Solved ASUS Prime Z790-P WiFi D4 Question - Upgrade Wi-fi


mccmw

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I'm currently using an "ancient" Intel 7th Gen machine right now...time to finally upgrade. I'm deciding on building again or simply buying a pre-built or used machine. I have a question about modern motherboards...an Asus model in this case. I believe this Z790-P D4 has an integrated Wifi 6 device. Is that soldered or an Intel M.2 card? Is it upgradeable to 6E or 7? Otherwise, could I later add a PCIE card with upgraded Wifi chip? Thanks.
 

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    Windows 11Intel i7-7700K32GB 2666Mhz (Kingston Hyper X Fury)Asus Nvidia 1050Ti
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    Windows 11
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    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-7700K
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    Asus Prime Z-270A
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    32GB 2666Mhz (Kingston Hyper X Fury)
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    Windows 11 Homei9-11900H32GBIntegrated Intel and Nvidia 3050Ti
    Operating System
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    Laptop
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    Dell/XPS 15 9510
    CPU
    i9-11900H
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    Unknown
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    32GB
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    Integrated Intel and Nvidia 3050Ti
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I'm currently using an "ancient" Intel 7th Gen machine right now...time to finally upgrade. I'm deciding on building again or simply buying a pre-built or used machine. I have a question about modern motherboards...an Asus model in this case. I believe this Z790-P D4 has an integrated Wifi 6 device. Is that soldered or an Intel M.2 card? Is it upgradeable to 6E or 7? Otherwise, could I later add a PCIE card with upgraded Wifi chip? Thanks.


There should be some ASUS boards that already have Wifi 7...

These are all the ASUS motherboards with wifi 7... you can do more sorting on the left side...


The only thing I sorted for was Wifi 7, and at top right I chose... price: lowest to highest.



=============================================================================

Wifi 6E...



=============================================================================

Wifi 6...



=============================================================================







This is about the cheapest CPU, mobo (w/wifi 7), and RAM I could find, and still be decent parts...



 
Last edited:

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    Operating System
    Windows XP Pro 32bit w/SP3
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Built by Ghot® (not in use)
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (OC'd @ 3.2Ghz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition
    Memory
    TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX (2 x 1GB, DDR2 800)
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA 256-P2-N758-TR GeForce 8600GT SSC
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    Onboard
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    ViewSonic G90FB Black 19" Professional (CRT)
    Screen Resolution
    up to 2048 x 1536
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    WD 36GB 10,000rpm Raptor SATA
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    Symantec (Norton)
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    Still assembled, still runs. Haven't turned it on for 15 years?
It is indicated for z790-p d4:
Wireless & Bluetooth
Vertical M.2 slot only (Key E, CNVi & PCIe)*
*Wi-Fi module is sold separately.
 

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    Win 11 Home ♦♦♦26200.8737 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦25H2
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    Built by Ghot® [May 2020]
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
    Motherboard
    Asus Pro WS X570-ACE (BIOS 5302)
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    EVGA RTX 2070 (08G-P4-2171-KR)
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    Realtek ALC1220P / ALC S1220A
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    Dell U3011 30"
    Screen Resolution
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    Hard Drives
    2x Samsung 860 EVO 500GB,
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    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling 750W Quad EPS12V
    Case
    Cooler Master ATCS 840 Tower
    Cooling
    CM Hyper 212 EVO (push/pull)
    Keyboard
    Ducky DK9008 Shine II Blue LED
    Mouse
    Logitech Optical M-100
    Internet Speed
    300/300
    Browser
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    Bitdefender Total Security
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    Speakers: Klipsch Pro Media 2.1
  • At a glance

    Windows XP Pro 32bit w/SP3AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (OC'd @ 3.2Ghz)TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX (2 x 1GB, DDR2 800)EVGA 256-P2-N758-TR GeForce 8600GT SSC
    Operating System
    Windows XP Pro 32bit w/SP3
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Built by Ghot® (not in use)
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (OC'd @ 3.2Ghz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition
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    TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX (2 x 1GB, DDR2 800)
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    EVGA 256-P2-N758-TR GeForce 8600GT SSC
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic G90FB Black 19" Professional (CRT)
    Screen Resolution
    up to 2048 x 1536
    Hard Drives
    WD 36GB 10,000rpm Raptor SATA
    Seagate 80GB 7200rpm SATA
    Lite-On LTR-52246S CD/RW
    Lite-On LH-18A1P CD/DVD Burner
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad EPS12V
    Case
    Generic Beige case, 80mm fans
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    ZALMAN 9500A 92mm CPU Cooler
    Keyboard
    Logitech Classic Keybooard 200
    Mouse
    Logitech Optical M-BT96a
    Internet Speed
    300/300
    Browser
    Firefox 3.x ??
    Antivirus
    Symantec (Norton)
    Other Info
    Still assembled, still runs. Haven't turned it on for 15 years?
Thanks all...I should've asked my question more generally. Since I posted I did some more reading. Basically, I wanted to know if it was possible to upgrade a Wifi 6 or 6E motherboard (e.g. a few years old) to Wi-fi7 easily. Some boards have the chip soldered on and others apparently can theoretically be changed but after prying open a cover...apparently that is the case in the model I said in the original post. Apparently, if I don't buy a newer board with Wifi-7 already on it, like you have mentioned, I can still also buy a Wifi/BT card (PCIE x1) and that still works (like I have now on my old machine).
 

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    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-7700K
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime Z-270A
    Memory
    32GB 2666Mhz (Kingston Hyper X Fury)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus Nvidia 1050Ti
    Sound Card
    N/A
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung C27F390
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    1TB Western Digital SN770 (System) and 2TB Western Digital SN770 (Storage)
    Antivirus
    Windows Security
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    Windows 11 Homei9-11900H32GBIntegrated Intel and Nvidia 3050Ti
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Home
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    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell/XPS 15 9510
    CPU
    i9-11900H
    Motherboard
    Unknown
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Intel and Nvidia 3050Ti
    Sound Card
    Integrated (Realtek)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    None
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200 (non-Touch)
    Hard Drives
    2TB SK Hynix P41 Platinum
    Antivirus
    Windows Security
Hey @mccmw - I'm kind of in the same boat except I'm still on the 6th gen (core i7-6700k), what I've been doing is when I find a board I'm interested in I go download the manual from ASUS website and at least peruse through the important stuff, make sure there's nothing missing like I did last time (my z170 pro doesn't have bluetooth). You may have already considered / done this, but just in case..
 

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Custom Build
CPU
Intel Core I7 · 6700K @ 4.0
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ASUS Z170 Pro
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32GB Crucial Ballistix Sport LT DDR-2400
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Acer EI322QUR 32", MSI G274QPF 27"
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WD Black SN770 1TB (OS), Samsung 860 Evo 500GB (Data), 850 Evo 500GB (Data), WD10EZEX-00BN5AO (Temp/Data),WD80EFPX-68C4ZN0 (Backup)
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Antec EarthWatts EA-650
Case
Sentey GS-6011 ATX Mid Tower
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Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo
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Logitech MX Mechanical
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Logitech Vertical Mouse
Internet Speed
700 Mbps
The Z790-P D4 doesn't have Wi-Fi, but as previously mentioned, it has an M.2 slot for a Wi-Fi card.

With any motherboard, you need to check before buying whether the Wi-Fi is soldered on or not.
 

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