ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Apex Preview

Up Close Continued

Along the side we find 6 SATA ports as well as a six pin PCIe extra power connector and the front panel Type-A USB port. You can also glimpse the backside of the Apex that has three condensation detection points, perfect for those of you who are planning to take the Apex to new heights with liquid nitrogen or similar.

  

The bottom corner contains the front panel connectors, yet more fan headers, the two USB 2.0 front panel connectors that have become a vital part of modern systems. Moving more to the left you can see even the front panel USB 3.2 Type-A port is armoured. There is a BIOS switch if you like to flip between them, as well as ASUS familiar water-cooling section that contains flow monitoring and temperature monitoring.

  

At the bottom left is the Thunderbolt 4 internal header, two more parts of the ASUS AURA Sync lighting ecosystem, and the breakout audio trace. Just because the Apex is all about high-end overclocking doesn’t mean that the Audio has been left behind either. ALC4080 Codec sits alongside a Savitech SV3H712 Amp and high end capacitors for premium audio quality.

  

Beneath our logo is another fan header, and you can also see the RGB ROG logo that is built into the IO section.

  

Both PCIe slots are 5.0 versions. Our only element of confusion is how the Apex only has two M.2 slots here. We’re so used to Z790 motherboards having three or even four that two seems almost miserly.

  

Beneath the enormous heatsinks is 24 power stages (24+0) of 105A each! Jeepers creepers. That’s a ludicrous power stage. Certainly if you want to push your 13th Gen Intel CPU to new heights under extreme cooling you won’t run out of power. Those 24 stages also have a 45A choke each and solid-polymer capacitors. This is a serious power setup.

  

We’ve shown this off a lot at the top of our pages today, but it’s worth another look. It’s such a ridiculous flex we can’t help admire it. Whilst we bask in its glory, come back for our full Overkill3D review soon.

  

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