The ROG Strix Z890-F Gaming WIFI is a premium Intel Z890 motherboard with plenty of bells and whistles to satisfy the needs of PC enthusiasts looking to build a high-end Intel Core Ultra 200S gaming PC.

On 24 October 2024, Intel will launch its next-gen Core Ultra 200S series of processors (codenamed "Arrow Lake-S") for sale to the general public, alongside motherboards sporting the new Intel Z890 chipset. As the successor to Intel's 14th Generation "Raptor Lake Refresh", could "Arrow Lake-S" be just what 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, ALKtech takes a look at a premium Intel Z890 motherboard that is targeted at consumers looking to build a high-end Intel Core Ultra 200S gaming PC - the ASUS ROG Strix Z890-F Gaming 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, watch 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 ALC4080 audio codec with Savitech SV3H712 amp
LAN: Intel I226-V 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet
WIFI: Intel BE200NGW WIFI 7 module with Bluetooth 5.4 support
Expansion Slots: 1x PCIe 5.0 x16, 1x PCIe 4.0 x16 (operates at x4 mode)
Storage: 4x SATA III, 1x PCIe 5.0 x4 M.2, 4x PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2; only one PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slot supports either a M.2 SATA or M.2 NVMe drive, the other slots support M.2 NVMe drives only
Form Factor: ATX
Official Product Page: https://rog.asus.com/motherboards/rog-strix/rog-strix-z890-f-gaming-wifi/

Packaging & Contents

As an offering from the Republic of Gamers line-up, no surprises here that ASUS has gone for the usual black and red colourway that has come to be associated with the ROG brand for the motherboard box.

The board comes with the following accessories:

• WIFI antenna
• Quick Start Guide
• ASUS WebStorage promotional leaflet
• ROG sticker sheet
• 2x SATA III cables
• 3 packs of M.2 drive rubber pads
• 1x M.2 Q-Latch
• Pack of cable ties
• 1x extension thermal pad for M.2 22110 drives
• 1x ROG keychain

Board Aesthetics

In terms of motherboard aesthetics, we see that the board sports a predominantly black colourway with plenty of ROG motifs and marketing text thrown in for good measure. As can be seen, the board comes with an integrated I/O shield design, and comes with large black heatsinks all around.

Over on the rear of the board, ASUS has included a smattering of ROG motifs that are a nice touch, in spite of the fact that most of these motifs would likely never see the light of day when the board is installed inside of a PC case.

RGB junkies will be pleased to note that the board comes with the Polymo lighting feature on the integrated I/O shield shroud, which in my opinion, does add a nice touch of pop to the motherboard's overall appearance.

In terms of heatsink coverage, the Z890 chipset is cooled by a large passive heatsink that has an interesting colour-changing effect when viewed from different angles, and we do also get full heatsink coverage for all five of the board’s M.2 slots.

VRM & Memory Support

The VRM heatsinks for this board are sizeable, and ASUS has included 16+1+2+2 power stages, with 16 VCCCORE stages rated for a whopping 110A each, a VCCGT phase rated for 90A, two VCCSA phases rated for 90A and two VNNAON phases rated for 80A.

For memory support, the ROG Strix Z890-F Gaming WIFI comes with four DDR5 slots that as of the time of publishing this article, sport support for up to 192GBs of RAM and the DDR5 8600+ standard when overclocked, with plastic slots of a single-tabbed design. The board also supports Intel’s XMP technology, which are 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

For front panel USB connectivity, we get a USB 20Gbps Type-C front panel header located right next to the RAM slots - the said header provides support for a front panel USB 20Gbps Type-C port.

Beneath the USB 20Gbps Type-C front panel header are two USB 5Gbps front panel headers that each provide support for up to two USB 5Gbps Type-A ports, for a total of four ports.

Over on the bottom edge of the board, we do also get two USB 2.0 front panel headers, with each header providing support for two USB 2.0 Type-A ports.

Expansion Slots & Storage Options

For your GPU needs, ASUS has included a single PCIe 5.0 x16 slot that sports the SafeSlot feature, which reinforces the slot for use with heavy graphics cards.

The said PCIe Gen 5 slot also comes with PCIe Slot Q-Release Slim, a new quality-of-life feature that is a significant upgrade from the vanilla Q-Release mechanism found on ASUS motherboards. With this feature, there is no need to push down on a latch or a button anymore to remove a graphics card that has been installed - 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.

Moving on, ASUS has also included a full-length PCIe 4.0 x16 slot that operates at x4 mode.

For legacy storage and optical drives, the ROG Strix Z890-F Gaming WIFI comes with four SATA III ports, with all ports located along the long edge of the board so as to aid with cable management.

The board also comes with a single PCIe 5.0 x4 M.2 slot and four PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slots. Do note that of the five slots, only slot M.2_5 supports either a M.2 SATA or M.2 NVMe drive - the other four slots support M.2 NVMe drives only.

The board's PCIe 5.0 x4 M.2 slot comes with a pretty fancy heatsink that feels rather premium, and it features the M.2 Q-Release mechanism, where pushing down on the metal latch pictured above will release the heatsink from the slot.

The Gen5 M.2 slot also features a new quality of life feature called Q-Slide, which is a mechanism that slides along a track and snaps into place to securely hold a M.2 drive of varying lengths other than the typical M.2 2280 form factor (e.g. 22110, 2260 etc).

That said, the board’s M.2 slots all feature an improved Q-Latch design, which makes installing and removing M.2 drives a breeze.

Audio & Internet Connectivity

Powering the ROG Strix Z890-F Gaming WIFI's audio experience is a high-end Realtek ALC4080 audio codec that is paired with a Savitech SV3H712 amplifier chip.

For internet connectivity, the board comes with an Intel I226-V 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet chip for your wired connection needs, while wireless internet connectivity is courtesy of an Intel BE200NGW WIFI 7 module that supports 320 MHz channel widths - the said WIFI 7 module also serves up Bluetooth 5,4 support.

Fan & RGB Headers

The ROG Strix Z890-F Gaming WIFI comes with eight fan headers:

• 1x CPU_FAN
• 1x CPU_OPT
• 1x AIO_PUMP
• 5x CHA_FAN

The board also comes with three Gen 2 addressable RGB headers - do note that the board does not come with a traditional 12V RGB header at all.

Other Features

Along the top edge of the board is a CPU overvoltage jumper that enables higher CPU voltages for overclocking purposes.

Also in the vicinity is a set of Q-LEDs that can help with troubleshooting PC startup issues, as well as a Start button that allows end-users to power on the PC.

Moving over to the bottom edge of the board, we get a Thunderbolt header that is to be used with an optional ASUS Thunderbolt add-on card for more Thunderbolt ports.

Concluding this section on special features is a thermal sensor header that allows one to connect an optional thermistor cable so as to monitor the temperature of devices within the PC case, as well as a chassis intrusion header.

Rear I/O

The ROG Strix Z890-F Gaming WIFI comes with an integrated I/O shield design with a ROG 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 8K resolution at 60Hz)
• 1x HDMI 2.1 port (supports display output of up to 4K resolution at 60Hz)
• Clear CMOS button
• BIOS FlashBack button
• 4x USB 5Gbps Type-A ports
• 2x USB 2.0 Type-A ports
• 4x 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)
• 2x USB 10Gbps Type-C port (one port supports up to 30W Power Delivery for fast charging)
• 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 ROG STRIX Z890-F GAMING WIFI checks the right boxes as a premium Intel Z890 motherboard, where it comes with plenty of bells and whistles to satisfy the needs of PC hardware enthusiasts. It comes with a pretty solid VRM setup with 110A power phases, PCIe 5.0 support for both a graphics card and a M.2 drive, plenty of M.2 drive slots without any bifurcation shenanigans, 2.5Gbit Ethernet with built-in WIFI 7, dual Thunderbolt 4 ports and a plethora of USB Type-C and Type-A connectivity options. In addition, we get lots of new quality-of-life features such as Q-Release Slim, Q-Slide and so on, and I personally find the board to be pretty good looking all thanks to its Polymo lighting feature and the smattering of ROG motifs included on the motherboard's various surfaces.

Get this motherboard from Amazon: https://amzn.to/409wnlF

Get this motherboard from Shopee Singapore: https://s.shopee.sg/6fPX2z0voU

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