[UNBOXING] Asus Pro WS W790E-SAGE SE

By
CornerJack
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The PCB and connectors:

The clocker tools :

Let’s start with the elements inserted on the PCB which can be interesting tools for overclockers. There are quite a few of them on this model, which is perhaps surprising on this type of motherboard. This confirms the desire of Asus to offer a professional board but with tools for overclocking.

  • The power button: allows the motherboard to be turned on.
  • The FlexKEY (reset): allows to restart the motherboard in case of failure. The button can now be assigned to another task such as the function(Safe Boot or disable backlight).
  • Safe Boot: allows to restart the board even if the settings chosen in the bios do not allow the boot. This avoids having to do a CMOS Clear to reboot and thus lose your encoded settings.
  • ReTry Button: during cold tests, sometimes the OS freezes and a reset does not allow to restart the motherboard: only solution 6, 7 seconds by holding down the START button. With the ReTry button, it restarts immediately.
  • LN2 jumper: enables LN2 profiles in the bios.
  • The Q-LED: 4 LEDs (CPU – DRAM – VGA – BOOT) that allow to diagnose errors during the boot of the card. The one that stays lit corresponds to the problem.
  • The Q-Code: displays a code that corresponds to the component responsible for the error during boot. This is now displayed on the OLED screen and the list of codes can be found in the manual.
  • The CMOS CLR: allows you to clear the BIOS settings to return to the default settings.

 

The PCB:

Our Asus Pro WS W790E-SAGE SE is based on a 14 + 1 + 1 phase power supply. The CPU part consists of 12 phases. We are waiting for more information about the management of this power supply stage.

The mosfets in the power stages generate the most heat as they are responsible for the voltage conversion and delivery to the CPU from the 12 volt EPS connector. It will therefore be necessary to keep them cool via the large heatsink on top of them.

 

Connectors :

The rear panel features the following. First of all, the Clear CMOS and the button to flash the BIOS from a USB stick.

In terms of USB ports, this Pro WS W790E-SAGE SE has two USB 2.0, four USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type A, one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type C and one USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type C. There are also two Intel 10Gb Ethernet ports and a Realtek 1FB. Finally, there is a VGA port, audio outputs and an optical output.

 

Waiting for the next part:

We are of course waiting to receive the processor and the memory kit in order to start testing. We will be able to test an aircooling solution with a copy of the Noctua NH-U14S DX-4677. We will also use a liquid cooling loop and nitrogen to take full advantage of the W-3495X CPU’s potential. This motherboard and CPU have already broken a lot of records, as you might expect. See you soon for a full review of the board.