ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero review: A solid foundation for an overclocked 12th Gen Intel PC

ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero Source: Rich Edmonds / Windows Central

Intel's Alder Lake processors are performing extremely well in tests compared to previous generation CPUs and what AMD has to offer, merely there'south also the addition of new 600-serial Intel chipsets, including the flagship Z690. Given that this is the range-topping chipset SKU, you tin can expect premium motherboards and loftier prices.

This includes the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero, which retails for $600. Compared to its predecessor, there are some notable changes as we make way for Alder Lake features similar DDR5 and PCIe five.0 back up. The Maximus series from ASUS has been a solid foundation for PC builds, and this latest entry won't be any unlike.

We've taken the motherboard for a spin to run into what it offers, if it'south a contender for best motherboards, how practiced of a match information technology is to an Intel Cadre i9-12900K processor, and whether yous should use it for your Intel Alder Lake-powered PC.

ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero

Bottom line: ASUS was able to throw the Z690 chipset, likewise as DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 support onto the Maximus Hero to make one feature-rich Intel 12th Gen motherboard. If you want to tinker with your PC with stable results, look no further than this board.

The Practiced

Stunning lath design
Plenty of I/O
Custom water cooling loop support
DDR5 and PCIe v.0 support
Excellent performance
Easy PCIe release button

The Bad

Only two.5Gb LAN
Pricey
Overkill for virtually PC builds

ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero: Toll and availability

ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero Source: Rich Edmonds / Windows Key

ASUS launched the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero in October, which ways y'all tin wait to pay full MSRP for the luxury of owning one. At $600, this isn't an affordable motherboard and sits comfortably in the "premium" segment. That said, for what'due south on offering in terms of features, you could practise much worse for value.

This motherboard comes with total support for all Intel 12th Gen processors, DDR5 RAM, PCIe five.0, has 2.5Gb LAN (which we'd love to encounter bumped up to 10Gb), and a xx+1 ability phase pattern for stable overclocking. It's a great place to start for building a powerful PC, so long as you don't mind paying a little more.

ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero: Hardware & pattern

ASUS motherboards generally sport clean designs with little ambitious styling, at least compared to other brands with their "gamer" themes. The ROG Maximus Z690 Hero is no exception. It's an all-black PCB with a mirror finish plate atop the I/O shroud. The ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero is 1 expert-looking motherboard.

The ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero is one adept-looking motherboard.

Along with the board inside the packaging, y'all'll find an Thousand.2 PCIe bill of fare that offers one PCIe 5.0 and one PCIe four.0 slot. There's also a USB drive that can exist used for storing UEFI BIOS updates or other files, an antenna for Wi-Fi 6E, and diverse cables for hooking up other components within the PC.

Since this is a Z690 motherboard, in that location's full support for 12th Gen Intel processors. It's capable of treatment up to 128GB of DDR5 RAM at speeds of upwardly to 6.4GHz (3.2GHz x2). At that place are iii full-size x16 PCIe slots with ii at 5.0, and 1 additional slot at 4.0. Both AMD and NVIDIA GPUs can exist configured into a dual-GPU configuration.

For storage, there are half-dozen six.0Gb/s SATA ports and a further 3 1000.2 slots on the motherboard (all are PCIe 4.0). The optional (but included) K.two PCIe expansion card tin can be installed to open up up two additional M.2 slots, one PCIe 5.0 and some other PCIe iv.0. Other highlights on the specification canvass include the Realtek ALC4082 sound codec, and enough of USB ports on the rear.

Category	ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero
Size	ATX
CPU	Intel 12th Gen
Socket	LGA 1700
RAM	4x DDR5 DIMM (upward to DDR5-6400+), 128GB limit
Chipset	Intel Z690
Expansion	2x PCIe 5.0 x16 (x16 or dual x8) 1x PCIe 4.0 x16
Storage	6x SATA (6Gbps) 2x M.2 2242/2260/2280 (PCIe 4.0 x4, SATA) 1x M.2 2242/2260/2280 (PCIe 3.0 x4) ROG Hyper M.two expansion card (1x Yard.2 2242/2260/2280 (PCIe v.0, SATA) ROG Hyper M.2 expansion card (1x M.two 2242/2260/2280 (PCIe iv.0, SATA)
Audio	Realtek ALC4082
Rear ports	BIOS FlashBack Button Clear CMOS button 1x 2.5G LAN 1x ASUS Wi-Fi 2x Thunderbolt 4 6x USB-A 3.ii Gen ii (upwardly to 10Gbps) 1x USB-C 3.two Gen 2 2x USB-A 2.0 1x HDMI 1x Optical S/PDIF out 5x Gold-plated audio jack
NVIDIA SLI	✓
AMD CrossFire	✓
Dimensions	305 x 244 mm
Launch cost	$600

And this wouldn't be an ASUS motherboard without some RGB lighting. It's actually subtle on the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero and is just present inside that mirror plate on the I/O shroud — information technology looks pretty good. The black heatsinks attached to the VRMs are beefy and look as though they would exercise well to dissipate some heat.

Tucked away in the meridian-left corner of the board are dual 8-pin CPU ProCool II power connections that are nowadays on most premium ASUS AMD and Intel motherboards. So there are four fan headers for CPU blowers, system fans, and AIO. Next to these is an ASUS fault code display and LEDs for troubleshooting failed system boots (e'er good to see this on a lath).

There are four DDR5 DIMMS next to the LGA 1700 socket, which is and then followed by a ability push and flex key (used for organisation reset but can exist programmed for other employ). A full 24-pivot ATX power socket is north of a PCIe connection to provide power to a 60W fast-charge-capable front end-panel USB-C.

You may accept noticed a pocket-size button next to this internal USB-C port and that would be the PCIe slot release. Accept yous always found removing your GPU to be a fiddling boring? That's no longer the case on the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero thanks to this very small push. Only push information technology and the GPU can exist safely removed one time the subclass screws accept been extracted.

ASUS included an easy PCIe slot release button for removing a GPU and it works like magic.

In the lower half of the motherboard are the three M.two slots underneath metal plates, iii PCIe x16 slots, 2 USB iii.0 front end panel ports, and the assortment of six SATA ports. At the lesser of the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero, you'll find this board is kitted out with all the headers you'll need for a powerful PC build.

Sure, there's the usual USB 2.0, front panel, sound, and a few fan headers, but there'southward an boosted three headers defended to RGB connections. So in that location are the h2o-cooling headers for providing ability or taking flow readings so the motherboard knows exactly how the loop is performing. There's very piddling to complain well-nigh for the design and features of the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero.

ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero: Overclocking & operation

ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero Source: Rich Edmonds / Windows Central

If y'all've had the pleasure of using an ASUS motherboard in recent years, you'll already know the UEFI BIOS interface. It'south amid the best in the business organization, allowing you to quickly fiddle with settings without having to wait at a manual. Using an Intel Cadre i9-12900K, you lot can have the BIOS configure all the necessary settings automatically.

The processor is impressive without applying an overclock, but if you happen to have an AIO with at to the lowest degree a 240mm radiator, you should exist able to push this CPU a fiddling further and striking upwards of 5.4GHz without encountering any issues. We fix up a test bench with the Maximus Z690 Hero, Intel Core i9-12900K, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, 32GB of DDR5 RAM from XPG, and an NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD.

Motherboards are fairly boring when it comes to operation and such since most of them will perform roughly the aforementioned. It's only when comparing boards from different toll brackets will y'all see whatever notable deviation. The ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero is a solid foundation for a twelfth Gen Intel PC, both stock and overclocked.

Nosotros ran multiple synthetic tests and played a handful of games (including Mount & Blade Ii, GTA V, and Ashes of a Singularity), the motherboard performed admirably with the power-hungry processor drawing upwardly of 250W at summit in benchmark tests. The motherboard appears to accept adequate passive cooling for components on the surface and we encountered no bug.

Overclocking the Intel Core i9-12900K was a painless process with the ASUS BIOS. Merely activate its AI Overclocking characteristic and let the arrangement handle the balance. Boot into Windows to run a few tests and make sure everything is running stable. It was possible to hit 5.4GHz, which made a notable divergence in synthetic benchmarks.

The motherboard handled this heave well and nosotros encountered no problems with power depict, which was up to 290W, co-ordinate to software monitoring. If you're into overclocking or want to push twelfth Gen Intel Core processors to their limits, this is the board for y'all.

ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero: Contest

Msi Mpg Z690 Carbon Wifi Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Key

There'southward enough of competition for the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero. Even though information technology'due south priced at $600 and is part of the company'south premium range of Intel consumer-grade motherboards, you can discover countless products from other brands with like specifications. Where ASUS has an edge hither is how the company manages to fuse together peachy design, features, and a stable BIOS.

The MSI MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi is a fine instance of a DDR5 motherboard with similar power delivery, though information technology comes in at $200 less, which may swing those who aren't looking for features like a 60W front panel USB-C port, multiple USB 3.0 headers, and h2o-cooling loop menstruum monitoring support.

ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero: Should you purchase information technology?

Source: Rich Edmonds / Windows Central

You should purchase this if ...

You take a 12th Gen Intel CPU

And so long every bit you lot have already purchased (or programme to) a twelfth Gen Intel processor, y'all're already prepare to build a PC with the latest Intel processors. Simply slot it into the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero with DDR5 RAM and you're skilful to get.

Y'all plan to overclock your PC

ASUS provides numerous tools and features to help brand overclocking your PC a seamless process with stable results. The impressive xx+1 power stage delivery design and stone-solid UEFI BIOS permit you to actually button the limits.

You lot want to utilize DDR5 and PCIe 5.0

Desire the very latest retentivity engineering? DDR4 volition exist a affair of the past soon enough with the emergence of DDR5 RAM kits. It's pricier, just you'll be able to enjoy some ridiculous clock speeds.

You should non buy this if ...

You aren't going to overclock your PC

A more than affordable Z690 motherboard or Intel chipset would be a better option if you won't be doing any overclocking. Fifty-fifty an Intel Core i9-12900K tin can comfortably run on motherboards with less capable Intel chipsets.

You are building a budget-friendly PC

$600 isn't "upkeep-friendly" when spent on any i component and the motherboard is no exception. Yous can detect great options at between $100 and $200 so y'all can really drive home some savings.

You won't be using DDR5 RAM

This motherboard requires DDR5 RAM and you won't be able to use DDR4 modules. If y'all'd rather not splash out on new RAM likewise equally a motherboard for Intel Alder Lake, you'll need to expect elsewhere.

You should shortlist the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero if you can afford it. For twelfth Gen Intel processors, especially the Core i7 12700K and Core i9-12900K, this board will permit you button these already very powerful CPUs even further with excellent power delivery and BIOS support. The DDR5, PCIe v.0, and other top-level features are like icing on a very tasty cake.

In that location's more I/O than you'll likely require on the rear panel, but it's the small touches that really stand out on this board. The PCIe release push button is magical, then also is the locking mechanism for M.2 drives. The custom h2o-cooling loop flow header is a prissy impact for those who are into DIY, and the optional expansion carte du jour lets you pack the PC total of NVMe SSDs.

A couple of things we didn't similar with this board were the ii.5Gb LAN port, which could accept been faster at this price, and well ... the cost itself. If you lot feel comfortable spending $600 on a motherboard solitary, y'all'll have no issues running the latest from Intel on this platform — it's one of the best motherboards available for Alder Lake.

ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero

Bottom line: This board from ASUS may command a premium cost, but it has numerous features that make up for this. At that place's DDR5 RAM and PCIe five.0 support, non to mention iii onboard M.2 slots, water-cooling loop flow headers, and a killer power stage delivery design for stable overclocking.

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