AMD has announced the AMD Radeon PRO W7700, a professional workstation graphics card under $1,000. The new workstation graphics card is designed to meet the evolving demands of professional workflows, including increasingly complex computer-generated designs, the continual growth in the development of visual effects and animations, a global surge in construction, and the explosive growth in advanced AI applications. The AMD Radeon PRO W7700 graphics card unleashes professionals’ creativity through exceptional performance, stunning visuals and future-ready capabilities.

“We built and optimized the AMD Radeon PRO W7700 graphics cards to create premium workstation graphics experiences, enabling our customers to boost innovation and productivity,” said Dan Wood, corporate vice president, Radeon product management at AMD. The AMD Radeon PRO W7700 workstation graphics card is ideal for the growing demands of creative industries, including media and entertainment, design and manufacturing, and architecture, engineering and construction.

The 16GB of high-speed VRAM allows 3D artists and video editors to work with higher-resolution models and textures and process intricate effects. It also enables data exchange between applications, allowing users to multitask between editing, compositing, and retouching to meet project deadlines. In addition, with industry-leading support for DisplayPort™ 2.1, video editors will benefit from richer colour spaces and the ability to leverage the highest display resolutions available today. The new graphics card also supports the latest codecs with AV1 encode/decode and AI-enhanced video encode capabilities for lightning-fast video encoding times that streamline and accelerate video production.

Built on the high-performance, energy-efficient AMD RDNA 3 architecture, the Radeon PRO W7700 workstation graphics card offers up to 1.7X better price/performance than the competitive offering. The new graphics card also provides up to 52% higher performance in SOLIDWORKS, up to 24% higher performance in Creo and up to 37% higher performance in CATIA compared to competitor solutions, empowering architects to bring their visions of hotels, office buildings and other structures to life by enabling them to produce photorealistic renders and immersive walkthroughs. DisplayPort 2.1 and the AMD Radiance Display Engine technologies also offer stunning resolutions and vibrant colour depth for viewing projects on up to four displays.

“The great collaboration between AMD and ACCA continues five years strong. Architectural customers have benefited from the combination of AMD Radeon ProRender in our ACCA Edificius BIM application, thanks to the integration of HIP,” said Guido Cianciulli, founder and CEO, ACCA Software. “We are excited that ACCA Edificius customers will benefit from the new AMD Radeon PRO W7000 series workstation graphics, which provide increased photorealism and improved image rendering power, as well as support for ultra-performance displays.”

The Radeon PRO W7700 workstation graphics card enables professionals to build and run AI applications right from their desktops. Featuring hardware-based AI accelerators, the graphics card is designed to accelerate AI workloads in the latest applications, including DaVinci Resolve, Adobe Premiere, Topaz Labs Video AI, and many others. “We are excited about the launch of the Radeon PRO W7700 and how it will help users leverage generative AI and the rest of their creative applications,” said Anush Elangovan, corporate vice president of software development at AMD (formerly Nod.ai). “Nod.ai has built APIs to help creators get the most out of their AI applications. Our SHARK Stable Diffusion REST API plugs into Blender, enabling creative professionals to leverage the power of generative AI in their familiar 3D tools.”

ASUS released a lineup of new and refreshed ROG Z790 motherboards to coincide with the launch of Intel 14th Gen Raptor Lake Refresh desktop CPUs. We reviewed the ASUS TUF Gaming Z790-Pro WiFi Motherboard a week ago, and today, we are taking a look at the ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Formula.

The ROG Maximus Z790 Formula is the ultimate motherboard, boasting a stunning Moonlight White design. Beyond its eye-catching appearance, it offers a boatload of features such as the exclusive HybridChill VRM cooling system for 14th-gen Intel processors, and advanced DDR5 settings. You also get multiple PCIe 5.0 slots for graphics cards and storage, rapid Intel Wi-Fi 7 networking, and extensive customisable ARGB lighting, ensuring whatever you build with this thing, is premium.

In terms of specifications, the ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Formula maintains its ATX form factor and incorporates a dual 8-pin CPU power connector setup. The VRM Configuration is 20+1+2(Core+GT+VCCIN) and backed up by a 10-phase supply count with 105A and 70A power stages.

The motherboard provides four DDR5 DIMM slots capable of supporting speeds exceeding 8000 MT/s and capacities of up to 192GB. The motherboard features a white shield covering its entire front, which also houses the M.2 heatsinks beneath it. Memory compatibility is a breeze with the Z790 Formula.

All XMP-certified kits can effortlessly reach their advertised speeds, as rigorous internal tests have verified these assertions. ASUS has also introduced a novel feature called DIMM Flex. DIMM Flex utilises an onboard thermal sensor located at the rear of the motherboard, beneath the memory slots, along with a microcontroller to continuously monitor temperature and dynamically optimise the memory refresh rate, providing an on-the-fly performance boost.

Regarding expansion options, the board includes two PCIe x16 slots and a diverse range of I/O ports, such as support for WIFI 7. You also get two Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 10 Gbps Type-C port, 5 GbE LAN, numerous USB 3.2 ports, and BIOS Flashback/Clear CMOS switches.

Other features of the motherboard include AI Overclocking, 2-inch Livedash OLED, AI Cooling II, and other bells and whistles. There are dual procool II power connectors, 20+1+2 power stages, and the motherboard comes with the Intel LGA 1700 socket that takes in 14th and 13th Gen Intel Core Processors, 12th Gen Intel Core processors, and Pentium Gold and Celeron processors.

In terms of I/O connectivity, you again get a boatload. The motherboard comes with one HDMI port, four USB 5Gbps Type-A ports, two Thunderbolt 4 USB Type-C ports, a Realtek 5Gb Ethernet port, six USB 10Gbps ports (five Type-A and one USB Type-C), Intel Wi-Fi 7, Optical S/PDIF Out, five gold-plated audio jacks, one USB 20Gbps USB Type-C front panel connector, and four SATA 6GB/S connectors.

Inside the package, in addition to the motherboard, cables, and other accessories, you’ll find an ASUS WiFi Q-Antenna. This antenna is equipped with dual transceivers, which provide support for the 2.4, 5, and 6 GHz bands, enhancing throughput speed. It also offers directional sensitivity to boost signal quality and expand coverage over longer distances.

Undoubtedly, the ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Formula is an exceptional and distinct motherboard. With its remarkable features and capabilities, I believe it will become a top choice for both enthusiasts and gamers in their feature builds. The ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Formula is currently available at a price of AED 3070.

Price: AED 3070

Intel recently announced the launch of its 14th generation Core processors and in anticipation of this launch, motherboard manufacturers refreshed their LGA-1700 motherboards. As part of this refresh program, ASUS launched three new motherboards that offer support for Intel’s 14th-generation Core CPUs. ASUS’s new motherboard lineup includes the ROG Maximus Z790 Dark Hero, the ROG Strix Z790-A Gaming WiFi II, and ASUS’s new motherboard lineup includes the ROG Maximus Z790 Dark Hero, the ROG Strix Z790-A Gaming WiFi II, and the TUF Gaming Z790-Pro WiFi. A simple BIOS/UEFI update is all that’s required to make the new CPUs compatible with most 600- or 700-series motherboards.

As part of a design overhaul, ASUS has made some slight adjustments to slot placements in all three models. These updates include enhanced M.2 heatsinks with a more polished appearance. ASUS has also introduced support for USB PD 3.0 and Quick Charge 4+ to the front USB Type-C ports. They’ve even developed an app that displays the power output of the port in use. Furthermore, ASUS has integrated support for AEMP II, simplifying memory performance optimization on these motherboards.

The ASUS TUF Gaming Z790-Pro WiFi motherboard reviewed here is also the refreshed variant in an ATX form factor, coming in with the Intel Z790 chipset. Thus, it supports Intel 13th Gen Core and 12th Gen Core processors, Pentium Gold and Celeron processors, and 14th Gen Raptor Lake Refresh processors. In terms of memory, you get 4x DDR5 slots with a max capacity of 192GB and up to DDR5 7800+ (OC) support.

The motherboard also offers Realtek S1220A audio codec, Intel I226-V 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet, and Intel AX211 WIFI 6E module with built-in Bluetooth 5.3. Expansion slots on the motherboard include 1x PCIe 5.0 x16, 1x PCIe 3.0 x16 (x1 mode), 1x PCIe 4.0 x4, 1x PCIe 3.0 x1, and 1x PCIe 4.0 x16 (x4 mode). For storage, you get 4x SATA III, 3x PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 (NVMe drives only), and 1x PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 (NVMe & SATA drives).

Included in the package are the motherboard, an instruction manual, a quality certificate, a set of stickers, racks and screws for M.2 drive installation, a foldable Wi-Fi Q-Antenna with a magnetic base, a driver and software CD, and two black SATA cables with metal latches. It’s worth mentioning that ASUS has revamped the Wi-Fi antenna provided with its motherboards, known as the “Q-Antenna.” Unlike the familiar screw-down connectors, this antenna features female connectors that securely snap into place on the male Wi-Fi antenna connectors located on the rear I/O area of the Z790-PRO WiFi.

The design adheres to the TUF product line’s conventional style, featuring a dark colour scheme with hints of yellow. ASUS has incorporated additional heatsinks into this motherboard, with a primary emphasis on the VRM power delivery system. This results in efficient cooling for your CPU’s power supply, and it also contributes to the motherboard’s aesthetics. The combination of black and brushed metal heatsinks not only enhances the board’s appearance by adding a sense of depth but also plays a role in maintaining optimal thermal conditions.

The RAM slots feature latches on just one side, while the VRM is equipped with two heatsinks secured by screws and connected to the processor power subsystem through thermal pads. The VRM also boasts 18 phases (16+1+1), managed by a Digi+ ASP2100R PWM controller. For power elements, Vishay SiC623 rated at 60 A are used, with one dedicated to AUX out of a total of 17.

The TUF Gaming Z790-PRO WiFi also comes with seven fan headers, including one CPU_FAN, one CPU_OPT, four CHA_FAN, and one AIO_PUMP. Although the TUF Gaming Z790-PRO WiFi lacks built-in Thunderbolt ports, it does feature a Thunderbolt 4 add-on card header. This header is designed to work with a separate add-on card offered by ASUS and it brings Thunderbolt 4 ports and extra DisplayPort connectors to the PC.

The TUF Gaming Z790-Pro WiFi is a new motherboard arriving towards the latter part of the LGA1700 socket’s tenure, designed to accommodate Intel’s 14th-Gen CPU lineup. Positioned as a capable mid-range offering within the Intel Z790 Refresh motherboard category, it boasts a robust VRM configuration, support for PCIe 5.0 for graphics cards, a wealth of USB 3.2 connectivity options, a high-quality audio codec, and more. With its strong feature set, this board delivers solid mid-range performance while remaining competitively priced at AED 1430.

Price: AED 1430

Photography by Ryan Chris