According to the latest report from hardware detective Komachi he has managed to dig up a Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) submission that gives us a peep of Asus’ forthcoming Z690 motherboards.
The report suggests that there are up to 16 potential models for Intel’s looming 12th Generation Alder Lake processors, though not all of them may make it to the market. We also that the Alder Lake will be supporting DDR5 memory and is but one of many features that Alder Lake will offer.
However, based on the submission report, Asus may only adopt DDR5 memory for its ROG Maximus Z690 motherboards and also for its few select Prime and ProAir models. Since DDR5 is the latest standard in the memory market, it will come with a small fortune, so it makes sense to reserve the standard for the brand’s high-end motherboards.
Asus has also reportedly revamped the nomenclature for the ROG Maximus motherboard in the wake of Intel’s new motherboards. The brand seemingly dropped the roman numerals and stuck to the Z690 branding instead.
Asus Z690 Motherboards
| Motherboard | DDR5 Support | DDR4 Support |
| ROG Maximus Z690 Extreme | x | |
| ROG Maximus Z690 Formula | x | |
| ROG Maximus Z690 Hero | x | |
| ProAir Z690-Creator 10G | x | |
| Prime Z690-A | x | |
| Prime Z690-P | x | |
| Prime Z690-V | x | |
| ROG Strix Z690-A Gaming D4 | x | |
| ROG Strix Z690-E Gaming D4 | x | |
| ROG Strix Z690-F Gaming D4 | x | |
| TUF Gaming Z690-Plus D4 | x | |
| Prime Z690-A D4 | x | |
| Prime Z690M-Plus D4 | x | |
| Prime Z690-P D4 | x | |
| Prime Z690-V D4 | x | |
| Prime Z690-V-SI-D4 | x |
The ProArt Z690-Creator 10G tailored to professionals will include the power of DDR5 memory and the ROG Strix Z690 motherboards are limited to DDR4 DRAM only.
Since Intel’s Alder Lake will officially offer both DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 support, but, the hardware which will support this feature will not come in cheap. Therefore, it’s reasonable to assume the Z690 motherboard to arrive at a small premium price.
Intel has already committed to launching Alder Lake this Fall 2021. It shouldn’t be long before retailers start listing Z690 motherboards then which we will get a fair idea of the pricing.
