ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero

[ir_cow]

Intel's 1700 socket is ready to party! ASUS brings the motherboard, so we are all set. The ROG Maximus Z690 Hero sports an assortment of new features along with PCIe Gen5 and DDR5 support, five M.2 sockets, Thunderbolt 4, and a powerful VRM design with 90 A power stages. ASUS has really thought of everything.

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[bonehead123]

IMHO the restrictions on configuring the Hyper m.2 card was a seriously major FUBAR.... what's the point in having moar m.2 slots if you can't have them running as fast as possible ??? stupid stupid stupid....

OTOH, most of the other stuff looks pretty good (except for that wallet-busting price of course), especially the inclusion of the multiple T4/USB-C ports AND the absence (finally) of the those antique ps/2 ports, which I have long believed should have disappeared many years ago, if for no other reason than to make moar room for moar USB ports

 

[magic_carpet]

Nice board but this is a severe limitation for me
"Note that the ROG Hyper M.2 card will operate in Gen4 mode if placed in the first PCIe slot as stated in the manual even though it is also a PCIe Gen5 slot.".
I need to install a vertical riser card in the second slot, so the first can be free and used for Hyper M.2 card.
Strix Gaming E is the way.

 

[arduum]

Networking:	2x Intel 2.5 Gb Ethernet

2? really?

 

[ir_cow]

Networking:	2x Intel 2.5 Gb Ethernet

2? really?

Really

 

[chrcoluk]

Will we see low end board feature reviews? A pattern I have observed is quite frequently now low end boards from Asus, MSI etc. leave a lot to be desired, they get away with it due to lack of media attention.

On this review, I don't like the pricing, consumer boards have basically gone up by about 250% since a few years ago. I can see myself sticking with my 9900k/z370 combo for quite a while. How a $600 price point has not got in the thumbs down section I don't know, this new pricing shouldn't be accepted so willingly.

Also only 6 SATA ports on a $600 board, wow.

 

[ir_cow]

@chrcoluk like what MB are you thinking? I review what is sent. I do have a MSI and ASUS MB coming that is a fair bit cheaper. But that inherently doesn't means its in the low end category.

Mad about only 6 sata? Ive seen a few z690 already with only 2 total. The chipset offers 4 lol.

 

[chrcoluk]

@chrcoluk like what MB are you thinking? I review what is sent. I do have a MSI and ASUS MB coming that is a fair bit cheaper. But that inherently doesn't means its in the low end category.

Mad about only 6 sata? Ive seen a few z690 already with only 2 total. The chipset offers 4 lol.

I just read the motherboard line up article and thankfully ASRock have some sense and have some 8 port boards.

For low end, examples would be Asus Prime. I remember their media rep about a decade ago saying those boards would get uplift's, but since then they now get gimped bios's, no q-connector, and excessive cut back's. The motherboard line up article seems to back up my belief with multiple boards having excessive corners cut.

The ROG Hero Z390 board was retailing at £240. To give an idea of the price inflation.

 

[ir_cow]

The ROG Z390 HERO came out at $275. It had a 8+2 VRM (50A) and reasonable PICE slots and M.2 Sockets for 2018. Adjust for inflation that is $308 in 2021. So the Z690 price is nearly doubled. But you gained a lot more as well. I think the lowest we will see on the Z690 in price is $350~ range.

 

[Solid State Soul ( SSS )]

Will we see low end board feature reviews? A pattern I have observed is quite frequently now low end boards from Asus, MSI etc. leave a lot to be desired, they get away with it due to lack of media attention.

On this review, I don't like the pricing, consumer boards have basically gone up by about 250% since a few years ago. I can see myself sticking with my 9900k/z370 combo for quite a while. How a $600 price point has not got in the thumbs down section I don't know, this new pricing shouldn't be accepted so willingly.

Also only 6 SATA ports on a $600 board, wow.

Budget msi and gigabyte are pretty decent, Msi specially.
Asus Budget offerings are mediocre, and you really don't want a budget Asrock board cause those throttle even at stock

 

[Honda_tpu]

Can we request for Iperf Test on z690 vs x570?

 

[Undertoker]

In honesty does anyone actually want even a single Sata port on z690 now that m.2 is so dirt cheap ?
Cable management for sata is a pain in the ass I’m happy to slap 3x1TB m.2 drives in and be more that happy.
That’s what I’ve done.
My main concern here is for the terrible lack of available DDR5 ram available at this time.
I’ve had to scrape the barrel for a 32 GB lot of plain 4800mhz
I’d like a 6400 set - where is it and why can’t we get it ?
Seems pointless selling 12900k CPU’s by the bucket load with very few boards and virtually no memory available to run them with
Sad times and frankly Covid is total bullshit - but hey im only an undertaker what do it know eh….

 

[Deleted member 24505]

In honesty does anyone actually want even a single Sata port on z690 now that m.2 is so dirt cheap ?
Cable management for sata is a pain in the ass I’m happy to slap 3x1TB m.2 drives in and be more that happy.
That’s what I’ve done.
My main concern here is for the terrible lack of available DDR5 ram available at this time.
I’ve had to scrape the barrel for a 32 GB lot of plain 4800mhz
I’d like a 6400 set - where is it and why can’t we get it ?
Seems pointless selling 12900k CPU’s by the bucket load with very few boards and virtually no memory available to run them with
Sad times and frankly Covid is total bullshit - but hey im only an undertaker what do it know eh….

Sata's are still cheaper than M2. I have a 4tb WD blue, how much would a 4tb M2 cost me? shit loads more is the answer.

 

[Undertoker]

Very true but why bother with a Z690 to run sata ?
Its pointless getting it imo
You may as well stay with a Z390
For the 3 sata 3.5 drives I’ve got ill use a cradle tbh rather than mess about

 

[Deleted member 24505]

Very true but why bother with a Z690 to run sata ?
Its pointless getting it imo
You may as well stay with a Z390

What am i gonna do, dump my 4tb drive with my steam account and other stuff because i have upgraded? you buy me a 4tb m2 to replace it and i will.

Also i came from a B450 Am4 board so where you getting Z390 from.

 

[Tomford1931!]

My question is will this board run DDR 4?
Seeing prices and availability for DDR5 would hold me back!

 

[Deleted member 24505]

My question is will this board run DDR 4?
Seeing prices and availability for DDR5 would hold me back!

The z690 hero is DDR5 only

 

[Tomford1931!]

The z690 hero is DDR5 only

Thanks!!

I figured as much looking at the specs....only reason I asked because the review started with a mention about doing DDR4 and DDR5 just not at the same time.

Thanks!!

I figured as much looking at the specs....only reason I asked because the review started with a mention about doing DDR4 and DDR5 just not at the same time.

The next-biggest change is dual support for either DDR4 or DDR5 memory modules by the CPU. In theory, a motherboard can have both as long as it is not populated at the same time.

Quoted from the review

 

[rcarlos243]

I heard from debaur this board has external clock generator.

I checked out the TPU review, but I do not see any mention of it?

 

[Caring1]

What am i gonna do, dump my 4tb drive with my steam account and other stuff because i have upgraded? you buy me a 4tb m2 to replace it and i will.

Also i came from a B450 Am4 board so where you getting Z390 from.

Mount it as an external drive.
I prefer more M2 slots and less Sata too.

 

[Deleted member 24505]

Mount it as an external drive.
I prefer more M2 slots and less Sata too.

I think the read/write speed is faster internal than external, unless a USB 3 caddy would be as fast as SATA 6gb/s

 

[Tom Sunday]

At the recent local 'Grab and Go' January computer show the question came up for the ongoing 2022 unavailability of the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 HERO Motherboards and those apparently having serious defects and with reports of boards actually burning up. Amazon, Best Buys and B&H right now have no such Hero boards for sale online. Not that many here at the show can actually afford these kinds of pure luxury boards, I found the question very interesting as ASUS MB’s usually never have issues? Some of the Asian dealers here had a bevy of brand new ASUS ROG Maximus XI Hero Z390 for $230 each, but they nevertheless went rather quickly along with some specially priced GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1080 (former miner cards) for $300. The good news no sales tax ever at the shows. Cash always is king!