ASRock Z690

The ASRock Z690 Riptide is an excellent motherboard for gamers who want all essential features, but don’t want to pay for additional controllers or rarely used functionality. The motherboard is fast and stable, but more importantly it can handle most daily tasks with ease, plus there’s plenty of room for expansion. For those who are after more premium features, then you might want to take a look at the ASRock Taichi or Velocita series of motherboards, but it will cost you much more. FunkyKit highly recommends ASRock Z690 PG Riptide!

Mit den Steel-Legend-Modellen gibt ASRock den Interessenten eine zumeist durchschnittlich ausgestattete Platine in die Hand, deren Hauptmerkmale die silbergefärbten Kühlkörper sind, die den Eindruck von Stahl erwecken sollen. Für Intels Alder-Lake-S-Prozessoren gibt entsprechend das Z690 Steel Legend (WiFi 6E), das wir von ASRock für den Test erhalten haben und es gegen die anderen Modelle haben antreten lassen.

If you’re planning to build a PC based on Intel’s 12th gen Alder Lake processor and Z690 platform, then the ASRock Z690 Steel Legend WiFi 6e motherboard is a great all-rounder. It’s a good upgrade path if you want to re-use your existing DDR4 ram, and offers a load of great features with excellent performance to match.

Uns hat im Test vor allem die tolle Verarbeitung, die vielen Designelemente und die pralle Ausstattung überzeugt. Da wird es fast schon nebensächlich, dass das Mainboard auch noch richtig gut OCen kann. Es gibt eigentlich nichts, was das Board nicht bietet. Wer also auf nichts verzichten möchte und das nötige Kleingeld hat, liegt bei dem Z690 Taichi genau richtig. Bei diesem Gesamtpaket können wir das ASRock Z690 Taichi Mainboard ohne Bedenken mit unserem OCinside.de Overclocking Dream Award 06/2022 auszeichnen.

The ASRock Z690 Taichi RAZER EDITION is basically an original Z690 Taichi motherboard, with RAZER Chroma RGB added. If you’re an enthusiast gamer who wants to integrate and sync all their RAZER gaming products, then the ASRock Z690 Taichi RAZER EDITION is the motherboard you want. It offers amazing performance and features as you would expect from a flagship Z690 Taichi motherboard from ASRock, and you get full support for RAZER’s Chroma RGB.

The ASRock Z690 Taichi is the greatest model from Asrock’s Z690 line. It contains an integrated I/O shield, superb RGB implementation (with three aRGB connectors and one RGB compatible), PCIe 5.0 compatibility, PCIe 4.0 NVMe disks support (you may install two of them, one PCIe 3.0 drive), and 7 SATA ports. The buttons for power/reset/clear CMOS can also come in handy when overclocking. You get a 2.5 Gbe Ethernet but no Wi-Fi compatibility. The looks are nice and should fit most of the builds. Asrock Z690 Taichi has a great power delivery with 20 phase VRM with 105A MOSFETs, giving 1995A. That should be enough even for the 12900K and most possibly also the upcoming new processors for socket 1700. The power delivery section is cooled with one 30 mm fan, but the VRMs would be cool even without its aid. You will get two Thunderbolt 4.0 ports – that’s a great addition. The audio performance is more than decent, but we expect fresher than ALC1220 (although it’s good that there’s an ESS SABRE9218 DAC for Front Panel Audio). Overall there are eight fan headers – so you shouldn’t be disappointed in that department (but the location of the CPU fans headers is rather odd). The price is steep (but that’s usually a norm for the DDR5 based Z690 motherboards). 589 USD is the high-end of the market, and the competition is very strong, like MSI Z690 Unify, Asus Maximus Z690 Hero, or Biostar Z690 Valkyrie. As for the things we didn’t like, there are only six “regular” USB ports (but on the other side, there are two Thunderbolt 4.0 ports that we mentioned above), which definitely cannot be enough for some. There are seven, not the usual eight SATA ports, but as the M.2 is usually a better option – it’s not a major issue. Speaking of the M.2 – you’ll find only three of them (other Z690 boards have four), with the last one being compatible only with PCIe 3.0 x2, not x4 like the standard. The ASRock Z690 Taichi performed a bit above average; the OC was at a good level for this CPU sample of Core i9 12900K, so overall, we can give an “Approved” award. Why not the “Recommended”? The ASRock Z690 Taichi is a very solid (especially due to the used VRM) option, but nothing that would stand out (besides Thunderbolt 4.0). It’s a bit too expensive for what it offers (ALC 1220, three M.2 slots, 6 USB Type-A ports), especially since it looks like a refresh of the Z590 Taichi. While the previous time was novel, this time was not, and we expected something more... perhaps a refresh or some innovation is advised.

If it's the greater value that you are after (or just have budgetary limitations) then the Z690 Steel Legend remains to be a more affordable motherboard at ~250 USD (but still is a lot of money). The usage of DDR4 is a benefit in overall value as well. We do recommend a DDR4 3600 CL 16 or 18 kits. This will help you shave off 75 USD of your build whilst the performance differential is close to NIL aside from a small differential here and there. A more value board does offer fewer features, but with a Dragon (Realtek based) 2.5 GigE ethernet jack, eight SATA3 ports, HDMI and DP, and three M2 slots, I think 95% of your needs are covered. The board still looks nice, has some RGB elements, and other than that is simply performing outstandingly well for a DDR4 board. The 13 phase 50A stage power delivery we do not see as a limiting factor either. Concerning the TDP values of the 16-core top model Core i9-12900K with its 241 watts, this is not surprising, especially when considering the overclocking capabilities of the processor itself. Two P8 power plugs have been provided to ensure that you do not run out of breath while working here. In our belief for lots of people, Alder Lake is what they've been waiting for, a completely new architecture with improved IPC and fabulous overall performance, so lots of people will make the step to upgrade as it also brings PCIe Gen 4.0 and 5.0 as well as DDR5 support and WIFI6E to the table. For 20 bucks more a WIFI6E enabled version is available also, which I would opt without hesitation. In the end, we feel that ASRock has a compelling offer with the Steel legend. It might not sit in that uber-high premium segment, but has the price that fits + you'll save on the bill of cost for not using DDR5. Definitely recommended.

Solides OC-Mainboard mit vielen tollen Gimmicks! Heute schauen wir uns auf OCinside.de das ASRock Z690 Extreme an. Dieses ist neben dem aktuellen Z690 Chipsatz außerdem mit dem brandneuen Sockel 1700 für Intel Alder Lake Prozessoren ausgestattet. Grund genug für uns zu prüfen, was ASRocks neue Platine kann und ob der Name Extreme auch in Sachen Ausstattung und Performance seinem Namen alle Ehre macht. All das und noch mehr kann man in unserem Test erfahren.

Solid OC motherboard with many great gimmicks! Today on OCinside.de we take a look at the ASRock Z690 Extreme. In addition to the latest Z690 chipset, it is also equipped with the brand new Socket 1700 for Intel Alder Lake processors. Reason enough for us to check what ASRock’s new board has to offer and if the name Extreme also lives up to its name in terms of features and performance. All this and more can be found out in our review.

The Z690 Extreme is another excellent motherboard from ASRock. It’s also one of the few Z690 motherboards released without BIOS problems, which means we’re able to get a fast and reliable setup for our exceptional gaming PC. The Z690 Extreme is clearly worth the recommendation to all those who want a problem-free and high performance system at an affordable price.

The ASRock Z690 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB4 falls into a sub-niche market which already has a host of hurdles to overcome. First, let's discuss the initial price point. ITX motherboards generally cost the same as the mid-range offerings, but have less features overall. The saying "less is more" does not apply here. You are essentially paying more because the small form factor is a premium feature in and of itself. That being said, ASRock does keep it competitive with Gigabyte, ASUS, and MSI, which all offer at least one Z690 ITX motherboard.

I enjoy Mini ITX, as I'm always amazed at how much high-performance gear motherboard makers can stuff into such a small footprint. And yes, with PCIe 5.0 graphics, a duo of M2 slots even overclocking capability thanks to a robust VRM, we just can't complain. ASRock stuffed this motherboard with premium features, yet ~300 USD/EUR is a lot of money. Having said that, I am not dissatisfied with this product whatsoever. Among the premium features are dual M2 slots, WIFI6E, and 2.5 GigE. There's also the single M2 shield and, of course, the sheer performance, as the Z690 chipset with an Alder Lake CPU and feature set performs extremely well. Additionally, the 17x17cm board supports three SATA3 drivers. Thus, your bases are covered (and all your base are belong to us). To summarize, if you're looking for a tiny yet robust motherboard capable of housing 12th Gen Intel multi-core processors, the ASRock Z690 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB4 should be at the top of your list. The performance of the storage, network and audio solutions are good.

The ASRock Z690 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB4 is, no doubt, one of the best Mini-ITX motherboards you can get right now. It supports DDR5 ram, and comes with a PCIE 5.0 x16 steel slot, two PCIE Gen4x4 slots, Killer 2.5GB LAN, as well as support for WiFi 6e and Thunderbolt 4. It’s packed with some great features and offers excellent performance and compatibility.

The ASRock Z690 Phantom Gaming Velocita is certainly not a perfect product, but it has qualities that can be attractive to buyers looking for a Z690 based motherboard with DDR5, PCIe Gen5, and M.2 Gen5 support. The ASRock Z690 Phantom Gaming Velocita offers a little bit of everything. Add the rest of the feature set, like numerous fan, RGB headers, Wi-Fi 6E support, and decent on-board audio, and it stands to be a well-rounded product for those specifically looking for an ASRock Z690 motherboard or in need of more PCIe connectivity.

Heute kommt mit einem Intel B660 Mainboard die Mittelklasse von ASRock bei OCinside.de auf den Prüfstand. Dieses bietet neben einer guten Ausstattung das ein oder andere tolle Extra. Welche das sind und ob das ASRock B660 Steel Legend Mainboard trotz des beschnittenen Chipsatzes bei uns punkten kann, zeigen wir in dem folgenden Test.

If you’re thinking of building or upgrading to an Intel 12th Gen Alder Lake processor, and you’re planning to switch to DDR5 ram, then the ASRock Z690 Taichi is the motherboard to go for. It has everything you need, and will satisfy even the most hardcore of enthusiasts with its abundance of features and outstanding performance.