Gigabyte Z690 AORUS Tachyon

[ir_cow]

Gigabyte is at it again, setting world records with the Z690 AORUS Tachyon! Designed with overclocking in mind, this motherboard is loaded with features to streamline that perfect overclock. Even so, Gigabyte hasn't forgotten about when the Z690 AORUS Tachyon is not on the test bench. Come join me as we take a closer look!

Show full review

 

[Darksword]

Thank you for the great review. It does seem to be in a strange middle-ground of sorts.

For what it's worth, it's currently on sale at Newegg for $469.99. That's a nice $80.00 discount off MSRP.

 

[P4-630]

The cheaper Z690 Aorus Master seems a better option, also comes with an even beefier VRM setup.

Gigabyte Z690 AORUS Master Review

Gigabyte is packing heat with the Z690 Aorus Master. This motherboard is designed for Intel's 12th Gen Core and boasts a massive 20-phase VRM using 105 A power stages. Built for connectivity, the Z690 Aorus Master has features like PCIe 5.0, DDR5, Wi-Fi 6E, 10 GbE LAN, and five M.2 sockets to...

www.techpowerup.com

 

[ir_cow]

The cheaper Z690 Aorus Master seems a better option, also comes with an even beefier VRM setup.

Gigabyte Z690 AORUS Master Review

Gigabyte is packing heat with the Z690 Aorus Master. This motherboard is designed for Intel's 12th Gen Core and boasts a massive 20-phase VRM using 105 A power stages. Built for connectivity, the Z690 Aorus Master has features like PCIe 5.0, DDR5, Wi-Fi 6E, 10 GbE LAN, and five M.2 sockets to...

www.techpowerup.com

Big differences between the two is that the GB Master has 5x M.2 (though one shares the PCIE 5.0 slot) and 10 Gb LAN. So its trade, lower memory support and no XOC BIOS / OC buttons but you get more of everything else.

 

[Space Lynx]

My only problem with high end motherboards meant for overclocking like this is just... well overclocking just isn't what it used to be. Like when we all had i5-2500k's and would get massive gains and massive overclocks, it was insanely fun and you felt like it was worth the trouble because you could see legitimate real world gains.

As @W1zzard has shown in his reviews of recent years, even with the latest and greatest stuff, overclocking these days nets you what, 100-200 mhz max before the temps become stupidly unreasonable, and the gains just aren't there... I mean seriously there is no point anymore to overclocking.

 

[W1zzard]

has shown in his reviews of recent years

I'm not claiming to be a pro overclocker though

 

[Jism]

My only problem with high end motherboards meant for overclocking like this is just... well overclocking just isn't what it used to be. Like when we all had i5-2500k's and would get massive gains and massive overclocks, it was insanely fun and you felt like it was worth the trouble because you could see legitimate real world gains.

As @W1zzard has shown in his reviews of recent years, even with the latest and greatest stuff, overclocking these days nets you what, 100-200 mhz max before the temps become stupidly unreasonable, and the gains just aren't there... I mean seriously there is no point anymore to overclocking.

All neat stuff is pushed to premium products obviously. But VRM's in particular are so overbuild that not even in a chips lifetime you can ever accomplish even running at 75% of it's designed capacity. 1500 Amps at 1.3V is enough to start welding parts together. You dont see such setups of 16 phase VRM's in server boards and yet they do still provide 280W up to 400W if desired with just "4 phases".

It's overblown in the last couple of years, all with making more money overall on a product that users or even hardcore overclockers coud'nt even accomplish running to it's full extend. OC'ing the CPU has died since both Intel and AMD have ways to extract more out of it in a automated proces. Just keep the thing cool and it will run at it's best effort in a safe way.

 

[GabrielLP14]

Amazing job congrats.
Didn't you OC the Core i9 just to see peak VRM temps? In the graphs i couldn't see it overclocked.

 

[r3ptil3]

Just a 8-Layer PCB? Ouch...

MSI is already at 12-Layers. The high OC potential (RAM) confirms the advantages thereby.

 

[P4-630]

The only reason to buy this board is if you plan to overclock the memory to extreme...

@ir_cow I'd like to see the VRM temperatures when gaming for the Aorus Master, like you did in other MB reviews (Cyberpunk 2077).

 

[ir_cow]

@ir_cow I'd like to see the VRM temperatures when gaming for the Aorus Master, like you did in other MB reviews (Cyberpunk 2077).

I should go back when I have time and re-test the Master and Asus Hero. A lot has chaged with BIOS updates. I also am better at OC for Alder Lake as well now.

Amazing job congrats.
Didn't you OC the Core i9 just to see peak VRM temps? In the graphs i couldn't see it overclocked.

My 12900K is not delid so my thernal limit is actually lower vs the 12700K. 290~ VS 330.

 

[buildzoid]

Just a 8-Layer PCB? Ouch...

MSI is already at 12-Layers. The high OC potential (RAM) confirms the advantages thereby.

The Tachyon is a 10 layer(Gigabytes website has a mistake on it). The Unify-X is an 8 layer. The ASUS Apex is a 8 layer. The Z690 DARK is 12 layers. the Z690 Aqua OC is also 12 layers.

Right now the Apex Tachyon and Aqua OC dominate the competitive overclocking scene. A big part of that is probably the fact that Gigabyte ASUS and Asrock support more overclockers than MSI does.
DDR5 speed record(Tachyon): https://hwbot.org/submission/4984619_hicookie_memory_frequency_ddr5_sdram_5011_mhz
Cinebench 10core(Tachyon): https://hwbot.org/submission/4996988_buildzoid_cinebench___r20_core_i5_12600kf_10301_cb
HWbot x365 6core(Tachyon): https://hwbot.org/submission/493897...benchmark___4k_core_i5_12600k_(6p)_26.686_fps
PyPrime 2B(Apex): https://hwbot.org/submission/4987588_p5ych0_pyprime___2b_with_benchmate_ddr5_sdram_5sec_924ms
SuperPi 32M (Apex): https://hwbot.org/submission/4975023_safedisk_superpi___32m_core_i9_12900ks_(8p)_3min_31sec_818ms
Cinebench 6core(Apex): https://hwbot.org/submission/4971401_p5ych0_cinebench___r20_core_i5_12600k_(6p)_8242_cb
Y-cruncher 8core(Apex): https://hwbot.org/submission/4998771_ogs_y_cruncher___pi_1b_core_i9_12900k_(8p)_15sec_749ms
Y-cruncher 6core(Apex): https://hwbot.org/submission/4960248_noizemaker_y_cruncher___pi_1b_core_i5_12600k_(6p)_20sec_433ms
Cinebench 8core(Aqua OC): https://hwbot.org/submission/4967208_splave_cinebench___r20_core_i9_12900ks_(8p)_11315_cb
Cinebench 12core(Aqua OC): https://hwbot.org/submission/4913988_shar00750_cinebench___r20_core_i7_12700kf_12763_cb
HWbot X265 8core (Aqua OC): https://hwbot.org/submission/499858...enchmark___4k_core_i9_12900ks_(8p)_37.094_fps
HWbot X265 10core (Aqua OC): https://hwbot.org/submission/4912540_splave_hwbot_x265_benchmark___4k_core_i5_12600kf_32.665_fps

 

[asdkj1740]

Just a 8-Layer PCB? Ouch...

MSI is already at 12-Layers. The high OC potential (RAM) confirms the advantages thereby.

12 layers itx aorus ultra plus with no tb4 onboard: how dare you !

 

[r3ptil3]

@buildzoid

Thanks, I meant the MSI Z690I Unify (ITX). Thought the Unify-X should be also the same, but wrong.

The new Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus is also 12 layer (upgraded from the old Version with the PCIe problems with 10 layers).

But true, with this correction, the Tachyon is the only ATX board in this price range with 10 layer.


Edit: Thanks @asdkj1740 You were fast!

 

[asdkj1740]

@buildzoid

Thanks, I meant the MSI Z690I Unify (ITX). Thought the Unify-X should be also the same, but wrong.

The new Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra Plus is also 12 layer (upgraded from the old Version with the PCIe problems with 10 layers).

But true, with this correction, the Tachyon is the only ATX board in this price range with 10 layer.


Edit: Thanks @asdkj1740 You were fast!

tb4 should be regarded as -2 pcb layers. so gigabyte new itx is king.
i think the same applies to apex, asus prelaunch document did state apex was 6 layers only. sadly there is no indicator on the PCB of apex.

ps. that is, still, not the low loss PCB but mid loss only. could have been low loss 12 layers without tb4, although the mid loss low loss things are much more related to gen4 and gen5 signals across the whole pcb.

 

[mb194dc]

No average user going to spend $540 on a board ?

Can get something that will perform identically for half the price or less.

For overclockers who need the features only pretty much.

Personally in the mindset that spending more than a couple of hundred on any board is a waste given CPU thermal constraints these days.

 

[JustBenching]

My only problem with high end motherboards meant for overclocking like this is just... well overclocking just isn't what it used to be. Like when we all had i5-2500k's and would get massive gains and massive overclocks, it was insanely fun and you felt like it was worth the trouble because you could see legitimate real world gains.

As @W1zzard has shown in his reviews of recent years, even with the latest and greatest stuff, overclocking these days nets you what, 100-200 mhz max before the temps become stupidly unreasonable, and the gains just aren't there... I mean seriously there is no point anymore to overclocking.

I think you are missing the plot. People buy 2 dim overclocking mobos to oc their ram, not their cpu. Ram is where the most gains when it comes to gaming come from. 2 dim mobos can do 6800+ 1t, 4 dim mobos struggle even at 6000.

 

[GabrielLP14]

I should go back when I have time and re-test the Master and Asus Hero. A lot has chaged with BIOS updates. I also am better at OC for Alder Lake as well now.


My 12900K is not delid so my thernal limit is actually lower vs the 12700K. 290~ VS 330.

ohhh ahhahah lol

 

[ThrashZone]

I'm not claiming to be a pro overclocker though

Hi,
It's getting to where on at least asus boards you don't need to be a pro oc'er
Just need to know the bios features added now days

Although with extreme all core oc'ing there is a need for extreme cooling to, but really how new is this combination all it takes is fun coupons and imagination