The Taiwan manufacturer has been in the motherboard making business for a long time now but in recent years they have really turned up the game with new designs and flagship level specs. ASUS’s Prime, TUF and ROG motherboards have fit very well into their wide lineup and each of them has its own uniqueness.
These new 12th Gen based motherboards are based on new LGA 1700 socket and all of them supports new Alder Lake-S processors. So, they are stuffed with all the Intel goodness you could possibly want like new PCIe Gen 5 support, Thunderbolt 4, DDR5 RAM support, lot of storage options and more.
Also, most of these new Z690 motherboards by ASUS are equipped with onboard Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2, this ASUS ROG Strix Z690-E gaming motherboard is equipped with latest WiFi 6E. This is one of the best motherboards that money can buy you and being powerful as well as feature rich you can get best results when paired with a 12th Intel CPU.
Let’s talk more about this flagship motherboard by ASUS that in India costs in that Rs.45k price bracket and certainly is very expensive. Here we will first outline all the features, specs, ports, compatibility options this ROG Strix Z690-E Gaming WIFI gaming motherboard offers:
Features
- Ready for 12th Gen Intel® Core™, Pentium® Gold and Celeron® processors
- Optimal Power Solution: 18+1 power stages with 8+8 ProCool II power connectors, high-quality alloy chokes and durable capacitors to support multi-core processors
- Optimized Thermal Design: Integrated I/O cover and VRM heatsinks with high conductivity thermal pad, L-shaped heatpipe, an M.2 Combo-sink for PCIe® 5.0 M.2 slot and M.2 heatsinks for two M.2 slots
- High-performance Networking: On-board Intel® WiFi 6E (802.11ax) and Intel® 2.5 Gb Ethernet with ASUS LANGuard
- Best Gaming Connectivity: Supports HDMI® 2.1 and DisplayPort™ 1.4 output, five M.2 slots (including two on the bundled ROG Hyper M.2 card) plus USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C®
- Intelligent Control: ASUS-exclusive AI Overclocking, AI Cooling, AI Networking and Two-Way AI Noise Cancelation to simplify setup and improve performance
- DIY Friendly Design: PCIe® Slot Q-Release, M.2 Q-Latch, pre-mounted I/O shield, BIOS FlashBack™ button, and Clr CMOS button
- Unmatched Personalization: ASUS-exclusive Aura Sync RGB lighting, including a RGB header and three addressable Gen 2 headers
- Industry-leading Gaming Audio: ALC4080 with Savitech SV3H712 amplifier, along with DTS® Sound Unbound and Sonic Studio III
- Renowned Software: Bundled AIDA64 Extreme 60 days free trial version and intuitive UEFI BIOS dashboard with integrated MemTest86
Detailed Specifications
| CPU | Intel® Socket LGA1700 for 12th Gen Intel® Core™, Pentium® Gold and Celeron® Processors Supports Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 and Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 |
| Chipset | Intel® Z690 Chipset |
| Memory | 4 x DIMM, Max. 128GB, DDR5 6400(OC)/ 6200(OC)/ 6000(OC)/ 5800(OC)/ 5600(OC)/ 5400(OC)/ 5200(OC)/ 5000(OC)/ 4800 Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory Dual Channel Memory Architecture Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) OptiMem II |
| Graphics | 1 x DisplayPort 1 x HDMI® |
| Expansion Slots | Intel® 12th Gen Processors 1 x PCIe 5.0 x16 slot Intel® Z690 Chipset 1 x PCIe 4.0 x16 slot (supports x4 mode or x4/x4 mode for ROG HYPER M.2 CARD)1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slot (supports x4 mode)1 x PCIe 3.0 x1 slot* Please check PCIe bifurcation table in Chapter 1 of user guide. |
| Storage | Supports 3 x M.2 slots and 6 x SATA 6Gb/s ports Intel®12th Gen Processors M.2_1 slot (Key M), type 2242/2260/2280/22110 (supports PCIe 5.0 x4 mode)- Intel® 12th Gen processors support PCIe 5.0 x4 mode.M.2_2 slot (Key M), type 2242/2260/2280/22110 (supports PCIe 4.0 x4 mode)- Intel® 12th Gen processors support PCIe 4.0 x4 mode.Hyper M.2_1 slot (Key M) via Hyper M.2 card, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 – Intel® 12th Gen processors support PCIe 4.0 x4 mode Intel® Z690 Chipset |
| Ethernet | 1 x Intel® 2.5Gb EthernetASUS LANGuard |
| Wireless & Bluetooth | 2×2 Tri-Band Intel Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac/ax/az + BT5.2 Wi-Fi 6E 2×2 Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Supports 2.4/5/6GHz frequency band |
| USB | Rear USB: Total 12 ports – 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 port (1 x USB Type-C®)3 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports (2 x Type-A + 1 x USB Type-C®)4 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports (4 x Type-A)4 x USB 2.0 ports (4 x Type-A) Front USB: Total 7 ports – Front USB (Total 7 ports)1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 connector (supports USB Type-C®)1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 header supports additional 2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports2 x USB 2.0 headers support additional 4 USB 2.0 ports |
| Audio | “ROG SupremeFX 7.1 Surround Sound High Definition Audio CODEC ALC4080- Impedance sense for front and rear headphone outputs- Supports: Jack-detection, Multi-streaming, Front Panel Jack-retasking- High quality 120 dB SNR stereo playback output and 113 dB SNR recording input- Supports up to 32-Bit/384 kHz playback” Audio Features- SupremeFX Shielding Technology- ALC4080 + Savitech SV3H712 AMP- Gold-plated audio jacks- Rear optical S/PDIF out port- Premium audio capacitors- Audio cover |
| Intrernal I/O Connectors | Fan and Cooling related1 x 4-pin CPU Fan header 1 x 4-pin CPU OPT Fan header 1 x 4-pin AIO Pump header 5 x 4-pin Chassis Fan headers Power related: 1 x 24-pin Main Power connector 2 x 8-pin +12V Power connector Storage related: 3 x M.2 slots (Key M)6 x SATA 6Gb/s ports 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 connector (supports USB Type-C®) 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 header supports additional 2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports 2 x USB 2.0 headers support additional 4 USB 2.0 ports Miscellaneous: 3 x Addressable Gen 2 headers 1 x AURA RGB header1 x CPU Over Voltage jumper1 x Front Panel Audio header (AAFP) 1 x SPI TPM header (14-1pin) 1 x 20-3 pin System Panel header with Chassis intrude function 1 x Thermal Sensor header 1 x Thunderbolt header |
| Special Features | Extreme Engine Digi+- 5K Black Metallic CapacitorsASUS Q-Design- M.2 Q-Latch- PCIe Slot Q-Release- Q-DIMM- Q-LED (CPU [red], DRAM [yellow], VGA [white], Boot Device [yellow green])- Q-SlotASUS Thermal Solution- M.2 heatsink backplate- M.2 heatsinkASUS EZ DIY- BIOS FlashBack™ button- BIOS FlashBack™ LED- Clear CMOS button- CPU Socket lever protector- ProCool II- Pre-mounted I/O shield- SafeSlot- SafeDIMMAURA Sync- AURA RGB header- Addressable Gen 2 RGB headersASUS HYDRANODE- 1 x Chassis fan support |
| Software Features | ROG Exclusive Software– ROG CPU-Z- GameFirst VI- Sonic Studio III + Sonic Studio Virtual Mixer + Sonic Suite Companion- Sonic Radar III- DTS® Sound Unbound- Anti-virus software ASUS Exclusive Software – Armoury Crate- AIDA64 Extreme (60 days free trial)- AURA Creator- AURA Sync- Fan Xpert 4- Two-Way AI Noise Cancelation AI Suite 3– 5-Way Optimization with AI OverclockingTPUEPUDIGI+ VRMTurbo appMyAsusWinRARUEFI BIOSAI Overclocking Guide ASUS EZ DIY– ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3- ASUS EZ Flash 3- ASUS UEFI BIOS EZ ModeFlexKeyMemTest86 |
| BIOS | 256 Mb Flash ROM, UEFI AMI BIOS |
| Manageability | WOL by PME, PXE |
| Accessories | Cables: 4 x SATA 6Gb/s cablesROG HYPER M.2 CARD1 x ROG HYPER M.2 CARD Miscellaneous: 1 x ASUS 2×2 Dual-Band Wi-Fi moving antennas, 1 x M.2 Q-Latch package, 1 x M.2 Q-Latch package for M.2 backplate, 1 x M.2 Rubber Packages, 2 x M.2 Screw Packages, 1 x ROG Graphics card holder, 1 x ROG key chain, 1 x cable tie, 1 x ROG STRIX stickers, 1 x ROG STRIX thank you card Installation Media: 1 x Support DVD Documentation: 1 x User manual |
| Operating System | Windows® 11 64-bit, Windows® 10 64-bit |
| Form Factor | ATX 30.5cm x 24.4cm |
Build Quality
The Asus ROG Strix Z690-E Gaming WIFI motherboard has a solid metal build and the first moment you see it you know it feels premium, also looks premium with that customizable display at the side. The ROG Strix Z690-E Gaming WIFI motherboard features 18+1 power stages combine high-side and low-side MOSFETS and drivers into a single package.
You see high-end chokes and durable capacitors at the side of the processor tray and an multi-layered printed circuit board design gives better thermal heat dissipation. The key factor of this motherboard is the robust Integrated I/O Cover & VRM Heatsinks.
Two thick VRM heatsinks connected by a heat pipe and bonded to a pre-mounted metal I/O shield gives best cooling to these power hungry 12th Intel processors. The use of thermal pads efficiently transfer heat from the inductor and phase array to the heatsink.
If you look closely into the ROG Strix Z690-E Gaming WIFI motherboard you will see a flood of M.2 SSD slots, not one, not three but as many as three PCIe NVMe SSD slots. The main PCIe Gen 5 supported SSD boasts a huge heatsink with a direct-contact heat pipe delivers ample surface area, gives great performance for upcoming PCIe Gen 5 NVMe drives.
There are two additional slots with PCIe 4.0 support, and two more 4.0 slots available on the bundled ROG Hyper M.2 Card, with proper thermal heatsink to allow best storage performance as well. Also, this motherboard is a huge one so naturally has many connectors including fan headers, USB 3 headers, RGB headers and others.
Another cool feature you get to see here is the ASUS QLED POST code indicator that you generally see on server boards, however, in terms of power, the board takes in an 8-pin CPU power plus 24-pin ATX main power connector. We do recommend to go for an 800W+ gold rated PSU so that this motherboard can handle the load easily.
ASUS’s Enhanced Memory Profile is great for tweakers and enthusiasts who want to maximize their performance from their RAMs. For the new DDR5 RAMs, the ROG Strix Z690-E Gaming WiFi has easy overclocking profiles through BIOS and auto-overcloking options.
AEMP is an exclusive firmware feature for PMIC-restricted memory modules that detects the memory chips on a kit and then presents optimized frequency, timing and voltage profiles.
Performance
Talking about performance of this motherboard, you are getting a flagship gaming motherboard that is easily able to tame a beast like Core i9-12900K. We already have reviewed it and saw out-of-the-world results when paired with DDR5 RAM and all the necessary features this motherboard loves.
The Asus ROG Strix Z690-E Gaming WIFI indeed is powerful enough to handle the TDP spikes of new Intel Alder Lake-S CPUs and able to dissipate the heat quickly. The robust combo of good thermals and balanced features across the board is what makes this motherboard truly special.
I played lot of games with this motherboard using the Core i9-12900K and RX 6900 XT, never did this motherboard failed to cope up with the intense pressure of both of these monsters. I did checked out the thermals and found the max temperature it went after four hours of non-stop gaming was around 70 degrees celsius which is very decent.
While for normal work, temps hovered around 40-50 degrees and when gaming the temps went up to 60 degrees. Overall, these are really good figures because easily this motherboard is able to tame a power hungry and hot CPU like Core i9-12900K paired with beefy GPU like Radeon RX 6900XT easily.
BIOS & Usability
ASUS is known to have one of industry’s most feature-rich BIOS utility and it continues to does so with the newer ROG Strix Z690-E Gaming WIFI motherboard. Customized with ROG logo, this motherboard is a gamer’s dream undouteadly with a very easy to use BIOS, it took me minutes to configure it.
All the accessories provided and the manuals can easily guide you to make your own PC build easily, so though it looks huge and has lot of ports, making a gaming PC with the motherboard isn’t very hard job at all. Overall, for a pretty straightword usability, ASUS indeed gets a thumbs up and also this is Windows 11 compatible, we ourselves have tested it.
Ports & Connectivity
Flagship motherboards have lot of ports and robust connectivity options as well to help you utilize the the Asus ROG Strix Z690-E Gaming WIFI motherboard to the maximum extent possible. Here on the rear-end you have as many as 12 ports:
- 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 port (1 x USB Type-C®)
- 3 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports (2 x Type-A + 1 x USB Type-C®)
- 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports (4 x Type-A)
- 4 x USB 2.0 ports (4 x Type-A)
While on the front-end you have 7 ports:
- 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 connector (supports USB Type-C®)
- 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 header supports additional 2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports
- 2 x USB 2.0 headers support additional 4 USB 2.0 ports
Overall, you won’t actually have to worry about ports when you choose this motherboard as you have plenty including fast USB Type-C ports. For connectivity, you get WiFi 6E with antennas provided with the motherboard itself and Intel 2.5 Gb Ethernet for best gaming performance wirelessly.
If you have a good WiFi connection, easily you will get good download speeds, in my case with my second connection of 100MBps (WiFi 5) I got around 12MBps download speeds. With almost no lag in internet speeds, even with ethernet you can easily play games without any network lag provided you keep the drivers up to date.
Verdict
Overall, the new Asus ROG Strix Z690-E Gaming WIFI motherboard is a premium option for those looking for a no-compromise option that gives best performance. Packed with features and ports, giving good thermal performance, this motherboard checks all the required things you could ask for.
One downside being its very expensive undoubtedly because new platform that brings a lot of new features, if you have money to spend, make no mistake this is one of the best 12th Intel processor supported motherboard money can buy. Flooded with ports, robust audio connectivity options, unlimited RGB options and VRM heatsinks that could put any server motherboard to shame, this is the ultimate one to buy in 2021.
Buy from here: https://amzn.to/3y2V17l
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