Intel Z690 Motherboard VRM, Entry-Level Roundup

Today we're taking a look at VRM thermal operation of nine Intel Z690 motherboards priced between $220 and $300. This price range tin can exist considered "entry-level" for Z690, which may be a bit of a problem for the more affordable CPUs in Intel's new Alder Lake series like the Core i5-12600K, but for now those are your options until supporting H670 and B660 boards arrive next year.

So if y'all really want to make certain that the Z690 motherboard you buy is not hot garbage -- as we found with the previous generation Z590 motherboards, yup that happened -- hither comes our VRM testing. On that annotation, there are no Asrock motherboards featured in this roundup and that's not because we're ignoring Asrock, merely rather because we're even so blacklisted by the company for accurate and honest reporting on the performance of their products.

Normally nosotros'd just go ahead and purchase their boards, and we volition, simply for some reason their entry-level models have nonetheless to become on sale. We've preordered the usual offenders such as the Phantom Gaming, simply they're not due to arrive until mid-December.

As for the remainder of the boards, all were provided by the manufacturers with the exception of the Asus Prime number Z690-P D4, which Asus refused to sample. It sounded like Asus HQ didn't have much organized religion in that product, so we've purchased it as well and thankfully we were able to do so in time for this exam.

We'll be quickly going over the boards' features grouped by maker and and so onto the testing...

Asus Z690 Motherboards

Asus Prime Z690-P D4 - $220
Asus TUF Gaming Z690-Plus WiFi D4 - $290
Asus Prime Z690-A D5 - $300

These are the 3 Asus offerings selling at or below $300. Unfortunately, the Prime number Z690-A doesn't have a DDR4 variant, so this board makes no sense, but we'll cover it anyway because at some point DDR5 memory will become available, and it will available at a reasonable price.

The Prime Z690-P D4 entry-level offering comes in either a DDR4 or DDR5 versions and both use xiv Vishay SiC654 50A powerstages for the vcore. This is one of the weakest VRMs y'all'll notice on an ATX Z690 motherboard. That said, it'south all the same capable, so it will be interesting to see how information technology tackles the 12900K.

The TUF Gaming Z690-Plus WiFi D4 is essentially upgraded in this respect as information technology uses 14 Vishay SiC659 80A powerstages, and then at face value that's 60% greater current treatment capability. At that place's also a DDR5 version of this lath and information technology uses the same VRM.

And so we have the slightly more expensive Prime number Z690-A which is a DDR5 simply model and it uses Vishay'southward slightly weaker SiC643 60A powerstages, just there's sixteen in total. So the more expensive Asus models wait good and the entry-level model should be decent.

Gigabyte Z690 Motherboards

Gigabyte Z690 UD AX DDR4 - $220
Gigabyte Z690 Gaming Ten DDR4 - $230
Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Elite AX DDR4 - $270

From Gigabyte we have the Z690 UD AX DDR4 at $220, though there are 5 versions of this lath, all use the same VRM and so the thermal results will apply to all models. Making upwards the vcore portion of the VRM are xvi OnSemi NCP303160 60A powerstages which aren't the greatest, but there's a lot of them then this budget Z690 lath should perform well.

For $10 more they also offer the Z690 Gaming X DDR4 which comes in two versions: the DDR4 version that nosotros take and a DDR5 version that does differ in VRM design. Both characteristic a sixteen powerstage vcore using 60A powerstages, but whereas the DDR4 model uses the aforementioned OnSemi models as the UD versions, the DDR5 version has been upgraded to DrMOS 60A powerstages. Nosotros don't accept the DDR5 model for testing, just presumably it will be better than the DDR4 version.

Then at $270 we accept the Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Elite AX DDR4 which arrives in one-half a dozen versions which is extremely confusing. There are two Micro ATX models which characteristic just a dozen 60A power stages for the vcore and we're non sure what model powerstages exactly since Gigabyte won't give us this information -- yous've got more chance finding out what VRM components Gigabyte uses request anyone but Gigabyte.

The MicroATX boards might be a flake on the weak side, but without knowing the exact powerstage models it's hard to say. For the ATX boards, we have the Aorus Elite and Aorus Elite AX, both with DDR4 and DDR5 versions. The DDR4 boards utilise different VRM components to the DDR5 models, with the former using 16 On Semi FDMF5062 70A powerstages for the vcore, and the latter DrMOS 60A powerstages.

MSI Z690 Motherboards

MSI Z690-A Pro WiFi DDR4 - $220
MSI Z690 Torpedo DDR5 - $280
MSI Z690 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4 - $300

The MSI Z690 lineup is past far the virtually coherent and therefore consumer friendly. At the bottom of the stack is the Z690-A Pro WiFi DDR4 for $220. This board can be purchased with or without WiFi support and either option is available in DDR4 or DDR5 variants, meaning there are four models in full. The good news is that all 4 characteristic the aforementioned 14 phase vcore VRM uses Alpha & Omega AOZ5016QI 55A powerstages.

Then we have the Z690 Torpedo for $280 and similar the Asus Prime number Z690-A, this board only supports DDR5 retention, which is a bit awkward in the current market. There are two versions of the Torpedo, the i we have for testing and some other with a custom EK waterblock, though we haven't seen that model out in the wild withal. Both characteristic a 16-phase vcore using MPS MP87992 70A powerstages and this is the same VRM configuration constitute on the slightly more expensive $300 Z690 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4, which we've besides included in this review.

Finally, at that place are just two versions of the Z690 Tomahawk WiFi, ane with DDR4 and ane with DDR5 and thankfully both characteristic the exact same VRM pattern.

Testing Notes

Earlier we go to the graphs, permit's talk near the testing conditions and methodology. For this article and for any future LGA 1700 VRM thermal testing we've built a dedicated arrangement inside the Corsair iCUE 7000X instance. Powering information technology we have the HX1000 PSU and iCUE H170i Elite Capellix for cooling.

The iCUE 7000X has been configured with a single rear 140mm exhaust fan and three 140mm intake fans, which is the stock configuration for this case. In the tiptop we take the H170i 420mm radiator with three 140mm frazzle fans. This is a pretty high-end configuration, air-flow is good, and in a 21 degree room we'd say this is an optimal setup.

For recording temperatures nosotros're using a digital thermometer with K-Type thermocouples. This allows united states to study peak rear PCB temperature. but we're not recording Delta T over Ambience, instead we maintain a room temperature of 21 degrees and ensure a consistent ambient temperature with a thermocouple positioned side by side to the test organisation.

For testing nosotros've got three CPU configurations, excluding the F variants, information technology won't stupor you that we've tested with the 12900K, 12700K and 12600K. The stress test consists in looping Cinebench R32 for an hour, at which betoken nosotros're reporting the maximum PCB temperature, recorded using k-blazon thermocouples.

Benchmarks

Starting with the Core i9-12900K results, we find the Asus Prime Z690-A at the superlative of our graph alongside the TUF Gaming Z690-Plus WiFi D4 with a top temperature of just 60 degrees.

The MSI Z690 Tomahawk was up there as well, basically matching the two Asus boards with a temperature of only 61C. The MSI Z690 Torpedo also performed very well, though this is a DDR5 only model, and so it has limited appeal right at present.

The Gigabyte Z690 boards were all quite disappointing, despite turning in a satisfactory result. The Z690 Aorus Aristocracy AX DDR4 reached 74C, making it quite a scrap hotter than competing boards from MSI and Asus.

Interestingly, the Aorus Aristocracy was barely any better than the Gaming X and UD. We're not sure what the limitation is with Gigabyte, simply all boards ran in the mid 70s making them 10C to 15C hotter than most competing models. The but exceptions were the entry level MSI Z690-A Pro and Asus Prime Z690-P D4 which striking 74C, which is a decent upshot and as good as it gets for $200-ish Z690 motherboards.

Despite the variation in package power, all boards ran and maintained a P-core frequency of 4.9 GHz, and none of these motherboards were power limited out of the box. Simply considering the new Alder Lake CPUs are quite complex, we've also included the Cinebench R23 score subsequently the 60 minute stress test.

As y'all can encounter we're looking at no more than than a 0.3% score variation between the various boards, so performance was identical.

The thermal margin between the best and worst boards shrunk considerably when using the Cadre i7-12700K. Here we're looking at no more than a 10C deviation.

Again, the Asus Prime Z690-A and TUF Gaming Z690-Plus WiFi D4 delivered the best results. So we take the MSI Z690 Tomahawk and Torpedo followed past the MSI Z690-A Pro. Oddly at the lesser of the graph are 3 Gigabyte boards, all of which peaked at 60C.

You might find it odd that these Gigabyte boards all hit the same peak temperature given they use different components, but we retested and even the onboard VRM temp sensors all peaked at the same 68C.

And then with the Core i5-12600K nosotros're looking at up to a 6c deviation between the all-time and worst boards. Of course at this signal VRM temps are no longer relevant as all boards ran well within condom limits. So at to the lowest degree when picking from this agglomeration any will piece of work just fine with the 12600K, even in warm climates and really the aforementioned is also true when paired with the Core i7-12700K.

Picking the Best Z690 Budget Boards

Although Asus refused to send out the Prime number Z690-P D4, it's actually a decent budget Z690 motherboard. The MSI Z690-A Pro WiFi and Gigabyte Z690 UD AX DDR4 are arguably ameliorate, but in that location's certainly zero wrong with the Prime number Z690-P, assuming pricing is competitive in your region.

The good news is that all boards tested worked with fifty-fifty the most high-end LGA 1700 processor and were a long style off striking PCB temps of 100C. You could thus say performance was adequate across the board.

Where the Prime Z690-P D4 falls apart a little is when y'all look beyond the VRM, in terms of features it's non exactly stacked. On the I/O panel you lot'll discover just half a dozen USB ports -- ii less than the MSI Z690-A Pro and four less than the Gigabyte Z690 UD. You besides go one less Chiliad.2 slot than the Z690-A Pro and ii less SATA ports.

There'due south also the Gigabyte Z690 Gaming X DDR4 for $230 which is a actually prissy looking lath for the toll, specially if you don't need WiFi.

The rest of the motherboards are priced very shut to $300, and the weaker VRM thermal functioning of the Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Elite AX DDR4 makes it less highly-seasoned at this price. The Asus Prime Z690-A and MSI Z690 Torpedo only support DDR5, so they're off the table for about, leaving the Asus TUF Gaming Z690-Plus WiFi D4 and MSI Z690 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4.

In terms of VRM thermals, they were much the same, so no existent winners. They're also very similar characteristic-wise with comparable I/O connectivity, they both offering WiFi vi, 2.5 GB LAN, 4 M.2 slots and pre-installed I/O shields. The Tomahawk does come with 2 extra SATA ports and an additional full length PCIe x16 slot, though it's only wired for x4 bandwidth. Overall they are very similar, so information technology volition come down to pricing and availability when y'all're shopping for them.