Verdict and Conclusion
Not everyone has the desk space for a full tower or even a mid-tower PC. And if you do … why tuck it away and put it on the floor under your desk? I’d rather put it on the desk for everyone to see (and to show off the components), but that’s me 😀
And for this reason, we’re now seeing an uptake of mini and Micro-ATX PCs. The latter being more popular. Micro-ATX PCs are compact enough to be placed on the desk, but this also means the components need to fit into these cases. Luckily, manufacturers are still making Micro-ATX motherboards and this is a real plus, because at one point in time no one was selling or using them at all.
Ok, now that we know a little more about the availability of Micro-ATX motherboards, let’s up the difficulty level. How about getting an all-white Micro-ATX motherboard that’s affordable, feature-rich, while featuring a Z790 chipset?
Yes, there is one available on the market right now. Look no further, let me introduce to you the Gigabyte Z790M AORUS Elite AX ICE. This motherboard comes in a Micro-ATX form factor measuring just 24.4cm x 24.4cm, and features a 6-Layer, 2x copper PCB in an all-white design.
The board comes with a Digital Twin 12+1+1 power phases VRM solution giving you decent power efficiency and stability. The whole thing is cooled with Thermal Armor Advanced which includes a large heatsink + heatpipe.
During our tests, we managed to get some really good scores in all of our benchmarks. We got a Cinebench R23 scores of 36,501 (multi core) and 2,236 (single core). For PCMark 10, we got a score of 10,412, and a score of 17,738 for PassMark 11.
For UL’s latest Procyon Video Editing Benchmark, we got a score of 56,633 and a score of 192 for the AI Computer Vision Benchmark. For 3DMark Nomad Steel and Speedway, we got excellent scores of 6,742 and 7,545 respectively. And finally, for Port Royal and Timespy, we got a decent score of 18,624 and 28,134 respectively.
Due to its size, expansion is limited to 1 x PCIE 5.0 x16 UD (Ultra Durable steel slot) for your graphics card and 1 x PCIE 4.0 x16 slot, which is acceptable. Let’s be honest, have you ever used the last PCIE slot, really?
The back I/O panel features 4 x USB 2.0 ports, connectors for the WiFi 6E antenna, 1 x HDMI port, 1 x DisplayPort, 4 x USB 3.2 Gen1 ports (blue), 1 x USB 3.2 Gen2 ports (red), 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20GB/s Type-C), 1 x 2.5GB LAN port, 1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector, Line-out and Mic-in.
For storage, you get 6 x SATA ports and 3 x PCIE Gen4x4 M.2 slots for SSDs, which I think is more than enough for most users. However, there is no support for PCIE Gen5 SSDs, which is understandable since the Z790M AORUS Elite AX ICE isn’t a high-end enthusiast motherboard. That said, 2 of the M.2 slots feature Gigabyte’s EZ latch and allows users to mount your M.2 SSDs with ease.
For connectivity, it comes with Realtek 2.5GbE LAN with Bluetooth 5.3, and WiFi 6E support, plus you get Gigabyte’s ultra high-gain antenna with magnetic base. Other features include 7.1 HD audio, Gigabyte RGB Fusion, plus you also get the onboard reset, clear CMOS and Q-Flash BIOS buttons.
Like I said before, the Z790M AORUS Elite AX ICE is an all-white Micro-ATX motherboard that offers similar features to its larger ATX siblings. Best of all, it’s extremely affordable yet performs just as good.
You can buy the Gigabyte Z790M Aorus Elite AX ICE motherboard for around USD $189 from Amazon – https://amzn.to/3XDVgol
Final Words:
Gigabyte Z790M AORUS Elite AX ICE is perfect for any user who wants to build an all-white Micro-ATX system. It’s feature-packed, extremely affordable, and offers good performance that can easily match its larger ATX sibling. It’s without doubt one of the best all-white Micro-ATX motherboards you can get right now.
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