With Intel’s Alder Lake-S processors looking increasingly likely to launch later this month (with a release tentatively scheduled for November 4th), it’s not exactly surprising that the news and information surrounding the new Z690 LGA 1700 socket motherboards have increased quite notably over the last week. For example, only yesterday we saw images of a number of ASUS’ entry-level focused models appear online!
Following a report via Videocardz, however, today it appears that it’s the turn of Gigabyte. Rather than a more cost-effective solution though, with images of the AORUS Z690 XTREME, we might have our first look at what will represent a ‘top of the line’ flagship model from the Z690 series!
Gigabyte AORUS Z690 XTREME
Although no specifications for the design have been confirmed, there is much that can be seen both in terms of the slots and aesthetics to suggest that this is going to likely represent one of, if not the, premium offering made by Gigabyte. Some of the key highlights (beyond what’s immediately notable) include:
- An integrated DDR5 RAM cover – Perhaps not a bad idea as some of the early DDR5 modules are not exactly eye-candy
- WiFi6 wireless connectivity
- 3 x PCIe ports (only the top 2 will be PCIe 5.0, and, of course, only one of these can be used to retain the full bandwidth) – The third is reportedly Gen3.
- 3 x M.2 storage slots (details on SATA bandwidth/port disabling is not yet known)
When Will We Know More?
It’s understood that the Gigabyte Z690 AORUS XTREME will be officially launched (and likely also released) on November 4th to directly coincide with the release of Intel Alder Lake-S. In pouring some cold water over this exceptionally potent and pleasing motherboard, however, although coming at the risk of saying what you probably already know, this motherboard is probably going to be expensive. Like, really, expensive!
In terms of premium designs though, well, while we’ve known about Alder Lake-S for a good long while now, it looks like the windows are finally starting to open on the Z690 motherboards. And if this Gigabyte model is anything to go by, good things (in terms of tech, not your bank balance) are definitely on the horizon!
What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!
