Gigabyte Z690 AORUS Pro Motherboard Review

Following our recent preview of this motherboard, Z690 is here at last! And it’s ushering in the new 12th Gen Intel processors and a huge wave of new features from both. Gigabyte already has an impressive range of motherboards launching, but the most exciting ones are under their enthusiast-focused AORUS branding. The new Gigabyte Z690 AORUS Pro isn’t the most extreme of the bunch, that would literally be the Z690 XTREME. However, the Pro represents something of an extry level, albeit the entry-level of extremely expensive ultra-high-end gaming and overclocking motherboards. With that in mind, you should get getting most of the thrills of their much more expensive models, without going too overboard.

Gigabyte Z690 AORUS Pro

It’s hard to believe this isn’t one of the most extreme boards in the range, as it’s hardly sparse on features. you get a powerful 16+1+2 Direct VRM Design with 90A Power Stage and those lovely Tantalum Polymer Capacitors throughout. This is likely to be plenty when it comes to pushing Max Boost speeds from the latest Intel CPUs. You get the latest DDR5 memory support, enormous heatsinks on all vital hardware, but especially so on the VRM. There’s the latest Intel WiFi 6, as well as speedy 2.5 GbE LAN taking care of all your networking needs. Storage gets upgraded to the latest PCIe Gen 4, so you can take advantage of the fastest SSDs on the market. Graphics cards get a boost from the latest PCIe 5.0, offering up huge increases in bandwidth and some future-proofing for future hardware too. There’s the fantastic Q-Flash too, which allows you to update your BIOS without Installing the CPU, memory and graphics card; that’s saved my ass a few times, that’s for sure!

Features

• Supports 12th Gen Intel^® Core™ Series Processors
• Dual Channel Non-ECC Unbuffered DDR5, 4 DIMMs
• 16+1+2 Direct Digital VRM Design with 90A Power Stage* and Tantalum Polymer Capacitor
• DDR5 XTREME MEMORY Design with SMD DIMM and Shielded Memory Routing
• Fully Covered Thermal Design with High Coverage MOSFET Heatsinks
• Intel^® WIFI 6 802.11ax 2T2R & BT5 with AORUS Antenna
• Hi-Fi Audio with ALC4080 and WIMA Audio Capacitors
• Fast 2.5GbE LAN with Bandwidth Management
• 4x Ultra-Fast NVMe PCIe 4.0*/3.0 x4 M.2 with Enlarged Thermal Guard
• SuperSpeed USB 3.2 Gen2x2 TYPE-C delivers up to 20Gb/s transfer speeds
• RGB FUSION 2.0 with Multi-Zone Addressable LED Light Show Design, Support Addressable LED & RGB LED Strips
• Smart Fan 6 Features Multiple Temperature Sensors , Hybrid Fan Headers with FAN STOP
• Q-Flash Plus Update BIOS without Installing the CPU, Memory and Graphics Card

For in-depth specifications, please visit the official Gigabyte Z690 AORUS Pro product page here.

Tell Me More

“GIGABYTE Ultra Durable™ features its product durability and high-quality manufacturing process. GIGABYTE motherboards use the best components and reinforce every slots to make each of them solid and durable. GIGABYTE motherboards bundle several useful and intuitive software to help users to control every aspect of motherboard and provide customizable lighting effect with outstanding aesthetics to fit your unique personality.” – Gigabyte

Z690 and 12th Gen Reviews

• Intel 12th Gen Core i5-12600K, i7-12700K & i9-12900K CPU Review
• ASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z690 EXTREME Motherboard Review
• ASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z690 HERO Motherboard Review
• ASUS TUF Gaming Z690-Plus WiFi D4 Motherboard Review
• ASUS ROG Z690-I Gaming WiFi Motherboard Review
• Gigabyte Z690 AORUS XTREME Motherboard Review
• Gigabyte Z690 AORUS Master Motherboard Review
• MSI MAG Z690 TOMAHAWK WIFI DDR4 Motherboard Review
• MSI MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi Motherboard Review
• MSI MEG Z690 UNIFY Motherboard Review

Of course, for this review, use the navigation menu below to see more!