Introduction

Despite Intel's LGA1851 socket having likely seen its final CPU launch, Gigabyte recently saw fit to release new motherboards aimed at Intel fans keen to take advantage of its new Core Ultra 200 Plus CPUs. The Z890 Aorus Elite Duo X has a sub $280 price tag, but still offers an ultra-fast USB Type-C port, Wi-Fi 7 and full PCIe Gen 5 support. It also has an enlarged 512 Mbit (64 MB) BIOS as well as headline feature CQDIMM support.

This is essentially a 128 GB CUDIMM module, with the advantage of supporting a native speed of DDR5-7200 MT/s, and the Z890 Aorus Elite Duo X out of the box offering up to DDR5-8000 MT/s CQDIMM support. The maximum supported memory capacity is still 256 GB, though, so aside from higher speeds for very large capacity modules, you might wonder what the advantages are.

Well, one is clearly that you don't need four DIMM slots when you can populate just two slots with fast ultra-high capacity modules and max out the board's memory capacity. So Gigabyte has done away with two slots and the Z890 Aorus Elite Duo X has just two left. It's made the most of the extra space with an additional heatsink-equipped M.2 port as well.

Though this could be a questionable decision, as we'll discuss later. In addition, while the features are generally solid, there are some cuts to the specifications to get the price tag below $300, potentially putting it at a disadvantage compared to numerous competing boards, including its own siblings.

Specifications