Whenever I build a PC for myself I always try to use Gigabyte UD (Ultra Durable). This model has more expansion slots than the 'gaming' designs and over time I have found them super reliable. This new one was no different - easy to install and set up, heatsink (Scythe Mugen 5 rev C) went on without trouble though I advise extra cooling fans with i5 and above. When Windows 11 is installed the motherboard somehow triggers a download of the drivers and management utility. All good apart from the 'dragon' bandwidth management util which can mess up your network speeds if you don't understand it and set it up properly. Best uninstall it otherwise.Had it running about two weeks now, rock solid.(used with i5 13600K at stock speed, Corsair Vengeance DDR5 5200 and Samsung ... MoreWhenever I build a PC for myself I always try to use Gigabyte UD (Ultra Durable). This model has more expansion slots than the 'gaming' designs and over time I have found them super reliable. This new one was no different - easy to install and set up, heatsink (Scythe Mugen 5 rev C) went on without trouble though I advise extra cooling fans with i5 and above. When Windows 11 is installed the motherboard somehow triggers a download of the drivers and management utility. All good apart from the 'dragon' bandwidth management util which can mess up your network speeds if you don't understand it and set it up properly. Best uninstall it otherwise.Had it running about two weeks now, rock solid.(used with i5 13600K at stock speed, Corsair Vengeance DDR5 5200 and Samsung 980 pro).Note, you need to manually configure your ram by selecting the correct speed from the list in bios setup, otherwise it will run at 4800.

Beware of XMP support GSKILL

Excellent build quality, fit and finish. Disappointed. Using.GSkill Trident Z5 RGB 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR5-6400. Enabling XMP 1 profile, causes an infinite restart loop. Thank God for clear CMOS button on the I/O panel. 5 attempts to run xmp, before and after latest BIOS F6B released 10/20/22. I do recommend this board. Garbage xmp doesn't work initially and claims to support better dd5 performance. Verified memory is on QVL for Gigabyte and Gskill.

Extremely buggy BIOS and unreliable.

Bought this motherboard for a new system upgrade for my i9 13900k, the board is built very nicely and looks really high quality but that's where the positives end. The BIOS is extremely buggy and mostly ignores whatever you set. Want to set custom memory timings? Nope. Want to set your own DRAM frequency outside of XMP? Nope, won't post. The issues just continue on as you look further into the bios.My previous motherboard was a Z390 Maximus Xtreme and I was able to run 4000 MHz memory at 15-15-15-28. With the Gigabyte Z790 I wasn't even able to post into 4000 MHz. I really don't recommend this board.

Good motherboard but for OC get better

This is a great all around motherboard. It supports high end DDR 5 and has some easy overclocking features.Update the BIOS before installing Windows 11. Then make sure you install motherboard drivers from Gigabyte before using Windows 11 otherwise you will get crash after crash at some point.Overclock stable first before enabling memory integrity.Make sure to enable XMP first then save then enable Low Latency and High Bandwidth. Then you should see your proper DDR5 Speeds with 2 sticks. 4 sticks will not scale as far as I know.

Great MB, indifferent docs

The motherboard arrived promptly and in good condition from Scan, as did a bunch of other stuff I ordered, and I was able to use it in a new build despite it being my first build ever. I'm not super-knowledgeable about motherboards but it seems to live up to the positive reviews I researched on-line before choosing it, including 6Ghz overclocking that even I could set up. It has more USB ports than I can use but I would have preferred more audio outputs. One minor gripe is that the documentation isn't that thorough. I'm uncertain about what most of the BIOS settings do, and it left me in the dark about how to format a USB stick compatibly with the Q-flash feature. (FYI: leave 32 sectors of free space at the beginning, followed by a single partition of type W95 FAT32 ... MoreThe motherboard arrived promptly and in good condition from Scan, as did a bunch of other stuff I ordered, and I was able to use it in a new build despite it being my first build ever. I'm not super-knowledgeable about motherboards but it seems to live up to the positive reviews I researched on-line before choosing it, including 6Ghz overclocking that even I could set up. It has more USB ports than I can use but I would have preferred more audio outputs. One minor gripe is that the documentation isn't that thorough. I'm uncertain about what most of the BIOS settings do, and it left me in the dark about how to format a USB stick compatibly with the Q-flash feature. (FYI: leave 32 sectors of free space at the beginning, followed by a single partition of type W95 FAT32 (LBA) and format that partition with a FAT32 filesystem, or else buy a new USB stick. Then dump the BIOS file from the gigabyte web site onto it and rename it GIGABYTE.BIN.)

It just works

Finally at long last I have a system that is up and running and no instability issues like the 7950X AMD I tried to build first. That system couldn't even stay stable on idle so I gave up.On the first try everything went smooth except for trying to activate windows during the install, I could not get online and had to revert to "how to install Windows 11 without internet" for a solution. For whatever reason the ethernet didn't have a driver.Once I got Windows 11 working and updated I installed my games and no bsod/random reboot like on the X670E mobo. Download went smooth and played some games like RDR2 which bsod on the AMD side played smooth as butter with my 13900K and MSI Gaming Trio 4090.The Gskill 32G DDR-6800 works fine even in XMP mode. I did see a ... MoreFinally at long last I have a system that is up and running and no instability issues like the 7950X AMD I tried to build first. That system couldn't even stay stable on idle so I gave up.On the first try everything went smooth except for trying to activate windows during the install, I could not get online and had to revert to "how to install Windows 11 without internet" for a solution. For whatever reason the ethernet didn't have a driver.Once I got Windows 11 working and updated I installed my games and no bsod/random reboot like on the X670E mobo. Download went smooth and played some games like RDR2 which bsod on the AMD side played smooth as butter with my 13900K and MSI Gaming Trio 4090.The Gskill 32G DDR-6800 works fine even in XMP mode. I did see a minor annoyance but not enough to return it, the logo by the heatsink is rather poor as I can barely see it working. Maybe it's defective? Who cares, it's working and that's what I care about. Haven't OC yet, maybe later on.Get this board if you want a rock solid board that just works.

Large and in charge

Quite a heavy E-ATX board, installed in Hyte Y90. So many ports. Space for five NVMe SSDs running full 4x PCIe 4.0 lanes under dedicated thermal pads. Tons of USB ports. Excellent interface for overclocking and memory XMP is stable following the QVL. Slotted an i9-13900k and DDR5-6400 CL32 TridentZ which both get insane performance. Very powerful WiFi/Bluetooth antenna, supports crystal clear audio on my Sony WH-1000XM4 from a relatively significant distance. Not to mention the 10GbE onboard NIC (This was the key feature that helped me make the decision). If you can fit this into your case, hard to beat the feature level for the price.

Pavel's review of Gigabyte Z790 D DDR4 ATX Intel Socket 1700 Motherboard

Pros: The motherboard just works. Years of experience made me trust Gigabyte and this time it didn’t let me down. Despite being built with the newest chipset it’s really stableCons: For some reason it detected my nvme drive properly only after tenth reboot. All my drives were MBR and GPT is the only option. There is a legacy boot option to support MBR but it took me hours to turn it on - it would just revert without any clear reason given. I still don’t know what I did exactly to make it work and forums didn’t have any info as the unit was a fresh model

Ultra Durable.... anything but.

Quickly after installing the mobo and posting successfully, I began to hear a high-pitch whine (similar to tinnitus). This was driving me crazy, so I removed all fan headers one by one, then removed the GPU, and finally moved the PSU outside the case, to see if I could hear the sound more clearly. The sound was not coming from any of these components, this was not coil-whine.I found that the sound was coming from the VRMs located near the DDR5 memory modules on the mobo.To confirm that the sound was coming from the mobo, I removed all components and purchased a new replacement mobo from MSI. I connected all the same components (M.2 SSD, RAM, GPU and PSU) to the new mobo, and the sound was immediately gone.On this basis, I cannot recommend this motherboard. I ... MoreQuickly after installing the mobo and posting successfully, I began to hear a high-pitch whine (similar to tinnitus). This was driving me crazy, so I removed all fan headers one by one, then removed the GPU, and finally moved the PSU outside the case, to see if I could hear the sound more clearly. The sound was not coming from any of these components, this was not coil-whine.I found that the sound was coming from the VRMs located near the DDR5 memory modules on the mobo.To confirm that the sound was coming from the mobo, I removed all components and purchased a new replacement mobo from MSI. I connected all the same components (M.2 SSD, RAM, GPU and PSU) to the new mobo, and the sound was immediately gone.On this basis, I cannot recommend this motherboard. I brought this motherboard as a cheap-ish entry to the Z790 series... if you can spend the money on a better product, please do.

Update Bios!!

I paired this with a i7 13700KF and 32gb of Corsair DDR5 Vengeance 6400 CAS 32 RAM for a new install, first time the Bios loaded I turned on XMP and resizable bar and it got into a boot loop! I couldnt get out of it, tried cmos reset button, tried shorting jumpers, even removed battery for 30min, still wouldnt post! eventually after some googling I used the Q-Flash option with just the PSU plugged into the board to flash the latest bios renamed GIGABYTE.bin from a USB stick, this fixed my problem and XMP and resiable bar are now working fine, the board is ok now but this initial experiance left me dissapointed as it took me a few hours of trouble shooting to get the issue resolved. so I would suggest anyone buying the board update the bios before you go rooting into ... MoreI paired this with a i7 13700KF and 32gb of Corsair DDR5 Vengeance 6400 CAS 32 RAM for a new install, first time the Bios loaded I turned on XMP and resizable bar and it got into a boot loop! I couldnt get out of it, tried cmos reset button, tried shorting jumpers, even removed battery for 30min, still wouldnt post! eventually after some googling I used the Q-Flash option with just the PSU plugged into the board to flash the latest bios renamed GIGABYTE.bin from a USB stick, this fixed my problem and XMP and resiable bar are now working fine, the board is ok now but this initial experiance left me dissapointed as it took me a few hours of trouble shooting to get the issue resolved. so I would suggest anyone buying the board update the bios before you go rooting into the bios settings, or choose another board.