The Intel Z690 Motherboard Overview (DDR4): Over 30+ New Models
by Gavin Bonshor on November 24, 2021 2:00 PM ESTASRock Z690M Phantom Gaming 4 (DDR4)
The ASRock Z690M Phantom Gaming 4 (DDR4) is perhaps one of the most basic-looking ASRock Phantom Gaming series models we've ever seen, but also one of the most basic of any Z690 model at launch. Despite representing the gaming-focused Phantom Gaming range, the Z690M Phantom Gaming 4 (DDR4) uses a micro-ATX sized PCB, with a modest and entry-level feature set. Looking at the aesthetic, ASRock has gone with a black and grey patterned PCB, with small and thin silver heatsinks keeping the power delivery and chipset cool. ASRock is also advertising the Z690M Phantom Gaming 4 (DDR4) features a 7-phase power delivery, with an 8-pin and 4-pin 12 ATX CPU power input pairing.
Looking at PCIe slot support, ASRock includes two full-length PCIe 4.0 slots that can operate at x16 and x8/x8, with a small PCIe 3.0 x1 slot. The obvious lack of PCIe 5.0 support on any of the full-length slots look to be a cost-cutting measure, as just by looking at the PCB, it's as basic as it gets for a desktop model. In the top right-hand corner are four memory slots, with support for DDR4-4800, with a combined capacity of up to 128 GB. For storage, there's two PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slots, with four SATA ports that include support for RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 arrays.
On the rear panel are two USB 3.2 G2 Type-A, and four USB 3.2 G1 Type-A ports, with three 3.5 mm audio jacks powered by a Realtek ALC897 HD audio codec. Providing networking support is a single Intel I219-V Gigabit Ethernet controller, with a single HDMI 2.1 video output finishing off a very basic and bare rear panel.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
42 Comments
View All Comments
meacupla - Wednesday, November 24, 2021 - link
Those boards are probably still stuck in the Pacific.Mat-mat - Thursday, November 25, 2021 - link
Why not include the Z690 TORPEDO, Z690 ACE, Z690 FORCE, Z690 Taichi, Z690 AORUS XTREME and Z690M DS3H DDR4 (not yet released).By the way, love the fact that the Phantom Gaming 4 boards look no-nonsense in style, while it has DrMOS MOSFETs for VRM power delivery.
PlasticMouse - Thursday, November 25, 2021 - link
Small typo: Previously with 11th gen (Rocket Lake), Intel upheaved it from a PCIe 3.0 x4 uplink on Z490 to a PCIe 3.0 x4 (x8?) uplink on Z590. With Z690, the uplink is now fully-fledged PCIe 4.0 x8 lanes to interconnect things.GarBaGe - Thursday, November 25, 2021 - link
"Intel upheaved it from a PCIe 3.0 x4 uplink on Z490 to a PCIe 3.0 x4 uplink on Z590. With Z690, the uplink is now fully-fledged PCIe 4.0 x8 lanes to interconnect things."This is wrong. Probably just a typo, since the author uses a phrasing which suggests it is a typo.
Z490 has 4 links PCIe 3 from CPU to chipset.
Z590 has 8 links (not 4) PCIe 3 from CPU to chipset
Z690 has 8 links PCIe 4 from CPU to chipset.
My question to Intel: If Z690 is supposed to be your first PCIe 5 platform, why not use PCIe 5 from CPU to chipset instead of PCIe 4?
DazFG - Thursday, November 25, 2021 - link
what listing motherboards with diagnostic panels for overclockers, or how many power phases.cgull.at - Thursday, November 25, 2021 - link
This has been irritating me a bit for a while: "Over 30+ new models"That's redundant. It's like saying "More than more than 30 new models". Pick one or the other. Please?
T2daroy - Thursday, November 25, 2021 - link
I'm considering the MSI MPG Z690 Edge WIFI DDR4. What are your thoughts on this?quantumshadow44 - Thursday, November 25, 2021 - link
}}}While Intel states that it includes an integrated 2.5 GbE MAC/PHY, this is a little nonsensical, as wired ethernet still requires a MAC/PHY as an attached PCIe controller. This means regardless of whether a vendor is using a Gigabit, 2.5 GbE, or even 10 GbE, it connects the exact same way to the PCIe interface.Can someone explain to me why is it "nonsensical"? Thanks.
GreenReaper - Saturday, November 27, 2021 - link
I think the assertion is that the chipset doesn't contain anything to enable this. It's like "you could buy [a motherboard with] a PCIe-based 2.5Gbps Ethernet solution, and it could be from Intel, so we'll list it as a feature".Conversely, for 1Gbps, the Z690 spec sheet lists: "Intel® Integrated 10/100/1000 MAC: Support for the Intel® Ethernet Connection I219-V" - https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/produc...
If you read the datasheet for that it suggests that the I219-V basically turns one of the PCIe links to the PCH ("chipset") into a half-speed Gen1 2.5Gbps connection - but it's not actually the PCIe protocol, it sends Ethernet packets from the I219-V PHY to be handled by the PCH. It also works in SMBus mode at 10Mbps to provide functionality when the machine is a lower-power state.
There is a lot of wake-up functionality which means it has to be able to detect bit patterns, direct-addressed IPv4/6 wakeups, etc, but it relies on chipset features to otherwise process packets.
ScottSoapbox - Saturday, November 27, 2021 - link
"Intel upheaved it from a PCIe 3.0 x4 uplink on Z490 to a PCIe 3.0 x4 uplink on Z590."