Introduction

Founded in 1999, EVGA grew into a company most known for graphics cards. Since the company has exited the GPU market, the focus has been to continue building upon its PC peripherals, CPU coolers, Power Supplies and Motherboard portfolio to become a household name for all types of computer users.

With the launch of Intel 13th generation core processors codenamed Raptor Lake in late 2022, so came a chipset refresh using the same LGA 1700 socket that is compatible with existing Intel 12th generation processors as well. A motherboard lineup refreshed like this is common to see. Usually refreshes come with a few improvements and offer newer technologies and features that were not available to motherboard manufacturers previously. While no new technologies were introduced that aren’t already present in the Intel Z690 lineup, the Z790 chipset offers more high-speed USB options and better overall memory support. These changes are minor in comparison to the new processors. However, Intel still supports DDR4 with 13th generation processors, allowing for more budget friendly options to co-exist.

What we have here today is the EVGA Z790 CLASSIFIED, which is one of only two motherboards offered by EVGA for this chipset. EVGA doesn’t have a common threaded naming convention outside the long running XOC Dark K|NGP|N motherboard series, instead the other products may bear the same name but are unique to the platform supported. The Z790 CLASSIFIED is an EVGA flagship consumer product designed to showcase the best EVGA has to offer everyone from entry level novice to power users. This is not in direct competition with the Z790 Dark K|NGP|N, as that is purpose built for serious sub-ambient overclockers that will not stop until every bit of performance is extracted out of the system in question.

Using the E-ATX form factor, the EVGA Z790 CLASSIFIED has a robust VRM configured as a 14+2+2 setup and 105 A power stages. It also includes support for DDR5 and PCIe 5.0-ready solutions. When it comes to connectivity, EVGA has you covered with eight SATA ports, three M.2 Gen 4 sockets and two USB4 (40 Gbps) ports. More is included with WiFi 6E, 10 GbE LAN for those who need to transfer data quickly. This review is long and there is a lot to cover, so let’s get right to it and take a closer look at the EVGA Z790 CLASSIFIED.

Note: Big thanks is in order to EVGA for providing this motherboard sample for review!

Specifications