Gigabyte Z690 AORUS Pro Motherboard Review

How Much Does it Cost?

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 / Unconfirmed
• 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

I genuinely think this motherboard is going to be one of the most popular out there. It’s well equipped, and it has a price that’s surprisingly attractive too. It’s certainly not cheap, but it’s hard not to be enticed when you look at what you get for your money. Plus, the AORUS brand has maintained its cool factor over the years, and it’s easy to see why their fanbase continues to grow.

Build Quality & Design

It’s a stunning looking motherboard. It’s actually bonkers to think this isn’t higher up the price ranges, only costing around 1/3rd of what their most expensive solutions are sold for. However, it’s not got 1/3rd of the features and performance, that’s for sure. You get huge VRM heatsinks, a durable 6-layer PCB design, premium chokes and capacitors, large M.2 heatsinks, and more; it’s all good quality stuff. There’s UltraDurable SMD Memory armour, the new SMD PCIe slot with UltraDurable armour. Not only that, but it’s nicely arranged too, and the dark and light grey provides a nice contrast and aesthetic.

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.

Should I Buy One?

This is far from being the most expensive Z690 board, but it’s really well equipped. It doesn’t have Thunderbolt 4, but you get USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C on the rear for 20 Gbps transfer speeds. There’s also both 2.5 GbE LAN and the new ultra-fast Intel WiFi 6 networking, which are certainly welcome upgrades. There’s a great range of storage options, and the integration of PCIe 5.0 makes it ready for any upcoming hardware and next-gen graphics cards. Overall, everything is armoured and cooled, looks great, and it just seems to be a nicely balanced and well thought out design. I think AORUS are on to a real winner with this one!