Gigabyte Z890 Aorus Elite WiFi7 Ice review

It’s been quite a strange launch for Intel with Core Ultra desktop processors crashing and burning (thankfully not physically this time) in reviews, and sales numbers are understandably feeble, especially compared to the Ryzen 7 9800X3D which even sold out all other Ryzen processors from AMD Total 9000 processors. Only because of the long list of issues and promised fixes did we even consider choosing the modern Intel platform and considering a motherboard like the Gigabyte Z890 Aorus Elite WiFi7 Ice.

However, from the very beginning, constant updates make testing arduous.

BIOS updates, driver updates, Windows updates all came bulky and brisk for Z890 motherboards in hopes of improving performance. Today we’ll see if the latest improvements to the platform, in particular the Gigabyte Z890 Aorus Elite WiFi7 Ice, make it worth considering, even in a direct comparison to its X870 counterpart, which costs a tad more.

Of course, Intel is only releasing cheaper LGA1851 motherboard options this month, while AMD has had to make do with older 600-series chipsets on its platform. Like the AMD 800 series, the focus is on Wi-Fi 7, PCIe Gen 5 support, tool-less features and brisk USB Type-C ports, and being Intel means Thunderbolt 4.

The biggest draw of this particular board is its brilliant white color scheme, which even extends to the PCIe and memory slots, as well as the fine details on the PCB such as the POST code display and RGB headers. Really nice touches, Gigabyte.

Considering this board leaves a lot of change at the $300 price point, in terms of aesthetics and features it doesn’t seem like a bad option at all. It looks attractive thanks to Gigabyte’s attention to detail with the white theme, although it’s a shame it doesn’t have a bit more RGB lighting to really make it stand out.

As it stands, there are only two petite illuminated areas above the I/O panel and below the chipset heatsink, although it does have 3-pin and 4-pin RGB headers that also allow you to add your own accessories. Spending over $300 will likely get you a few extra fan-friendly headlines, but the six included here are enough for most PC owners.

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Despite being recently launched and featuring Intel’s flagship chipset, the board only has one PCIe 5.0 M.2 port, while its AMD counterpart has three. However, only one of them won’t steal lanes from your graphics card, so it’s moot. Both boards have four SATA ports, which is a dying breed as many similarly priced AMD B850 boards have narrow them to just two.

Gigabyte’s tool-free features are everywhere, from graphics card release via the PCIe EZ-Latch Plus button to its equivalent on M.2 ports, heatsinks, and even a quick-connect Wi-Fi antenna, all of which reduces the time it takes to hop into your favorite game . Features like POST code display and power and reset buttons are usually reserved for more high-priced boards, but Gigabyte has managed to include them.

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The I/O panel also has a respectable nine USB Type-A ports, although there is only one Thunderbolt 4 Type-C port, while most USB4-equipped AMD boards have two of them, which allows for a bit more flexibility. If you want to expand this, there are Thunderbolt 4 hubs, but they tend to be high-priced.

The white theme also features Gigabyte’s EFI interface, so the company deserves a lot of credit for going this far. It’s not as up-to-date as the latest updates from Asus or MSI, but it’s still straightforward to find your way around and access useful settings like the XMP memory profile, boot order, and fan controls, with the latter having an excellent package in EFI as well as Windows using free Gigabyte software.

You’ll need to exploit our performance comparisons as there have been so many performance patch updates for Intel Core Ultra processors over the past few weeks that direct comparisons to boards tested at launch are rather arduous.

Testbed for PC gamers
Processor: Intel Core Ultra 9 285K | Cooler: Asus ROG Ryujin III 360 ARGB Extreme | ARIES: 32GB Corsair Vengeance Pro DDR5-6000 | Storage: 2TB Corsair MP700 | Charger: MSI MAG AB50GL 850 W | Operating system: Windows 11 24H2 | Chassis: Open platform | Monitor: Dell U2415

Temperatures, however, do not change that much, and in the case of the Z890 board working with our Core Ultra 9 285K, it managed to reduce by a few degrees the temperature that we saw at peak moments on the Asus ROG Maximus Z890 Hero and MSI MEG Z890 Ace 50°C. The peak temperature of the PCIe 5.0 SSD was slightly higher than the Asus board, but it was 72°C, just outside the danger zone, as opposed to the 77°C recorded by the MSI MEG Z890 Ace.

Performance seems to have improved compared to our earlier Z890 reviews, but that’s not Gigabyte’s fault, but a slew of tweaks from Intel and Microsoft. Gaming performance was generally higher, sometimes by huge amounts, but it also saw smaller gains in Cinebench, Blender, and 7-zip, taking the performance crown each time.

A combination of BIOS updates, Windows 11 24H2, and the latest Windows updates all play their part here, with more fixes coming in the future. However, power consumption was largely comparable to other Z890 boards we tested, with a CPU pack power reading of 91W in our gaming test and a peak of 239W in Cinebench, coming within 10W of other boards.

If the Intel Core Ultra 200 series had knocked it out of the market or even offered decent gains over its predecessor across the board, and also given AMD something to think about, this review would have had a very different course. However, as things stand, it’s arduous to recommend anything related to the Z890 due to our initial findings, but the benchmarks presented here suggest that the situation at Arrow Lake has improved, and sometimes even significantly.

The problem is, if you’re building a gaming PC, there’s only one CPU you should pair a $300 motherboard with, and that’s the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D. In fact, it’s so good that it outperformed all other AMD Ryzen 9000 processors combined. However, you’re probably here because for some reason you want to buy a Z890 board and not something from AMD.

Gigabyte has taken the white theme to the extreme, it has better port options in some areas than some of the AMD B850 boards we’ve seen, and Gigabyte has introduced a lot more features that we expected considering it was actually a change from $300. Its AMD counterpart offers a few extra bits for about the same price, but if three hundred dollars is your limit and you want a white Z890 motherboard, this is easily the best option available.