A premium motherboard built for Intel's newest Core Ultra Series 2 processors has reached a price near its lowest, offering a reminder that the ever-moving cycle of hardware rewards those who read the fine print. The ASUS ROG Strix Z890-E Gaming WiFi, now listed on Amazon at $299.99, carries real ambition in its design: generous memory, abundant storage, and a dense cluster of ports. Its value depends less on the discount than on whether a builder truly needs what it offers, and whether the choices made during assembly will honor the promise of the hardware.
ASUS ROG Strix Z890-E Gaming WiFi Falls to $299.99 at Amazon, Near Its Record Low
Seven M.2 sockets, but two of them quietly shrink the graphics slot to x8
Mark
Why does a $300 motherboard deal deserve a close read?
Mimi
Because the price is the easy part. The board is built for people who will use its seven M.2 sockets and fast I/O, and the discount only matters if you are one of them.
Luke
The framing is worth noting. The 25% off MSRP is the listing's figure, and the article calls it near the record low, but it gives no price history.
Mark
What's the catch in the storage?
Mimi
M.2_3 and M.2_4 share lanes with the main graphics slot. Fill both and the slot drops from x16 to x8.
Luke
The piece says the gaming penalty may be small, since PCIe 5.0 x8 equals PCIe 4.0 x16 in theory. That is theoretical bandwidth, not a measured result, and no benchmarks are given.
Mark
And the 25 USB ports?
Mimi
Fourteen are on the rear panel. The other 11 need case headers and cables.
Luke
Fair. Also, the compatibility point is firm: LGA 1851 means Core Ultra Series 2 only, not chips like the 14900K.
Mark
So who should skip it?
Mimi
Someone building a simple gaming PC. The article says cheaper Z890 boards can match its game performance.
El Pulso
- The board sits at $299.99 on Amazon, a quarter below list price, pulling attention toward a premium purchase that once felt out of reach.
- Its LGA 1851 socket turns away older LGA 1700 chips such as the Core i9-14900K, so buyers must commit to the Core Ultra Series 2 lineup before they can move forward.
- Seven M.2 sockets tempt builders to fill every slot, but populating M.2_3 or M.2_4 pulls the main graphics slot from x16 down to x8.
- The board's strengths in storage, networking and USB make it a strong choice for enthusiasts, while a simpler gaming build would find its extras unnecessary.
- Careful drive placement and a manual check before installation remain the clearest path to a clean build that performs as intended.
A premium motherboard built for Intel's newest Core Ultra Series 2 processors has reached a price near its lowest, offering a reminder that the ever-moving cycle of hardware rewards those who read the fine print. The ASUS ROG Strix Z890-E Gaming WiFi, now listed on Amazon at $299.99, carries real ambition in its design: generous memory, abundant storage, and a dense cluster of ports. Its value depends less on the discount than on whether a builder truly needs what it offers, and whether the choices made during assembly will honor the promise of the hardware.
ASUS's ROG Strix Z890-E Gaming WiFi has dropped to $299.99 on Amazon, a 25 percent cut from its list price and close to the lowest it has ever sold for. PC Guide's review treats the deal as a chance to look closely at a board that is built for a specific kind of builder.
The first hurdle is compatibility. The board works only with Intel Core Ultra Series 2 processors. Older LGA 1700 chips, including the Core i9-14900K, will not fit, even though the naming can look familiar across generations.
The board's real character shows in its storage and connectivity. It offers seven M.2 sockets and four SATA ports, along with four DDR5 slots that accept up to 256GB. The catch is that the two PCIe 5.0 sockets, M.2_3 and M.2_4, share lanes with the main graphics slot, so using them reduces it from x16 to x8. For most modern cards the gaming cost may be small, but PC Guide advises planning placement carefully and keeping M.2_1 for the fastest drive.
The rear panel holds 14 USB ports, including two Thunderbolt 4 connections, and the wireless and wired networking is fast, with Wi-Fi 7 and a 5Gb Ethernet controller. PC Guide's verdict is clear: this board suits enthusiasts with high-end processors and demanding needs. For a simpler gaming build, cheaper Z890 boards should perform nearly as well. Anyone buying should read the manual before filling the M.2 slots.
The ASUS ROG Strix Z890-E Gaming WiFi is listed on Amazon at $299.99, which is 25% below its MSRP. PC Guide describes that as just shy of the board's lowest-ever price. The board is a premium ATX model built on Intel's Z890 chipset and the LGA 1851 socket.
The first thing a buyer needs to know is compatibility. The board supports Intel Core Ultra desktop processors from Series 2, including compatible Core Ultra 5, Ultra 7 and Ultra 9 models. It does not support older LGA 1700 chips such as the Core i9-14900K, even though Intel's naming looks similar across the generations.
Memory is generous. Four DDR5 DIMM sockets accept up to 256GB, and ASUS lists official overclocked speeds of DDR5-9200+ under suitable conditions. The board handles conventional unbuffered DDR5, Intel XMP profiles and newer CUDIMM modules, and ASUS adds its own NitroPath routing, DIMM Fit, DIMM Flex and AEMP III. Power delivery uses 18 primary 110A power stages, plus supplementary stages for the processor's other voltage rails. That is more than a stock Core Ultra chip needs, so it leaves thermal headroom for long multicore loads or manual tuning. There are two eight-pin CPU power connectors, though most builds will not need both.
The feature that sets the board apart is storage: seven M.2 sockets. Three run PCIe 5.0 x4, three run PCIe 4.0 x4, and the seventh takes either a PCIe 4.0 x4 or a SATA M.2 drive. Four SATA 6Gb/s ports sit alongside them. There is a catch. The M.2_3 and M.2_4 PCIe 5.0 sockets share processor lanes with the main graphics slot, so filling them drops that slot from x16 to x8. PCIe 5.0 x8 matches the theoretical bandwidth of PCIe 4.0 x16, so the gaming penalty with a modern card may be small. Still, PC Guide advises planning drive placement. M.2_1 gives PCIe 5.0 x4 without that compromise. Using all seven sockets also creates a real cooling demand, especially with several PCIe 5.0 drives.
The main graphics slot is PCIe 5.0 x16 and can split into x8/x4/x4. A second full-length slot runs through the chipset at PCIe 4.0 x4, suited to a capture card or network adapter rather than a second graphics card.
The rear panel has 14 USB connections: two Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports, nine 10Gbps ports and three 5Gbps Type-A ports. One 10Gbps Type-C port delivers up to 30W. Internal headers add a front 20Gbps USB-C port, four 5Gbps ports and six USB 2.0 connections. That is where the advertised total of 25 comes from: 14 rear ports plus 11 header connections, not 25 rear sockets.
Networking includes a Realtek 5Gb Ethernet controller, which needs compatible equipment to show its speed. Wireless is 2×2 Wi-Fi 7 across 2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz with 320MHz channels and a theoretical 5.8Gbps, plus Bluetooth 5.4. Cooling connections include CPU, optional CPU and AIO-pump headers and five chassis-fan headers. Audio uses the Realtek ALC4080 codec with a Savitech SV3H712 amplifier, rated at 120dB signal-to-noise, though the rear panel has only two analogue jacks. BIOS FlashBack, a Clear CMOS button and tool-free M.2 retention help with assembly. The board measures 12 by 9.6 inches.
PC Guide's verdict is that it suits enthusiasts building around a high-end Core Ultra Series 2 chip who want several NVMe drives, fast networking or many USB devices. It is overbuilt for a gaming PC with one SSD, one graphics card and 1Gb networking, since cheaper Z890 boards should deliver similar frame rates. Anyone buying should check the manual before populating the M.2 sockets.
Citas Notables
The board suits enthusiasts with several NVMe drives and fast networking but is unnecessarily elaborate for a conventional gaming PC.— PC Guide (paraphrased)
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