ASUS ProArt Z890-CREATOR WIFI Z890 LGA 1851 ATX Motherboard, Intel® Core™ Ultra Processor Series 2 Ready, 16+2+1+2 stages, PCIe® 5.0, DDR5, Thunderbolt™ 5 Type-C®, 10+2.5 Gb LAN, WiFi 7, 5x M.2, AI OC

I'd read a number of horror stories about the current crop of Asus motherboards, but this motherboard has been just great, and I think most of those reviews reflect misunderstanding on the customer's part. (Amazon should remove the reviews for the obsolete models which no longer apply, e.g., the current model has WiFi.)First off, there have been complaints about bent pins. The manual contains a warning that if the protective cover has come loose in transit, pins can be damaged. Check first to make sure that the pins are OK, and send back if there's an issue.Then, there are complaints to the effect that four sticks of memory don't work at XMP rates. Well, they won't, and nobody ever said the would. You cannot combine two sets of overclocked memory; you would need a set of four. Even then, unbuffered memory isn't going to give you full speed with four modules installed. *People should check the Asus QVL before buying memory, as well as the QVL of the memory manufacturer, which has tighter standards. Pay attention to the number of sticks.*The memory I chose, 2 x 32 G Skill Trident 6400, was on the Asus QVL but not Gskill's. However, someone here said it worked, and GSkill listed all the other Asus motherboards of this generation, so I took a risk and it worked fine with XMP. I suspect I could overclock it beyond that if I tried. (There are also new 48 GB chips as well as faster ones, but in the absence of information I chose not to take that risk.) In any case, it does fine with Memtest86.One caveat: I'm using this with an i7-14700. The 13th gen chips may not have as much headroom in their memory controllers.That out of the way, the motherboard is built like a tank and has just about anything I could want, without the gamer bling that isn't of use to me. Such limitations as there are are mostly due to Intel's chipset, which has an inadequate number of PCIe lanes. That means that if you were to install a PCIe Gen 5 SSD -- which would require an accessory card on this motherboard -- you would have to change the first PCIe slot from x16 to x8. (Wish I could afford or justify a HEDT machine!) But PCIe 5 was of little use to me, since there are few SSD's that use it at this point.Another consideration that has nothing to do with Asus is that the Z790 is a dead-end board -- the next generation of chips will not be compatible. Those who can wait may want to do so. And the current Intel chips run hot hot hot hot hot!If I have a complaint, it's that I wish there were more USB slots on the back. It has a strange arrangement whereby two DP outputs from the graphics card can be plugged in at the back and the video taken out again via the Firewire ports, but I'm not sure why someone wouldn't just run DP cables. Anyway, isn't useful for me and it would just occupy a Firewire port that could be used for something else.Another limitation -- not as many slots as I'd like. Again, Intel -- it seems the processor manufacturers want to sell those HEDT boards something fierce.Finally, a major caveat -- Asus's support is famously bad. If you get this board, make sure it works well within Amazon's 30-day return window.The manual is well organized and excellent, and I love the layout of the BIOS. Warning: With Asus manuals, you *must* read all the fine print. It often contains crucial points.Value: Asus motherboards carry a premium. I've always had good luck both with the motherboards and their BIOS support. Some other motherboards may be as good -- I don't know, since I read and hear contradictory things. I just know that they work for me and it isn't worth it to me to take a risk.But most of these are quibbles. It's a great motherboard and my experience has been good so far.

This is a motherboard for professionals. Although, there is nothing to stop you from gaming on it. It is very powerful and quite cutting edge technology wise. It has lots of nice features. It is very fast, stable and reliable. I would say it even looks good if you are into stealthy PC builds. Not too many flashing color LEDs here.

Bought for a new PC build. Wanted something robust for visual arts creation and general use, with modern tech that wouldn't leave me screaming for an upgrade in a few years. This really fits the bill in an elegant way. I spent more than I initially planned, but I am confident I won't have to upgrade anytime soon unless there are massive leaps in technology.My build:• CPU: Intel Core i9-12900KF 3.2 GHz 16-Core Processor• CPU Cooler: Asus ROG RYUO III 240 ARGB 70.07 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler• Motherboard: [This product]• Memory: Corsair Vengeance RGB 64 GB (4 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL40 Memory• Storage: Samsung 980 Pro M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drives (3x)• Video Card: Asus DUAL OC GeForce RTX 3060 Ti 8 GB• Case: Fractal Design Define 7 XL• Power Supply: Corsair RM750x (2021) 750 WA few other peripherals here and there, but hose are the basics.Setup was average. I liked the PCIE latch mechanism which made installing the graphics card super easy. The M.2 latches were nice too. Comes with pretty much every accessory you'd need outside of what is required of peripherals.The I/O is modern and provides nothing but high-end connectivity. No PS2 port or USB2.0 on the back at all which is awesome. I don't want to have to look around for a USB 3 port.... they're all USB 3... or Thunderbolt! Speaking of thunderbolt.... I really do wish there were a more elegant (or internal) way of passing a video signal from your GPU to the Thunderbolt ports. I don't like that I need extra cables running across the back of my system. Its way better than needing a thunderbolt add-on card, but only barely.Asus' software has improved over the years but is still a tad clunky. Luckily you only really have to fuss with it during initial setup and every so often for maintenance.I have been using Asus systems for years and love how long they last. My old Asus x99 Deluxe system that I just replaced was almost 9 years old and still runs fine, albeit a little slow by 2023 standards.Definitely recommend this board! Hopefully it lasts as long as my last one!