Intel Z790 Motherboard MEGA Review Ft. MSI MEG ACE, ASRock Taichi Carrara, ASRock Steel Legend & Gigabyte AERO G

The Intel Raptor Lake CPUs feature the brand new hybrid architecture approach composed of Raptor Cove and Gracemont cores. The chip also relies on a brand new 10nm Enhanced SuperFin process node which delivers up to 6.0 GHz clock speeds on the flagship Core i9-13900KS.

The faster clocks along with the addition of more cores should lead to more power consumption but Intel is also touting increased efficiency per watt thanks to the overall performance increases we get this generation.

Power Consumption (Stock) Stress Test
Load
Idle
0
90
180
270
360
450
540
0
90
180
270
360
450
540
ASRock Z790 Taichi Carrara

499
71
MSI MEG Z790 ACE

390
62
ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 HERO

399
60
ASRock Z790 Steel Legend WIFI

412
65
Gigabyte Z790 AERO G

393
60
Power Consumption (Stock) Gaming Test
Load
0
40
80
120
160
200
240
0
40
80
120
160
200
240
ASRock Z790 Taichi Carrara

138
MSI MEG Z790 ACE

122
ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 HERO

120
ASRock Z790 Steel Legend WIFI

129
Gigabyte Z790 AERO G

121
Power Consumption 5.7 GHz Overclocked
Load
Idle
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
ASRock Z790 Taichi Carrara

550
98
MSI MEG Z790 ACE

454
81
ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 HERO

450
80
ASRock Z790 Steel Legend WIFI

485
84
Gigabyte Z790 AERO G

442
82