Asus ROG Maximus Z690 Extreme review: Luxurious motherboard excess

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Intel has lastly rejoined the aggressive panorama towards AMD with its Z690 platform, matching high-end muscle with the ferocious Core i9-12900K CPU. With nice energy comes not-so-great pricing, nonetheless. The Asus ROG Maximus Z690 Excessive’s $1,099 price ticket eclipses the $649 value of previous juggernaut motherboards just like the X299 Asus Rampage VI Excessive, recasting what a high-end motherboard ought to price.

We’ll talk about the specs, options, and efficiency it is best to count on from a motherboard of this caliber, and whether or not it delivers sufficient to justify your buy.

The specs

The Asus ROG Maximus Z690 Excessive is filled with numerous options and a powerful spec checklist, together with DDR5 reminiscence assist and Thunderbolt 4. Remember that it’s an prolonged measurement, or E-ATX, which means it’s bigger than a typical ATX motherboard and will not slot in all circumstances. You’ll get an built-in I/O protect, too—no worries about forgetting this step of the construct course of!

You’ll discover Wi-Fi 6E together with 10GB ethernet. Thunderbolt 4 accompanies the various USB Gen 2 ports on the again. You’ll have 5 slots for M.2, and two of them are on the included ROG Dimn2 card that attaches subsequent to the RAM.

Listed below are some necessary specs to concentrate on:

• E-ATX 12×13 inches, or 305x330mm (wider than an ATX motherboard)
• Intel Twelfth-gen Alder Lake CPU assist with 24+1 energy levels  (LGA 1700)
• DDR5 RAM solely, 4 slots
• PCI-E 5.0
• 5 M.2 slots
• Thunderbolt 4
• USB-C Gen 2
• Wi-Fi 6E
• 10GB LAN (Marvel AQtion and an Intel 2.5GB LAN)
• ROG SupremeFX ALC4082 With ESS ES9018QC2 DAC
• 2-inch OLED Stay Sprint, and AniMe Matrix show
• 3- and 4-pin RGB headers
• Clear CMOS and BIOS flashbacks buttons
• ROG Dimn2 M.2 adapter card
• A number of fan and water cooling headers
• HDMI port for built-in graphics (when GPU not obtainable)
• Six SATA 6GB/S ports
• M.2 latch, and PCI-E button for releasing GPUs
• CPU cooler backwards compatibility with LGA 1200 or 1700

Thiago Trevisan / IDG

Design

Excessive. That phrase describes why many would love this motherboard, proper? Minimalist, RGB-agnostic afficionados needn’t apply; this motherboard packs some severe “Occasions-Sq.-Degree” lights. With a 2-inch OLED and animated Matrix show, it may be configured to point out something from CPU stats to animations. While you’re paying for additional options, that features eye sweet.

Thiago Trevisan / IDG

Additionally, it’s heavy. Like, actually heavy, however in a great way. Weighing in at over six kilos, it’s mighty to carry. The construct high quality is spectacular, with an armor again plate and loads of cowl for the entrance areas. The VRM heatsinks are big too, and naturally you’ll get loads of M.2 cooling with the coated plates a nicely.

It’s a really engaging motherboard general, with nice management over the RGB lighting through Asus Aura software program, so it may be custom-made nonetheless you’d like.

One necessary factor to bear in mind is that the highest M.2 cowl does keep barely raised, so should you’re doing a water-cooled graphics card with a thick backplate, reminiscent of these with energetic cooling, be aware of clearance points. Likewise, should you’re doing a GPU on the underside PCI-E slot, a thick GPU cooler can intervene with among the cables, stopping a strong connection. (This occurred to me with an Asus Strix GPU cooler and the RGB and USB ports on the underside of the motherboard.)

Thiago Trevisan / IDG

Distinctive options

Many motherboards have distinctive options, however what units aside a board at this stage, and value, is the sheer quantity and mixture of options. Let’s break down among the most fascinating:

1. Robust networking choices with 10GB, 2.5GB LAN, and Wi-Fi 6E for optimum flexibility
2. Connectivity choices proceed to impress, with Thunderbolt 4 and lots of USB ports, together with kind C, and 60W charging potential
3. Unbelievable M.2 SSD assist, though take into accout solely the highest M.2 is PCI-E Gen 5, however that can include some restrictions
4. DDR5 is right here, however take into accout it’s costlier than DDR4 for minimal efficiency positive aspects. There’s additionally a giant challenge with operating quad RAM sticks—they gained’t do XMP profiles—so you might need to keep on with two RAM sticks of upper capability
5. M.2 latch and PCI-E slot straightforward launch/entry—we hope to see this on much more motherboards sooner or later!
6. Nice VRM and CPU efficiency, however you will get related or higher with some cheaper motherboards such because the Asus Z690 Apex (it gained’t be as function packed, nonetheless)
7. Wish to do two GPUs, for both higher spacing to enhance thermals when doing content material creation, and even…gasp…the already defunct SLI/NV Hyperlink? You are able to do that right here, with 4-slot NVlink assist
8. OLED show may be very cool (PC fanatics will admire it!)
9. Asus software program has a powerful suite with Armoury Crate, permitting fan management, Ai overclocking, and RGB customization
10. LGA 1700 would require a brand new bracket for many coolers, however Asus motherboards are suitable with LGA 1200 out of the field, too
11. You’ll get some neat objects within the field, like an RGB controller that may show helpful in trendy builds

Efficiency and BIOS

With a strong CPU such because the Intel Core i9-12900K, you’ll need to ensure you’re maximizing its potential with a board like this.

The Asus BIOS continues to be one of the nice and intuitive to make use of, and should you’re doing any overclocking, you’ll definitely spend quite a lot of time right here. You’ll be able to tweak many CPU settings, and your RAM has huge potential as nicely.

Let’s get the DDR5 challenge out of the best way—you’ll need to stick to 2 RAM modules if you wish to use the XMP profile and get the utmost rated pace. It could be a good suggestion to get increased capability should you want it, as going to 4 RAM sticks will restrict your DDR5 speeds to the bottom 4800Mhz. That is…not excessive, but it surely’s how it’s at current. Reminiscence is at all times Twin Channel, after all.

Asus

VRM temperatures with the facility stage elements are greater than sufficient for even a strong, hot-running 12900K.

It looks like a lot of recent overclocking is extra CPU restricted, as they arrive operating fairly sizzling from the manufacturing facility as is—so any minor enhancements with guide tinkering can have diminishing returns.

Asus has a wonderful suite of AI overclocking and optimization instruments, as nicely. You could find these each within the BIOS, in addition to the Armoury Crate Software program.

Clear CMOS and BIOS flashback can also be obtainable, making overclocking makes an attempt simpler to get well from. You’ll even get LN2 Mode change for customers eager to push it additional with liquid nitrogen; plus a retry button, thermal headers, and so on. (Don’t really feel unnoticed; we’re not doing any liquid-nitrogen cooling both!)

Backside line

Are there cheaper alternate options available on the market for Z690, such because the Asus ROG Strix or Gigabyte Aorus Grasp? Certain, and so they even pack most of the similar options because the ROG Maximus Z690 Excessive. The magic is within the particulars should you can abdomen the value, nonetheless. Right here, you’ll get the entire options packed collectively—to not point out a really spectacular and premium design. You may additionally need to try the Asus ROG Apex or Components motherboards, which have a lot of the options, however much less of a value premium. (Take a look at Alaina Yee’s recommendations on what to search for in a motherboard to your Twelfth-gen CPU.)

It’s not even the costliest possibility available on the market, both. If you need a water-cooled answer, you will discover the liquid cooling-focused Glacial model of this motherboard for way more—and MSI’s luxurious Godlike not too long ago made an look for Z690 as nicely.

This motherboard is for the one that desires a particularly high-end construct and to tick the entire efficiency and aesthetic choices. With PC elements all skyrocketing in value the previous few years, it was solely a matter of time earlier than motherboards bought an increasing number of costly, too.

It’ll go well with each content material creators, with its huge connectivity suite, in addition to fanatic PC builders and players, with a plethora of efficiency and aesthetic niceties.

Small quirks and the excessive price ticket preserve it from being a 5-star product and extremely beneficial motherboard, particularly when contemplating that another motherboards with related (however not all) options are available in at tons of of {dollars} much less. For those who love the design and will need to have all of its many options, nonetheless, it’s a tremendous product for the discerning high-end fanatic who doesn’t thoughts shelling out the money.