ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero EVA Edition (Intel 1700)

Mit der 14. Maximus-Serie nimmt Hersteller ASUS Abschied von den klassischen römischen Zahlen für die Modellbezeichnung, sondern setzt konsequent auf die Chipsatz-Nomenklatur. Auch für Intels Alder-Lake-S-Prozessoren ist das Hero-Mainboard wieder hoch im Kurs, sodass wir es natürlich selbst auf den Prüfstand stellen. Lohnt sich der hohe Anschaffungspreis?

Das ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero bringt so ziemlich alle Features mit, die man sich als Gamer oder OC-Enthusiasten so wünschen könnte. Allerdings ist das Mainboard mit über 600 Euro auch recht teuer und lässt sich die umfassende Ausstattung sowie die teils exklusiven Features recht fürstlich bezahlen.

This is the fourth Z690 board we’ve had in from Asus, each one showing subtle but important differences between them. Even diving into the Maximus family, there are many variations, so to say Asus has something for everyone, is a bit of an understatement.

Over the last six months since Intel launched its 12th Gen Core series of processors, we've looked at several Alder Lake desktop CPUs and seen how competitive they are from top to bottom - not just in performance but price too. To harness the power of Alder Lake, however, there are many options in terms of Z690 motherboards, and today we're taking a look at one of ASUS's more premium models, the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero.

Right now, I don’t see any glaring cons or issues about the Maximus Z690 Hero. The ROG Hyper M.2 card is a nice addition, but I don’t think most Z690 Hero users will use it. Not to mention its implementation and how to configure it is a bit cumbersome and perplexing. If you’re looking for dual LAN ports, unfortunately, there’s only one Ethernet port, and it’s only 2.5Gb. Also, I wish Asus implemented a dual BIOS system just in case the (first) BIOS gets corrupted. On the flip side, the Maximus Z690 Hero does come with dual Thunderbolt 4 ports. Two of the PCIe are Gen5.0 ready and the motherboard supports up to DDR5-6400 memory. These new Z690 motherboards, especially the DDR5 variants, are not cheap. I just hope these Z690 motherboards will also support the upcoming 13th gen Raptor Lake CPUs. At the end of the day, I think the Asus ROG Maximus Z690 Hero is a well-rounded and excellent motherboard for gamers, enthusiasts, and even content creators. Most of the essential features that a typical consumer needs for a fast Intel-based system are present on this motherboard. And there are also new features that can be useful to a more advanced user. “For those who dare” and can afford to pay $600 for a motherboard, I think the Asus Maximus Z690 Hero is one of the best Z690 motherboards out there.

With the prices available the Maximus Hero is even more impressive than we initially believed, so naturally we wanted to give it it's own spotlight.

ASUS delivers a compelling infrastructure for Alder Lake with the all new Hero. So who's this motherboard intended for? Well, for those looking for high-end and somewhat extreme features, the HERO series from ASUS is a great choice. Three M.2 slots + two extra on that sweet PCIe Gen 5.0 ready add-in card, overclocking assistance, a more efficient, very luxurious power delivery setup. Then all the USB ports (including Thunderbolt), RGB display, physical buttons for BIOS switching, and a 2.5G LAN connection are all available to you on this motherboard. All things combined make the however a solid foundation for an enthusiast build or a creator PC, depending on your preferences. The answer to the question "should you buy this motherboard?" boils down to how much money you have to spend on it and what requirements you need as this motherboard will be priced at just over 600 EUR/USD. 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. You'll also receive a sweet audio codec and integrated Wi-Fi 6E technology, as opposed to the others that have been around for a while and so employ last-generation audio and Wi-Fi 6. This board has everything you could ever want in a high-end-class component, thanks to its strong VRMs and cutting-edge features. The BIOS is refined, and overall it'll serve all your needs and then some. If you're looking for an excellent Z690 motherboard and have a budget of roughly $600, the ROG Maximus Z690 HERO is highly recommended albeit pricy.