Gigabyte Z690 AORUS Master Motherboard Review

Z690 Motherboards and Intel 12th Gen Alder Lake Pricing

Here’s a round-up of all the motherboards and processors I’ve reviewed today. This includes up to date pricing that was correct prior to launch. However, I expect prices and stock to be a little more volatile after the launch, so please keep in mind that they are subject to change. Most of the prices and links are from Amazon UK, however, I have included some prices and links to Scan.co.uk for items that were not available on Amazon at the time of writing.

• Intel 12th Gen Core i5-12600K, i7-12700K & i9-12900K CPU (review) – £290 @ Scan / £419 @ Scan / £599 @ Scan
• ASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z690 EXTREME Motherboard (review) – £935 @ Scan / £1669 Glacial Edition
• ASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z690 HERO Motherboard (review) – £520 @ Scan
• ASUS TUF Gaming Z690-Plus WiFi D4 Motherboard (review) – £280 @ Scan
• ASUS ROG Z690-I Gaming WiFi Motherboard (review) – £375 @ Scan
• Gigabyte Z690 AORUS XTREME Motherboard (review) – £767
• Gigabyte Z690 AORUS Master Motherboard (review) – £416
• Gigabyte Z690 AORUS Pro Motherboard (review) – £290
• MSI MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi Motherboard (review) – £410 @ Scan
• MSI MAG Z690 TOMAHAWK WIFI DDR4 Motherboard (review) – £301
• MSI MEG Z690 UNIFY Motherboard (review) – £510 @ Scan

Overview

While I really liked the AORUS Pro, for an extra £126, stepping up to the Master seems like a big investment. However, you do get quite a lot in return for your investment. For starters, the much more powerful VRM and Power Stage design. Upping it to 19+1+2 Phases with a 105A Power Stage is great for those pushing the 12900K to its limits more often. Things are a little bit cooler looking, with larger heatsinks, more RGB hardware, and there’s a lot more connectivity for hardware, but also peripheral designs on the front and rear I/O.

Build Quality & Design

It’s certainly one of the nicest looking boards out there, and the heatsinks are simply massive too, ensuring everything runs as cool as possible, even when you’re pushing the system hard. I love that AORUS use their Fins-Array III VRM heatsinks too, they have proper fins that allow for a huge amount of surface area and good airflow. There’s a significant heatsink on the top M.2 mount too, called Thermal Guard III, but also enlarged Thermal Guard hardware on the other four M.2 mounts. They’ve invested in premium audio hardware too, thanks to the ESS Sabre HiFi DAC, which is all shielded and armoured, just like everything else.

Performance

Well, as we might have expected, pretty much all of the Z690 motherboards performed around about the same, so if all you care about is straight-up gaming performance, then just pick the one you like. What really affects the price, however, is VMR configuration and connectivity. If you’re building a system that will render high-resolution video 24/7 and push max boost clocks on flagship CPUs, then sure, it’s investing in a more premium board with the heatsinks that can cope with sustained loads. Furthermore, some of the Z690 boards have DDR4 DIMMS, making them more affordable, while DDR5 will add a price premium but bring performance benefits too. However, all the boards get PCIe 5.0 lanes, and Gen 4 storage too, which is where some of the most significant gains are to be found from one board to the other.

Added Value

While this is more expensive than the Pro, I think it’s actually better value for money in some ways. The VRM configuration is surprisingly close to most of the more extreme boards that cost twice as much. The ultra-fast networking options are great, but the MASTER ditches the 2.5 GbE LAN in favour of the awesome Aquantia 10 GbE connector! While the WiFi is upgraded to a 2T2R for even better connectivity. There’s support for a Thunderbolt add-in card and even a pair of speedy USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type C on the rear. The price difference is worth it just based on the networking options alone.

Should I Buy One?

This is one seriously cool motherboard, giving you almost all of the thrills of the flagship boards, without costing the Earth. You get super-fast networking and connectivity options, it’s future proof with DDR5 and PCI-E 5.0, and it’s got enough armour to pass as the next Batsuit. If all you want to do is game, the AORUS Pro is enough, but if you need something that can also deliver workstation like networking and connectivity too, this is a great step up!