Aorus Z690 Pro Motherboard Review

Some will tell you that motherboards and PC hardware has stagnated in the past 15 years and for someone just peeking in on the industry that holds a lot of truth.  Many of the innovative ideas have been done already and what seems like a new idea had been done several years earlier in a slightly different way.

In this review we will be looking at the Z690 Pro from Aorus Gaming (Gigabyte).  This a new motherboard design for the LGA 1700 and Alder Lake processors supporting DDR5 and PCI Express 5.0.  When you look at the complete lineup of Z690 motherboards the Pro is about mid-level on the list and share many of the same features found in both higher and lower tier motherboards.

CPU: LGA1700 socket: Support for 12th Generation Intel Core, Pentium Gold and Celeron Processors

Chipset: Intel Z690 Express Chipset

Memory

• Support for DDR5 6200(O.C.) / 6000(O.C.) / 5800(O.C.) / 5600(O.C.) / 5400(O.C.) / 5200(O.C.) / 4800 / 4000 MHz memory modules
• 4 x DDR DIMM sockets supporting up to 128 GB (32 GB single DIMM capacity) of system memory
• Dual channel memory architecture
• Support for ECC Un-buffered DIMM 1Rx8/2Rx8 memory modules (operate in non-ECC mode)
• Support for non-ECC Un-buffered DIMM 1Rx8/2Rx8/1Rx16 memory modules
• Support for Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) memory modules

Onboard Graphics

• Integrated Graphics Processor-Intel HD Graphics support:
• 1 x DisplayPort, supporting a maximum resolution of 4096x2304@60 Hz
• Support for DisplayPort 1.2 version and HDCP 2.3

Audio

• Realtek ALC4080 CODEC
• High Definition Audio
• 2-channel analog output
• Support for S/PDIF Out
• 1-channel digital signals
• Actual output of digital signals may vary depending on the playback content and software used, and an external DAC is required.

LAN: Intel 2.5GbE LAN chip (2.5 Gbps/1 Gbps/100 Mbps)

Wireless Communication module

• WIFI a, b, g, n, ac, ax, supporting 2.4/5 GHz Dual-Band
• BLUETOOTH 5.2
• Support for 11ax 160MHz wireless standard and up to 2.4 Gbps data rate

Expansion Slots

• 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 (PCIEX16) - (The PCIEX16 slot conforms to PCI Express 5.0 standard.)
• 2 x PCI Express x16 slots, running at x4 (PCIEX4_1, PCIEX4_2) - (The PCIEX4 slots conform to PCI Express 3.0 standard.)

Multi-Graphics Technology: Support for AMD Quad-GPU CrossFire and 2-Way AMD CrossFire technologies

Storage Interface

• 1 x M.2 connector (Socket 3, M key, type 2260/2280/22110 PCIe 4.0 x4/x2 SSD support) (M2A_CPU)
• 1 x M.2 connector (Socket 3, M key, type 2260/2280/22110 SATA and PCIe 4.0 x4/x2 SSD support) (M2C_SB)
• 2 x M.2 connectors (Socket 3, M key, type 2260/2280/22110 PCIe 4.0 x4/x2 SSD support) (M2P_SB/M2Q_SB)
• 6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
• Support for RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10

USB

• 2 x USB Type-C ports, with USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 support (1 port on the back panel, 1 port available through the internal USB header)
• 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports (red) on the back panel
• 6 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports (4 ports on the back panel, 2 ports available through the internal USB header)
• 8 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports (4 ports on the back panel, 4 ports available through the internal USB headers)

Internal I/O Connectors

• 1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector
• 1 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector
• 1 x 4-pin ATX 12V power connector
• 1 x CPU fan header
• 1 x water cooling CPU fan header
• 4 x system fan headers
• 2 x system fan/water cooling pump headers
• 2 x addressable LED strip headers
• 2 x RGB LED strip headers
• 4 x M.2 Socket 3 connectors
• 6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
• 1 x front panel header
• 1 x front panel audio header
• 1 x USB Type-C header, with USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 support
• 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 header
• 2 x USB 2.0/1.1 headers
• 1 x noise detection header
• 2 x Thunderbolt add-in card connectors
• 1 x Trusted Platform Module header (For the GC-TPM2.0 SPI/GC-TPM2.0 SPI 2.0 module only)
• 1 x power button
• 1 x reset button
• 1 x Q-Flash Plus button
• 2 x temperature sensor headers
• 1 x reset jumper
• 1 x Clear CMOS jumper
• 1 x USB Type-C port, with USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 support
• 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports (red)
• 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports
• 4 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports
• 2 x SMA antenna connectors (2T2R)
• 1 x DisplayPort
• 1 x RJ-45 port
• 1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector
• 2 x audio jacks

Form Factor: ATX Form Factor; 30.5cm x 24.4cm