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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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?