The Intel Z690 Motherboard Overview (DDR5): Over 50+ New Models
by Gavin Bonshor on November 9, 2021 9:00 AM ESTASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero (DDR5)
Acting as the 'entry-level' if it can be called that to ASUS's ROG Maximus series is the Hero, or the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero to be exact. Adopting a more futuristic and modern design compared to last year's ROG Maximus XIII Hero, the new Z690 Hero includes its dot matrix display integrated into the rear panel cover and chipset heatsink, which looks fancy and neat. All across the board are oodles of matte black including the M.2 heatsinks, with a central M.2 heatsink that has a black treadplate-looking design on it for contrast.
Looking at the lower half of the board, it is dominated by PCIe slots, including two full-length PCIe 5.0 slots operating at either x16 or x8/x8, with a third full-length PCIe 3.0 x4 slot. Storage options are aplenty including four PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slots, with a fifth M.2 slot locked down to PCIe 3.0 x4. Other storage options include six SATA ports that benefit from support for RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 arrays. Located in the top-right hand corner are four memory slots that are capable of supporting up to DDR5-6400 with a maximum combined capacity of 128 GB.
On the rear panel of the Z690 Hero are a pair of Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports, with one USB 3.2 G2 Type-C, six USB 3.2 G2 Type-A, and two USB 2.0 ports. Networking options include an Intel I225-V 2.5 GbE controller with an Intel Wi-Fi 6E CNVi offering both wireless and BT 5.2 device connectivity. There are five 3.5 mm audio jacks and S/PDIF optical output powered by a SupremeFX ALC4082 HD audio codec and ESS Sabre 9018Q2C DAC pairing, while the board also has one HDMI 2.1 video output. Finishing off the rear panel is a pair of buttons, one for BIOS Flashback and another to clear the CMOS.
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Oxford Guy - Wednesday, November 10, 2021 - link
Creating more fiat bills has consequences. Congress literally printed money to give to lobbyists as part of ‘Covid relief’.fcth - Wednesday, November 10, 2021 - link
Sad to see only one mATX board, though at least it looks like a decent (if expensive) option.Mite - Wednesday, November 10, 2021 - link
Can ASUS Z690 Maximus Extreme run PCIe 5.0 x16 GPU and PCIe 5.0 x4 M.2 SSD concurrently? Will the GPU (PCIe 5.0 x16 slot 1) drop to PCIe 5.0 x8 instead when SSD is installed on the PCIe 5.0 x4 (M2 slot)?Kakkoii - Wednesday, November 10, 2021 - link
MSI does show the Audio Codec... just not on the simplified summary. You guys have to click the "Detail" tab on the Specifications page for a given board. All the boards show which audio they're using.The Carbon for example has ALC4080.
gavbon - Thursday, November 18, 2021 - link
At the time of writing, even the detail sections of the specifications didn't show them. On top of this, all of the information we received prior to launch mentioned no specific HD audio codecs. I will update this though :)JackNJ - Friday, November 12, 2021 - link
The GIGABYTE Z690I Aorus Ultra is not DDR5 I think?chavv - Friday, November 12, 2021 - link
5 m2 slots?How is this useful for a normal user?!
Or 600$ mobo for desktop usage?!
World gone mad
mode_13h - Saturday, November 13, 2021 - link
For RAID, obviously. That borderline makes sense. If you're running a 4 or 5-drive RAID of SSDs in a consumer rig, it's more cost-effective and still plenty fast to use SATA. And I think it's not unreasonable to expect anyone using M.2 drives to put them in a PCIe carrier card, which will have better cooling potential anyhow.sunmobo - Friday, November 12, 2021 - link
You've included MSI's ITX variant in the list (MEG Z690I Unify) but I can't seem to find it on their website. Although if you google you'll find a few mentions on some shops, without pics. Is this because MSI is still working on the board, or?gavbon - Thursday, November 18, 2021 - link
It's likely to launch soon, but it does and will exist.