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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GeoffreyA - Saturday, November 13, 2021 - link
Certainly, there are tradeoffs, keeping a socket; but, as Mr. Tuvok would say, "Ryzen, you are an unending source of astonishment." There was a time when sockets even took CPUs from different manufacturers. I remember my Socket 7 motherboard, though I never tried it, could take a K5 and some Cyrix CPUs as well. Those 5x something, something. How things have changed.A short-lived socket can be a pain in the behind too. I was one of those unlucky folk who ended up with Socket 754 and missed out on dual-channel DDR and a long upgrade path. In any case, that computer went kaput after four years.
Oxford Guy - Wednesday, November 10, 2021 - link
Overclocking is for employees of motherboard companies.ECC RAM support should have been a standard feature from the beginning. Apple offered it on the Lisa in ‘83 and consumer computing has gone backward since.
Doublers, though... aren’t a bad thing as long as they’re implemented well — as I understand it. Better to have a good doubler implementation than a weak individual phase system. The main thing is to have a board meet the minimum spec for reliable (i.e. not overheating and/or failing) long-term support of its supported CPUs. Anything beyond that is unnecessary.
GeoffreyA - Saturday, November 13, 2021 - link
The problem with doublers is, they over-use it as a marketing technique to give the impression that a certain board has a large amount of phases.Oxford Guy - Saturday, November 13, 2021 - link
Weak phases with a mediocre/poor regulator aren’t necessarily better than ‘marketing phases’ via the use of doublers. That’s the case when the doublers are used a correctly.There are a lot of shenanigans, though — like not even utilizing the doubler fully but counting it as the doubling of phases. I also recall that one of the big tricks was putting extra chokes on the board to make it look like there are more phases.
GeoffreyA - Sunday, November 14, 2021 - link
Quite right, and one of the reasons why people have got to read a proper analysis of the VRM, or take a look at the lists on hardwareluxx for example.t.s - Tuesday, November 9, 2021 - link
Wish Intel go with their atv12vo. Or like business lines from HP, Dell, Lenovo, etc. 6 or 8 pin.shabby - Tuesday, November 9, 2021 - link
Mobo prices will go up even more, screw that.meacupla - Tuesday, November 9, 2021 - link
In the long term, I think the cost for ATX12VO will be cheaper.ATX12VO PSU will be cheaper than a comparable quality ATX PSU.
The BoM for 12V to 5V and 12V to 3.3V converters would go down, if mobo makers decide to stick to a single, standardized design.
With the way things are looking, electricity prices are unlikely to go down and continue to go up.
DigitalFreak - Tuesday, November 9, 2021 - link
All ATX12VO is doing is shifting the cost from the PSU to the motherboard.Wrs - Wednesday, November 10, 2021 - link
If mobo makers can stick to one design why can't PSU makers? They already conform to ATX.ATX 12 VO increases costs for piecemeal upgraders because of the simple observation that PSUs outlive motherboards. The question would be whether the power savings are worth it. For prebuilts they're comparing power savings to 0 net component cost so 12VO is already the norm.