Conclusion
This review examined the GIGABYTE Z890 AORUS ELITE X ICE motherboard. The AORUS ELITE X branding represents the mid-to-upper level of the GIGABYTE gaming-themed boards. This full-sized ATX board supports socket 1851 Core Ultra CPUs from Intel, DDR5 memory including CU-DIMMs, and Gen5 PCIe and NVME. We found performance to be equal to two identically outfitted Z890 motherboards.
Installation and Use
The GIGABYTE Z890 AORUS ELITE X ICE had no issues with component installation, first boot, BIOS adjustment, or performance benchmarking. Initial boot was unremarkable. CPU AIO and RAM had no fitment issues. The M.2 heatsinks were very easy to work with, and of course there’s the EZ PCIe Release Latch that we very much like. As was noted in the performance section, we could not fit our TeamGroup NVME into M.2 slot #5. The active air cooler bracket on this drive makes it wider than spec, and it was held up by the chipset heatsink. This is not GIGABYTES fault. The slot is designed to spec, as shown by our ADATA NVME fitting in with no issue.
As always, the utility of M.2 slots has a lot to do with NVME height and GPU size. This is a common issue on both Z890 and X870 motherboards. In our case, slot #2 is a no-go for use with our very tall, actively air-cooled NVMe. If you have a normally sized flat NVMe, it would surely fit beneath the GPU. The remainder of the M.2 slots were all usable, but we did employ a rather small GPU for our testing.
First boot, BIOS navigation, and Windows 11 installation were without a single hitch. The BIOS is very similar, if not identical, to the other GIGABYTE motherboards we have reviewed in the recent past. Updating the BIOS was no issue using the “Q-Flash” software in the BIOS. The UC BIOS is very responsive and well-organised. All benchmarks ran without error. VRM temperatures were very unremarkable on this board during prolonged Cinebench R23. There were no thermal issues.
Final Points
So here we have a really well-built, full-featured motherboard. It performed well and had no issues. It simply did what it was supposed to do. If you are in the mood for a white board with everything you could need for gaming or personal use, this is a great choice. The price is a little steep at the original $325 MSRP. Currently listed at $299, you get a pretty good package. Overall, the “X” factor here is “extra stuff” compared to the Z890 AORUS ELITE WiFi7 we reviewed in 2024.
The Z890 AORUS ELITE X ICE supports 9500M/T memory frequency, has a reinforced CPU socket load mechanism, an additional M.2 slot, two extra fan headers, and one additional rear I/O 5Gb/s USB port……and….it’s…..white. The Z890 AORUS ELITE WiFi7 is available online and at $270, which is a bit easier on the wallet if you want an all-black motherboard with just a few fewer options on board. Either way, these are very well-built motherboards that just work.
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