Finally, our test bench is populated with motherboards not offered by any of our four major board partners. Specifically, I’m looking at the Biostar Z790 Valkyrie. This flagship class of his SKU offers users the full capabilities of the Z790 platform, including a PCIe 5.0 slot, M.2 socket and support for Intel’s 12th and 13th generation processors. Currently retailing for over $600 online, it comes with last-gen flagship-class audio, plenty of storage options and USB ports, and a robust power supply that supports high-end Intel processors. However, there is no integrated Wi-Fi. It looks basic for the price, but it doesn’t need to be hidden in the chassis.
Biostar only has two motherboards for the Z790 in their product stack. The Valkyrie we are reviewing here and his Z790A-Silver at a much lower price. No Micro ATX or Mini-ITX boards or any of his other SKUs here. Biostar’s options are simple and straightforward, but less restrictive than its competitors.
In terms of performance, the Z790 was below average on the Intel i9-13900K. Like most of his Z790 boards, the Valkyrie allows the processor to run freely within Intel specs, but is hampered by thermal throttling. Handbrake yielded above average results, while the Procyon Office test yielded surprisingly low results. For those interested in gaming, performance was average across the board. If you want more performance, there is an option within his BIOS to run with higher limits. Make sure you have the cooling to support it (perhaps doing a negative offset to Vcore).
This board is not listed on our site best motherboard But it presents users with another option in the crowded Z790 market. But before we get into the details of testing and boards, we’ll start by listing the specs from his website at Biostar.
Specifications: Biostar Z790 Valkyrie
| socket | LGA1700 |
| chipset | Z790 |
| form factor | ATX |
| voltage regulator | 21 phases (20x 105A SPS MOSFET for Vcore) |
| video port | (1) DisplayPort (v1.4) |
| (1) HDMI (v2.1) | |
| USB port | (1) USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20Gbps) Type-C |
| (1) USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) Type-C | |
| (6) USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) | |
| network jack | (1) 2.5GbE |
| audio jack | (5) Analog + SPDIF |
| Legacy port/jack | ✗ |
| Other Ports/Jacks | ✗ |
| PCIe x16 | (2) v5.0 (x16/x0, x8/x8) |
| (1) v4.0 (x4) | |
| PCIe x8 | ✗ |
| PCIe x4 | ✗ |
| PCIe x1 | ✗ |
| Crossfire/SLI | ✗ |
| DIMM slots | (4) DDR5 7200+(OC), 128GB capacity |
| M.2 socket | (1) PCIe 5.0 x4 (128Gbps) / PCIe (up to 80mm) |
| (2) PCIe 4.0 x4 (64Gbps) / PCIe (up to 110mm) | |
| (1) PCIe 4.0 x4 (64Gbps) / PCIe (up to 80mm) | |
| (1) PCIe 4.0 x4 (64Gbps) / PCIe + SATA (up to 80mm) | |
| (1) Key-E (Add Wi-Fi) | |
| SATA port | (8) SATA3 6Gbps (supports RAID 0/1/10) |
| USB header | (1) USB v3.2 Gen 2×2, Type-C (20Gbps) |
| (1) USB v3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) | |
| (2) USB v2.0 (480Mbps) | |
| fan/pump header | (6) 4-pin (CPU, CPU water cooling system fan) |
| RGB header | (2) aRGB (3 pin) |
| (1) RGB (4 pin) | |
| diagnostic panel | (1) 2-digit debug LED |
| Internal button/switch | Power button, reset button, CMOS clear button, BIOS switch |
| SATA controller | AS Media ASM1061 |
| ethernet controller | (1) Intel I226-V |
| Wi-Fi/Bluetooth | ✗ |
| USB controller | Genesis Logic GL3590 |
| HD audio codec | Realtek ALC1220 |
| DDL/DTS | ✗ / ✗ |
| guarantee | 3 years |
Inside the box of the Biostar Z790 Valkyrie
Inside the box, along with the motherboard, is a simple accessory stack designed to get you started right away without having to visit a store. Below is a complete list of accessories.
- (4) SATA cable
- driver disk
- user manual
- smart connector
Z790 Valkyrie design
image 1 of 3
ALBM – Boards 1-3
The Z790 Valkyrie is mounted on a matte black 8-layer PCB with a black heatsink and shroud with gold accents, along with a brushed aluminum finish covering the unsightly areas of the board. His VRM bank and chipset heatsink on the left contains his Valkyrie branding backlit with RGB LEDs. This board doesn’t look bad, but its similarly priced competitors are better and look more premium.
IMG Board4 (upper half)
Focusing on the top half of the board, we can clearly see the large VRM heatsink connected to the heatpipe and the Valkyrie branding of the IO cover. AMD-based like X670E ValkyrieThe VRM heatsink features wide cutout cutouts to increase surface area and performance, more than enough to keep the MOSFETs well within spec. Above the VRM heatsink are two 8-pin EPS connectors (one required) for powering the Intel processor.
Once through the socket, there are four hardened DDR5 DRAM slots with locking mechanisms on each side. The Biostar listing supports up to DDR5-7200, which is a lower price point compared to similarly priced options. No issues with the DDR5-5600 or DD5-6000 kits, but the fastest kit we had (DDR5-7200) didn’t work here. However, the stick is not on his QVL list and is at the top of the list of supports, so I can’t say I expected it to work anyway.
Next to the DRAM slots are the first two of the six 4-pin fan headers. PWM and DC control devices can be adjusted through BIOS or Aurora software. Biostar’s documentation doesn’t seem to list the output of these headers on their spec page or manual. It’s safe to assume 1A/12W is available for all headers without worrying (any more would be a concern). Overloading these headers can permanently damage your motherboard.
Past the DRAM slots along the right edge, a number of headers, including all three RGB headers (two 3-pin ARGB and one 4-pin RGB), nestle nicely in this location to help with cable management. Below the right edge are the power and reset buttons, another 4-pin fan header, and a 24-pin ATX connector that powers the board. Below is a 19-pin USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) connector and a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20 Gbps) Type-C connector on the front panel.
IMG – Board 5 (vrm)
The Z790 Valkyrie’s VRM is part of the higher performance found on the Z790 platform. For Vcore there are a total of 20 phases. Power is supplied to the Renesas RAA229131 controller through an 8-pin EPS connector. The power then goes to 20x 105A Renesas RAA22010540 SPS MOSFETs. The staggering 2,100A available for Vcore is one of the best we’ve seen so far, more than enough to handle the flagship. Intel i9-13900K When stock and overclocked, even when using sub-ambient cooling methods.
ALBM – Board 6 (bottom half)
At the bottom of the board is a mostly hidden audio area, starting from the left side. All you see are his four yellow capacitors dedicated to audio. Hidden under the shroud is the last generation flagship Realtek ALC1220 codec. Most users are happy with this codec, but I want to see the latest and greatest in flagship class motherboards.
There are three reinforced full-length PCIe slots in the middle of the board, jutting out between five M.2 sockets, all hidden under heatsinks. Starting with the PCIe slot, the top two slots are connected through the CPU and run at PCIe 5.0 speeds. The top slot supports up to x16 and the second slot supports up to PCIe 5.0 8x speed. Using both will split the top slot to x8 speed and share the bandwidth with his second slot. A full-length socket on the bottom connects through the chipset and supports PCIe 4.0 x4 bandwidth. There are many slots and sockets, but you have to consider lane sharing (more on that later).
The slots are mixed with a total of 5 M.2 sockets. It has one PCIe 5.0 x4 (128 Gbps) socket and four PCIe 4.0 x4 (64 Gbps) sockets, one of which can run SATA and NVMe based modules. There is also a Key-E socket that can be used for CNVi based Wi-Fi cards. Don’t be fooled by the rear antenna connections. Wi-Fi is not included in the box.
Again, some amount of lane sharing is inevitable with these sockets, slots and SATA ports. If you are using a PCIe-based module in M2M_CPU1 (top socket), the 2nd PCIe slot will be disabled and the primary slot (top) will be reduced to x8, ensuring plenty of bandwidth. Additionally, if you’re running his SATA-based SSD on M2M_SB3, you lose one SATA port (SATA8). That means you can run all 5 M.2 sockets and all 8 SATA ports at the same time if you’re not running a SATA-based M.2 module.
Then spy on the CLR CMOS button on the far right to reset the active BIOS. Next to it are eight SATA ports, a BIOS selector switch and another 4-pin fan header. At the bottom of the , some headers are exposed. Here’s a generic fare with USB, audio and fan headers. Below is the complete list from left to right.
- front panel audio
- (2) 4-pin system fan headers
- Thunderbolt AIC Header
- COM port
- (2) USB 2.0 headers
- front panel
- debug LED
- 4 pin fan header
- TPM header
IMG – Board 7 (Riario)
The Z790 Valkyrie’s rear IO comes pre-installed on the motherboard. A black background with white labels on the ports makes it easy to read the contents. There are a total of 8 USB ports, 2 Type-C (10 and 20 Gbps ports) and 6 USB 3.2 Gen2 (10 Gbps) Type-A ports. On the left are two video outputs (DisplayPort and HDMI) and a Smart BIOS update button. Note that the board does not come with Wi-Fi, although there is a Wi-Fi antenna connection above the USB port. You will need to purchase your own Key-E slot and install it in an available Key-E slot. On the right is a 5-plug analog and SPDIF audio stack and finally a 2.5 GbE port.
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