Gigabyte prices white Z890M board at $209
The Micro ATX motherboard includes full heatsink coverage and 15 power phases for Intel Core Ultra 200S Plus chips.
By Petra Murphy ·
Gigabyte has listed the Z890M Aorus Elite WiFi7 Ice on Amazon for $209. The Micro ATX motherboard targets Intel Core Ultra 200S Plus processors and packs features typically found on larger ATX boards into a smaller footprint. Reviewers at Tom's Hardware noted that its white aesthetic makes it a strong choice for themed builds.
The board features full heatsink coverage across the lower section, a design choice that distinguishes it from many budget competitors. A large heatsink also protects the primary M.2 socket. Two RGB lighting zones are located near the VRMs and under the chipset heatsink. Six 4-pin fan headers provide power to cooling components, with each header capable of delivering up to 2A or 24W.
Storage connectivity includes three M.2 sockets and four SATA ports. The primary M.2 slot runs at PCIe 5.0 x4 speeds via the CPU, while the other two operate at PCIe 4.0 x4 through the chipset. One secondary slot accepts modules up to 110mm in length. NVMe RAID configurations 0, 1, 5, and 10 are supported. Networking relies on 2.5 GbE and Wi-Fi 7, although the wireless chip is restricted to 160 MHz channels.
Power delivery utilizes 15 phases with 60A DrMOS parts, providing a total of 720A. Twelve phases are dedicated to Vcore. This setup handles the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus, Core Ultra 5 250K Plus, and Core Ultra 9 285K. Reviewers advised caution with heavy overclocking on the higher-tier chips and recommended adequate case airflow. Memory support reaches DDR5-9200 in overclocked configurations, though testing found that DDR5-8800 kits failed while DDR5-8200 kits performed correctly.
The rear I/O panel includes nine USB ports: four USB 2.0, four USB 3.2 Gen 1, and one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A. A single USB4 Type-C port supports 40 Gbps speeds and DisplayPort output. A DisplayPort 2.1 output is also present. The sparse port selection, particularly the lack of multiple Type-C options, was noted as a drawback. A front-panel HDMI output allows for secondary display connections.
Performance tests showed average results, with strong scores in 3DMark and real-world gaming benchmarks. The board supports AI Perfdrive, a feature that provides customizable BIOS presets for CPU optimization. The package includes two white SATA cables, a rubber pad, an extra M.2 thermal pad, and an EZ connector for the front panel. Tool-free installation is facilitated by EZ-Latch and EZ-Click M.2 mounting mechanisms.
