Gigabyte Z690 AORUS Master Motherboard Review

The Gigabyte Z690 AORUS Master is here at last! While you may have enjoyed my preview last week, it's finally time for the real review, where I can go into detail about all the features, and most importantly, the performance of the new motherboard. This is certainly one of the most high-end Z690 motherboards hitting the market, so it's brimming with features and features some very impressive hardware to push the best performance possible. Of course, Gigabyte is a well-respected name in the industry. However, AORUS is their hardcore gaming and overclocking division, so only their best hardware goes under that brand. Gigabyte Z690 AORUS Master Obviously, we have support for the new 12th Gen Intel processors, which combined with this new Z690 chipset brings in support for the latest DDR5 memory, PCIe 5.0 slots, PCIe 4.0 M.2 storage, and on compatible motherboards, the latest Intel WiFi 6 hardware and Thunderbolt 4.0. These are all welcome upgrades for Intel, finally catching up to AMD in some of them, but also going beyond what AMD has to offer in others. The Gigabyte Z690 AORUS Master goes to some extremes though, with the latest AQUANTIA 10 GbE LAN, as well as the latest Intel WiFi 6E 802.11ax 2x2, giving you tremendously fast networking options. However, I'm sure many will be excited by the rather extensive connectivity options on this board, but even more so by the mighty 19+1+2 Phase VRM design with 105A Power Stage and Tantalum Polymer Capacitors, which should make for impressive CPU performance and overclocking. Features Support 12th Gen Intel® Series ProcessorsDual Channel Non-ECC Unbuffered DDR5, 4 DIMMsDirect 19+1+2 Phases VRM Design with 105A Power Stage* and Tantalum Polymer CapacitorDDR5 XTREME MEMORY Design with SMD DIMM and Shielded Memory RoutingAdvanced Thermal Solution with NanoCarbon Fins-Array III Heatsink, Direct-Touch Heatpipe II and NanoCarbon BaseplateIntel® WIFI 6E 802.11ax 2T2R & BT5 with AORUS AntennaAudio Slution with ESS Sabre ES9118 125dB on Rear AudioAQUANTIA® 10GbE BASE-T LAN5 x Ultra-Fast NVMe PCIe 4.0/3.0 x4 M.2 with Thermal GuardsRGB FUSION 2.0 with Multi-Zone Addressable LED Light Show Design, Support Addressable LED & RGB LED StripsSmart Fan 6 Features Multiple Temperature Sensors , Hybrid Fan Headers with FAN STOP and Noise DetectionQ-Flash Plus Update BIOS without Installing the CPU, Memory and Graphics Card For in-depth features and specifications, please check the official Gigabyte Z690 AORUS Master produce page here. What AORUS Had to Say "GIGABYTE Z690 Motherboards feature the latest DDR5 architecture and XMP 3.0 capability. The new DDR5 memory technology brings 50% more bandwidth to the platform and increases the system performance drastically by implementing Unlocked Native DDR5 Voltage, Xtreme Memory Routing and reliable SMD slot. In addition to the hardware upgrades, the user friendly UI provides full functionality to overclock higher with exclusive DDR5 tuning capability. " - Gigabyte Z690 and 12th Gen Reviews Intel 12th Gen Core i5-12600K, i7-12700K & i9-12900K CPU ReviewASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z690 EXTREME Motherboard ReviewASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z690 HERO Motherboard ReviewASUS TUF Gaming Z690-Plus WiFi D4 Motherboard ReviewASUS ROG Z690-I Gaming WiFi Motherboard ReviewGigabyte Z690 AORUS Pro Motherboard ReviewGigabyte Z690 AORUS XTREME Motherboard ReviewMSI MAG Z690 TOMAHAWK WIFI DDR4 Motherboard ReviewMSI MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi Motherboard ReviewMSI MEG Z690 UNIFY Motherboard Review Of course, for this review, use the navigation menu below to see more! Packaging & Accessories The box is pretty heavy, albeit, I suspect much of this is from the actual motherboard. As you can see, it's PCIe5 and DDR5 compatible. Around the back, there's a few close-up photos of the motherboard design, as well as a nice breakdown of the overall connectivity and that mighty VRM configuration. Need some funky stickers? Then you're well taken care of here! A little bit excessive on the bagging here, but you do get some nice quality SATA cables, there's some external temperature sensor cables, all the usual fitting screws, and a set of WiFi antennas. A Closer Look For those wanting a hardcore looking motherboard for this build, this is certainly going to fit the bill. The black PCB with black hardware looks fantastic, with just a few off-white highlights for the graphics and text to break up the design a little. However, style aside, all this armour is providing a heavy-duty amount of cooling to all the major components. Here you'll find one of the best VRM heatsinks on the market, as it uses their Fins-Array III design, which is more in-line with a large CPU cooler, rather than the more chunky VRM we often see. However, they're massive, and the one on the left of the socket is vast. Gigabyte says the surface area is 700% larger than the usual block design. From overclocking to getting the best from Turbo Boost, this VRM design should make easy work of anything you throw at it. You get 19 VCORE Phases with a 105A Power Stage for the CPU, 1 VCCGT Phase at 60A for the iGPU, and 2 VCAUX Phases with 70A DrMOS for the PCIe and memory controller. CPU power comes from two 8-pin headers, each using a more robust design with some external armour, and reaping the benefits of a thicker PCB with larger copper traces. The motherboard is well equipped for cooling, with support for 10 PWM/DC fans, 2 external sensor headers, and a noise detection cable. There's also the usual array of RGB and dRGB connectors, as you would expect these days. There are four DDR5 DIMMs on the board, all armoured with their "Ultra Durable DDR5 Armor". These deliver up to 6400 MHz dual-channel memory, with support for the latest XMP 3.0 profiles. If you're excited by fast storage, you'll be happy to find 5x M.2 Connectors NVMe PCIe 4.0/3.0 x4, all with M.2 Thermal Guard III or the enlarged heatsinks on the lower part of the motherboard. There are six SATA ports too, should you have any older SSDs or HDDs. This board features impressive audio hardware too, thanks to the ESS SABRE HiFi 9118 DAC, as well as the ALC1220-VB chipset, and WiMA Capacitors; there's certainly little need for a soundcard with this beast! On the rear of the motherboard, you'll find it's pretty much all armour. Not only does this increase the cooling of the board, but also prevents all that heavy metal on the front from snapping the PCB in half. The rear I/O shield is pre-installed, making for an easy installation. There are 11 USB ports, all running the latest USB 3.2 Gen 2 speeds, with the exception of the Type-C ports, which are even faster Gen 2x2 20Gbps ports. WiFi 6 is built-in, and backed up by the class-leading Aquantia 10GbE LAN. How We Test Here at eTeknix, we endeavour to disclose vital information regarding the benchmarking process so that readers can quantify the results and attempt to replicate them using their hardware. When it comes to our benchmarks in our reviews, the benchmarks are pretty self-explanatory although there are a few exceptions. Remember that your choice of motherboard, the silicon lottery, and other factors can yield different numbers, and there’s always a margin for error when using any software. Therefore, your experience may vary, but our aim is to make our results as good a representation of real-world performance as possible. Testing Your Own System We typically focus on commonly available benchmarks so that you too can run the same benchmarks on your own system. We hope this makes it easy for our readers to gauge the performance improvement available to them when they upgrade their own systems. Gaming Tests All games are run at their specified resolutions using the "high" settings or equivalent. We avoid using the Ultra settings as these often offer diminishing returns for performance vs visuals. If a game runs extremely well using high settings, then we can safely suggest the hardware can be used at higher graphics settings. We may sometimes run more advanced settings, such as ray tracing, DLSS, and similar, but again, these will be made clear in the title of each benchmark. Test Bench ProcessorIntel 12th Gen Alder Lake Core i9-12900KMotherboardChanges Per ReviewMemoryCorsair Dominator RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 5200MHzGraphicsGigabyte RTX 3080 Gaming OCStorageSeagate FireCuda 530 2TBPower SupplyCorsair HX750 750WSoftwareWindows 10 Pro 21H1DriversNVIDIA GeForce Build 19043.1320 Synthetic Benchmarks Online Benchmarks Compression & Rendering Experience Lara Croft’s defining moment as she becomes the Tomb Raider. In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Lara must master a deadly jungle, overcome terrifying tombs, and persevere through her darkest hour. As she races to save the world from a Maya apocalypse, Lara will ultimately be forged into the Tomb Raider she is destined to be. Available now on Steam. Shadow of the Tomb Raider Performance Welcome to Yara, a tropical paradise frozen in time. As the dictator of Yara, Antón Castillo is intent on restoring his nation back to its former glory by any means, with his son, Diego, following in his bloody footsteps. Their oppressive rule has ignited a revolution. Available now on Epic Games Store Far Cry 6 Metro Exodus is an epic, story-driven first-person shooter from 4A Games that blends deadly combat and stealth with exploration and survival horror in one of the most immersive game worlds ever created. Flee the shattered ruins of dead Moscow and embark on an epic, continent-spanning journey across post-apocalyptic Russia in the greatest Metro adventure yet. Explore the Russian wilderness in vast, non-linear levels and follow a thrilling story-line inspired by the novels of Dmitry Glukhovsky that spans an entire year through spring, summer and autumn to the depths of nuclear winter. Available now on Epic Game Store. Metro Exodus Performance World of Tanks enCore RT is the demo of the updated Core graphics engine. It will let you know how well your PC will perform in World of Tanks with the updated Core engine. Available now here. World of Tanks Performance Memory & Storage Power Consumption 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 @ ScanASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z690 EXTREME Motherboard (review) - £935 @ Scan / £1669 Glacial EditionASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z690 HERO Motherboard (review) - £520 @ ScanASUS TUF Gaming Z690-Plus WiFi D4 Motherboard (review) - £280 @ ScanASUS ROG Z690-I Gaming WiFi Motherboard (review) - £375 @ ScanGigabyte Z690 AORUS XTREME Motherboard (review) - £767Gigabyte Z690 AORUS Master Motherboard (review) - £416Gigabyte Z690 AORUS Pro Motherboard (review) - £290MSI MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi Motherboard (review) - £410 @ ScanMSI MAG Z690 TOMAHAWK WIFI DDR4 Motherboard (review) - £301MSI 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 2x2 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!