatsink should translate to epic cooling gains.

RGB junkies rejoice, for ASUS has included built-in RGB LEDs that can be found near the top, along the long edge of the motherboard.

VRM & Memory Support

Despite being more of a mainstream motherboard offering, the Z890-PRO WIFI's VRM setup is no slouch, where ASUS has included 16+1+2+1 power stages with 80A power phases.

For memory support, the TUF Gaming Z890-PRO WIFI comes with four DDR5 slots that as of the time of publishing this article, sports support for up to 192GBs of RAM and the DDR5 8600+ standard when overclocked, with plastic slots of a single-tabbed design that ASUS calls Q-DIMM. Naturally, the board also supports Intel’s XMP technology, which are basically built-in overclocking profiles for DDR5 memory.

It’s great to note that the board also supports the latest DIMM format on the block, Clocked Unbuffered DIMMs, (CUDIMMs), which come with a clock driver on the memory module to improve signal stability, thereby paving the way for even higher operating frequencies.

Front Panel USB Headers

In terms of front panel USB connectivity, we get a USB 20Gbps Type-C front panel header next to the RAM slots - the said header provides support for a front panel USB 20Gbps Type-C port that also supports Power Delivery for up to 30W of juice for fast charging purposes.

Beneath the said USB 20Gbps Type-C front panel header is a USB 5Gbps front panel header that provides support for up to two USB 5Gbps Type-A ports.

Rounding off this section on front panel USB connectivity, the bottom edge of the board houses two USB 2.0 front panel headers, with each header providing support for two USB 2.0 Type-A ports.

Expansion Slots & Storage Options

Kicking things off in the expansion slots section is a single PCIe 5.0 x16 slot with SafeSlot, which reinforces the slot for use with heavy graphics cards.

The said slot also comes with PCIe Q-Release Slim, a new quality-of-life feature that is an upgrade from the vanilla Q-Release mechanism typically found on ASUS motherboards. With this feature, there is no need to push down on a latch or even a button anymore to remove an installed graphics card - all one has to do is to pull the card out at a certain angle towards the slot's retention tab, and it will come free.

The rest of the expansion slots are of the vanilla variety, where ASUS has included two PCIe 4.0 x1 slots, a PCIe 4.0 x4 slot as well as a full-length PCIe 4.0 x16 slot that operates at x4 mode.

In terms of internal storage connectivity options, the TUF Gaming Z890-PRO WIFI comes with four SATA III ports, with two ports in a right-angled configuration along the long edge of the board to aid with cable management, and another two ports situated along the bottom edge of the board.

The board also comes with a single PCIe 5.0 x4 M.2 slot and three PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slots. Do note that of the four slots, only slot M.2_4 supports both SATA and NVMe SSDs - the other three slots support NVMe SSDs only.

The primary PCIe 5.0 x4 M.2 slot comes equipped with a slew of quality-of-life features - first up, we get a fancy chunky heatsink that sports the new M.2 Q-Release mechanism, where simply pushing down on the latch pictured above will release the heatsink from the slot.

With the heatsink out of the way, we catch a glimpse of a new-and-improved Q-Latch mechanism that makes the installation and removal of a M.2 drive a breeze.

We're not done with the quality-of-life features that the Gen 5 M.2 slot has just yet - ASUS has also included a new feature called Q-Slide, which comprises a plastic device that slides along a track mounted on the motherboard PCB - the said slide snaps into place when installed on the track to securely hold a M.2 device of varying lengths. This negates the need to fiddle with screws and standoffs to accommodate M.2 drives of varying sizes other than the typical M.2 2280 form factor (e.g. 2242, 2260 etc).

Audio & Internet Connectivity

The Z890-PRO WIFI comes with a Realtek ALC1220P audio chip that is obscured by a decorative plastic strip mounted on the motherboard.

Wired internet connectivity is powered by an Intel I226-V 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet chip, while wireless internet connectivity is courtesy of MediaTek's MT7925B22M WIFI 7 module that supports 160 MHz channel widths - the said WIFI 7 module also serves up Bluetooth 5,4 support.

Fan & RGB Headers

The TUF Gaming Z890-PRO WIFI comes with seven fan headers:

• 1x CPU_FAN
• 1x CPU_OPT
• 1x AIO_PUMP
• 4x CHA_FAN

The board also comes with three Gen 2 addressable RGB headers - ASUS has opted not to include a traditional 12V RGB header at all.

Other Features

To help with troubleshooting PC start-up issues, ASUS has included a set of Q-LEDs near the top short edge of the board.

Should the board's built-in dual Thunderbolt 4 ports be insufficient for power users, ASUS has included a Thunderbolt header near the bottom edge of the board - the said header is to be used with an optional ASUS Thunderbolt add-on card that as you might have surmised, adds additional Thunderbolt ports to your PC.

Moving on, we do also get a Clear CMOS header, as well as a thermal sensor header that allows end-users to connect an optional thermistor cable so as to monitor the temperature of devices within their PCs.

Rear I/O

The TUF Gaming Z890-PRO WIFI comes with an integrated I/O shield design in white, with a TUF Gaming motif that lends some visual interest to the rear I/O area of the board. The following ports can be found on the rear I/O:

• 1x DisplayPort 1.4 (supports display output of up to 4K resolution at 60Hz)
• 1x HDMI 2.1 port (supports display output of up to 4K resolution at 60Hz)
• BIOS FlashBack button
• 6x USB 10Gbps Type-A ports
• 2x Thunderbolt 4 USB Type-C ports (supports DisplayPort and Thunderbolt video output; on the Thunderbolt display output mode, supports either 1x 8K display at 60 Hz via a single port, or two 4K displays at 60Hz via two ports)
• 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet port
• WIFI antenna connectors (Q-Antenna)
• Audio jack connectors

The BIOS FlashBack feature allows end-users to update the motherboard's BIOS without needing to install a processor, RAM and graphics card - perhaps an indication that the successor to the Core Ultra 200S series would also be supported by Intel Z890 motherboards in due course?

Conclusion

To sum up, the ASUS TUF Gaming Z890-PRO WIFI comes across as a pretty decent mainstream Intel Z890 motherboard offering, where it will probably work well for folks out there who are intending to build a white-themed Intel Core Ultra 200S series PC at the higher-end. There is no shortage of modern features; we get PCIe 5.0 support for both a graphics card and a M.2 drive (thankfully without any PCIe lane bifurcation shenanigans), 2.5Gbit Ethernet with built-in WIFI 7, dual Thunderbolt 4 ports with a plethora of other USB Type-C and Type-A connectivity options, as well as new quality-of-life features such as PCIe Q-Release Slim, M.2 Q-Slide and so on. 

That said, I do think it’s a bit of a missed opportunity that ASUS did not include white-coloured onboard connectors and hardware with this board, which could have made it more attractive to end-users who really value a full-white aesthetic for their PC builds. In addition, it’s worth noting that the WIFI7 module on this motherboard doesn’t support the 320 MHz channel for faster wireless connectivity.

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The motherboard featured in this article was a review unit provided on loan from ASUS Singapore.