PC Gamer - UK (2022-04)

Z690 Taichi

ASROCK £530

Bragging rights included in the box

2

Z690 Aorus Pro

GIGABYTE £290

An actually affordable high-end Z690

By 2010’s standards,
the Gigabyte Z690
Aorus Pro would be
positively pricey. In 2022,
however, it’s practically mid-
range. The Z690 chipset has
ushered in some of the priciest
motherboard’s known to man,
but not the Aorus Pro. No, this
motherboard is actually a little
less than you might expect, and
still manages to deliver a
well-rounded feature set.
If you’re planning a Core i9
12900K build, the one thing you
need to know is whether your
motherboard is going to be
capable of running it without

issue. The Aorus Pro absolutely

is. It comes with a stacked 16+3

phase VRM with 90A stages that

is more than enough to power

Intel’s top chip, even if you’re

overclocking. Though it’s also

important to find adequate USB

ports on the rear I/O. The Aorus

Pro has you covered there, with

13 USB ports in total. If you’re in

the market for a high-end board,

there’s a lot on offer with the

Aorus Pro at a good price.

The ASRock Z690

Taichi is teetering on the

edge of extreme. There

are some truly mind-bogglingly

expensive Z690 motherboards

out there, and the Taichi isn’t far

off being one of them. It’s a flashy

board for someone with more

money than components to

spend it on, but it is at least worth

considering. There’s a slimmer

selection of USB ports on the

Taichi than on the Gigabyte Aorus

Pro, though there’s some serious

bandwidth on offer with the twin

Thunderbolt 4 ports. One

Thunderbolt USB hub and you’re

sorted for USB ports for your

PC’s lifetime, though that would

be asking for more money to

burn. The Taichi delivers in other

ways, though. It comes with a

20-phase, 105A-stage VRM,

which is truly overkill for whatever

processor you load into the Taichi.

Then you have the slight

performance lead in

benchmarking, if only by a hair.

Lastly, it looks fantastic, and that

has to count for something if

you’re spending this much money.

SPECS SOCKET: INTEL LGA 1700 / FORM FACTOR: AT X / MEMORY SUPPORT: UP TO DDR5-6200(OC) / STORAGE: 4X
M.2; 6X SATA / USB: UP TO 2X USB 3.2 GEN2X2, 4X USB 3.2 GEN 2, 6X USB 3.1 GEN 1, 8X USB 2.0 / DISPL AY: 1X DP 1.4 /
NETWORKING: INTEL WI-FI 6; INTEL I225V 2.5G LAN / AUDIO: REALTEK ALC4080 7.1 CHANNEL HD AUDIO

SPECS SOCKET: INTEL LGA 1700 / FORM FACTOR: AT X / STORAGE: 3X M.2; 6X SATA / USB: 2X / THUNDERBOLT 4

TYPE-C; UP TO 1X USB 3.2 GEN2X2, 2X USB 3.2 GEN 2, 9X USB 3.1 GEN 1, 3X USB 2.0 / VIDEO OUT: 1X HDMI / NETWORKING:

KILLER WI-FI 6E; KILLER E3100G 2.5G AND INTEL I219V 1G LAN / AUDIO: REALTEK ALC1220 7.1 CHANNEL HD AUDIO

1

Solid power delivery

Four M.2 slots

13 I/O USB ports

VERDICT

Dual Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports

Mega VRM

Good networking capabilities

VERDICT

2

Group Test

HARDWARE