Fresh raptor cages
Aside from the enthusiast sector, the rule of thumb for Intel platforms is “two years, two generations” – so far. While it is debatable whether the Socket 1700 offers more than one generation of technology with Alder Lake, Raptor Lake and Raptor Lake Refresh, its 28-month career already surpasses four of the six predecessors and the others are only a matter of time – The LGA1851 will not take over until autumn at the earliest, possibly in the run-up to Christmas. (Base 1200: 18 months from start to successor; 1151 [CFL]: 31; 1151 [SKL] and 1150: 26 each; 1156: 16; 1155: 29) If you want to put together a new Intel system in the near future – the limited upgrade prospects do not speak against buying a powerful CPU directly – you need an LGA1700 substructure. However, this platform has been on the market for so long that the three boards rated best by PCGH are no longer sold, number four is only rarely sold at still unreasonable prices and the old DDR4 test candidates have to be ignored in view of the decline in DDR5 Prices and consistently higher DDR5 performance have long been discouraged.
The test field
But are there any new motherboards to test? Sure, of course! Although the Core i 14000 CPUs are not accompanied by an I/O hub refresh, motherboard manufacturers can also offer revised versions of existing designs without “Z890”, such as Z790 Dark Hero, Z790 Pro X and Z790 Tomahawk Max prove. The Z790 Nova is even a completely new design, and NZXT's N7 Z790 arrived so late to the i-13000 party that you could almost classify the board as a 14000 offering.
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You will find the following products in the test:
Asrock Phantom Gaming Z790 Nova WiFiAsus Republic of Gamers Z790 Dark HeroGigabyte Aorus Z790 Pro
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