Asus PRIME Z690-A DDR5 Intel Motherboard

Asus PRIME Z690-A DDR5 Intel Motherboard

Intel® Z690 (LGA 1700) ATX motherboard with PCIe® 5.0, four M.2 slots, 16+1 DrMOS power stages, DDR5, HDMI®, DisplayPort™, Intel 2.5 Gb Ethernet, USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C®, front USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C®, Thunderbolt™ 4 support and Aura Sync RGB lighting
-Intel® LGA 1700 socket: Ready for 12th Gen Intel processors
-Enhanced power solution: 16+1 DrMOS, ProCool sockets, alloy chokes and durable capacitors for stable power delivery
-AI Overclocking: Optimizes performance based on CPU and cooler loads to achieve results that are extremely close to manual tuning by experts
-AI Cooling: Manages and controls all motherboard fans, automatically optimizing settings based on current system load and temperature
-Two-Way AI Noise-Cancelation: Reduces background noise from the microphone and audio output for crystal-clear communication in games or video conferences
-Comprehensive cooling: Large VRM heatsinks, M.2 heatsinks, M.2 backplate with Q-Latch, hybrid fan headers and Fan Xpert 4
-Next-gen connectivity: DDR5 memory, PCIe® 5.0, Intel 2.5 Gb Ethernet, USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C®, front panel USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C®, Thunderbolt™ 4 header support, 4 PCIe® 4.0 M.2

PRIME
ASUS Prime series motherboards are expertly engineered to unleash the full potential of 12th Generation Intel® processors. Boasting a robust power design, comprehensive cooling solutions and intelligent tuning options, Prime Z690-A provides users and PC DIY builders a range of performance tuning options via intuitive software and firmware features.

ASUS Prime Z690-A offers a sleek, futuristic-looking build with a black and white finish, space-shuttle-inspired design elements, metallic nameplate and PCB cover.

FLEXIBILITY
Comprehensive controls form the foundation of the ASUS Prime series. The Prime Z690 motherboard packs flexible tools to tune every aspect of your system, enabling performance tweaks to perfectly match the way you work to maximize productivity.

5-Way Opitmization
ASUS 5-Way Optimization makes your PC smart. Along with taking care of complex tuning and dynamically optimizing essential aspects of your system, it provides overclocking profiles that are tailored for your rig.
-Easy Optimization is an automated tuning utility that enhances overclocking and cooling profiles for your unique system configuration.
-A stress test feature allows you to optimize and overclock for CPU- or memory-centric workloads.

ASUS AI Overclocking
ASUS AI Overclocking is an intelligent utility that helps you get the most out of your build by automatically profiling your CPU and cooling system to predict optimal voltage and frequency settings.
Accessible via the AI Suite software in Windows or directly through the UEFI, the intuitive AI Overclocking user interface enables users of all levels. A range of customizable settings are available for seasoned overclockers, and an auto-tuning option is available for beginners.

Designed by Experts
At the heart of AI Overclocking is a proprietary algorithm developed by ROG R&D engineers who worked with world-renowned overclockers to create a tool for users of all levels.

Predictive Edge
The algorithm analyzes your CPU and cooling system and, based on what it finds, predicts optimal settings. The software then uses these settings to automatically guide the clocking process, balancing frequency and voltage.

Real-time Adjustments
The software monitors workload, system temperature, fan speed and power draw every minute and it makes real-time adjustments to ensure ongoing optimal performance.

AI Cooling
ASUS AI Cooling function will automatically manage and control motherboard-connected fans to ensure optimal settings based on current system load and temperature.

CPU Temperature Detection
AI Cooling detects CPU temperatures and uses a proprietary algorithm to calculate the lowest fan speed required to effectively cool the system and keep fan noise down.

Automated Optimization
Under stable system loads, the software then automatically lowers fan* speed to the optimal setting, decreasing fan noise without compromising performance.

Ongoing Monitoring
AI Cooling continues to monitor the system and adjust fan speed based on current load.

UEFI BIOS
The renowned ASUS UEFI BIOS provides everything you need to configure, tweak and tune your system. It offers intelligently simplified options for PC DIY beginners, as well as comprehensive features for seasoned veterans.

Advanced Tuning for Serious Tweakers
An intuitive Advanced mode offered via the UEFI lets you take complete control. A built-in search feature makes it easy to find options, and various advanced functions let you intelligently make nuanced adjustments so you can dial in performance just the way you want.

Quick and Simple Setup
EZ mode displays vital settings and stats and also offers guided wizards, drag-and-drop functionality, and one-click application of important settings — all to help you get your rig up and running in no time.

COOLING
Prime Z690 series is engineered with multiple onboard heatsinks and an array of hybrid fan headers to ensure your rig stays cool and stable under intense workloads.

M.2 Heatsink
Two M.2 heatsinks take care of the three M.2 slots, warding off throttling that can occur with M.2 storage during sustained transfers.

VRM Heatsink and Thermal Pads
The two VRM heatsinks on Prime Z690-A are significantly larger than those found on earlier Z590 motherboards. Together with the thermal pads, they improve heat transfer from the MOSFETs and chokes for better cooling performance.

M.2 Backplate
An M.2 backplate helps ensure that high-performance drives deliver peak performance, even when airflow is restricted. The backplate includes the Q-Latch mechanism to allow you to secure or remove an M.2 SSD without the need for traditional screws.

Cooler by Design
Prime Z690 series features comprehensive cooling controls that are configurable via Fan Xpert 4 software or via the UEFI BIOS.

Multiple Temperature Sources
Each header can dynamically reference three thermal sensors. Fan Xpert 4 allows you to map the temperature of supported ASUS graphics cards to optimize cooling for GPU- and CPU-intensive tasks.

Dual-Pump Headers
A dedicated header supplies over 3 amps* for high-performance PWM or DC water pumps, plus a second dedicated header for AIOs.

Smart Protection
A dedicated integrated circuit protects each fan header from overheating and overcurrent.

4-Pin PWM/DC Fan
Each onboard header supports auto-detection of PWM or DC fans.

Robust Power Design
Stable power is essential to extract every last bit of performance out of 12th Generation Intel processors. Prime Z690-A is geared to cater to the demands of these high-core-count CPUs.

Memory
DDR5 Performance Enhancement
Prime Z690-A enhances DDR5 performance by providing overclocking options for not only high-speed kits, but even entry-level memory modules that have a locked power management IC (PMIC).
-A dedicated circuit on the motherboard safely circumvents DDR5 memory PMIC restrictions, allowing you to step past the default 1.1-volt limit and push frequency and timings to the max.
-Ordinarily, a restricted PMIC that has been unlocked requires the system to be fully power-cycled each time memory voltage is adjusted. Prime Z690-A leverages onboard hardware and firmware to cleverly work around this irksome limitation, enabling voltage adjustments to be applied through the same soft system-reset process employed for previous generations of DDR memory.
For users new to memory overclocking, Prime Z690-A includes the exclusive ASUS Enhanced Memory Profile (AEMP) firmware feature for PMIC-restricted memory modules. AEMP automatically detects the memory chips on your kit and then presents optimized frequency, timing and voltage profiles that you can effortlessly apply to unleash performance.

Storage
Four M.2 slots (up to 64 Gbps)
Prime Z690-A offers a total of four M.2 slots that support data-transfer speeds of up to 64 Gbps via PCIe® 4.0, enabling quicker boot-up and app load times with OS or application drives.

TWO-WAY AI NOISE CANCELATION
This utility leverages a massive deep-learning database to reduce background noise from the microphone and incoming audio, while preserving vocals at the same time. This removes distracting keyboard clatter, mouse clicks and other ambient noises so you can hear and be heard with crystal clarity while gaming or in calls.

Personalization
Aura Sync
Outshine the Competition
A well-tuned enthusiast system deserves a matching aesthetic. ASUS Aura offers full RGB lighting control with a variety of functional presets for the built-in RGB LEDs as well as strips and devices connected to the onboard RGB headers — and it can all be synced with an ever-growing portfolio of Aura-capable hardware.

Addressable Gen 2 RGB Header
Three addressable Gen 2 RGB headers are capable of detecting the number of LEDs on second-gen addressable RGB devices, allowing the software to automatically tailor lighting effects to specific devices. The new headers also offer backward-compatibility with existing Aura RGB gear.

Armoury Crate
Armoury Crate is a new software utility designed to give you centralized control of supported products. From a single intuitive interface, Armoury Crate allows you to easily customize RGB lighting and effects for every compatible device in your arsenal. The software also provides control of settings for an ever-growing number of ASUS products, including keyboard and mouse preferences. Armoury Crate even features dedicated product registration and news to help you stay in touch with the ASUS community.

Technical Details
Brand : ASUS
Model : PRIME Z690-A

Technical Specs
CPU
Intel® Socket LGA1700 for 12th Gen Intel® Core™, Pentium® Gold and Celeron® Processors
Supports Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 and Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0**

Chipset
Z690

Memory
4 x DIMM, Max. 128GB, DDR5 6000(OC)/ 5800(OC)/ 5600(OC)/ 5400(OC)/ 5200(OC)/ 5000(OC)/ 4800 Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory*
Dual Channel Memory Architecture
Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)
OptiMem II

Graphics
1 x DisplayPort
1 x HDMI® port

Expansion Slots
Intel®12th Gen Processors
1 x PCIe 5.0/4.0/3.0 x16 slot(s)

Intel® Z690 Chipset
1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slot (supports x4 mode)
1 x PCIe 3.0 x4 slot
2 x PCIe 3.0 x1 slots

Storage
Supports 4 x M.2 slots and 4 x SATA 6Gb/s ports
Intel®12th Gen Processors
M.2_1 slot (Key M), type 2242/2260/2280/22110
- Intel®12th Gen processors support PCIe 4.0 x4 mode.
Intel® Z690 Chipset
M.2_2 slot (Key M), type 2242/2260/2280 (supports PCIe 4.0 x4 mode)
M.2_3 slot (Key M), type 2242/2260/2280/22110 (supports PCIe 4.0 x4 mode)
M.2_4 slot (Key M), type 2242/2260/2280 (supports PCIe 4.0 x4 & SATA modes)
4 x SATA 6Gb/s ports

Ethernet
1 x Intel® 2.5Gb Ethernet

ASUS LANGuard
USB
Rear USB:Total 8 ports
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 port(s) (1 x USB Type-C®)
3 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 port(s) (2 x Type-A + 1 x USB Type-C®)
4 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 port(s) (4 x Type-A)
Front USB:Total 7 ports
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 connector(s) (support(s) USB Type-C®)
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 header(s) support(s) additional 2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports
2 x USB 2.0 header(s) support(s) additional 4 USB 2.0 ports

Audio
Realtek S1220A 7.1 Surround Sound High Definition Audio CODEC*
- Impedance sense for front and rear headphone outputs
- Internal audio Amplifier to enhance the highest quality sound for headphone and speakers
- Supports: Jack-detection, Multi-streaming, Front Panel Jack-retasking
- High quality 120 dB SNR stereo playback output and 113 dB SNR recording input (Line-in)
- Supports up to 32-Bit/192 kHz playback*

Audio Features
- Audio Shielding
- Power pre-regulator reduces power input noise to ensure consistent performance
- Rear optical S/PDIF out port
- Premium audio capacitors
- Dedicated audio PCB layers
- Audio cover
- Unique de-pop circuit
* Due to limitations in HDA bandwidth, 32-Bit/192 kHz is not supported for 7.1 Surround Sound audio.

Back Panel I/O Ports
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 port(s) (1 x USB Type-C®)
3 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 port(s) (2 x Type-A, 1 x Type-C® )
4 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 port(s) (4 x Type-A)
1 x DisplayPort
1 x HDMI® port
1 x Intel® 2.5Gb Ethernet port
5 x Audio jacks
1 x Optical S/PDIF out port

Internal I/O Connectors
Fan and Cooling related
1 x 4-pin CPU Fan header(s)
1 x 4-pin CPU OPT Fan header(s)
1 x 4-pin AIO Pump header(s)
4 x 4-pin Chassis Fan header(s)
1 x W_PUMP+ header(s)

Power related
1 x 24-pin Main Power connector
2 x 8-pin +12V Power connector

Storage related
4 x M.2 slots (Key M)
4 x SATA 6Gb/s ports

USB
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 connector (support(s) USB Type-C®)
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 header(s) support(s) additional 2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports
2 x USB 2.0 header(s) support(s) additional 4 USB 2.0 ports

Miscellaneous
3 x Addressable Gen 2 header(s)
1 x AURA RGB header(s)
1 x Clear CMOS button
1 x COM Port header
1 x CPU Over Voltage jumper
1 x Front Panel Audio header (AAFP)
1 x Power button
1 x SPI TPM header (14-1pin)
1 x 20-3 pin System Panel header with Chassis intrude function
1 x Thermal Sensor header
1 x Thunderbolt™ header

Special Features
ASUS 5X PROTECTION III
- DIGI+ VRM (- Digital power design with DrMOS)
- Enhanced DRAM Overcurrent Protection
- ESD Guards
- LANGuard
- Overvoltage Protection
- SafeSlot
- Stainless-Steel Back I/O

ASUS Q-Design
- M.2 Q-Latch
- Q-Connector
- Q-DIMM
- Q-LED (CPU [red], DRAM [yellow], VGA [white], Boot Device [yellow green])
- Q-Slot

ASUS Thermal Solution
- M.2 heatsink backplate
- M.2 heatsink
- VRM heatsink design

ASUS EZ DIY
- Box headers
- Clear CMOS button
- CPU socket lever protector
- ProCool
- Pre-mounted I/O shield

AURA Sync
- AURA RGB header(s)
- Addressable Gen 2 header(s)

Software Features
ASUS Exclusive Software
Armoury Crate
- AURA Creator
- AURA Sync
- Fan Xpert 4
- Two-Way AI Noise Cancelation

AI Suite 3
-Easy Optimization with AI Overclocking
TPU
EPU
DIGI+ VRM
Turbo app
ASUS CPU-Z
DTS:X® Ultra
Norton Anti-virus software (Free Trial version)
WinRAR

UEFI BIOS
AI Overclocking Guide

ASUS EZ DIY
- ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3
- ASUS EZ Flash 3
- ASUS UEFI BIOS EZ Mode

FlexKey
MemTest86

BIOS
256 Mb Flash ROM, UEFI AMI BIOS

Manageability
WOL by PME, PXE

Accessories
Cables
2 x SATA 6Gb/s cables

Operating System
Windows® 11 64-bit, Windows® 10 64-bit

Form Factor
ATX
30.5cm x 24.4cm