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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mode_13h - Friday, November 12, 2021 - link
I was really disappointed not to see more discussion of costs and why the price distribution of these boards tends to skew so high.However, I was most surprised to see how much lower some of the entry-level models are priced. Do we think these will be produced in sufficient volume, or are they primarily there as a means of upselling would-be buyers who, out of frustration at seeing them always out-of-stock eventually end up buying one of the more expensive models?
mikk - Saturday, November 13, 2021 - link
MSI Pro Z690-A WIFI, MSI Pro Z690-A and many more have the cheaper Realtek ALC897 Codec, the audio table is not accurate and it says Z490 instead of Z690.ajollylife - Sunday, November 14, 2021 - link
Wtf is with the PCIe 3.0 slots? I'm looking at the Gigabyte Aorus Master, has 10gig onboard, great, but then the other two pcie slots are pcie 3.0 So confused.mode_13h - Sunday, November 14, 2021 - link
From what I've read, PCIe 4.0 tends to require retimers, which adds cost and takes space. Those could be reasons why we don't see more PCIe 4.0 slots.back2future - Monday, November 15, 2021 - link
maybe mainboards start getting reshaped/redesigned (vertical m.2, backside slots/connectors, ?) instead of using retimers (chipset TDP includes retimer power?, cooling power for peripherals on PCIe 5.x speeds on 4GB/(s*lane)=~2 lanes sufficient for fastest available (2021, consumer) SSDs )?ecclesiastes121314 - Wednesday, February 23, 2022 - link
2 ram slots? I've seen this on a few of these new DDR5 boards. Most people here are talking about Thunderbolt 4 and USB4. Yes these are very useful to a select group of people yet these can be achieved with add on cards. Then you can pay for the devices to take advantage of these technologies. Reducing ram slots from 4 to 2. Wow. Yes you can buy high density ram. But this is forcing you that direction. What is wrong with 4x16 or 4x32 ram kits? If you (me) are interested in high performance video then affordable and available ram is a huge consideration. Is it just me?