Introduction
Today we have an opportunity to evaluate another of the new releases in ASRock’s Z890 chipset motherboard lineup. The ASRock Z890 Pro RS WiFi White is one of five models that make up the Pro DIY/Creator/desktop lineup featuring the new Intel socket 1851 CPUs and Z890 chipset. It has a design that is so white in aesthetic, that even the webpage for it is white-themed.
ASRock has quite a lineup to offer. At the top are the Taichi motherboards, under that the Phantom Gaming boards followed by the Steel Legend, the Live Mixer, and the Pro Series. Within the Pro series of boards are the Z890 Pro RS WiFi White, the Z890 Pro RS WiFi, the Z890 Pro RS, the Z890 Pro A-WiFi, and the Z890 Pro-A. The Pro series of motherboards offers a lower price point while featuring all the new functionality of the Core Ultra 200S CPUs and Z890 chipset, along with some distinct styling. The ASRock Z890 Pro RS WiFi White has a “Racing Sport” theme and as the title says, a white aesthetic.
If you aren’t familiar with the Intel Core Ultra 200S series CPUs, check out our review, as well as information on the Intel Z890 chipset. PCIe lanes have increased to 20x PCIe 5.0 lanes from the CPU, and 24x PCIe 4.0 lanes from the chipset, allowing for 48x PCIe lanes this generation. This also brings the support for PCIe Gen5 NVME support on the primary M.2 slots, as well as x16 Gen5 graphics. It also has official support of JEDEC DDR5 6400MT/s (with CUDIMMs) and Thunderbolt 4. WiFi 7 is offered on many of the motherboard models as well.
All the motherboards in the “Pro” lineup are designed to be lower-priced everyday desktop models, thus may be minus some of the EZ release functionality and RGB of the other models in the ASRock Z890 lineup. The objective, it seems, is to provide a motherboard with all the offerings of the newest CPU and no frills you don’t need. With a retail price coming in right at $200 we will have to see if ASRock can do just that.
Packaging and Contents
We received a full retail package directly from ASRock. The packaging was exactly what we have come to expect in all the recent release motherboards. The board was well protected by cardboard inserts inside an antistatic bag. Accessories were few: the WiFi antenna, two SATA cables, an M.2 screw and standoff, a case badge, and a “Quick Start” booklet.
ASRock Z890 Pro RS WiFi White Features
The ASRock Z890 Pro RS WiFi White is a full-sized ATX motherboard. The overall look is in the title, it’s white with silver accents. All the board headers and connectors are contrasting black giving this board a nice clean look. The RS moniker is noted in the detailing. There are racing stripes running diagonally from left to right and within the heatsinks. Overall the look is clean and crisp and the stripes are obvious but not overbearing.
The motherboard itself is sturdy and feels well-built. The heatsinks are all some tone of white or silver and heavy brushed aluminum. Along that line, there are no fancy EZ release mechanisms anywhere. In fact, the second M.2 slot does not even have a heatsink. The primary and M.2 #3 and #4 have a heavy heatsink top held down with old-school Phillips screws that are loose, and not embedded in the heatsink.
You will find a minimalist approach to RGB on this motherboard. A small cluster of LEDs is underneath the chipset heatsink. This can be controlled within the UEFI/BIOS or using downloaded Polychrome Sync software. The WiFi is connected by a M.2E socket to the left of the PCIe connector. This happens to be WiFi6E from an Intel AX211 chip NOT the WiFi7 that is included in many new models.. The ethernet is 2.5Gb via RealTek Dragon RTL8125BG. Audio is 7.1 channel capable via RealTek ACL897 codec. Nihimic software is also supported.
Power Delivery
This motherboard uses a 16+1+1 power phase setup with 80amps across the VCore. There is SPS with DrMOS circuitry as well. This should be more than adequate power and protection for any overclocking. As we have discussed, the heatsinks are quite large and heavy. There do not appear to be any heatpipes in the layout. Power is supplied by two 8-pin CPU power connectors at the top of the board. Capacitors are listed as 1000 microFarad. According to ASRock this will extend the life of the components and increase reliability. Power is supplied to the CPU by two 8-pin sockets.
CPU socket, Memory, and Storage
The ASRock Z890 Pro RS WiFi White features the new socket 1851 and is labeled RL-ILM (Reduced Load-Independant Loading Mechanism). This socket is an improvement from prior sockets and is available to motherboard manufacturers as an upgrade option. The socket design is meant to spread the load and contact more evenly across the entire IHS. There is ample room on the board around the socket. Our MSI MAG CoreLiquid I360 AIO fit without any issue.
The motherboard has 4 DIMM slots supporting DDR5 up to 9066MT/s overclocked. The total capacity is up to 256GB. XMP 3.0 is supported. The slot mechanisms are old school with latches at each end. The memory slots are spaced at an adequate distance from the CPU such that there should be no physical interference between DIMMs and coolers. This motherboard also supports the new CUDIMM as well, so be sure to consult the QVL listings on the support page. The memory traces are also overlaid with ASRock “Memory OC Shield” to reduce interference.
Storage is about as vast as you could want on this motherboard. There are four M.2 slots, one Gen5 and three Gen4. Along with this are three Gen4 PCIe slots, two PCIe x 4 and one PCIe x 1 which would make excellent slots for storage risers. On the right-hand side of the board also are 4 6Gb/s right-angle SATA ports. Three of the four M.2 slots have proper brushed aluminum heatsinks. M.2_2 does not have a heatsink, however. There are no fancy EZ release mechanisms on the heatsinks. They are secured by Phillips screws which are not embedded, so be careful.
Each proper heatsink has been equipped with thermal pads. The hold-downs are tool-less latches. If you are using a dedicated GPU, M.2_2 is directly under the GPU, but if the SSD is not too tall it will fit without a problem. An actively cooled SSD cannot use the heatsink cover. M.2#3 and #4 are well out of the way and should present no problems. Transfer speeds of the M.2 are 128Gb/s for Gen5 and 64Gb/s for Gen4. The CPU supplies the primary M.2 and also M.2_2. The chipset supplies the remainder of M.2 slots, 6Gb/s SATA (4 slots), and the secondary PCIe slots.
Expansion
True PCIe Gen5x16 is supplied in the primary slot. As you can see the slot is also metal reinforced. It does not come equipped with any fancy release mechanisms, so be patient when trying to release the GPU with a primary M.2 installed. It’s pretty tight in there, it is. There are three other slots available: PCIe slot 2: Gen4x1, PCIe slot 3 and 4: Gen4x4. The three secondary PCIe slots could be used to support a wide variety of applications. Notice that M.2_2 has no heatsink.
I/O
The rear I/O panel is adequately equipped. The motherboard plate is embedded for easy installation. From left to right, we see: wireless antenna, Display Port and HDMI connectors, one USB3 Gen2 (10Gb/s) type A and two Thunderbolt 4 type C (aka USB4) 40Gb/s ports, BIOS Flashback button, two USB3 Gen1 (5Gb/s) type A, RJ-45 2.5Gb/s, 4 USB 2.0 and three 3.5mm audio jacks.
In addition, there are eight fan headers: on the top of the board, two CPUs and one AIO header, the bottom of the board has four fan headers with a single header just behind the I/O panel. All may be controlled by the “Fan-tastic” controller in the UEFI/BIOS. Also along the right-hand side of the board is one USB type C front panel header (20Gb/s) and two USB3 Gen1 headers (5Gb/2). The bottom of the board has the front panel switch header, two USB 2.0 headers, and an HD audio header. If you need those RGBs the board is equipped with three addressable (three-pin) and one 4-pin LED header.
UEFI/BIOS
The ASRock Z890 Pro RS WiFi White uses a standard UEFI BIOS, an American Megatrend AMI UEFI. UEFI is easily entered from the logo screen and presents you with the main screen. The BIOS enters the main screen for the Advanced Mode. There is an “Easy Mode” and an “Advanced Mode” as you will see in the screenshots. The BIOS selections are vast with configuration of both CPU and memory functions almost endless.
There are also several configuration submenus for I/O functions as well. There are submenu selections common to ASRock that we have found very helpful to include: “Fan-tastic” fan cycle control, Instant Flash, Auto Driver Installer, and Polychrome Sync RGB control. As we scrolled through the BIOS, we noticed that the menu selections and submenus were identical to the Phantom Gaming Z890M RIPTIDE WiFi motherboard we have just recently reviewed as well. The screenshots of this BIOS are limited due to this. If you wish to see more detailed BIOS screenshots, please read over the Phantom Gaming Z890M RIPTIDE review.
The ASRock Z890 Pro RS WiFi White was delivered to us with BIOS version 2.09 dated 15 OCT 2024. The most recent version is 2.11.AS01 was dated 5 NOV 2024. We updated the BIOS using the Instant Flash utility. This utility is very easy to use, in fact, one of the easiest we have encountered. Download and unzip the BIOS file. Place the flash drive. In the BIOS head to “tools” and enable the utility. The utility finds the file and away you go. ASRock also offers “BIOS Flashback”. The only things you need are the motherboard, PSU, and a flash drive with the BIOS version. Also, ASRock has very complete instructions on the motherboard’s support page.
We found the ASRock UEFI/BIOS to be very user-friendly as always. The BIOS selections are easy to navigate and are very intuitive. Easy mode can be utilized if all you want to do is set up fans and memory XMP profiles. If you like to tweak things, you will find no shortage of selections in the Advanced mode. The options have options. You will need a guide, or else get lost …. There are also some very nice handy submenus as we have discussed above.
Subsystem and CPU Testing
Testing the ASRock Z890 Pro RS WiFi White was accomplished using the benchmarks below. The following components were used: Intel Core Ultra 5 245K, Corsair Vengence DDR5 32GB at 6000MT/s (CMH32G5M2D6000C36), ADATA Legend 970 Gen5 NVME SSD and ASRock Radeon™ RX 7600 XT Steel Legend 16GB OC graphics card. We do have limited data sets to date due to the new release of both CPU and motherboard chipsets. Comparison results are discussed from the recent reviews of the MSI MEG Z890 ACE, the GIGABYTE Z890 Aorus Elite WiFi, ASRock Phantom Gaming Z890M RIPTIDE WiFi, and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K review.
M.2 Performance
In this section, we utilized CrystalDiskMark to evaluate the performance of our Gen5 drive. We tested all four slots. One downside here is the size of our drive. The height of the ADATA Legend 970 precludes its’ use in M.2 slot #2 with a graphics card installed. In that slot, we removed the GPU and utilized the onboard integrated graphics of the CPU. If you are planning to use this motherboard’s M.2 slots to their fullest, a very low-profile NVME SSD will be needed. The height of your SSDs native heatsink will also determine if you can use the motherboard heatsink cover. M.2 slots #3 and #4 will not be physically problematic for GPUs, but a tall SSD would preclude the use of the heatsink cover.
As you can see, the results are in keeping with our other Z890 reviews. There is essentially no difference in performance using M.2 slots 2 through 4.
Memory Bandwidth
Here we are using AIDA64 Cache and Memory Benchmark. The Corsair DDR5 modules are set to their XMP profiles. The performance is identical to our comparison boards accounting for the difference in components.
PCMark 10
We utilize the standard full-system PCMark 10 benchmark to measure typical office productivity and performance. The results are in line with our other motherboard reviews but about 1500 points shy of our other z890 testing. We ran the testing three times, all with consistent results. The biggest discrepancy seems to be in Digital Content Creation.
Cinebench R23
The standard Cinebench R23 benchmark was run for 10 minutes in both single and multicore CPU testing. Our results were 1859 and 23503 respectively. The results are about 10% behind our Core Ultra 5 245K review and roughly 5% off of the ASRock Phantom Gaming Z890M RIPTIDE WiFi.
Blender Benchmark
Using Blender our results are Monster 140.5, junkshop 95.3, and Classroom 70.8. These results are in keeping with our other reviews.
3DMark
Using 3DMark we tested the CPU, Integrated graphics, and also our ASRock Steel Legend Rx 7600 XT 16GB GPU. The max Threads result is in keeping with the performance in the Core Ultra 5 245K review and Z890M RIPTIDE WiFi review…..as it should be.
VRay Benchmark
Here we run the CPU-only benchmark in V-Ray. The result is almost identical to the other reviews.
VRM Temperatures
In this section, we run Cinebench R23 for a total of 20 minutes on multicore settings. At that point, we capture HWInfo readings for temperatures. There is a problem with HWInfo and the MOS temperature readings being captured from what is actually showing in the BIOS. For that reason,n we used the ASRock Motherboard Utility to record the MOS temperature. Here we see the CPU temperature maximizes at 60C and the MOS temperatures are 34C. This motherboard has no issues with keeping cool during 100% load.
Conclusion
This review article has taken another new ASRock Z890 chipset motherboard out for a test drive. The ASRock Z890 Pro RS WiFi White is at the lowest price point tier of ASRocks newest motherboards. Overall the price had limited bearing on features, build quality, or aesthetics. This full-sized ATX motherboard is well built, supports DDR5 CU-DIMMs and standard DIMMs up to 9066 MT/s, and has a wide range of the newest connectivity, featuring Gen5 PCIe and M.2 slots. The board is outfitted in a simple contrasting white and black theme.
Installation and Use
The ASRock Z890 Pro RS WiFi White was very uncomplicated in setup and first boot. There were no issues encountered. The CPU socket and RAM slots are well-spaced for our MSI MAG CoreLiquid I360 AIO. The RAM slots as mentioned are double-latched, but simple to use. As noted, this board has no fancy EZ Release mechanisms anywhere. You will need a screwdriver for the M.2 heatsinks. The M.2_2 slot has no heatsink, plus is situated directly underneath the GPU. A tall SSD would be a problem and honestly is the only physical fitment issue on this board. Like always, we have a very tall actively cooled ADATA Gen5 SSD which precludes using any heatsink covers. Most reasonably flat SSDs will be no issue.
This motherboard is equipped with two PCIe Gen4x4 slots and one PCIe Gen4x1 slot. While nice to have, other than risers for additional components they are a rare find these days. The lone PCIe full-sized slot is metal reinforced, but again with no EZ anything. You will need to be patient when removing your GPU.
Otherwise, from the first boot to flashing the BIOS to installing and running Windows 11, everything simply worked….right out of the box. Every slot, component, and feature simply worked. The BIOS is vast. It has all the tweaking capability of the more expensive ASRock Phantom Gaming Z890M RIPTIDE WiFi. The BIOS likewise was simple to use, intuitive, and well laid out. Flashing an update is a breeze. Every single benchmark ran as intended. There were a couple of interesting results, but until we gather more data on Z890 and Intel Core UltraS 200 CPUs, we can’t say much about that. Otherwise, the results of benchmarking were right in line with our other Z890 motherboard and Intel Core Ultra 5 245K review.
Final Points
This review evaluated the ASRock Z890 Pro RS WiFi White motherboard. This is a distinctly designed, lower-priced board from the ASRock “Pro” lineup. It is very well built, performs flawlessly, and has many new features without the costs or unwanted frills. It is impressive in its simplicity. Yes, you will be missing a few “EZ” features and your WiFi will be 6E instead of 7, but that’s about it. For 200 dollars you get a very nicely featured, full ATX motherboard (in White) that just works when you turn it on. If you are building a desktop or are needing a PC for content and Gaming or are just budget-constrained, this is a good choice right here.