The Intel Z690 Motherboard Overview (DDR5): Over 50+ New Models
by Gavin Bonshor on November 9, 2021 9:00 AM ESTMSI MEG Z690 Ace (DDR5)
As it stands at the time of writing, the MSI MEG Z690 Ace is the brand's premier flagship model, until the Godlike hits the shelves, which is likely to be after Alder Lake's launch. Rolling back to the Ace, and it's jam-packed full of premium features as we've come to expect over the years including the previous MSI MEG Z590 Ace. Looking at the aesthetic, MSI has gone with a black and gold theme without the need for integrated RGB LED lighting. It's actually a really classy look despite the gold not being as widely native to other hardware components, so hardware matching could be an issue, nevertheless, it's a stunning board.
Looking like a gladiator covered in gold and black armor, the MSI MEG Z690 Ace has two full-length PCIe 5.0 slots that can operate at either x16 or x8/x8, with a full-length PCIe 4.0 slot for good measure. Storage options are also premium, with support for four PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 drives, with one PCIe 3.0 x4 slot bringing the total of M.2 slots to five. MSI also includes six SATA ports with support for Intel RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 arrays. Located in the top-right hand corner are four memory slots, with support for up to DDR5-6666, with a combined capacity of up to 128 GB.
On the rear panel of the MSI MEG Z690 Ace is a premium selection of input and output, which is spearheaded by dual Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports, with two Mini-DisplayPort inputs. Also featured are a USB 3.2 G2 Type-C and seven USB 3.2 G2 Type-A ports. The Ace also includes dual Intel I225-V 2.5 GbE controllers, as well as Intel's latest AX211 Wi-Fi 6E CNVi, which adds wireless and BT 5.2 connectivity. There are five 3.5 mm audio jacks and S/PDIF optical output powered by a Realtek ALC4082 HD audio codec and ESS Sabre 9018Q2C amp, as well as a BIOS Flashback button and Clear CMOS 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.