Thoughts and Conclusion

In this not-so-quick look at the upcoming Intel Z690-based motherboards, the thing that stands out is that most of them are overpriced. It might be a bit rude to start the conclusion in such a blunt way, but it's a fact and only made worse by the current graphics card situation. Yes, there's a shortage of all types of components ranging from capacitors to power regulation components, and PCB prices are up as well, but $200 for an entry-level motherboard is a big ask. In all fairness to most motherboard makers, the entry-level boards are actually quite decent overall, but a $40–50 premium over the last generation is a big ask when Intel is only charging an additional US dollar for the Z690 chipset compared to the Z590 and Z490 chipsets.

Pricing aside, it's good to see that almost all of the boards feature 2.5 Gbps Ethernet and at least one 20 Gbps USB-C port, though we're not so keen on the boards that stick it on a header. Very few boards offer USB-PD, which is disappointing and something we'd like to see more boards offer, especially as it's going to become the defacto standard for charging most electronics. We're not asking for a 100 W port, but 30 W would be much appreciated. The split between DDR4 and DDR5 boards is quite even until you get to the high-end, where DDR5 takes over, but it does at least give people that are upgrading some choice. As we pointed out in the introduction, we haven't seen Intel's HSIO design for the Z690 chipset, but feel that some motherboard SKUs have intentionally been held back by the motherboard manufacturers. This is obviously to differentiate their models, but in a time of component shortages, we would rather have seen fewer models with bigger jumps in terms of features rather than the many minor incremental improvements some SKUs bring to the table—all the big board makers are guilty of this in one way or another.

A few boards stood out, and we'd say the first one would be Gigabyte's Z690 UD boards as they by far offer the best value for money based on current pricing. Unlike competing $200 range boards, nothing is really missing on the Z690 UD boards, so kudos to Gigabyte for making a decent entry-level board.

The mid-range space leaves us scratching our heads as none of these boards are particularly exciting; under $300, the only interesting products are the ASRock Z690 Steel Legend and the Gigabyte's Z690I Aorus Ultra, but in the case of Gigabyte, that of course means you'd have to be interested in building a Mini-ITX system, which isn't everyone's cup of tea.

For those with slightly deeper pockets who don't care that much about overclocking or fancy heatsinks, but a lot of connectivity, the ASUS ProArt Z690-Creator is actually quite good value for money, as you get both 10 Gbps Ethernet and Thunderbolt 4 for well under $500.

If you want to get the most out of high-end DDR5 modules, you only really have four choices—the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Apex, EVGA Z690 Dark Kingpin Edition, Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Tachyon, and MSI MEG Z690 Unify-X. Gigabyte and MSI are going to be the least expensive options, although neither can be called affordable.

At the very high-end, we're not even going to make a recommendation as we've reached the point where you can pay $2,000 for a consumer motherboard, which just doesn't make sense.

We'll have to wait and see how pricing settles since there isn't much differentiating the various Z690 motherboards in the same category in terms of feature sets. The rest comes down to personal preference, but the past few pages will have hopefully given you some kind of insight before reviews.