ASUS ROG Maximus Z890 Hero

The ROG Maximus Z890 Hero is ASUS's flagship Intel board for Core Ultra Series 2 processors, built on the LGA1851 socket and Z890 chipset with six M.2 slots and dual-LAN networking, positioned as the direct Intel counterpart to the Crosshair X870E Hero on AM5.

Power delivery uses a 22+1+2+2 power stage design with 10K black metallic capacitors and a MicroFine alloy choke design, giving it enough headroom for overclocked Core Ultra 9 chips running at their highest supported memory speeds. Four DDR5 DIMM slots (non-ECC, unbuffered CUDIMM support) hold up to 256GB total, with overclocked speeds rated up to 9200+ MT/s, among the highest officially supported speeds in this catalog. Expansion includes a PCIe 5.0 x16 slot supporting x16 or x8/x4/x4 modes, a secondary PCIe 4.0 x16 slot at x4, and a PCIe 4.0 x1 slot. Storage is generous at six M.2 slots: four PCIe 5.0/4.0 x4 slots from the CPU and two PCIe 4.0 x4 slots from the chipset. Dual LAN combines an Intel 2.5GbE controller with a Realtek 5GbE controller, alongside Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) 2x2 rated up to 5.8Gbps. Audio uses ASUS's ROG SupremeFX codec (Realtek ALC4082) with 7.1-channel surround. Against the Gigabyte Z890 AORUS TACHYON DUO X ICE already in this catalog, the Maximus Z890 Hero offers a higher officially rated memory OC speed (9200+ MT/s) and more M.2 slots, making it the stronger pick for builders prioritizing storage expansion over the Gigabyte board's overclocking-tuned BIOS.