ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Hero Review: Worth It?

Spec sheets tell you what’s inside. They won’t tell you if the BIOS is rubbish, whether the VRM actually handles a 13900K under load, or if those five m2" class="vae-glossary-link" data-term="m2">M.2 slots cause thermal throttling when you fill them. I’ve spent about a month with the ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Hero, building systems, running stress tests, and dealing with the reality of living with a premium Intel motherboard. Here’s what actually matters.

Z790 is Intel’s top-tier chipset for 12th through 14th gen processors. You get full overclocking support for both CPU and memory, PCIe 5.0 for your GPU (though Gen 5 graphics cards are still rare), and enough connectivity to run a proper workstation setup. The Hero implements this properly with all five M.2 slots getting proper heatsinks, which matters more than ASUS’s marketing wants to admit.

Let’s talk about what matters. The Hero uses 20+1 power stages with 90A capacity per phase. That’s not marketing nonsense – it’s genuinely robust hardware. I ran a 13900K at 5.8GHz all-core (pulling around 320W) for extended periods during testing. VRM temperatures peaked at 58°C under the chunky heatsinks. That’s proper thermal performance.

Compare this to budget Z790 boards with 14+1 or 16+1 configurations. They’ll run an i9, sure. But under sustained all-core loads, you’ll see VRM temps in the 70s or 80s, which degrades component lifespan. If you’re spending £500+ on a 13900K or 14900K, cheaping out on the motherboard is backwards thinking.

The heatsinks themselves are substantial – proper aluminium blocks with good mounting pressure, not the thin decorative rubbish you see on some boards. There’s active cooling support too, with a dedicated VRM fan header that ramps based on VRM temperature. I didn’t need it in my well-ventilated case, but it’s there if you’re building in something restrictive.

One thing ASUS gets right: the 8-pin and 4-pin EPS power connectors are positioned at the top left where they should be, with enough clearance for proper cable routing. I’ve dealt with boards where these connectors interfere with radiator mounting. Not here.

I’ve spent more hours in BIOS interfaces than I care to admit. ASUS’s implementation on the Hero is… decent. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than most. The EZ Mode gives you basic controls and system info without overwhelming new builders. Advanced Mode is where you’ll spend time if you’re tweaking.

XMP worked first try with every DDR5 kit I tested – Corsair Vengeance at 6000MHz, G.Skill Trident Z5 at 6400MHz, and Kingston Fury at 5600MHz. That sounds basic, but I’ve dealt with boards where XMP is a lottery. Manual memory tuning is comprehensive if you’re into that – voltage controls, timing adjustments, training settings. It’s all there.

Fan control is properly implemented with six four-pin headers (three CPU, three chassis). You can set custom curves based on CPU temp, motherboard temp, or VRM temp. Response time is adjustable so fans don’t ramp up and down constantly. The Q-Fan Tuning wizard actually works – it tests each fan’s RPM range and sets sensible curves automatically.

My complaints? There are too many sub-menus. Finding specific settings requires remembering which of the five “Advanced” tabs they’re hidden under. And the search function is rubbish – it finds settings but doesn’t tell you which menu path to follow. Small annoyances, but they add up when you’re configuring a new build.

Four DIMM slots with support for 128GB total (4x32GB modules). I tested with both two-stick and four-stick configurations. With two sticks, hitting 6400MHz was straightforward with XMP. Four sticks at 6000MHz also worked fine, though you might need to bump the memory controller voltage slightly for 6400MHz with all slots populated.

Slot spacing is standard – no clearance issues with large air coolers. The slots have proper reinforcement, not that flimsy plastic rubbish that cracks when you’re installing RAM.

Five M.2 slots. That’s the headline feature for storage, and ASUS actually implemented it properly. Each slot gets its own dedicated heatsink – not shared covers that trap heat between drives. I filled all five slots with Samsung 990 Pro drives during testing and monitored temperatures under sustained writes. Peak temps stayed under 65°C, which is perfectly acceptable for Gen 4 drives.

The first M.2 slot (closest to CPU) supports PCIe 5.0 x4 if you’re using a Gen 5 drive. The other four are PCIe 4.0 x4. Realistically, Gen 5 SSDs are still expensive and don’t offer meaningful real-world benefits for most users, so having four Gen 4 slots is more practical.

You also get four SATA ports if you’re still running mechanical drives or older SSDs. They’re positioned at the board edge, which is sensible for cable routing. Note that some M.2 slots share bandwidth with SATA ports – check the manual for the specific configuration, but in practice you’re unlikely to hit conflicts unless you’re running all five M.2 drives plus multiple SATA devices.

Rear I/O is comprehensive. Ten USB ports plus two Thunderbolt 4 ports. That’s enough for most setups without needing a hub. The Thunderbolt 4 ports are proper Intel-certified controllers, not the cut-down implementations some manufacturers use. I tested with a Thunderbolt dock and an external NVMe enclosure – both worked at full 40Gbps speeds.

WiFi 6E is Intel AX211, which is reliable. I got consistent 900+ Mbps on my gigabit connection with the board positioned in a case with solid side panels. Bluetooth 5.2 works fine for wireless peripherals. Wired network is 2.5GbE using Intel’s I225-V controller – the revised version that fixed the earlier hardware bugs.

Audio is SupremeFX branding over a Realtek ALC4082 codec with an ESS ES9218 DAC. It’s fine for most headphones and speakers. If you’re running proper studio monitors or high-impedance headphones, you’ll want a dedicated DAC/amp anyway, but the onboard audio is better than budget boards.

The Hero sits at the top of ASUS’s mainstream Z790 lineup (there’s the Extreme and Apex above it, but those are £600+ halo products). The MSI Carbon WiFi is its closest competitor – similar VRM quality, five M.2 slots, but only one Thunderbolt 4 port instead of two. If you don’t need dual Thunderbolt, the Carbon saves you money.

The Gigabyte Aorus Elite AX represents the upper mid-range tier. It’s a solid board with decent VRM (sufficient for i7 or even i9 at stock), but the 16+1 power stages with lower amperage will run warmer under sustained heavy loads. It also has one fewer M.2 slot and no Thunderbolt. But it’s significantly cheaper, which matters if you’re budget-constrained.

Where the Hero justifies its premium: VRM thermal performance under extended high loads, dual Thunderbolt 4 for professional workflows, and five M.2 slots with proper individual heatsinks. If those features matter to your use case, it’s worth the extra cost. If you’re gaming on an i7 and need two M.2 slots, it’s overkill.

The 24-pin ATX and EPS power connectors have good positioning. The front panel USB 3.2 Gen 2 header is at the bottom right, which can be awkward in cases with the header cable routed from the left side, but that’s a minor gripe. All fan headers are accessible even with a large GPU installed.

M.2 installation is tool-free for the heatsinks – they use spring-loaded clips. The drives themselves still need the tiny screws, but at least you’re not fumbling with screws for the heatsink covers. I appreciate that each M.2 slot has a clearly marked label showing which CPUs and configurations enable that slot.

One nice touch: ASUS includes Q-LED diagnostic lights near the 24-pin connector. If the system doesn’t POST, these LEDs indicate whether it’s a CPU, RAM, GPU, or boot device issue. Saves time troubleshooting compared to boards with just a beep code or nothing at all.

The VRM quality difference between this and a budget Z790 board matters for longevity. Running VRMs at 55-60°C versus 75-85°C affects component lifespan. Over five years, that thermal stress adds up. Same with the M.2 heatsinks – proper individual cooling versus shared covers makes a measurable difference when you’re running multiple high-performance drives.

The connectivity premium is harder to justify if you don’t need it. If you’re not using Thunderbolt 4, don’t need five M.2 slots, and aren’t pushing your CPU hard, there are better value options. The ASUS ROG Strix Z790-A Gaming WiFi gives you 80% of the features at a lower price point. The MSI Pro Z790-A WiFi is even cheaper and perfectly adequate for i5 or i7 builds.

But if you’re building a workstation that needs multiple NVMe drives, external Thunderbolt storage, and will run CPU-intensive tasks regularly, the Hero’s premium features become practical necessities rather than nice-to-haves. In that context, it’s not overpriced – it’s appropriately priced for what it delivers.