tty8k:

I'd say this is rather meant for those who want to save money using the DDR4 they actually have. Could be a good chunk if you own a 32GB instead of buying an expensive DDR5 kit. Those who own a 5333+ DDR4 (let me count my toes) could probably afford a high end DDR5 kit too 😛 The specs for Z790 are not that impressive, basically it looks like a Z690 but with support for 2 extra pci 4.0 x4 M2 onboard. So the change is 20 total pci 4.0 lanes vs 12 on Z690 and that's more or less it. I'd rather be interested in a cheaper Z690 DDR4 if I was on a buget and intend to keep my ram. https://overclocking.com/wp-content/medias/2022/09/intel-raptor-lake-processeur-chipset-overclocking-4.jpg

Would you not save more money by going for a z690? They will be cheaper than z790 when those will launch..

z690 is a single pcie slot motherboard and on most of them if you use the cpu linked m.2 contrary to what official intel slides hint...your gpu will go x8 and it disables the other pcie slots.....so don't know where those 1x16+1x4 come from but they don't exist irl your choices are : x8 gpu + x4 m.2 x8 gpu + x8 another pcie card x16 gpu (which I chose in the end) I tought intel had learned from trx40 or x570 but nope they still sell you motherboards where half the ports or slots can't be used read and reread motherboard manuals before making your purchase there are lots of * next to descriptions that lead to "oh actually you can't really use this if you already have that"

kakiharaFRS:

z690 is a single pcie slot motherboard and on most of them if you use the cpu linked m.2 contrary to what official intel slides hint...your gpu will go x8 and it disables the other pcie slots.....so don't know where those 1x16+1x4 come from but they don't exist irl your choices are : x8 gpu + x4 m.2 x8 gpu + x8 another pcie card x16 gpu (which I chose in the end) I tought intel had learned from trx40 or x570 but nope they still sell you motherboards where half the ports or slots can't be used read and reread motherboard manuals before making your purchase there are lots of * next to descriptions that lead to "oh actually you can't really use this if you already have that"

What do you mean most? I imagine it's quite the opposite. I've played with several Z690 motherboards and none of them have the limitation you said that 'most' have. 1x16 + 1x4 works just fine for 'most' boards.