Best Z790 motherboard

On the lookout for the best Z790 motherboard to partner with one of the latest Intel 13th gen Raptor Lake CPUs? Then you’ve come to the right place – our guide to the best Intel motherboards takes you through a range of options to suit all budgets, from budget LGA1700 motherboard options that use DDR4 memory, to premium DDR5 models with lights agogo.

Intel‘s Z790 chipset sits at the top of Intel’s range for LGA1700 motherboards, and it’s the only chipset that enables you to overclock CPUs with an unlocked multiplier. This is great for CPUs such as the Core i5-13600K and 14600K, with such mid-range chips having room for decent overclocks, if you have the right CPU cooler. For more information, see our full guide on how to overclock the Core i5-13600K.

For more information on how we test Z790 motherboards, you can check out the how we test section at the end of this guide or you can go to our how we test page. Meanwhile, if you’re seeking answers to the most common questions you might have for when seeking a new Z790 motherboard, check out the FAQ at the bottom of this page.

Here are the best Intel Z790 motherboards:

1. ASRock Z790 PG Lightning D4 – the best budget DDR4 Z790 motherboard
2. Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Hero – the best Z790 motherboard
3. ASRock Z790 PG Riptide – the best budget DDR5 Z790 motherboard
4. Asus ROG Strix Z790-A Gaming WiFi D4 – the best all-round DDR4 Z790 motherboard

1. ASRock Z790 PG Lightning D4

The best budget DDR4 Z790 motherboard is the ASRock Z790 PG Lightning D4.

ASRock Z790 PG Lightning D4 specs:

Pros

• Great price
• Happy to overclock Core i5-13600K
• DDR4 memory support

Cons

• Limited features
• No Wi-Fi
• Mediocre audio

If you want a Raptor Lake CPU but don’t want to spend much more than $200 on a motherboard, then the ASRock Z790 PG Lighting D4 is a basic, but solid option for a Z790 system. It not only has a very affordable price, but it also uses DDR4 memory, which reduces your total upgrade cost.

It’s not bursting with features, but it covers the essentials without sacrificing performance. Its Cinebench multi-threaded score of 24,159 with our Core i5-13600K test chip is right on the money, and it’s quite happy to overclock this CPU’s P-Cores all the way to 5.7GHz as well. Read our full review of the ASRock Z790 PG Lighting D4 to get the full story on this motherboard.

2. Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Hero

The best Z790 motherboard is the Asus Maximus Z790 Hero.

Asus Maximus Z790 Hero specs:

Pros

• Gorgeous looks
• Amazing feature set
• Excellent software and EFI

Cons

• Expensive
• Cheaper boards offer a lot of the same features

This all singing all dancing Z790 motherboard gives you all the best that Intel’s Z790 chipset has to offer, such as Thunderbolt 4, PCIe 5 graphics and M.2 support, with a feature-packed PCB and accessory box. Its onboard audio is excellent, and it comes with a host of enthusiast features, including water flow sensors, a thermal probe input for syncing your radiator fans with coolant temperature, as well as a 36W 4-pin header for water-cooling pumps.

The board is also equipped with a handy quick-release PCIe slot button, plus there are onboard power and reset buttons, an LED POST code display, USB BIOS FlashBack, and a CMOS-clear button. It’s outrageously expensive, but the Maximus Z790 Hero is fantastic if you can afford it. Read our full review of the Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Hero for more information about this fancy Z790 motherboard.

3. ASRock Z790 PG Riptide

The best budget DDR5 Z790 motherboard is the ASRock Z790 PG Riptide.

ASRock Z790 PG Riptide specs:

Pros

• Only costs $239
• PCIe 5 M.2 port
• Good overclocker

Cons

• Mediocre audio
• Cost of DDR5 memory
• No Wi-Fi

If you want to jump on the DDR5 memory bandwagon and get support for the upcoming wave of super-fast PCIe 5 M.2 SSDs, all for under $250, then the ASRock Z790 PG Riptide is the for you. This affordable Z790 motherboard offers a PCIe 5 M.2 port, it overclocked our Core i5-13600K fine and it also gives you change from $250.

It doesn’t have the visual prowess of pricier boards, but its heatsinks are larger than those on the ASRock Z790 PG Lightning D4, which is ideal if you’re planning to use a Core i9 CPU. There’s also RGB lighting on the PCH heatsink and you get 3-pin and 4-pin RGB lighting headers. If you’re happy to splash out on new memory, this is a great budget buy. Read our full review of the ASRock Z790 PG Riptide for more detail.

4. Asus ROG Strix Z790-A Gaming WiFi D4

The best all-round DDR4 Z790 motherboard is the Asus ROG Strix Z790-A Gaming WiFi D4.

Asus ROG Strix Z790-A Gaming WiFi D4 specs:

Pros

• Attractive design
• Good feature set
• DDR4 memory support

Cons

• Still pricey
• No tool-free M.2 heatsinks
• No PCIe 5 M.2 support

The Asus ROG Strix Z790-A Gaming WiFi D4 is arguably just as good-looking as the pricier ROG Maximus Z790 Hero, but costs nearly $300 less. What’s more, this Z790 motherboard has some of the features you usually get on pricier motherboards, including Asus’ quick-release PCIe slot button, double-sided SSD cooling for the top M.2 slot, and USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 support for the onboard USB-C header.

You also get high-quality onboard audio from the Realtek ALC4080 codec, and this motherboard had no trouble overclocking our Core i5-13600K to 5.7GHz across all its cores either. There’s sadly no support for PCIe 5 SSDs, but it’s otherwise a great motherboard, and its support for DDR4 memory will save you some cash if you’re upgrading from an older system. Read our full review of the Asus ROG Strix Z790-A Gaming WiFi D4 for more detail.

How we test Intel Z790 motherboards

At Custom PC, we’ve been reviewing and overclocking the latest motherboards since we first launched in 2003, so we know exactly what to look for in terms of layout, features, performance, and overclocking abilities.

As it has plenty of overclocking headroom, we use a Core i5-13600K to test Z790 motherboards – it has 14 cores and 20 threads, making it a suitable choice for gamers and content creators alike. When reviewing a motherboard, we look at VRM temperatures, as well as SSD temperatures using any supplied heatsinks, and we also take a good look at the layout and feature set of each board. For more information, see our How we test page.

Best Z790 motherboard frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Which CPUs are compatible with Z790 motherboards?

Intel’s last three generation of CPUs will all work on its Z790 motherboards. So that’s the 12th gen, 13th gen, and current 14th gen processors, such as the 12600K, 13600K, and 14600K.

What memory works with Z790 motherboards?

Some Z790 motherboards will support DDR4 RAM, some will support DDR5 memory, and some models are available in both DDR4 and DDR5 flavors. You’ll have to check the specs of any given board to see which memory it supports.

Does Intel Z790 support overclocking?

Yes. However, your Intel CPU will have to support it too. Only Intel CPUs that end with a ‘K’, such as the 14900K, allow for overclocking. By contrast, Intel’s Z760 chipset doesn’t support overclocking, even of K-series CPUs, although it does support memory overclocking.

That’s it for our current roundup of the best motherboards based on Intel’s Z790 chipset, but we’ll keep this guide regularly updated as we review more motherboards in the future. If you’re planning to build a new PC, make sure you check out our guide to the best gaming CPU, where we take you through all the best options from both Intel and AMD, as well as our full guide on how to build a gaming PC, which takes you through every step of the build process.