ASUS TUF Gaming Z790-Plus WiFi D4 Motherboard Review

How Much Does It Cost?

The ASUS TUF GAMING Intel Z790-PLUS WIFI D4 DDR4 PCIe 5.0 ATX Motherboard is available now from Scan for a very reasonable £329.99, however, at the time of writing it was actually a little cheaper at just £319.99. While that’s not exactly loose change, this is a high-end Z-series motherboard with some over-engineered hardware to ensure more stable performance, from one of the most respectable higher-end hardware manufacturers in the world. It’s priced very competitively, and I guess a close rival would be something like the ASRock Z790 Steel Legend WiFi LGA1700 ATX Motherboard (DDR5), but while I like ASRock I think ASUS still carries the stronger reputation of the two, especially the TUF lineup.

Overview

ASUS pretty much leads the market with their high-end designs, often proving to be the #1 choice for enthusiast PC builders, overclockers, and gamers. Of course, the likes of Gigabyte and MSI put up a fair fight too, trading blows between them over the decades. But ASUS usually get away with a price premium for a good reason, they deliver consistent results time and time again. The TUF Gaming series has long been one of their most popular product ranges, and for damn good reason, as they promised to deliver long-life durability and stability and from my own many years of experience using their products personally, and testing them professionally, that’s pretty much held true.

Not everyone needs a TUF product, perhaps you can get one of their more affordable Prime series motherboards, or one of their more extreme-gaming-focused RoG boards, which are broadly the same. However, a few upgrades to things like the PCB, more durable fixing of the power connectors and PCIe slots, reinforced memory, and larger VRM with more durable power stability hardware. If you’re just playing Minecraft, maybe you’ll never see the benefit. However, if you’re pushing your PC hard every day for both work and gaming, for extended periods, that stability and reliability can pay off if you’re giving your computer a hard time.

TUF stuff aside though, this is a great-looking motherboard, and gamers buy as much with their eye on aesthetics as much as they do by looking at the specifications sheet. It’s really well designed, but delivers on a practical aspect too, with fast connectivity throughout, plenty of M.2 mounts, good size heatsinks, and a competent rear I/O that’ll more than meet the demands of your daily needs thanks to its display outputs, USB 3.2 10Gbps, and both 10Gbps and 20Gbps Type-C.

Should I Buy One?

For those wanting a great-looking motherboard that offers robust amounts of connectivity, versatility and reliability, then there’s no doubt about it, the latest entry in the TUF Gaming motherboard lineup is another solid entry and one that’s likely to prove very popular with those wanting to invest in the Z790 platform. You get much the same hardware as some of the more expensive ROG motherboards, but it also delivers some of the lowest VRM temperatures, and low power consumption, yet very fast performance, and it does this at a surprisingly sensible price!