12600K the Mini-ITX Way - Reviewed with the Gigabyte Z690 ITX!

Let's start our Intel 12th-gen Alder Lake coverage with the i5 12600K! What's a sensible mini-ITX entry point? I'll show you my "low-cost" DDR4 setup and share some stock benchmark comparisons against the Ryzen 5 5600X and the Ryzen 7 5800X, then I'll share some recommendations. Quick shoutout and thanks to @Dave2D for his review in his NR200.

Links:
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Test motherboard -

0:00 Introduction
1:58 Mini-ITX Setup
3:49 A clearance issue!
4:15 Quick Spec Rundown
5:18 Benchmark CPUs
6:07 Production benchmarks
8:06 Gaming benchmarks
10:36 Power Consumption, Thermals, and Core Clocks
12:07 Recommendations

Gear I shoot with:

[noelwade]

Alder-Lake activates alliteration among awsestruck auteurs. :-D

[ryanputnam]

Thanks for the review! This has answered lots of my questions that a lot of videos haven't had like alder lake with ddr4 performance, so thank you!

[flyaturtle]

Building my first itx thanks to your vid-great job!

[razi]

Your videos are top notch! I always wonder how your channel is not bigger than it is

[al_agator]

Great video as always. Very excited for the upcoming 12400F + B660 release in January.

[greb.]

Thanks for this! I think the 11400(F) is still a brilliant budget chip if your primary focus is gaming. In Australia you can get one for $229, while the cheapest 5600X's are just over $400. The 12600K is closer to $500, and if I remember right the 11400 and 5600X had a pretty good fight.

[DefenseIsLacking]

loved this video from beginning to end!

[sharanchandran]

thanks for the info. I'm moving my 1080TI to this same board and cpu so looking forward to your video with a lower end card.

[seetohey]

Appreciate your channel and the SFF content! Have you tried connecting the GPU to the Aorus Z690I board with a PCIE 4.0 riser cable? My concern is a PCIE 5.0 slot + PCIE 4.0 riser may potentially present compatibility issues.

[EmiratiAuto]

Thanks man ... please do 12900k review

[fazendohistoria_]

The kind of guy we give the like before watch. Thanks for another high quality content.

[simonmirren]

Awesome review thanks. Looking to put together my first ever PC and starting with the new NR200 max, otherwise everything else the same. Can I use this setup without a GPU until they become more available? Will it ‘just work’, defaulting to the integrated graphics? Then what happens when I do find a GPU, do you need to tell it to run the GPU and ignore the integrated or does it just take what it needs? Any downside to the integrated graphics version of the 11600 cpu chips? Seems the equivalent AMD versions took a performance hit with the integrated graphics which made me pause going down that route. I can just see it being another year before a 3070 or 3080 is available which I’m ok with as long as I’m not compromising myself from the start. Laptop gone bang so can’t really wait to get something just for office and internet tasks until a GPU can be found! Sorry, lots of Qs from a newbie!

[gameplay]

From one gaming channel to another...great content, you have similar content as me, keep it up!

[rahimdamji]

been waiting for a review on this board. mine comes tomorrow with 12700k

[stazeII]

Just got 12700k and a NR200P, Gigabyte Z690I… just waiting on my cooler (Be Quiet Pure Loop) to build. Can’t wait. Up from a 6th Gen. :)

[mohamedahmed]

Great review. I have a 9900K & 3080 so in no rush to upgrade. When the 12700K and Asrock Z690 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB4 hit the used or amazon like-new market for a steep discount, I'll upgrade to Alder Lake. But I'm in no rush.

[soushoku]

Amazing top quality review as always machines & more. It looks like he got everything to fit at 03:11 does this mean the Gigabyte Z690i mini itx will not have higher CPU socket position when paired with Noctua U12A and we can fit two noctua 12x25 top case fans? It looks like those are the thicker noctua 12x25 too.

[jontaylor]

Excellent review, what after market M.2 heatsinks do you recommend for the build? (intel core i7 12th gen, Gigabyte Aorus Z690i mini itx, Noctua U12A in Cooler Master NR200P) and is it difficult to replace the m.2 heatsinks? you also mentioned in one of your NR200 case videos that a Gigabyte mini itx mobo has a higher cpu socket which causes the noctua U12A to remove one of the top case fans. is this applicable for the aorus z690i itx?

[toph]

How's the board run? I've seen horrible reviews on Newegg so far as the bios is concerned as well as pcie issues

[bubbleandbake]

Interested how they perform undervolted with small overclock