The Intel Z690 Motherboard Overview (DDR4): Over 30+ New Models
by Gavin Bonshor on November 24, 2021 2:00 PM ESTBiostar Z690GTA (DDR4)
Out of the trio of Z690 motherboards from Biostar at the launch of Intel's 12th generation of Alder Lake processors, the Biostar Z690GTA is one of just two models with support for DDR4 memory. While it's applicable to say the Z690GTA is perhaps the more affordable of the three, it still has a decent feature set and controller selection which puts it firmly in the mid-range to the upper end of Z690 models with DDR4 support. The aesthetic is very out there when compared to other Z690 models, with different shades of blue dominating the design of the heatsinks on a background of black. While it may look like there are RGB LEDs integrated into the rear panel cover and chipset heatsink, Biostar hasn't specified if it does.
The Biostar Z690GTA has one full-length PCIe 5.0 x16 slot, with a second full-length slot electronically locked down to PCIe 4.0 x4, and two smaller PCIe 3.0 x1 slots. Storage options consist of three M.2 slots, two with support for PCIe 4.0 x4 drives, and one with support for PCIe 3.0 x4 and SATA varieties. Biostar includes eight SATA ports, but only four of these feature support for RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 arrays. Located in the top-right hand corner are four memory slots, with support for DDR4-5000, and can accommodate up to 128 GB of capacity.
Looking at the rear panel of the Biostar Z690GTA, it includes one USB 3.2 G2 Type-C, five USB 3.2 G2 Type-A, and two USB 2.0 ports. Biostar displays a Wi-Fi 6E antenna, but in the specifications, it does say that it doesn't include one, but it does include a Realtek RTL8125B 2.5 GbE controller. For integrated graphics, Biostar includes one HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.4 and D-sub video output trifecta, while three 3.5 mm audio jacks are powered by a Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec. Finishing off the rear panel is a PS/2 keyboard and mouse combo port.
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ikjadoon - Wednesday, November 24, 2021 - link
Gigabyte has done a better job this time around with mini-ITX DDR4. $290 for a very well-rounded board—shame HiCookie lied so blatantly in all their 8 GHz marketing.ASRock mini-ITX: people still use type-A ports. 5x ports only?!
Windows 11, DDR5 availability & perf-price, and hybrid quirks make ADL a much better 2022 purchase for me. DDR4 price-perf + availability are nice, but not enough to overcome Panos’ major missteps on his first (and hopefully last) Windows launch.
DigitalFreak - Wednesday, November 24, 2021 - link
Why does anyone pay attention to these "extreme overclockers"? He hit (or didn't in this case) 8Ghz. Big deal. You can't actually do anything with the CPU at that speed aside from run an e-peen benchmark.ikjadoon - Wednesday, November 24, 2021 - link
Nobody paid attention until.... Gigabyte plastered his faked validations all over their Z690 marketing material. Nobody cares what any "overclocker" does these days and that's why they got jobs with motherboard vendors: the only people that can still sell a motherboard for $$$ with exaggerated hardware.https://www.techradar.com/news/no-gigabyte-didnt-s...
0ldman79 - Tuesday, December 14, 2021 - link
5 ports is a bad idea but type-A?Yeah, like 99% of USB accessories use type-A. That is still the *primary* interface for USB devices.
StormyParis - Wednesday, November 24, 2021 - link
That last page is very useful, thank you. Wish I had a table to sum up the info ;-pFordGT550 - Wednesday, November 24, 2021 - link
I can't find the Z690 Aorus Pro DDR4 in stock anywhere.bug77 - Friday, November 26, 2021 - link
I don't think it's available yet. Notice there's no price listed for it either (yeah, I've got my eyes on the same board).HLuna52180 - Friday, November 26, 2021 - link
Agreed! This is the model mobo that I want. It best fits my needs yet it's currently only available in Australia. Hope they make it into the states. I have all the other parts on order or with me already to make my Alder Lake build. Frustrating!MatarM0 - Saturday, November 27, 2021 - link
i see it in stock but it seems like it cant run any memory with 1.42v or higher depending on what newegg reviewer said and some others in the internet so hopefully they can fix it and it will be a good dealmeacupla - Wednesday, November 24, 2021 - link
I can understand mobo makers not wanting to allocate too many resources into the dead end DDR4 platform, but these lineups seem excessively weak to me.Like, really? there's not a single Z690 DDR4 mobo with thunderbolt?
And then with Z690 DDR5 mobos, there's way too much overlap in features and functionalities.