Z790 motherboard was officially released today and is used to match the 13th generation Core processor just launched by Intel . This time, the Z790 motherboard and the 13th generation Core continue the previous generation LGA 1700 slot, so the 12th generation platform is actually interoperable with the 13th generation platform. If the 12th platform updates the motherboard BIOS, it can be compatible with the 13th generation Core . The 13th generation Core still supports two memory DDR5 and DDR4, and the installation matching is more diverse. Today's review is the motherboard, the Gigabyte Z790 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard. Although this model is the entry-level model in the Gigabyte Z790 series, with the upgrade of motherboard materials in the past two years, the Gigabyte Z790 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard materials can also meet the daily load needs of the 13th generation flagship Core i9.
Let’s first introduce the 13th generation Core processor released this time. A total of 6 models of the 13th generation Core processors have been released, all of which are unlocked series with K tail labels, namely Core i9-13900K/KF, Core i7-13700K/KF and Core i5-13600K/KF. The flagship model Core i9-13900K/KF has 24 cores and 32 threads, including 8 performance cores and 16 energy efficiency cores. The Core i7-13700K/KF has 16 cores and 24 threads, including 8 performance cores and 8 energy efficiency cores, and the Core i5-13600K/KF has 14 cores and 20 threads, including 6 performance cores and 8 energy efficiency cores. There are so many threads because Intel adopts a double energy efficiency core design, and the number of energy efficiency cores has doubled compared to the previous generation. The energy efficiency core architecture is still Gracemont architecture, and of course it still cannot be hyperthreaded. However, the frequency upgrade and the L2 cache per cluster have been increased to 4MB, and the pre-read algorithm has been deeply optimized, the performance has been improved.
frequency, the 13th generation Core performance core frequency has been increased to above 5GHz. The flagship model Core i9-13900K/KF has a maximum turbo frequency of up to 5.8GHz, the Core i7-13700K/KF has a maximum 5.4GHz, and the Core i5-13600K/KF has a maximum 5.1GHz. The performance core architecture of
3 generation Core has been upgraded from the Golden Cove microarchitecture to the Raptor Cove microarchitecture, which can bring up to 600MHz frequency improvement and still supports hyperthreading design. At the same time, it has higher level 2 cache capacity and adopts a new dynamic prefetcher algorithm "L2P", which can achieve precatch more accurately.
3 generation Core provides two memory controllers, , DDR5 and DDR4, DDR5 memory frequency is upgraded to 5600 MT/s, and DDR4 is still 3200MT/s. The basic power consumption of these 6 13th-generation Cores without locking frequency is 125W, and the maximum power consumption is slightly different. The Core i5 is 181w, and the Core i7 and Core i9 are both 253w, which is a bit more than the previous generation.
At the same time, Intel and Microsoft cooperated to optimize the Windows 11 22H2 system for the 13th generation Core, and the thread thread scheduler has also been upgraded to exert stronger strength.
1 Gigabyte Z790 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard introduction
The Gigabyte Z790 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard tested this time will also be tested with the latest 13th generation Core processor. The Gigabyte Z790 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard has a 16+1+2 phase power supply module, a single-phase core power supply output of up to 70A, PWM controller is NCP 81530R, MOSFER is designed with integrated DR.Mos, and the model is TDA21472 of Infineon .
In order to ensure stable operation, Gigabyte has prepared a very thick full coverage heat sink, and there is a thermal pad at the bottom covering the MOS tube.
CPU power supply interface is designed with dual 8PIn design,
Gigabyte Z790 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard supports DDR5 memory, provides 4 DDR5 memory slots, and supports frequency up to DDR5 7600. This motherboard also has a DDR4 version.
Gigabyte Z790 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard has three PCIe x16 long slots, the top one is the most special, using SMD patch technology alloy armor, the buckle is elevated with EZ-Latch, which is easy to disassemble in the chassis and has a very high recognition. At the same time, this supports PCIe 5.0 x16 bandwidth, which is suitable for installation of high-end independent graphics. The remaining two are PCIe 4.0 x4, suitable for expanding other devices. There are 4
M.2 in total, all supporting PCIe 4.0, the top-most direct-connected CPU is equipped with Gigabyte's third-generation M.2 heat dissipation armor, with a thickness of up to 2.5 cm, which can quickly help the non-vard solid heat discharge.
where the M.2 slot is fixed, and the EZ-Latch tool-free disassembly button is used.
I/O area, Gigabyte Z790 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard is pre-installed with I/O backplane, providing 4 USB 2.0 interfaces, 3 USB 3.2 GEN1 interfaces, 2 USB 3.2 GEN2 interfaces, and one USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type C interface, which can output 20Gbps bandwidth. In addition, there is an HDMI interface, a DP interface, a 2.5G network interface, and a Wi-Fi 6E antenna interface.
The sound card of this motherboard is ALC897, a classic chip that supports .1 channel audio. In terms of
BIOS, the Gigabyte Z790 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard is equipped with a complete Chinese graphical BIOS interface.
This time Gigabyte added DDR5 automatic overclocking function to the BIOS, and added more overclocking presets for memory particles.
has prepared a SPD save and read menu for XMP3.0 Gigabyte, which can quickly complete the memory SPD settings.
2 Practical test
Next, start the actual test, let’s take a look at the test platform first.
Memory test:
Let’s first test the performance of DDR5 memory on the 13th generation platform. The Gigabyte Z790 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard BIOS enables the XMP setting to directly reach 6000 frequency, and use AIDA 64 to test the read and write performance. Under the platform of
3 generation Core, DDR5 memory does have better reading performance. The AIDA 64 read performance has exceeded 9W and the write performance has reached 8W, which is much better than the 12th generation.
Single-threaded test
Next, let’s take a look at the processor’s single-threaded test results, using Super PI and CINEBENCH R11.5/R15/R20/R23 for testing.
Core i9-13900K is currently the processor with the highest single-core frequency, so it has no suspense to break through a new high in single-threaded tests. Super PI software has even made an epic breakthrough to less than 6 seconds, and there are currently no rivals.
Multi-threaded test:
Next we start multi-threaded testing, and continue to use CINEBENCHR11.5/R15/R20/R23 multi-core project test to see the results.
Because of the double energy efficiency core, the Core i9-13900K has a total of 24 cores and 32 threads. The performance of multi-core is also greatly increased. CINEBENCH R23 exceeds its own Core i9-12900K. In addition to CINEBENCHR11.5, the other tests are also stronger than the Ryzen 9 7950X. .
Content creation test:
Content creation test We chose POV-Ray rendering, Blender rendering and UL Procyon image/video editing for testing.
Core i9-13900K still performs better in content creation tests. After all, this processor has stronger multi-core and single-core performance, and the actual test will not be disappointed.
D MARK test:
Next start the 3D Mark test, the projects involved include FireStrike physical performance, Time Spy CPU and TimeSpy Extreme CPU performance, as well as CPU Profile maximum thread and single-threaded test. Fire Strike mainly tests the processor's physical computing capabilities in the DirectX 11 environment. Time Spy and Time Spy Extreme test the CPU performance in the DirectX 12 environment. CPUProfile is a new test of 3D Mark, which specializes in testing the performance of multi-threading processors in games.
D Mark test, Core i9-13900K still surpassed Ryzen 9 7950X without any surprise, and showed strong dominance in the current test.
Game test:
Next we conduct game tests, select 5 games such as "CS:GO", " Assassin's Creed: Odyssey ", "Tomb Raider: Shadow", "Cyberpunk 2077" and " Far Cry 5" for testing, with resolutions of 4K, 2K and 1080p, and use benchmark for testing.
game test, the 13th generation Core still has better frame performance. "CS:GO" has directly exceeded 700 frames at 1080p, basically leading Ryzen 9 7950X. Only "Cyberpunk 2077" game, the 13th generation Core is poorly optimized, and its performance is even worse than that of the 12th generation Core.
Copying test:
Finally, we used AIDA 64 to perform the copying test to see if the Gigabyte Z790 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard can withstand the load pressure of Core i9-13900K under high load.
has been copied for nearly an hour. The temperature of Core i9-13900K is around 90℃. The Gigabyte Z790 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard still withstands the pressure of this processor through its excellent heat dissipation ability. Of course, the pressure brought by Core i9-13900K is very high. Currently, it is only recommended to match it with 360mm water cooling or air cooling of the same level.
3 was written at the end
This time, the 13th generation Core can be said to have really made Intel proud. In fact, the combat performance just exceeded the Ryzen 7000 processor launched last month, suppressing the new AMD processor. At the same time, the 13th-generation Core can support two generations of memory, which makes DDR4 more cost-effective compared to AMD's new platform when paired with the 13th-generation Core.
Of course, the power of the 13th generation Core is that it has a relatively complete ecosystem and rarely encounters bugs. There are also exclusive software for enthusiasts such as XTU to meet the needs of hardcore players. The first 13th generation K/KF Core processors to be paired with motherboards are undoubtedly the Z790 series motherboards. The evaluation uses Gigabyte Z790 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard to fully cope with mainstream 13th generation K/KF Core processors. The pressure is a bit high when paired with Core i9-13900K, so in addition to this motherboard, a high-end water cooling is needed to suppress it. The mid-to-high-end 13 Core i7 and Core i5 are not under much pressure, and they are more suitable for this motherboard and their positioning is also in line with the positioning.
This motherboard is very powerful in power supply. It has 4 M.2 slots on the expansion interface. It also has a rich USB interface in the I/O area. It also supports 2.5G and WIFI 6E dual network cards, providing a low-latency gaming and entertainment environment. At the same time, Gigabyte BIOS function has added automatic overclocking, SPD saving and transfer functions, providing new gameplay for novices and overclocking enthusiasts.
