ASUS TUF Gaming Z690-Plus DDR5 Intel Motherboard

The ASUS TUF Gaming Z690-Plus DDR5 is an ATX-form-factor motherboard built around the Intel Z690 chipset and the LGA 1700 socket, designed to support 12th Generation Intel Core, Pentium Gold, and Celeron processors. With a 14+1 DrMOS power delivery system — each stage rated at 80 amperes — combined with a six-layer PCB, ProCool sockets, alloy chokes, and durable capacitors, the board is engineered to deliver stable power under sustained loads. Memory support extends to four DDR5 DIMM slots with a maximum capacity of 128 GB. Native speed starts at DDR5-4800, with overclocked profiles supported up to DDR5-6000 via Intel XMP. Dual-channel architecture and ASUS OptiMem II routing help maintain signal integrity at higher frequencies. For storage, the board provides four Key-M M.2 slots — M.2_1 is CPU-attached and supports PCIe 4.0 x4; M.2_2 through M.2_4 are chipset-attached and also support PCIe 4.0 x4, with M.2_2 additionally supporting SATA mode. Four SATA 6 Gb/s ports supplement M.2 drives, and Intel Rapid Storage Technology enables NVMe RAID 0/1/5 and SATA RAID 0/1/5/10 configurations. Expansion is handled by one PCIe 5.0 x16 slot from the CPU, supplemented by one PCIe 3.0 x16 slot (operating at x4), one PCIe 3.0 x4 slot, and two PCIe 3.0 x1 slots from the Z690 chipset. Networking is provided by an Intel 2.5 Gb Ethernet controller with ASUS TUF LANGuard protection. Display outputs on the rear I/O include one DisplayPort 1.4 (up to 4K@60Hz) and one HDMI 2.1 port (up to 4K@60Hz) for use with processors featuring integrated graphics. USB connectivity totals 15 ports: eight on the rear panel — one USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C, two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, and five USB 3.2 Gen 1 (four Type-A plus one Type-C) — plus headers supporting one front USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, two USB 3.2 Gen 1, and four USB 2.0 ports. A Thunderbolt 4 expansion header is also present. Audio is handled by a Realtek HD codec supporting 7.1-channel surround sound at up to 24-bit/192 kHz, with audio shielding, dedicated PCB layers, premium capacitors, and an optical S/PDIF output. Cooling infrastructure includes one CPU fan header, one CPU OPT header, one AIO pump header, and four chassis fan headers, all manageable through Fan Xpert 4 within Armoury Crate. Aura Sync RGB lighting is supported via three Addressable Gen 2 headers and one standard AURA RGB header. Verified Specifications: Chipset: Intel Z690 | Socket: LGA 1700 | Form Factor: ATX (12 in × 9.6 in / 30.5 cm × 24.4 cm) | Memory: 4× DDR5 DIMM, max 128 GB, DDR5-4800 native / up to DDR5-6000 OC, dual-channel, XMP | Storage: 4× M.2 (PCIe 4.0 x4; M.2_2 also SATA), 4× SATA 6 Gb/s | PCIe: 1× PCIe 5.0 x16, 1× PCIe 3.0 x16 (x4 mode), 1× PCIe 3.0 x4, 2× PCIe 3.0 x1 | Ethernet: Intel 2.5 Gb | USB Rear: 1× Gen 2×2 Type-C, 2× Gen 2 Type-A, 5× Gen 1 | Audio: Realtek 7.1 HD, up to 24-bit/192 kHz, optical S/PDIF out | BIOS: 192 Mb Flash ROM, UEFI AMI | OS: Windows 11/10 64-bit | Warranty: 3 years