Over the past six months since Intel launched its twelfth Gen Core sequence of processors, we have checked out a number of Alder Lake desktop CPUs and seen how aggressive they’re from high to backside – not simply in efficiency however worth too. To harness the facility of Alder Lake, nonetheless, there are a lot of choices when it comes to Z690 motherboards, and at present we’re looking at certainly one of ASUS’s extra premium fashions, the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero.
They are saying onerous occasions do not create heroes, however ASUS has finished for a few years with good outcomes. Geared up with loads of top-tier options corresponding to Thunderbolt 4, Intel’s Wi-Fi 6E CNVi, and help for as much as DDR5-6400 reminiscence, it has sufficient to make it a stable selection for players and lovers. It is time to see if the Z690 Hero choice stacks up towards the competitors and if it could actually sparkle in a really aggressive LGA1700 market.
ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero Overview
Because it stands, ASUS has a fairly large stack of Z690 motherboards catering to a number of markets. This consists of its Prime sequence for its entry-level customers trying to construct an inexpensive but nonetheless adept system. In distinction, the ASUS Republic of Avid gamers (ROG) sequence primarily targets players and lovers. The ASUS ROG motherboard sequence is break up into two fundamental areas, the ROG Strix sequence for players, and the high-end ROG Maximus sequence for lovers in search of the most effective efficiency, the most effective characteristic units, and, as we have seen all through the years, some fairly modernized and RGB impressed aesthetics.
To maintain issues extra accessible to customers, for Z690, ASUS has opted to make its naming schemes simpler for its Maximus sequence. It will use Roman numerals to depict the mannequin prior to now, such because the ASUS ROG Maximus X for Z370 and the Maximus XII for Z490. Changing the Roman numerals, at the very least for now and hopefully going ahead, they’ve reverted it to the chipset to make issues simpler to differentiate.
The ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero and the earlier ROG Maximus XIII (Z590) Hero aren’t too dissimilar in model, however ASUS has gone ahead and jazzed up the design a bit for Alder Lake. This consists of a big I/O Polymo rear panel cowl, pixellated with ASUS’s Aura RGB LED lighting, which provides a bit extra of a contemporary taste to the general design. ASUS has unified the design additional down the board, with a cool-looking pixelated ROG brand embedded into the shiny black part of the chipset heatsink. The vast majority of the board has a matte black end which makes it appropriate with most colour schemes, and for customers wanting so as to add extra model, there are three 3-pin and one 4-pin Addressable Gen2 RGB headers.
Specializing in the guts of what makes the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero tick, it has loads of options to speak about, together with a stable array of help and performance. Dominating the decrease portion of the board are three full-length PCIe lanes, together with the highest two coated in steel armor reinforcement with help for PCIe 5.0 x16 and x8/x8, and the underside full-length slot that’s electronically locked all the way down to PCIe 4.0 x4.
For storage, the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero has many choices to capitalize on, together with help for as much as 5 PCIe M.2 drives and as much as six SATA ports. There’s one PCIe 5.0 x4 and PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slot pairing made obtainable through an included ROG Hyper M.2 add-in card and one built-in PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slot powered by the processor. ASUS additionally has an extra two PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slots, with certainly one of them supporting SATA drives, and this pairing is powered instantly by the chipset. The six SATA ports within the backside right-hand nook embrace help for RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 arrays.
One of the vital vital parts lovers search for on motherboards is the facility supply, and the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero has a strong and well-laid-out design. The ability supply consists of a 21-phase design, with a Renesas RAA229131 20-channel PWM controller doing the grunt of the workload. For the CPU part, the Z690 Hero has twenty Intersil ISL99390 90 A sensible energy phases for a complete output of as much as 1800 A, which is spectacular for a non-flagship mannequin, whereas the SoC part has a single Intersil ISL99390 90 An influence stage dealing with the VCCGT voltage.
Protecting the facility supply cool is a big pair of cumbersome VRM heatsinks with loads of channels to direct airflow by way of them. A single warmth pipe interconnects these, and it covers the entire board’s energy supply, with the longest part sitting snuggly below the massive ASUS Polymo-enabled rear panel cowl.
As we usually discover on premium fashions corresponding to this one, ASUS features a premium built-in audio answer consisting of a ROG SupremeFX ALC4082 HD audio codec, with an aiding ESS Sabre 9018Q2C DAC and headphone amplifier. Insert audio caps particulars.
An honest array of connectivity choices is on the rear panel of the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero. That is spearheaded by two Thunderbolt 4 Kind-C ports, with an extra USB 3.2 G2 Kind-C port. Different USB choices embrace six USB 3.2 G2 Kind-A and two USB 2.0 ports, whereas customers can add extra by way of entrance panel headers, with one USB 3.2 G2x2 header (one port), two USB 3.2 G1 Kind-A headers (4 ports), and two USB 2.0 headers (4 ports).
ASUS features a single HDMI 2.1 video output, though customers can use DisplayPort 1.4 by way of the Thunderbolt 4 Kind-C ports, whereas onboard audio is offered through 5 3.5 mm audio jacks and a single S/PDIF optical output powered by a SupremeFX ALC4082 and ESS Sabre 9018Q2C DAC pairing. For networking, ASUS consists of one Intel I225-V 2.5 GbE controller and makes use of an Intel AX211 Wi-Fi 6E CNVi, together with help for each the newest 6 GHz band and BT 5.2 units.
The equipment bundle features a diverse collection of ROG-themed stickers and the standard suspects, together with 4 braided SATA cables, M.2 set up screws, an RGB extension cable, and an Intel AX211 Wi-Fi 6E antenna package, in addition to a entrance panel Q-connector. There’s additionally a person handbook and a supporting USB drive if customers aren’t eager on utilizing ASUS’s built-in Armory Crate software program to put in drivers.
Maybe probably the most vital inclusion inside the equipment bundle is the ROG Hyper M.2 PCIe card which customers can set up into the second full-length PCIe slot so as to add two PCIe M.2 slots. Considered one of these helps PCIe 5.0 x4 drives, albeit nothing but available on the market to capitalize on the additional bandwidth, and one at PCIe 4.0 x4 speeds.
The ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero has an MSRP of $600 and is available at Newegg for a similar worth. The Z690 Hero represents a stable collection of fashions from ASUS on Z690, together with each DDR5 and DDR4 supported fashions. When it comes to the competitors on the higher echelon of mid-range to premium LGA1700 fashions available on the market, there’s the ASRock Z690 Taichi ($590) which has lots of related options corresponding to Thunderbolt 4 and Wi-Fi 6E, and there is additionally the GIGABYTE Z690 Aorus Grasp ($470) which we beforehand reviewed. It’s in the end cheaper, but it surely would not embrace Thunderbolt 4, however as a substitute, it consists of 10 GbE, which does give it a definite profit over the Z690 Hero when it comes to networking functionality.
The most important query concerning the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero with its lofty $600 price ticket is easy, can it carry out as powerfully because it seems? That is what we goal to seek out out. We have seen what the Z690 Hero presents on the floor, however what concerning the insides and the supporting package deal? It is time to have a look at the BIOS and bundled software program, after which we’ll see the way it performs in varied exams. Can the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero proceed the earlier development in a profitable sequence of Hero branded ROG boards, or is $600 a scoundrel’s means of consuming your pockets? Let’s discover out.
