The Asus TUF Gaming Z890-Pro WIFI is an ATX LGA1851 motherboard designed for Intel’s Core Ultra Series 2 “Arrow Lake” processors.

For what is effectively Intel’s 15th generation of desktop processors, it is all change. The introduction of a new motherboard chipset is not unusual for a new processor generation but for the last three years, Intel’s 12th, 13th and 14th-generation CPUs have happily used the 600 and 700-series chipsets. For the Core Ultra Series 2 “Arrow Lake” Processors we have a new 800-series chipset, a new processor socket type in the LGA1851 and no more DDR4 memory option- from now on it’s just DDR5.

The Asus TUF Gaming range complements the company’s enthusiast Republic of Gaming branding but goes more for a rugged industrial MIL-Spec look with high-performance gaming in mind.  The TUF Gaming Z890-Pro WIFI is a top-of-the-range motherboard for those wanting to make the most of Intel’s “Arrow Lake” processors with plenty of component options.

The box comes complete with all the accessories that you need to install the board. There are two SATA6 cables, a WiFi antenna, M.2 screws and rubber mounting pads, and a special M.2 Q-Slide fixing for small NVMEs. There’s also a sheet of stickers and a removable plastic TUF Gaming nameplate that can be mounted on the heatsink.

Whilst there’s a quick start guide with all the essential info, there’s no full manual or driver CD/USB. The manual is available to download from the Asus website, as are the drivers. The board will automatically request that you download and install Asus’s Armory Crate app as soon as you start up Windows. Armory Crate will then download/upgrade the drivers that you need, which is pretty cool. There’s also a range of optional utilities that you can also install via the app. Whilst I’ve stayed away from Armory Crate in the past, it’s not a bad app, now, and useful for keeping your Asus drivers up to date.

The board itself is something special. Whilst Asus Prime motherboards tend to come in white, the TUF Gaming Z890-Pro WIFI is a silver-coloured board. The silver PCB and heatsinks make the TUF Gaming motherboard look quite striking. The large heatsinks over the input/output panel and the VRMs are complemented by a sectional heatsink for the M.2 sockets that surrounds the second and third PCIe connectors.

The silver colouring will complement the aesthetics of lighter components but also provides a nice contrast with darker components. In the test rig, the pastel RGB lighting from the Corsair Titan RX RGB cooler and fans looked fantastic reflecting off the surface of the motherboard.

With a standard ATX layout, the board is easy to install and there were no surprised mounting in the test rig. All the connectors are where you’d expect them to be, making it an easy board to just swap out if you are upgrading.

It has two 8-pin 12V CPU power sockets (so make sure your PSU has the required outputs) and easy-to-reach CPU_FAN, CPU_OPT and AIO_PUMP headers at the top. There are 5Gbps and 20Gbps USB headers on the right side, below the 24-pin ATX power socket, with a couple of SATA6 connectors below them. There are two more SATA6 connectors at the bottom of the board, near the USB 2.0 headers and front panel headers. Lighting enthusiasts will appreciate the easy-access ARGB headers on the side and bottom of the board.

The LGA 1851 is only compatible with the new Intel Core Ultra Series 2 processors. It’s the same size as the LGA 1700, but don’t try to stick your old CPU in the new board. It is, however, compatible with coolers that fit the previous LGA 1700 boards.

For testing I used an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K processor cooled with a Corsair iCue Link Titan 240 RX RGB all-in-one cooler. With the Core Ultra Series 2 “Arrow Lake” processors only supporting DDR5 memory, I used two 16GB Crucial DDR5-6000 Pro modules. These are easy to fit using the Asus single Q-DIMM clips. The motherboard supports up to four DDR5 DIMMs to 192GB, running up to 9066+MT/s (overclocked). The board also supports the new CUDIMM modules.

The rear I/O panel has a DisplayPort and HDMI port for on-chip graphics, as well as 2x Intel Thunderbolt 4 (USB Type-C) ports for DisplayPort and Thunderbolt video output. There are also 6x USB Type-A 10Gbps ports, an Intel 2.5Gb Ethernet port, five audio jacks, an Optical S/PDIF output and a BIOS flashback button.

The board has a header supporting 20Gbps USB Type-C (which supports up to 30W fast charging), a header supporting two additional USB 5Gbps ports, 2x USB 2.0 headers for four USB 2.0 ports and a Thunderbolt USB4 header.

There’s a small RGB area at the top right of the board. This complemented by three addressable RGB headers, one on the right side and two on the bottom, to power your case and/or fan lighting.

There are plenty of storage options. The four M.2 slots, support type 2242/2260/2280 NVMe SDDs. One slot is PCIe 5.0 x4, with the other three being PCIe 4.0 x4, one of which also supports SATA SSDs. All the M.2 slots use Asus’s screwless Q-Latch design, with the 2242 modules secured via an innovative Q-Slide clip. The main PCIe 5.0 x4 slot has a chunky screwless heatsink that’s easily removed.

Whilst you are probably going to be using your GPU audio, onboard audio is supplied by a Realtek ALC1220P chip for 7.1 surround sound. This includes front and rear headphone outputs.

Discrete GPUs are supported via a PCIe 5.0 x16 slot controlled by the Intel Core Ultra processor, with the Z890 chipset controlling 1x PCIe 4.0 x16 slot, 1x PCI 4.0 x4 slot and 1x PCIe 4.0 x1 slot. A 1.5-slot GPU like the Radeon RX 7800 XT will obstruct the PCIe 4.0 x1 slot, which will likely not be a problem for most.

For connectivity, the motherboard supports Wi-Fi 7, via the external antenna, across 2.4,5 and 6GHz with up to a 2.9bps transfer rate. Bluetooth v5.4 is also supported. 2.5Gb Ethernet provides wired networking.

The Asus TUF Gaming Z890-Pro WIFI is a very easy motherboard to install. Asus’s Q-design makes interchanging components a breeze.

Whilst the motherboard booted without any issues, there are a series of small LEDs at the top of the board. These can be used to troubleshoot boot issues with the CPU, memory and GPU.

The motherboard uses a pretty standard Asus UEFI BIOS, which it boots into on the first startup to set the CPU configuration. In order to sort out some of the teething problems with the Intel Core Ultra Series 2 desktop processors, vendors have been updating motherboard BIOS firmware, and Asus is no exception.

The Asus EZ Flash makes what was once a treacherous action very simple and virtually trouble-free. I downloaded the new BIOS firmware from the Asus website and unpacked it onto a USB stick. From the BIOS menu, I used the EZ Flash option and selected the new firmware. A few moments later and the PC rebooted with the up-to-date BIOS.

Should things have not gone quite right, the Crashfree BIOS 3 utility can search and upload a BIOSD file from startup. The board’s BIOS Flashback feature would also have allowed me to update the BIOS without entering the existing BIOS firmware or OS. Inserting a USB drive with the prepared BIOS update into the specially labelled USB port on the back of the motherboard and pressing the Flashback button automatically updates the board. You don’t even need to switch it on, all it needs is the 24-pin power connector to be plugged in.

Using the board’s AI optimisation feature, the Asus UEFI BIOS allows users to overclock their unlocked CPU, painlessly. For this you need an Intel Core Ultra Series 2 CPU with the “K” suffix, which means it is unlocked and can be overclocked. Triggering the AI optimisation in the BIOS has the board monitoring fan speeds and CPU performance to squeeze a little more out of your processor. Running stress tests allows the board to calibrate the overclock to maintain stability.

With just one click, I overclocked the CPU to achieve an 8% performance increase in the Procyon Office benchmark. This is all optional, as the board performed well with the default settings. The only setting I would check in the BIOS is that the XMP is enabled so that your memory runs at its full speed.

For games, the TUF Gaming Z890-Pro WIFI with the Intel Core Ultra Series 2 285K and a Radeon 7800 XT performed excellently. I tested the set-up with Kingdom Come: Deliverance II and it ran flawlessly. Spider-Man: Mile Morales, as well, played great.

The ASUS TUF Gaming Z890-Pro WIFI motherboard has a lot to offer gamers with an Intel Core Ultra Series 2-based gaming rig. There’s plenty of space for storage with four M.2 slots and four legacy SATA 6 sockets. It’s compatible with the latest memory modules and there’s plenty of room for expansion via the PCIe slots. Casual overclockers will enjoy the one-click performance boost offered by AI optimisation. And, last but not least, the silver styling of the board will look great in your case.

Yet again Asus provides a no-nonsense motherboard solution for gamers wanting performance and reliability that is easy to configure and tweak as desired. Not only is the TUF Gaming Z890-Pro WIFI easy to recommend, but I’d also happily use it in my own gaming system.