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, but there'south besides the add-on of new 600-serial Intel chipsets, including the flagship Z690. Given that this is the range-topping chipset SKU, you can look premium motherboards and high 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 like DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 back up. The Maximus series from ASUS has been a solid foundation for PC builds, and this latest entry won't be any different.

We've taken the motherboard for a spin to see what it offers, if information technology's a contender for best motherboards, how good of a match it is to an Intel Core i9-12900K processor, and whether you should use it for your Intel Alder Lake-powered PC.

ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero

Lesser line: ASUS was able to throw the Z690 chipset, besides as DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 support onto the Maximus Hero to make one characteristic-rich Intel 12th Gen motherboard. If you lot want to tinker with your PC with stable results, look no farther than this lath.

The Good

Stunning board design
Plenty of I/O
Custom water cooling loop support
DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 support
Excellent operation
Like shooting fish in a barrel PCIe release push

The Bad

But 2.5Gb LAN
Pricey
Overkill for most PC builds

ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero: Price and availability

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

ASUS launched the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero in October, which means you tin wait to pay total 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's on offer in terms of features, you could exercise much worse for value.

This motherboard comes with total back up for all Intel 12th Gen processors, DDR5 RAM, PCIe v.0, has 2.5Gb LAN (which we'd dear to run across bumped upwards to 10Gb), and a twenty+i power phase blueprint for stable overclocking. It's a swell identify to start for building a powerful PC, so long every bit you don't mind paying a niggling more.

ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero: Hardware & design

ASUS motherboards mostly sport make clean designs with piffling aggressive styling, at least compared to other brands with their "gamer" themes. The ROG Maximus Z690 Hero is no exception. It'due south an all-blackness PCB with a mirror finish plate atop the I/O shroud. The ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero is i adept-looking motherboard.

The ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero is i good-looking motherboard.

Along with the board inside the packaging, you'll find an Thou.2 PCIe menu that offers one PCIe 5.0 and ane PCIe iv.0 slot. There's likewise a USB drive that can be used for storing UEFI BIOS updates or other files, an antenna for Wi-Fi 6E, and diverse cables for hooking up other components inside the PC.

Since this is a Z690 motherboard, there's full support for 12th Gen Intel processors. Information technology'due south capable of handling up to 128GB of DDR5 RAM at speeds of upwards to vi.4GHz (3.2GHz x2). At that place are iii full-size x16 PCIe slots with ii at 5.0, and one boosted slot at 4.0. Both AMD and NVIDIA GPUs can exist configured into a dual-GPU configuration.

For storage, there are six 6.0Gb/due south SATA ports and a further iii M.2 slots on the motherboard (all are PCIe 4.0). The optional (but included) Grand.2 PCIe expansion card can be installed to open upwards two additional G.two slots, one PCIe 5.0 and some other PCIe 4.0. Other highlights on the specification sheet include the Realtek ALC4082 audio codec, and plenty 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 (upwardly to DDR5-6400+), 128GB limit
Chipset	Intel Z690
Expansion	2x PCIe five.0 x16 (x16 or dual x8) 1x PCIe iv.0 x16
Storage	6x SATA (6Gbps) 2x M.2 2242/2260/2280 (PCIe 4.0 x4, SATA) 1x Thousand.ii 2242/2260/2280 (PCIe three.0 x4) ROG Hyper M.two expansion card (1x M.2 2242/2260/2280 (PCIe 5.0, SATA) ROG Hyper Thou.2 expansion card (1x M.ii 2242/2260/2280 (PCIe 4.0, 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 three.2 Gen 2 (up to 10Gbps) 1x USB-C three.ii Gen 2 2x USB-A two.0 1x HDMI 1x Optical S/PDIF out 5x Golden-plated sound jack
NVIDIA SLI	✓
AMD CrossFire	✓
Dimensions	305 x 244 mm
Launch cost	$600

And this wouldn't exist an ASUS motherboard without some RGB lighting. Information technology's actually subtle on the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero and is only present inside that mirror plate on the I/O shroud — information technology looks pretty adept. The blackness heatsinks attached to the VRMs are bulky and look every bit though they would practise well to dissipate some heat.

Tucked away in the top-left corner of the board are dual 8-pin CPU ProCool 2 power connections that are present on most premium ASUS AMD and Intel motherboards. Then there are four fan headers for CPU blowers, arrangement fans, and AIO. Side by side to these is an ASUS error lawmaking display and LEDs for troubleshooting failed arrangement boots (e'er good to see this on a board).

There are 4 DDR5 DIMMS adjacent to the LGA 1700 socket, which is then followed by a power button and flex primal (used for system reset only can exist programmed for other use). A full 24-pin ATX ability socket is north of a PCIe connection to provide ability to a 60W fast-accuse-capable front end-console USB-C.

Yous may take noticed a small button next to this internal USB-C port and that would exist the PCIe slot release. Have you ever found removing your GPU to be a little tedious? That's no longer the case on the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero thanks to this very small push. Simply push it and the GPU can exist safely removed one time the bracket screws take 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.2 slots underneath metallic plates, 3 PCIe x16 slots, two USB 3.0 front panel ports, and the array of half-dozen SATA ports. At the bottom of the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero, you'll notice 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, audio, and a few fan headers, but there'southward an additional three headers defended to RGB connections. And so in that location are the h2o-cooling headers for providing power or taking flow readings and so the motherboard knows exactly how the loop is performing. At that place'southward very lilliputian to complain about for the design and features of the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero.

ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero: Overclocking & performance

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

If you've had the pleasance of using an ASUS motherboard in contempo years, you'll already know the UEFI BIOS interface. It'due south amongst the best in the business organisation, allowing y'all to quickly fiddle with settings without having to expect at a transmission. Using an Intel Core i9-12900K, yous can have the BIOS configure all the necessary settings automatically.

The processor is impressive without applying an overclock, but if y'all happen to take an AIO with at to the lowest degree a 240mm radiator, y'all should be able to push this CPU a little further and hit upwards of five.4GHz without encountering any problems. We set 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 iv.0 SSD.

Motherboards are fairly deadening when it comes to performance and such since most of them will perform roughly the same. It'due south merely when comparing boards from different cost brackets will you see any notable deviation. The ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero is a solid foundation for a twelfth Gen Intel PC, both stock and overclocked.

We ran multiple synthetic tests and played a handful of games (including Mount & Bract Ii, GTA V, and Ashes of a Singularity), the motherboard performed admirably with the ability-hungry processor cartoon upwards of 250W at peak in benchmark tests. The motherboard appears to have adequate passive cooling for components on the surface and we encountered no issues.

Overclocking the Intel Core i9-12900K was a painless procedure with the ASUS BIOS. Only activate its AI Overclocking characteristic and allow the organization handle the remainder. Kick into Windows to run a few tests and make certain everything is running stable. It was possible to hit 5.4GHz, which made a notable difference in constructed benchmarks.

The motherboard handled this boost 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 12th 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 Central

There'south plenty of competition for the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero. Even though it's priced at $600 and is part of the company's premium range of Intel consumer-grade motherboards, yous can find countless products from other brands with similar specifications. Where ASUS has an edge here is how the company manages to fuse together great design, features, and a stable BIOS.

The MSI MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi is a fine case of a DDR5 motherboard with similar ability delivery, though it comes in at $200 less, which may swing those who aren't looking for features like a 60W front end panel USB-C port, multiple USB three.0 headers, and water-cooling loop flow monitoring support.

ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero: Should you buy it?

Source: Rich Edmonds / Windows Central

You lot should buy this if ...

You take a 12th Gen Intel CPU

And then long as you have already purchased (or plan to) a twelfth Gen Intel processor, you're already gear up 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 good to get.

You plan to overclock your PC

ASUS provides numerous tools and features to help make overclocking your PC a seamless process with stable results. The impressive 20+1 power stage delivery pattern and stone-solid UEFI BIOS allow yous to really button the limits.

You want to apply DDR5 and PCIe 5.0

Want the very latest retentivity engineering? DDR4 volition be a affair of the by soon enough with the emergence of DDR5 RAM kits. It's pricier, but y'all'll be able to enjoy some ridiculous clock speeds.

You lot 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 improve choice if you won't exist doing whatever overclocking. Even an Intel Core i9-12900K tin can comfortably run on motherboards with less capable Intel chipsets.

You are building a upkeep-friendly PC

$600 isn't "upkeep-friendly" when spent on whatever one component and the motherboard is no exception. You can find great options at betwixt $100 and $200 and so you tin actually bulldoze dwelling house some savings.

Y'all won't be using DDR5 RAM

This motherboard requires DDR5 RAM and you won't exist able to apply DDR4 modules. If yous'd rather not splash out on new RAM every bit well as a motherboard for Intel Alder Lake, you'll need to look elsewhere.

You lot should shortlist the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero if you can afford it. For 12th Gen Intel processors, particularly the Core i7 12700K and Core i9-12900K, this board will let you push these already very powerful CPUs even further with fantabulous ability commitment and BIOS back up. The DDR5, PCIe 5.0, and other height-level features are like icing on a very tasty cake.

There's more I/O than you'll likely require on the rear panel, only it's the small-scale touches that really stand out on this board. The PCIe release push button is magical, and so besides is the locking mechanism for 1000.2 drives. The custom water-cooling loop catamenia header is a overnice bear on for those who are into DIY, and the optional expansion carte lets you pack the PC full of NVMe SSDs.

A couple of things we didn't similar with this board were the 2.5Gb LAN port, which could accept been faster at this price, and well ... the price itself. If you feel comfortable spending $600 on a motherboard alone, you'll accept no issues running the latest from Intel on this platform — information technology'due south one of the best motherboards available for Alder Lake.

ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero

Lesser line: This board from ASUS may control a premium price, but information technology has numerous features that brand up for this. There'south DDR5 RAM and PCIe five.0 support, not to mention three onboard Grand.2 slots, water-cooling loop menstruum headers, and a killer power stage commitment design for stable overclocking.

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