The Intel Z690 Motherboard Overview (DDR5): Over 50+ New Models
by Gavin Bonshor on November 9, 2021 9:00 AM ESTASUS ROG Strix Z690-E Gaming WIFI (DDR5)
Moving onto ASUS's mid-range Z690 options, and we have its gaming-focused Strix series with solid features, which over the last couple of years have been at competitive price points. The ASUS ROG Strix Z690-E Gaming WIFI is no different with an all-around solid feature set, with a similar aesthetic to last year's Z590 version. Looking at the design, ASUS has gone with a very smart brushed aluminum rear panel cover, with a ROG Strix graffiti-styled chipset heatsink. ASUS does include RGB LEDs integrated into the rear panel cover, but this looks like the only place that features it on the board, outside of the inclusive RGB and Addressable headers which can be found on the edge of the PCB.
Looking at PCIe options, ASUS includes one full-length PCIe 5.0 x16, one full-length PCIe 4.0 x4, one full-length PCIe 3.0 x4, and one PCIe 3.0 x1 slot. There are enough storage options for its pedigree including one PCIe 5.0 x4 M.2 slot, two PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slots, and six SATA ports with support for RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 arrays. The ASUS ROG Strix Z690-E Gaming WIFI also includes four memory slots, which are capable of supporting DDR5-6400, with a maximum capacity of up to 128 GB.
Touching on the rear panel connectivity options, ASUS hasn't provided a full list at the time of writing, but we know it includes. There's one USB 3.2 G2x2 Type-C, with one USB 3.2 G2 Type-C, two USB 3.2 G2 Type-A, four USB 3.2 G1 Type-A, and four USB 2.0 ports, with an HDMI and DisplayPort video output pairing. A total of five 3.5 mm audio jacks and S/PDIF optical output are powered by a SupremeFX ALC4080 HD audio codec and Savitech SV3H712 amplifier pairing, while networking is handled by an Intel I225-V 2.5 GbE controller and Intel Wi-Fi 6E CNVi.
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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?