GIGABYTE unleashes Z690 motherboards: Intel Alder Lake, DDR5, PCIe 5.0

If you haven't heard about Intel's new 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake" CPUs by now you must be living under a rock... and now GIGABYTE has just unleashed its new family of Z690 motherboards ready for the world of Alder Lake, DDR5 memory, and PCIe 5.0 connectivity.

The company has mostly DDR5-based Z690 motherboards but there are some DDR4-based Z690 motherboards here, so you get the best of both worlds: Z690 chipset that supports LGA 1700 socket and 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake" CPUs but PCIe 5.0 connectivity for future-gen SSDs and GPUs but current-gen DDR4.

This means you wouldn't need to upgrade your RAM, and could just buy a new Intel 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake" CPU with one of GIGABYTE's fresh new Z690-based motherboards. I wouldn't be buying a new high-end $500+ motherboard with brand new DDR5 memory... but that's me.

For more information on GIGABYTE's expansive new Z690 motherboard lineup, click here.

GIGABYTE starts things off with the flagship new Z690 AORUS MASTER motherboard, which is ready to rock and roll with any of Intel's new 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake" CPUs -- most of all Intel's flagship Core i9-12900K. We have 4 x DDR5 DIMMs that support up to DDR5-5600 RAM, and 1 x PCIe 5.0 slot.

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Z690 AORUS XTREME

• Socket: LGA1700
• Power design: 20 + 1 + 2 phase (SPS 105A)
• DDR5 RAM: Yes (4 x DDR5 4800-5600)
• PCIe 5.0: Yes
• Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi 6E
• LAN: AQUANTIA 10GbE LAN + 2.5GbE LAN
• Thunderbolt 4: Yes (2)
• M.2 slots: 4 x PCIe 4.0 + 1 x PCIe 3.0

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GIGABYTE has a trio of flagship Z690 motherboards, with the new Z690 AORUS XTREME being one of the highest-end Z690 offerings. The new Z690 AORUS XTREME has everything you could wish for: beast power design, DDR5, PCIe 5.0, a huge design and gorgeous aesthetics.

It's ready for the very best technology you can buy today, and even the very best from tomorrow in terms of PCIe 5.0-capable M.2 NVMe SSDs and next-gen PCIe 5.0-capable GPUs.

• Read more: Intel's flagship Core i9-12900K costs $589, 16C/24T at up to 5.2GHz
• Read more: Intel's next-gen Alder Lake architecture: everything you need to know

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Z690 AORUS MASTER

• Socket: LGA1700
• Power design: 19 + 1 + 2 digital (SPS 105A)
• DDR5 RAM: Yes (4 x DDR5 4800-5600)
• PCIe 5.0: Yes
• Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi 6E
• LAN: AQUANTIA 10GbE LAN + 2.5GbE LAN
• Thunderbolt 4: Yes (header)
• M.2 slots: 4 x PCIe 4.0 + 1 x PCIe 3.0

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The new Z690 AORUS MASTER is one of the highest-end Z690 motherboards that GIGABYTE offers, with a monster power design with up to 105A power stages. We have DDR5 XTREME MEMORY design, a Thermal Reactive Armor with NanoCarbon Fins-Array III Heatsink, Direct-Touch Heat pipe II, and NanoCarbon Baseplate.

GIGABYTE includes a plethora of connectivity: PCIe 5.0 support, 10GbE + 2.5GbE LAN as well as Wi-Fi 6E, and a butt-load of USB connectivity. Oh, and Thunderbolt 4 as well -- and also RGB lighting all over the place -- RGB Fusion 2.0 with support for addressable LED and RGB LED strips.

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Z690 AORUS PRO

• Socket: LGA1700
• Power design: 90A
• DDR5 RAM: Yes (4 x DDR5 4800-5600)
• PCIe 5.0: Yes
• Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi 6
• LAN: 2.5GbE LAN
• Thunderbolt 4: Yes
• M.2 slots: 4 x PCIe 4.0

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GIGABYTE's new Z690 AORUS ULTRA is a slightly, very slightly lower-end board than the Z690 AORUS MASTER with the new Z690 AORUS ULTRA rocking a 16 + 1 + 2 phase VRM design with 105A power stage and Tantalum Polymer Capacitor.

The same DDR5 XTREME MEMORY is here, but the board drops out the 10GbE -- you've still got 2.5GbE LAN here and all of the rest of Wi-Fi 6E + Thunderbolt 4 + USB-C, and so on. There's still 4 x PCIe 4.0 and 1 x PCIe 3.0-capable M.2 NVMe SSD slot on the Z690 AORUS ULTRA motherboard.

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Z690 AORUS PRO DDR4

• Socket: LGA1700
• Power design: 90A
• DDR5 RAM: Yes (4 x DDR5 4600-5000)
• PCIe 5.0: Yes
• Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi 6
• LAN: 2.5GbE LAN
• Thunderbolt 4: Header
• M.2 slots: 4 x PCIe 4.0

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Surprise... the Z690 AORUS PRO DDR4 motherboard is exactly what it sounds like: a new Z690-based motherboard but without DDR5 RAM, and in its place the current-gen DDR4 standard. You've still got a beast 16 + 1 + 2 twin hybrid digital VRM design with 90A DrMOS power design.

GIGABYTE provides DDR4 XTREME MEMORY design, and once again -- drops 10GbE networking for 2.5GbE LAN connectivity. You've still got USB-C connectivity, but the board does drop THunderbolt 4 connectivity here... meanwhile, you do have Wi-Fi 6E and 4 x PCIe 4.0/3.0-capable M.2 SSD slots.

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Z690 AORUS ELITE DDR4

• Socket: LGA1700
• Power design: 70A
• DDR5 RAM: No (4 x DDR4 4600-5000)
• PCIe 5.0: Yes
• Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi 6
• LAN: 2.5GbE LAN
• Thunderbolt 4: Header
• M.2 slots: 4 x PCIe 4.0

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We have the same motherboard as above -- the Z690 AORUS ELITE -- but in DDR4 form. The new Z690 AORUS ELITE AX DDR4 motherboard has 70A power stages, Wi-Fi 6E, 2.5GbE LAN, RGB lighting, 4 x M.2 SSD slots, but uses DDR4 memory over DDR5.

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Z690 GAMING X

• Socket: LGA1700
• Power design: 60A
• DDR5 RAM: Yes (DDR5 4800-5600)
• PCIe 5.0: Yes
• Wi-Fi: No
• LAN: 2.5GbE
• Thunderbolt 4: Header
• M.2 slots: 4 x PCIe 4.0

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Now we're down to some of the lower-end Z690 offerings from GIGABYTE, with the Z690 GAMING X DDR4 motherboard offering 16 + 1 + 2 twin hybrid digital VRM design with 60A power stages. GIGABYTE is using DDR4 memory here of course.

There's no 10GbE networking once again but you do have 2.5GbE networking + 4 x PCIe 4.0/3.0 M.2 SSD slots for storage domination. RGB lighting is always important no matter how much you're spending on your motherboard, with the new Z690 GAMING X DDR4 having RGB FUSION 2.0 and support for addressable LED and RGB LED strips.

Z690 UD AX DDR4

• Socket: LGA1700
• Power design: 60A
• DDR5 RAM: No (DDR4 4400-4800)
• PCIe 5.0: Yes
• Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi 6
• LAN: 2.5GbE
• Thunderbolt 4: Header
• M.2 slots: 3 x PCIe 4.0

Below that, we have the lower-end Z690 UD AX -- a beautiful marketing name here, GIGABYTE -- with 16 + 1 + 2 digital VRM with 60A power stages. DDR5 and DDR4 options are available with this motherboard, with 2.5GbE LAN + Wi-Fi 6 connectivity.

GIGABYTE's new Z690 UD AX DDR4 motherboard has 3 x PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 SSD slots on the ready, and the same RGB FUSION 2.0 with multiple addressable LED and RGB LED strips supported.

• Z690 AORUS XTREME WB
• Z690 AORUS XTREME
• Z690 AORUS MASTER
• Z690 AORUS ULTRA
• Z690 AORUS PRO
• Z690 AORUS ELITE AX DDR4
• Z690 AERO G DDR4
• Z690 GAMING X DDR4
• Z690 UD AX DDR4
• Z690 UD AC-Y1
• Z690 UD DDR4