The Intel Z690 Motherboard Overview (DDR5): Over 50+ New Models
by Gavin Bonshor on November 9, 2021 9:00 AM ESTGIGABYTE Z690 Aorus Master (DDR5)
Moving down the Aorus series is the GIGABYTE Z690 Aorus Master, which combines a very premium feature set, with the typical Aorus gaming-focused aesthetic we've seen from GIGABYTE over the last couple of years. Focusing on the aesthetic, GIGABYTE is using a primarily black theme with contrasting shades of black and grey throughout, with a brushed aluminum-styled rear panel cover. There are two main areas of integrated RGB LED lighting which include the rear panel cover behind the Aorus logo, as well as within the chipset heatsink. GIGABYTE is advertising a direct 19-phase power delivery with the latest 105 A power stages which screams high end.
Looking at PCIe support, the GIGABYTE Z690 Aorus Master includes one full-length PCIe 5.0 x16 slot, with two full-length PCIe 3.0 x4 slots. Located around the PCIe slot area is a total of five M.2 slots, with four of these operating at PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2, and one PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slot. Other storage options include six SATA ports with all featuring support for Intel RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 arrays. Located in the top right-hand corner is a bank of four memory slots, with support for DDR5-6400, with a maximum capacity of up to 128 GB.
On the rear panel of the GIGABYTE Z690 Aorus Master are two USB 3.2 G2x2 Type-C ports, five USB 3.2 G2 Type-A, and four USB 3.2 G1 Type-A ports. GIGABYTE does include one DisplayPort 1.4 video output for users looking to utilize Intel's integrated graphics, while five 3.5 mm audio jacks and S/PDIF optical output are powered by a Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec and ESS Sabre 9118EQ amplifier pairing. Networking is impressive with a single Aquantia AQC107 10 GbE controller and Intel AX211 Wi-Fi 6E CNVi pairing. Finishing off the rear panel is a clear CMOS button and Q-Flash BIOS Flashback button.
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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.