GIGABYTE Z690 Aorus TACHYON DDR5 Intel Motherboard

The Gigabyte Z690 Aorus TACHYON is an E-ATX overclocking motherboard built around the Intel Z690 Express Chipset and the LGA1700 socket, supporting 12th Gen Intel Core, Pentium Gold, and Celeron processors. It is engineered specifically for serious overclocking, with every design decision aimed at maximising processor and memory headroom. At the heart of the power delivery is a RENESAS RAA229131 digital PWM controller driving 15 direct VRM phases, each using a 105A RAA220105 power stage. This direct-drive architecture avoids the efficiency losses of traditional parallel VRM designs and delivers a higher current ceiling under sustained overclocking workloads. The entire VRM section uses 100% tantalum polymer capacitors, which offer superior transient response and lower mechanical interference — particularly relevant when applying extreme cooling such as liquid nitrogen pots directly to the board. Dual 8-pin CPU power connectors with metal shielding ensure adequate current delivery even at elevated frequencies. Physical overclocking aids including onboard buttons and switches are built in, allowing enthusiasts to adjust settings without navigating software. Memory is handled by a 2-slot DDR5 configuration using a daisy-chain trace layout, which minimises the electrical path between the CPU and DIMMs for higher achievable memory frequencies and lower latency. The board supports dual-channel DDR5 up to 64 GB across its two DIMM slots. Expansion is covered by three PCIe x16 physical slots operating at x16, x8, and x4 bandwidths respectively, all designed to the PCIe 5.0 specification using low-impedance PCB traces for signal integrity at high speeds. Storage is served by six SATA 6 Gb/s ports with RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 support. Connectivity includes an Intel 2.5GbE wired LAN chip and Intel 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6E wireless (covering the dedicated 6 GHz band in addition to 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz), with Bluetooth 5. The rear I/O provides a USB Type-C port (USB 3.2 Gen 2×2, 20 Gbps), three USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, four USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, an HDMI output, one PS/2 combo port, five 3.5 mm audio jacks, and one optical S/PDIF output. Audio is powered by a Realtek ALC1220-VB codec supporting up to 7.1-channel output. Verified Specifications: - Chipset: Intel Z690 Express - Socket: LGA1700 - CPU Support: 12th Gen Intel Core, Pentium Gold, Celeron - Form Factor: E-ATX (30.5 cm × 27.0 cm) - Memory: 2 × DDR5 DIMM, dual-channel, up to 64 GB - PCIe Slots: 3 × PCIe x16 physical (x16 / x8 / x4), PCIe 5.0 - Storage: 6 × SATA 6 Gb/s; RAID 0/1/5/10 - LAN: Intel 2.5GbE - Wireless: Intel Wi-Fi 6E 802.11ax + Bluetooth 5 - Audio: Realtek ALC1220-VB, up to 7.1-channel - Rear USB: 1 × USB-C (Gen 2×2), 3 × USB-A (Gen 2), 4 × USB-A (Gen 1) - VRM: 15-phase direct, RENESAS RAA229131 PWM, 105A RAA220105 stages - Onboard Video: None (discrete GPU required)