The neo-futuristic theme returns for GIGABYTE’s Z890 AORUS MASTER’s packaging in the form of purple and blue ‘Cyberpunk’ color schemes highlighting a large AORUS falcon-head logo. This streamlined style is echoed by the information on the front being strictly what you need to know: Intel LGA1851 socket, DDR5 memory and PCI-Express 5.0 compatibility, and support for the Intel Core Ultra 200-series CPUs.
GIGABYTE’s included accessories are much more generous and varied than other recent designs we’ve looked at (as well as the X870 AORUS ELITE), touching on most core aspects of the ‘board. Included are:
- One WiFi 7 antenna
- DDR Wind Blade fan
- 2x SATA cables
- 1x noise detection cable
- 2x thermistor cables
- 2x M.2 Thermal Pads
- 3x M.2 rubber pad packs
- 1x G Connector
- User's Manual
- Quick Installation Guide
- DDR Wind Blade fan
- 2x SATA cables
- 1x noise detection cable
- 2x thermistor cables
- 2x M.2 Thermal Pads
- 3x M.2 rubber pad packs
- 1x G Connector
- User's Manual
- Quick Installation Guide
Cable tidy accessories and thermistors are relatively common at this tier, but a dedicated fan for system memory cooling is only common in GIGABYTE’s MASTER series motherboards. The 802.11be antenna features their proprietary WiFi EZ Plug connector for straightforward installation into the rear I/O panel, and we also have a noise detection sensor cable for the labelled port on the motherboard.
As with other recently reviewed GIGABYTE motherboard models, we very much appreciate the inclusion of their G Connector as standard. This handy little jumper block lets you attach the individual front panel cables (for power switch, reset switch, LED indicators etc.) to it first and then plug the whole block into the jumper array on the motherboard. It’s extremely useful and at a stroke eliminates a lot of frustration associated with putting a PC together.
Here’s our first look at the Z890 AORUS MASTER gaming motherboard. The design appears busy in a fashion that’s similar to its X870E counterpart but laid out a little more neatly and methodically. We’re not sure that the ‘Team Up, Fight On’ tagline resonates particularly well but GIGABYTE sure won’t give it up on it without a fight.
The AORUS MASTER gets a little more integrated RGB than mainstream competition, adding some configurable illumination to the VRM heatsink as well as the bottom edge of the chipset cooler. The latter acts as an attractive edge for the heatspreader but the former is much more of an acquired taste. Each, of course, can be turned off.
A straightforward ATX footprint should mean that the motherboard is compatible with almost every ATX PC case on the market. It does however feature more pair of edge-aligned SATA headers on the bottom-right of the board so you’ll want to be in a position to take full advantage of them. There should be no compatibility issues with the plethora of LGA1851 and LGA1700 coolers available today, although in extreme cases older air coolers with a wide and low base could foul on the VRM or top-most M.2 heatsink.
The Z890 AORUS MASTER’s LGA1851 socket takes a standard position in the top-centre of the motherboard, surrounded on two sides by VRM heatsinks. The heatsinks channel air through them, and the rear I/O plate is perforated to allow air to escape. VRM temps will benefit from air flow directed by the CPU cooler, but it’s possible that the left-most heatsink and the area behind the I/O shield will become something of a dust trap.
Intel’s LGA1851 socket incorporates a new ILM design (dubbed RL-ILM) which more evenly distributes mounting pressure around the CPU heatspreader, helping to reduce the chance of warping the chip when high mounting pressure is used. This should reduce the need for cooler ‘contact frames’ that replace the stock ILM (though one can still be used) and improve thermal performance more generally.
An 18+1+2 phase power delivery circuit (18-phase CPU, 1 VCCGT for iGPU & DRAM management, 2 VCCSA for connected PCIe lanes) is fed by two 8-pin EPS 12V connectors in their standard locations, next to which is a single 4-pin PWM system fan header. Opposite them and above the DDR5 memory slots are four 4-pin fan headers for the CPU fan, AIO pump, system fan and optional second CPU fan. Next to them are two 3-pin ARGB headers, raised board-mounted power button and two-character DrDebug display. GIGABYTE also printed the recommended memory slot population guide (A2+B2) on the PCB, so no need to go digging in the manual for that information.
Coming down the right edge of the motherboard alongside the DIMM slots we start a bank of four POST status indicator LEDs for troubleshooting purposes, flattened reset button, 24-pin ATX power connector, Front Panel USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type C internal header, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps) headers, and an internal ‘Sensor-Panel Link’ HDMI port for small case-mounted displays. To the left at this point is the GIGABYTE EZ Latch for the main PCIe x16 slot, which releases the card latch for no-fuss GPU removal.
Further down are two stacks of two SATA III 6Gbps ports aligned parallel to the motherboard for better cable management. Below them are a pair of 4-pin PWM fan/pump headers, though these are conventionally oriented.
Just next to the SATA ports is the M.2 EZ Latch which can unhook for toolless removal of the M.2 and chipset heatspreader.
Continuing around the bottom edge we’re greeted by the front-panel header block. The supplied G-Connector plugs directly into this, or individual front-panel cables can be hooked up on a piecemeal basis. Just above this block is an independent reset jumper. Users can optionally plug their case reset switch cable into this header to be remapped to another function. Configuration for this is located in the system BIOS.
Next up are a trio of 4-pin PWM fan headers above which is the CMOS battery, Clear CMOS jumper and a temperature sensor header. It’s then just a small jump to the two USB 2.0 headers.
The TPM module header sits next to a 4-pin RGB LED (12v) header, two 3-pin (5v) ARGB headers and finally a front panel audio header. Between the ARGB and Front Panel Audio headers is a LED Demo jumper for activating lighting when no CPU is present.
Hidden away between the TPM and 4-pin LED header is a 2-pin sensor header labelled ‘DB_Sense’, which the manual indicates can be used for some measure of fan control. The AORUS MASTER includes a Noise Sensor which, when inserted, can measure internal chassis noise and serve as an input for fan control software within the BIOS alongside standard Temperature readings.
While not necessarily weighed down by a surfeit of potentially extraneous or redundant features, there’s a lot packed into this model’s ATX footprint. You get plenty of fan headers - ten in total - that when viewed as a whole are very close to optimally positioned, and lighting headers are relatively plentiful too. The debugging features - from DrBug Display to surface-mounted power switches, are pleasant additions too for troubleshooting, limit testing, or when the board spends a significant amount of time installed on a test bench.
With the heatspreaders removed the M.2 slots are exposed. The top-most slot is wired for PCIe Gen5 x4 operation with four dedicated lanes off-CPU, supporting up-to 110mm-long and 25mm wide 25110 form factor M.2 NVMe SSDs. GIGABYTE are the only manufacturer we have come across thus far that regularly supports up-to this larger M.2 drive footprint. A long thermal pad is installed on top of the motherboard PCB to improve heat dissipation on dual-sided drives.
This slot’s M.2 heatspreader is also composed of stacked layers with an air-gap in between, allowing it to dissipate heat more readily and cool the hot high-performance PCIe Gen5 SSDs. As a side-note, GIGABYTE recommend using 1.25mm-thick thermal pads if you need to replace those already installed for the M.2 drives.
Below is the ‘PCIe UD Slot X’, the primary PCIe x16 slot supporting sixteen PCIe 5.0 lanes from the CPU that has been reinforced and surrounded in rubber to prevent PCB scratches. Unlike the X870 AORUS MASTER it does not share PCIe lanes with other slots.
The main PCIe slot is connected up to the EZ Latch system and strengthened to handle heavier graphics cards. The heaviest cards should still be supported by a brace or bracket to keep it level and not mechanically overload the slot with weight.
Of the bank of three M.2 slots below the first PCIe slot, only the bottom-most is off the chipset. Each of this bank of three M.2 slots has a heatspreader with compressible thermal pads to draw heat away from the NAND chips. The PCIe 4.0 slot below them is wired for a single lane of operation and can be used for networking or audio, while a high bandwidth slot wired for PCIe 4.0 x4 operation is more suited to high-performance storage and networking.
GIGABYTE have preinstalled the rear I/O shield, removing yet another system install pinch-point. Located on the rear I/O panel are:
- Q-FLASH PLUS Button: Updates the system BIOS without CPU, GPU or DRAM installed,
- Clear CMOS Button,
- Two USB 3.2 (10Gbps) Ports, one labelled a the Q-Flash port for simplified BIOS updates,
- Two Thunderbolt 4 Ports (USB 4 Type C connector),
- Four USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps) Ports,
- Four USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) Ports (red),
- RJ45 10Gbps Ethernet Port (10GbE)
- Two USB 2 (480Mbps) Ports
- Antenna Connector (WiFi EZ Plus)
- Audio Line Out/Mic In (Can be used combined with front audio ports for up-to 5.1 sound)
- SPDIF Out
- Clear CMOS Button,
- Two USB 3.2 (10Gbps) Ports, one labelled a the Q-Flash port for simplified BIOS updates,
- Two Thunderbolt 4 Ports (USB 4 Type C connector),
- Four USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps) Ports,
- Four USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) Ports (red),
- RJ45 10Gbps Ethernet Port (10GbE)
- Two USB 2 (480Mbps) Ports
- Antenna Connector (WiFi EZ Plus)
- Audio Line Out/Mic In (Can be used combined with front audio ports for up-to 5.1 sound)
- SPDIF Out
This motherboard’s WiFi EZ Plug antenna sockets are non-standard and may not be compatible with standard high gain 802.11be antenna. Such is sometimes the trade-off for the easy to install features.
GIGABYTE opted to equip the Z890 AORUS MASTER with 10GbE, a large step up from the 2.5GbE present on more affordable models. This is a very useful addition in a world where Gigabit Fibre is becoming more common and home networks are starting to situationally push a lot of data too.