New Z890 motherboard editions are going to be released soon, even though the whereabouts of Intel's new processors are unknown.
GIGABYTE Showcases Z890 AORUS Elite WiFi7 "Plus" for Arrow Lake Refresh; Demonstrates 256 GB CQDIMM Memory Kit Running at 6400 MT/s
Intel showcased its Panther Lake lineup at CES, which was one of its most anticipated product lineups, but it was expected that the company would also announce the Arrow Lake Refresh lineup. It's not that Intel doesn't have plans to release the new SKUs, but it's likely that these will see a silent launch very soon. That said, with Arrow Lake Refresh arriving soon at the retail stores, we expect motherboard vendors to prepare in advance.
GIGABYTE already completed its preparation, as was seen at CES. We saw GIGABYTE's new "PLUS" motherboard at the booth, which goes by the model name "Z890 AORUS Elite WiFi 7 Plus". Here the "Plus" designation indicates compatibility with Arrow Lake Refresh chips out of the box, since each SKU in the lineup will also have the same designation. There aren't many SKUs in the series, and as of now, we only know of three CPUs: Core Ultra 9 290K Plus, Core Ultra 7 270K Plus, and Core Ultra 5 250K Plus.
These will bring either higher clocks or more efficient cores than their predecessors from the current Arrow Lake lineup. Now as far as the new motherboard is concerned, it's quite similar in layout to the already existing Z890 AORUS Elite WiFi 7, but there are a few visible changes. The Plus variant gets rid of the onboard buttons provided at the top, and as far as I can see, there are no Power, Reset, and BIOS-related buttons.
GIGABYTE didn't share the new board's memory frequency support, but it could be higher, considering Arrow Lake Refresh has better memory controllers. Speaking of memory support, GIGABYTE also demonstrated a live system using the Z890 AORUS Tachyon ICE motherboard with 256 GB (4x 64 GB) CQDIMM DDR5 memory. This motherboard is already an overclocking beast, and by using Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, the memory could sustain 6400 MT/s memory speed despite such a large capacity.
By utilizing the CQDIMM memory, it becomes easier to hit higher clocks since these memory modules bring a small clock driver chip onboard. This enhances timing accuracy at higher speeds as the RAM can handle its own clock instead of burdening the CPU alone.
About the author: Sarfraz Khan is a hardware reporter with a focus on PC components and the builder community. With years of experience writing about PC hardware and laptops, his work has been featured on several reputable technology publications. Sarfraz's hands-on experience is demonstrated through his first-person accounts of using and comparing different hardware configurations, providing practical and relatable insights for everyday users. His technical analysis is respected by peers in the enthusiast community and has been cited by specialized hardware sites such as Germany's Igor's Lab.
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