Asus ROG Maximus Z690 Extreme E-ATX - motherboard

Intel® Z690 EATX motherboard with 24+1 power stages, DDR5 with OptiMem III, Five M.2, USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 front-panel connector with Quick Charge 4+ Support, Dual Thunderbolt™ 4, PCIe® 5.0, Onboard Wi-Fi 6E and Aura Sync RGB lighting

ROG Maximus Z690 Extreme
ROG Maximus Z690 Extreme represents the ultimate in enthusiast motherboard design for those who want the best possible option that excels at both air and liquid cooling for 12th Gen Intel® Core™ CPUs. And this platform is packed with the most features that you will find on a ROG Z690 motherboard, including heavy-duty 24+1 power stages, ASUS Enhanced Memory Profiles for top-notch DDR5 speeds, multiple PCIe 5.0 slots, and the exclusive AniMe Matrix™ LED Display.

Intelligent motherboard
Intelligent software solutions help ensure that your system performs at its best. The latest ASUS AI-powered enhancements span four pillars of performance, including overclocking, cooling, networking, and onboard audio, making advanced tweaks and optimization accessible to new recruits and savvy PC DIY veterans alike.

PERFORMANCE
ROG Maximus Z690 Extreme is the kind of motherboard that uses stock clock speeds merely as a reference point. With its piles of teamed power stages working alongside high-grade capacitors and chokes, you get performance that can take high-powered processors like a 12th Gen Intel Alder Lake CPU and leave all competition in the dust.

Teamed power architecture
Modern CPU architectures up the ante for motherboard power design by transitioning from deep power saving modes to full load almost instantaneously. The latest ROG VRM architecture rises to the challenge by utilizing teamed power stages to rapidly swing current, while maintaining exemplary thermal.

ROG TRUE VOLTICIAN
For truly advanced performance optimization, ROG Maximus Z690 Extreme includes ROG True Voltician, a miniature oscilloscope connected to a USB header displays waveforms for a CPU’s Vcore, VCCIN, and System Agent rails. It can also be used to monitor a video card or power supply, and users can even run the True Voltician software on one PC while they get readings from another.

DDR5 Overclocking strength
Comprehensive memory tuning options are the cornerstone of ROG motherboards. For DDR5, the Maximus Z690 lineup breaks performance limits by providing a stacked suite of overclocking parameters 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. ROG motherboards leverage 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.

COOLING
ROG Maximus Z690 Extreme features unparalleled flexibility for either air or liquid cooling, thanks to a diverse array of heavyweight heat dissipation that keeps power delivery, M.2 drives and onboard components running cool under load, regardless of the available airflow.

Cooler by design
ROG Maximus Z690 Extreme features comprehensive cooling options that are configurable via Fan Xpert 4 or the UEFI BIOS.

Each header can be set to monitor and react to three user-configurable thermal sensors for workload-based cooling, and all settings can be easily managed by Fan Xpert 4 or via the UEFI.

Every onboard header auto-detects any PWM or DC fan, with two chassis fan headers offering ASUS HYDRANODE support.

A bundled fan controller card includes six additional DC and PWM fan headers, plus two thermal-probe headers.

ROG Water-Cooling Zone
Dual water-temperature headers and a flow-rate header feed information straight into the AI Suite utility, allowing you to track coolant temperatures and the flow rate of the entire loop.

A dedicated header can supply over 3 amps to a high-performance PWM or DC water pumps.

A dedicated header enables monitoring of temperatures at the input/output points of any component.

A dedicated header enables constant monitoring of flow rate throughout the entire loop.

ROG Fan Controller
The ROG Fan Controller offers an additional six headers that can be controlled via FanXpert 4. The card features two temperature-sensor headers, along with two thermistors that can be attached to various components. There are also six ARGB headers to illuminate ARGB fans.

CONNECTIVITY
ROG Maximus Z690 Extreme features the latest and greatest in connectivity, including the fastest GPU and storage device transfer speeds with PCIe® 5.0, the smoothest online gameplay with WiFi 6E and 10 Gb Ethernet, a host of rapid-fire file transfers with Thunderbolt™ 4.

WiFi 6E
Onboard WiFi 6E technology takes advantage of the newly available radio spectrum in the 6 GHz band, providing up to three times the bandwidth of the 5 GHz band and up to seven 160 MHz bands to deliver ultrafast wireless networking speeds along with improved capacity and better performance in dense wireless environments.

Marvell® AQtion 10 Gbps Ethernet
Designed to meet the demanding requirements of power users and content creators, 10 Gbps onboard Ethernet provides a new level of home networking. With up to 10 times the bandwidth of standard gigabit Ethernet, you'll enjoy streaming uncompressed 4K UHD videos and system backups and file transfers that are faster than ever before.

Intel® 2.5 Gb Ethernet
Onboard 2.5 Gb Ethernet gives your wired connection a boost, with up to a 2.5X improvement over standard Ethernet connections for faster file transfers, smoother lag-free gaming and high-res video streaming.

USB 3.2 GEN 2X2 TYPE-C® FRONT-PANEL CONNECTOR WITH QUICK CHARGE 4+
Quick Charge 4+ technology can rapidly charge devices at up to 60W with a PCIe power supply cable plugged into the nearby 6-pin connector.

Two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C Ports
Each port delivers up to 40 Gbps of bidirectional bandwidth for the latest high-speed devices and drives. Thunderbolt 4 also supports up to two external 4K displays and extends PCIe bandwidth to up to 32 Gbps.

Three Onboard M.2 Slots
ROG Maximus Z690 Extreme is features three onboard M2 slots, with one offering support for the latest PCIe 5.0 SSDs.

ROG DIMM.2
The ROG DIMM.2 module is an innovative expansion card that allows two M.2 drives to be connected via a DDR4 interface. You can then add a metal heatsink, helping to control thermals for maximum performance while elevating aesthetics.
*DIMM.2 accommodates M.2 drives up to 22110 (110 mm) in length.

SupremeFX
ROG SupremeFX audio technology delivers an exceptional 113 dB signal-to-noise ratio on the line-in connection to provide best-ever recording quality. There's also a low-dropout regulator for clean power delivery to the SupremeFX ALC4082 codec, and an ESS® 9018Q2C integrated DAC.

Unlock a premium audio experience
The pocket-sized ROG Clavis USB digital-to-analog converter delivers a host of features to give any compatible headset a big upgrade. Its ESS 9281 QUAD DAC™ with a built-in amplifier and Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) rendering technology treats you to hi-fi-grad audio, while AI noise-canceling technology enhances headset microphones for crystal-clear voice communication.

OPTIMIZATION
ROG Maximus Z690 Extreme features best-in-class automatic and interactive performance optimization, including the TurboV Processing Unit, digitally controlled voltage regulators, Fan Xpert 4 and core-specific application assignment.

Level Up Performance
The dashboard-style control panel of AI Suite 3 lets you fine-tune almost every aspect of your ROG Maximus Z690 Extreme system with ease. Get the best balance between performance, cooling, stability, and efficiency via one simple and intuitive interface.

UEFI BIOS
The renowned ROG UEFI (BIOS) provides everything you need to configure, tweak, and tune your rig. It offers intelligently simplified options for newcomers to PC DIY, as well as more comprehensive features for seasoned veterans.

Accurate voltage monitoring
Conventional motherboards use single-ended sensing circuits that are susceptible to noise and have to tap voltage rails from a location that isn’t ideal for accurate monitoring. These issues lead to a large disparity between the voltage fed to components and the values reported to software. Maximus Z690 Extreme features a differential-sensing circuit that rejects noise and takes readings directly from the CPU and the end point of major voltage rails. This simplifies overclocking and tuning by allowing you to track voltages more accurately.

PERSONALIZATION
In addition to Aura Sync RGB customization, the ROG Maximus Z690 Extreme’s VRMs and I/O cover are graced with a new ASUS-exclusive design known as the AniMe Matrix Display, while a 2-inch OLED LiveDash can show live system information or user-customizable graphics.

AniMe Matrix™ LED display
This innovative display features an RGB grid of mini LEDs that can be programmed to show off style with custom lighting designs, unique animations and live audio visualizations. Plus, distinctive soundwave lighting effects can even flash to the sound of a person’s voice.

Grow your gaming world with Aura Sync
Up your game with complementary Aura Sync enhanced aesthetics, featuring preset lighting effects that can be easily synchronized across compatible ROG graphics cards, monitors, mice and keyboards to give your setup a unified look.

LiveDash OLED
The ROG Maximus Z690 Extreme includes LiveDash, a built-in 2-inch OLED panel that shows useful information and features customizable graphics. During the power-on, self-test (POST) phase, the OLED shows key stats in simple language using traditional POST codes. In normal operation, the panel can be programmed to show CPU frequency, device temperatures, fan speeds or water-cooling information. You can also personalize the default OLED GIF with a preferred image or animation.

Sonic Studio III
Sonic Studio supports HRTF-based (head-related transfer function*) virtual surround for headsets, casting an immersive aural landscape that draws you deeper into the action. The intuitive Sonic Studio interface also offers a range of EQ options and one-click presets, allowing you to tailor acoustics to suit personal preferences or the characteristics of your headset.

*A head-related transfer function is an audio algorithm derived from sound data recorded through a dummy head. Test tones are played from a spherical grid around the dummy head to obtain subtle changes in sounds that come from different directions. The results are combined into an algorithm that allows Sonic Studio's virtual surround to process sound true to life.

DTS : Sound Unbound
The ROG Maximus Z690 Extreme includes a pre-loaded DTS® Sound Unbound™ app that envelops you in audio as never before, conjuring whole new levels of immersion for extraordinary gaming and entertainment experiences. By exploiting Windows Sonic spatial technology, DTS Sound Unbound delivers audio in a virtual 3D space — putting you right in the middle of the soundscape, where you can sense the location and direction of every gunshot, footstep or other sound in your virtual environment.
* DTS Sound Unbound requires in-game support. Check with developers for titles that offer support.

Armoury Crate
Armoury Crate is a software utility designed to give you centralized control of supported gaming products, making it easy to tune the look and feel of your system. From a single intuitive interface, Armoury Crate helps you customize RGB lighting and effects for compatible devices and synchronize them with Aura Sync to create a unified lighting scheme across your system. In addition, Armoury Crate’s Fan Xpert4 tool provides comprehensive control over fans, water pumps and all-in-one (AIO) coolers.

You can also use Armoury Crate to download drivers, software and user manuals, register products, and tap into a special news feed that connects you to the global ASUS gaming community.
*Windows 10 required for full Aura Sync functionality within Armoury Crate. For Windows 8 and earlier versions, standalone Aura Sync software is available for free download from the product support site.

AIDA64 Extreme
The ROG Maximus Z690 Extreme includes a one-year AIDA64 Extreme subscription. This industry-leading system information tool provides detailed information about installed hardware and software, and it also provides benchmarks for measuring performance of the entire system or individual components. AIDA64 Extreme includes a monitoring and diagnostics feature to detect and prevent hardware issues. All vital system sensors can be tracked in real time, allowing voltage readings, fan speeds, and temperature information to be viewed on the desktop, sent to dedicated displays, or the OLED panels of ROG AIO liquid coolers*.
*Support available for ROG Ryujin II and later models.

Graphics Card Holder
Featuring a magnetic base, adjustable slider and hinge, the ROG Graphics Card Holder banishes sag and provides support where it’s needed most.