The cheapest ASUS board that passed us was the B660-Creator D4 with a price tag of 235 euros. ASUS is known to be a bit more expensive, and we can understand that in part as their bios and software experience is generally just a bit better than the rest. But B660 boards in this segment struggle with mid-range Z690 boards that often go a bit further with features.
Read more @ Tech Testers (Dutch)
Asus Apex motherboards have always been designed specifically for overclocking. The Z690 version is no different and with only 2 DIMM slots, the focus is on maximum RAM performance, both for daily gaming operations and for record hunting with alternative cooling methods. Only here, according to various user reports and also in our tests, there are big differences from board to board, keyword Silicon Lottery.
Read more @ Igor’s Lab (German)
Asus ROG Strix B660-F Gaming WiFi is aimed at gamers who do not need the most powerful “hardware”, but for whom standard modern support for peripherals is important. According to the used chipset B660, it is clear that the board is more designed for mid-range processors, but it works fine even with the top Intel Core processors of the 12th generation. It has 16 USB ports, including 2 USB 3.2 Gen2 and 1 USB 3.2 Gen2×2 Type-C, 7 USB 3.2 Gen1 ports, a PCIe x16 slot connected to the processor by PCIe 5.0 lines, “long” PCIe x4, and 2 PCIe x1.
Read more @ iXBT (Russian)
Aside from the clean minimalistic ‘creator’ look, ASUS has equipped the ProArt B660-CREATOR D4 with 2 x Ethernet ports for connectivity redundancy or connection to a NAS if needed, a handful of USB ports ( 4x USB2, 4 x USB3.2 gen1, 1 x USB 3.2 gen2 Type-C), 3 x M.2 slots with M.2 Q-Latch ease of installation and your high-speed storage needs, and of course, the PCIe 5.0 x16 slot for the upcoming supported devices.
Read more @ Tech Critter
The printed circuit board is black, the surface is matte, but it is almost invisible from the front because everything is closed. There are some small cracks, but you can’t see much through them. The whole structure is very rigid and heavy because a lot of metal is used. It is clear that it has several heatsinks, but it is not light in itself because thick layers of copper are used in its production.
Read more @ Overclockers Russia (Russian)
The ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Extreme features a powerful 18+2 VRM solution with 20 Texas Instruments power stages rated for 90 A. The jaw-dropping specifications do not stop there, either. Built upon ASUS’s excellent BIOS, the included EZ mode provides an optimal, stress-free experience for configuring the system. The Crosshair VIII Extreme also offers great connectivity with not only WiFi 6E and 10 Gb/s Ethernet, but Thunderbolt 4, and five M.2 slots round out this list. There is just too much to list in a single paragraph. ASUS has even outdone themselves and placed a 2″ LiveDash OLED screen on the motherboard.
Read more @ TechPowerUp
The motherboard has a nice matte-black finish, and you can see and well as feel the excellent overall build quality. There are no diagnostic LEDs or onboard power on/off or reset buttons, but it does come with several large heatsinks located around the processor socket and this helps cool the VRM/Mosfets. There’s also 2 RGB design feature on the right-side of the board (top and bottom) and this is controlled via Asus’s AURA Sync software. For extra RGB confogurations, there’s 1 x 4-pin RGB header and 3 x 3-pin RGB headers.
Read more @ FunkyKit
ASRock has a wide range of AMD and Intel motherboards with the Phantom line both in the entry level and mid-range sectors. Packed into the ITX form factor, the ASRock Z690 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB4 has a robust VRM deploying ten 105 A power stages. It also includes DDR5 and PCIe 5.0-ready solutions for those looking for the newest technology. The features found on the more common ATX form factor are present and accounted for. Equipped with 2.5 GbE Ethernet powered by the Killer E3001G, DDR5-6400+ memory support, ASRock’s software suite, and Wi-Fi Ready, the time has come to jump in and find out what this ASRock Z690 ITX motherboard is all about!
Read more @ TechPowerUp
Now let’s talk about monoblock . Supplied by EK Water Blocks, we are on a product that will allow in this case to cool the processor, the power stage and even the first M.2 SSD slot via a custom watercooling circuit. Be careful, this is not a product suitable for everyone, there is some work behind to be done to be able to use it. This is a monoblock designed especially for this motherboard (MSI MPG Z690 CARBON) and it is therefore not possible to use it on another reference.
Read more @ HardwareCooking (French)
The motherboard arrives in a box in a dominant black, here no visual of the motherboard, only the Aorus logo, which is a falcon. We have blue and orange colors, the historic color of the brand. The only technical mentions are the presence of DDR4, support for the 12th generation and the presence of the B660 chipset.
Read more @ HardwareCooking (French)