ASUS TUF Gaming Z890-PRO WIFI Review – PCIe Galore

Unboxing

Today we’re reviewing a specialized motherboard in the form of ASUS TUF Gaming Z890-PRO WIFI – as its name implies, this is designed for professional environments with extra I/O and PCIe slots provided compared to a standard gaming motherboard you see today. The unboxing process is no different than other TUF models, though.

The accessories included are fairly bare bones, with a few M.2 accessories along with the Wi-Fi antenna and two SATA cables, along with a TUF-branded “nameplate”. Purely cosmetic though, along with the sticker pack included in the box.

Walkaround

This ATX-sized motherboard is something different from what you see in regular gaming motherboards, with five PCIe slots and four SSD slots onboard, three of which are hidden under the giant heatsinks forming the TUF logo. Yes, that’s heatsinks in plural – the first piece of heatsink surrounds the three PCIe slots, while the second piece is the one right below with separate set of screws securing it.

Above all are the heatsinks disassembled from the motherboard, along with a piece of plastic attached on the left side of the motherboard for looks. The primary PCIe 5.0 SSD slots gets a big dedicated heatsink, but the second SSD slot gets an even bigger one; the remaining two SSD slots share a piece of heatsink together. The VRM heatsink features lots of surface area, which helps with cooling the components surrounding the CPU, especially with active cooling involved.

While a motherboard like this usually comes with plenty of USB ports (such as ASRock’s LiveMixer series), the key difference here is all USB-A ports are rated for 10Gbps speeds, so you don’t have to worry about which port to look for, as they all behave the same, short for the dedicated BIOS port for updating firmware. It also a pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports, with two separate display outputs on top, as well as 2.5GbE LAN, Wi-Fi 7, and full 7.1-channel audio outputs.

The RGB lighting for the TUF Z890-PRO WIFI is located in a rather unusual spot. Instead of illuminating forwards, the RGB lights up behind, similar to ambient lighting in TVs.

Specifications

ASUS TUF Gaming Z890-PRO WIFI

Full specifications available on product page.

CPU Support	LGA1851 (Intel Core Ultra 200S series)
Form Factor	ATX (12 x 9.6 in / 305 x 244 mm)
Chipset	Intel Z890
Power & VRM	2x EPS 8-pin 16+1+2+1 stage (Vcore+GT+SA+VNNAON) All MOSFETs: Vishay SiC629 (80A per powerstage) PWM Controller: ASUS DIGI+ EPU ASP2442GQW
Memory	4-slot, single-sided latch Max. 256GB UDIMM/CUDIMM Overclocking support up to DDR5-9066+
PCIe Expansion Slots	1x PCIe 5.0 x16 (CPU) 1x PCIe 4.0 x16 (Chipset, x4 mode) 1x PCIe 4.0 x4 (Chipset) 2x PCIe 4.0 x1 (Chipset)
Storage	4x SATA 6Gb/s 4x M.2 slots: – 1x PCIe 5.0 x4 (CPU), M.2 2280/2260/2242 – 1x PCIe 4.0 x4 (CPU), M.2 2280 – 1x PCIe 4.0 x4 (Chipset), M.2 22110/2280 – 1x PCIe 4.0 x4 (Chipset), M.2 2280/2260/2242 (SATA mode supported)
Networking	MediaTek MT7925B22M (AMD RZ717) Wi-Fi 7 160MHz module (M.2 2230) Bluetooth 5.4 Intel I226-V 2.5GbE LAN
USB Outputs	Rear: 2x Thunderbolt 4 (40Gbps) 6x USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) Type-A Front (headers): 1x Thunderbolt / USB4 header 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20Gbps) (30W fast charging) 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps) (splitting to 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1) 2x USB 2.0 (splitting to 4x USB 2.0)
Display Outputs	1x HDMI 2.1 TMDS @ 4K 60Hz 1x DisplayPort 1.4 @ 8K 30Hz 2x Thunderbolt 4 (DisplayPort 2.1 @ 1x 8K 60Hz DSC / 2x 4K 60Hz)
Audio	Realtek ALC1220P codec 120dB output SNR, 113dB input SNR 32-bit/192kHz playback support De-pop circuit S/PDIF (TOSLINK) output 7.1ch surround ouput
Peripheral Headers	Fan and Cooling 1x 4-pin CPU Fan header 1x 4-pin CPU OPT Fan header 1x 4-pin AIO Pump header 4x 4-pin Chassis Fan headers Miscellaneous 3x Addressable Gen 2 headers 1x Clear CMOS header 1x Chassis Intrusion header 1x COM Port header 1x Front Panel Audio header (F_AUDIO) 1x 10-1 pin System Panel header 1x Thermal Sensor header
Accessories	Cables 2x SATA 6Gb/s cables Miscellaneous 1x ASUS WiFi Q-Antenna 1x M.2 Q-Slide package 2x M.2 rubber packages 1x Screw package for M.2 SSD 1x TUF Gaming sticker 1x TUF Gaming removable nameplate Documentation 1x Quick start guide

Test System

CPU	Intel Core Ultra 9 285K
Cooling	Cooler Master MasterLiquid PL360 Flux 30th Anniversary Edition Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut
Motherboard	> ASUS TUF Gaming Z890-PRO WIFI
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition
Memory	ADATA XPG CASTER DDR5-6000 CL30 (2x16GB)
Storage	ADATA LEGEND 960 MAX 1TB
Power Supply	Cooler Master MWE Gold 1250 V2 Full Modular (ATX12V 2.52) 1250W
Case / Chassis	VECTOR Bench Case (Open-air chassis)
Operating System	Windows 11 Home 24H2

Teardown

VRM

The VRM setup uses a 16+1+2+1 stage layout, which is sufficient to power Intel’s current flagship processor, the Core Ultra 9 285K, as we’ll see in VRM testing later in this review. Some motherboards may use different MOSFETs for specific stages, but in this case all 20 stages use the same Vishay SiC629 MOSFET with 80A per powerstage. ASUS uses its own DIGI+ EPU ASP2442GQW PWM controller to handle the circuit.

Storage & Expansion

The TUF Z890-PRO WIFI comes with great level of expandability with five PCIe slots and four SSD slots, along with four SATA ports. That’s plenty of slots available install new SSDs, HDDs, and add-in cards like the Thunderbolt 4 add-in card, high-speed networking cards like a 10GbE LAN port, or discrete sound cards if that’s needed. All in all, this is a highly flexible platform for uses beyond gaming.

LAN & Wi-Fi

The connectivity options include the Intel I-226V controller for 2.5Gb Ethernet, which is very common among motherboards today; on the contrary though, the Wi-Fi card used here is one from MediaTek, intriguingly (which only supports 160MHz, not 320MHz). This exact model is the one rebranded as AMD RZ717 for some AMD motherboards out there, and need I remind you that this is an Intel motherboard – not sure why Intel’s BE200/BE201 is not present here.

I/O

Some of the I/O controllers we found – this is non-exhaustive – including a pair of Intel JHL9040R Thunderbolt 4 controllers for the two ports behind, and the single Z890 chipset is located on the lower right powering the majority of PCIe and M.2 slots, along with other I/O ports. Besides these, the two Realtek chips shown above are responsible for power delivery to Thunderbolt / USB-C front panel ports.

Audio

The audio circuit is powered by Realtek ALC1220P codec with a fairly simple setup, and it’s the same chip used on motherboards in similar segments. Specs-wise, it’s got 120dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), which is more than sufficient for most people.

Other Features

Other notable features of the TUF Z890-PRO WIFI includes the tool-less design inherited from ROG motherboards, some of which are dedicated to the SSD slots. In particular, the primary SSD slot gets a M.2 Q-Release for its heatsink, while the updated M.2 Q-Latch secures the SSD itself. For specific SSDs outside of M.2 2280 form factor, the motherboard includes a M.2 Q-Slide module that allows the SSD to be secured by slotting the clip into the plate pre-installed on the slot.

Besides the SSD installation designs, there is also the PCIe Q-Release Slim latch that allows users to remove the GPUs simply by tilting the card slightly rightward. On the top edge you’ll find LED indicators for system components – no Q-Code, sadly – and down bottom you get an additional Thunderbolt header for add-in cards if you need more than two provided by the rear I/O.

Thermals

Drawing nearly 300 watts on the socket, the TUF Z890-PRO’s VRM has no issues handling the processor at maximum power with its heatsinks. Throughout a 15-minute stress test, the MOSFET temperatures hit 66°C at the end while not involving any airflow, representing the worst-case scenario for thermals.

BIOS & Software

The BIOS menu is familiar for ASUS users, and this motherboard also support Full HD interface by default, though this can make navigating between menus slightly more sluggish. If you don’t mind lower resolution for more responsiveness, you can always change the option in the menu. Some of the key features you can access here includes Q-Dashboard that gives you a quick overview of what’s connected to the system, and AI Overclocking that aims to simplify the process for novice users.

One neat feature I found within the BIOS menu is the ‘Flexkey’ option – this button is commonly found in flagship ROG Maximus / Crosshair motherboards, but it’s not present here in the TUF Z890-PRO WIFI. So why it’s included here in the BIOS menu, you may ask – turns out, ASUS simply repurposed the Reset button (which you probably never touch in your case) from the front panel into two functions: an RGB on/off switch, or direct access to BIOS menu without endlessly mashing the F2 or Delete key. Neat feature!

On the software side, Armoury Crate is responsible for customization and component tuning, and since we have the TUF motherboard, it features TUF-themed colors (although you can switch to ROG-themed UI if you prefer that look). In terms of feature set, it’s the same as what we found as we reviewed the ROG STRIX X870-A GAMING WIFI.

Verdict

The ASUS TUF Gaming Z890-PRO WIFI motherboard offers a unique proposition: plenty of PCIe slots onboard, giving users option to install many additional components and add-in cards for specialized purposes – and that’s not something that you’ll see from many motherboards today. For those who needed the PCIe slots it offers, the price of RM1,799 sure makes it very enticing to start a specialized build on.

Special thanks to ASUS Malaysia for providing the TUF Gaming Z890-PRO WIFI motherboard for this review. All owners of ASUS motherboards & graphics cards can claim their 4-year Premium Warranty upon registration by clicking on this link.