The Intel Z690 Motherboard Overview (DDR5): Over 50+ New Models
by Gavin Bonshor on November 9, 2021 9:00 AM ESTASUS Prime Z690-A (DDR5)
The ASUS Prime series of motherboards is perhaps one of its most key ranges. It represents the more affordable and entry-level segment, with functional features, wallet-friendly controllers sets, but all packed into a basic, yet elegant theme. The ASUS Prime Z690-A includes a futuristic black and silver design throughout, with plenty of premium features, and as such, sits more towards the mid-range than the entry-level. It includes a fanciful rear panel cover with the Prime series logo, with a black opaque panel just below this. The same design is present on the chipset heatsink, and the PCB is primarily black with white patterning.
On the lower section of the ASUS Prime Z690-A is a varied selection of PCIe slots. At the top, ASUS includes a full-length PCIe 5.0 x16 slot, while at the bottom is a full-length PCIe 3.0 x4 slot. In between these is a half-length PCIe 3.0 x4 slot, with two smaller PCIe 3.0 x1 slots. For storage, there's a total of four M.2 slots, including three PCIe 4.0 x4 slots, one PCIe 4.0 x4/SATA slot, and four SATA ports. In the top right-hand corner is four memory slots that are capable of supporting DDR5-6000 and have a maximum capacity of 128 GB.
On the rear panel on the Prime Z690-A is one USB 3.2 G2x2 Type-C, one USB 3.2 G2 Type-C, two USB 3.2 G2 Type-A, and four USB 3.2 G1 Type-A ports. ASUS includes a pair of video outputs consisting of a DisplayPort and HDMI, with five 3.5 mm audio jacks and S/PDIF optical output powered by a Realtek S1220A HD audio codec. Last but not least, there's one Ethernet port that is driven by an Intel I225-V 2.5 GbE controller.
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Duwelon - Tuesday, November 9, 2021 - link
Asus' prices are completely bananas. If I build a new rig with Z690 it'll probably be my first non-Asus build in a very long time.Sivar - Tuesday, November 9, 2021 - link
That caught my eye, too. I bought an Asus Hero-branded board for my current system last year at approximately $200 USD.I suspect Asus is shifting their marketspeak because the word "Maximus" (used for the z690 board but not mine) usually applies to their most expensive boards.
blppt - Tuesday, November 9, 2021 - link
This. $2000 for a consumer grade motherboard? WTF are they smoking?Also, I'm pretty sure ASUS will be releasing some TUF Z690s at some point, probably at a lower price point than the primes. My experience with the TUF series has been very positive for the price.
DigitalFreak - Tuesday, November 9, 2021 - link
They know they're not going to sell many of those. Those boards are either for LN2 e-peen competitions or people with more money than sense.Wrs - Wednesday, November 10, 2021 - link
TUF is historically just a bit more expensive than Prime. They already have a TUF DDR4 version - ordered the Wifi one for $290 the other day. If worried about price DDR5 is the first mistake.blppt - Wednesday, November 10, 2021 - link
The X570 TUF was cheaper than the X570 Prime when I went shopping for an AMD board.COtech - Tuesday, November 9, 2021 - link
Subtitle - "Intel Z690 Chipset: Like Z590, But Now With Native PCIe 4.0"I think "But Now With Native PCIe 5.0" is intended.
gavbon - Thursday, November 18, 2021 - link
The Z690 chipset doesn't have PCIe 5.0, this comes from the CPU. The Z690 chipset does, however, now include PCIe 4.0 lanes, whereas Z590 did not.Someguyperson - Tuesday, November 9, 2021 - link
I don't get the "DP IN" ports on the ASUS ProArt Z690 Creator WIFI. I see the author just wrote what was on the ASUS website, but that doesn't really explain anything. Are they passthrough to the Thunderbolt out ports? Is there a capture card built into this motherboard? I'm very confused by the labeling here.uwsalt - Tuesday, November 9, 2021 - link
Those are passthrough to the Thunderbolt port. Add-in Thunderbolt cards work the same way. You slot in your discrete GPU, send the output from both DP ports to the Thunderbolt controller, and then use Thunderbolt to output to a Thunderbolt monitor or hub.