The latest Z790 refresh board is the ASRock Z790 Riptide WiFi. This product is part of ASRock's Phantom Gaming lineup. It is, of course, compatible with 12th and 13th generation processors, but is an affordable option for Intel's 14th generation processors right out of the box.

Some would say that these latest Z790 motherboards are just like their predecessors with a fresh coat of paint. But not everyone upgrades every year. If you are upgrading from a system that is several years old, the Z790 Refresh model has a lot to offer: the Z790 Refresh model includes the latest connectivity features, electrical improvements, and support for faster memory. And while many Z790 refresh boards have gone up another notch in price, some boards, such as the ASRock Z790 Riptide, still offer a lot of value.

The Z790 Riptide WiFi costs only $250, but has enough features to make some more expensive boards look average: WiFi 7, DDR5-8000+ memory support, five M.2 slots, and eight SATA ports. In addition, it supports PCIe 5.0 SSDs and has excellent core features. [The Z790 Riptide WiFi is a clear improvement over its predecessor, the Z790 Riptide. As its name suggests, the latter has no WiFi at all. The new model has faster memory support, improved VRM, a refined audio section, and, curiously, a rear-embedded DisplayPort connector suitable for use with ASRock's 13.3-inch side panel kit.

The Z790 Riptide WiFi has a simple all-black look with a little splash of metallic blue and purple above the rear I/O. Below the bottom M.2 heatsink is a strip of RGB LEDs, which are very bright when viewed directly. In addition to the three ARGB headers, there is another RGB header that supports a 36W strip. There are seven fan headers, a cooling and RGB-friendly option.

On the specs side, there is a lot to cover: four memory slots support speeds over 8000 MHz. Dual-rank modules are supported at 6800 MHz+, and four full 192 GB dual-rank modules run up to 5600 MHz+. This speaks to the improved memory controller of the 14th generation processors and the electrical fine-tuning of the Z790 refresh board to better handle large, high-density memory.

On the storage side, the Z790 Riptide WiFi outperforms boards twice its price, with no less than five M.2 slots. The primary slot supports PCIe 5.0 SSDs and comes with a heatsink with a reasonably large surface area that can be installed with a simple screwless mechanism. This is an increasingly common feature and a welcome one. All four other slots support PCIe 4.0 drives, and all are covered by screw-in heat sinks.

Affordable boards with five slots are rare enough, but add eight SATA ports to the mix and you have a motherboard with best-in-class storage potential. Not many boards support so many drives at any price point.

The complement of PCIe slots is somewhat limited with five M.2 slots, as a standard ATX board only has a certain amount of space. The primary x16 slot supports PCIe 5.0 cards. There is a secondary physical PCIe 4.0 x16 slot (electrically x4) and a PCIe 3.0 x1 slot. The secondary slots are well placed, and the triple-slot graphics cards do not get in the way.

The VRM is strong for a board of this price: a 16+1+1 phase design with 90a stage, which will support any LGA 1700 processor. The heatsinks are relatively sturdy, but not connected by heatpipes, so they get hot to the touch. Not surprisingly, if you plan to abuse the Core i9 14900K or 13900K on a regular basis, you'll need adequate airflow. However, you won't find many of these combinations on a $250 board, so I have no complaints.

The rear I/O has an ample number of ports, although a 20Gbps USB port would be nice, but at this price you can't complain; the 20Gbps case headers more than make up for it. USB on the back consists of two Type-A 10Gbps ports and five 5Gbps ports, one of which is Type-C. There are also two USB 2.0 ports; ASRock calls two of the 5Gbps ports Lightning Gaming ports. They are connected to two different controllers for the purpose of minimizing mouse and keyboard latency. Looks good. Looks good.

The Z790 Riptide WiFi has a DP 1.4 port and an HDMI 2.1 port. In addition to the aforementioned eDP connector, it supports 1080p at 60Hz.

Ethernet is provided by a Killer E3100G 2.5G controller. The E3100G is becoming a rarity in recent motherboards, with many manufacturers using Intel-branded i225 and i226 for 2.5G networking. The star of the networking show is the inclusion of WiFi 7; I would not have criticized ASRock if they had gone with a 6E controller at this price. [Audio is handled by the Realtek ALC1220 codec. ASRock has added a separate PCB layer for each stereo channel to detect impedance for different types of headphones.

System Performance

Gaming Performance

We tested the Z790 Riptide WiFi at 14900K and it performed well. The bus speed was approximately 99.75 MHz. Theoretically, this is a 0.25% performance loss. That is not significant.

The same general conclusion applies to all Z790 refresh boards. From years of experience, BIOS engineers are very familiar with the underlying microcode of LGA 1700 processors and motherboards. Homogeneous systems are distinguished only by almost negligible performance differences.

ASRock performed particularly well in the 3DMark storage test; while not the last of our SSD tests, both tests were faster than any other refresh board we have tested. These are the best results we've seen for the Z790 Riptide WiFi's class-leading storage potential.

When it comes to gaming performance, the motherboard makes little difference compared to the CPU and especially the GPU; the Z790 Riptide WiFi, even with the 14900K and RTX 4090, as long as the case has good airflow to cool the VRM, the gaming system It will not cause any problems at the center of the system.

Armed with a set of G.Skill Trident Z DDR5-7200's I was able to hit DDR5-8000 but could not stabilize 8200Mhz. It's possible that my kit isn't up to that speed; I won't know until I get a DDR5-8000 kit. In general, the board did everything I requested. Boot times were good and I have always liked the sub-menu layout of ASRock's BIOS, especially compared to AM5 systems.

The latest generation Z790 motherboards start at around $190-$200, while motherboards with WiFi 7 start at around $250 for the ASRock Z790 Riptide WiFi. That alone is laudable, but add five M.2, one PCIe 5.0 support, eight SATA ports, VRM that is a step above entry-level boards, 20Gbps USB up front, and DDR5-8000+ support, and suddenly many expensive motherboards seem pricey. [If you need a 10GB LAN, a fancy OLED screen, an M.2 add-in card, or a gazillion-amp VRM for ln2 overclocking, you'll have to pay more, but for those looking for a solid, mature, and feature-packed budget option, the ASRock Z790 Riptide WiFi cannot be overlooked.

A 20Gbps USB port on the back would be nice, and a more solid VRM heatsink would be nice, but you can't have it all in the $250 price range. Sure, you can't drop in a next-gen processor, but that is true of all LGA 1700 boards.

But one or two drawbacks are not even that. Those are wish list items. In the end, the ASRock Z790 Riptide WiFi is faultless. This motherboard is a class-leading LGA 1700 motherboard with unbeatable features for the price. I award this motherboard the Editor's Choice Award.