ASRock Z690 Steel Legend WiFi 6e Motherboard - The best in its class

Intel launched their new Z690 platform, along with their new 12th gen Alder Lake processors a few weeks ago (in Nov 2021). This launch was meant to be a game changer, as these processors are fabricated using Intel's much anticipated 10nm process, and supposedly offer a significant performance boost over previous generations which used the aging 14nm process. The new Alder Lake processors and Z690 chipset now includes newly added technologies, such as the support for DDR5 ram and PCIE 5.0. The desktop versions of the chip comes with a larger 30M cache and offers up to 8 P-core (performance cores) and 8 E-core (efficiency cores).

Motherboard manufacturers are given the choice to produce both the DDR4 and DDR5 versions of the Z690 motherboards. This can be confusing for some, but just remember current DDR5 ram is costing more than twice the price of your standard DDR4 ram ... so you'll know pretty quick! Hahaha. 

In this review, we'll be taking a look at the ASRock Z690 Steel Legend WiFi 6e motherboard, which supports DDR4 memory with speeds of up to DDR4 5000+ (OC). We will use an Intel Core i9-12900KF processor to test this motherboard to see how well it will perform.

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[dhansel]

My old computer (motherboard) died so I had to get a new one. I went to Micro-Center here in Houston. They have a U-Build it area. I told them I have the "Cooler Master" case and wanted an AT motherboard. They suggested the ASRock Z690 with the Intel i7012700K LGA1700 CPU, a 4 gig video card. I added 3 USB-3 cards, each with 4 USB-3 ports. My CPU cooler is a big "Cooler Master".
By buying the motherboard and processor Micro Center gave me a big discount.
I have 16 gig's of RAM and the CPU has 12 core.
I am not a gamer, just wanted to get my computer up and running.
My old Gigabyte P55A-UD4P was working ok until the power supply went out and took the motherboard and CPU with it.

So far the ASRock is working great and should last as long as my old mother board did (12) years.

[wolfgangchristl]

Looks awesome, have a Steel Legend myself and love it.

[_UU]

Overheating was terrible with 11th gen and 10th gen as well. It was so bad I decided to keep my very easy to cool 6700k. Intel has 65W 12th gen models coming in January. 12400F looks like an excellent all around performer with 6 P-cores/12 threads. Most 1440p or 4K gamers will get enough performance out of it and it will be much easier to cool due to lower TDP. I bought Z690 Steel Legend and I am now waiting for 12400F to come out in a few weeks.

[TheSilentStar]

Random question, why do you avoid talking about the top PCI slot?? You mentioned all the others but avoid the top one? Is there any reason why? It's the main reason I'm looking at ASrock, all the other manufacturers do stupid sh1t like bury all the slots directly under the GPU slot so they're unusable, I NEED that extra slot, doesn't it work?
Also where in the UK did you find the WiFi version?

[jaycol]

Didn't see any documentation regarding PCI bifurcation, does it support it?

[permarust]

For the windows install, was the wifi plug and play or did you have to download drivers and install them?

[Bumpfor]

Oh nice one. Would be happy to have one.

[Apolloisbest]

I have a 10850k CPU with a Samsung 970 500MB SSD already installed, can I purchase a Samsung 980 PRO SSD and install it on this MOBO with the CPU I have currently installed and it work?

[ScenOne]

Love AsRock, its 2022 and im still rocking an extreme3gen3 board and getting 120fps

[ttvgarde]

Does anyone know of a beginners guide to setting this motherboard up?

[ghostjackyt]

Im new to z690 motherboards i do have a b660 board right now and im wondering if i need to hace both 8 pins plugged in if im not overclocking

[slackreviews]

Seems like you may have a problem with your cooler, maybe reapply thermal paste? I don't believe other builds are having this heat issue.

[ilhamazizi]

Does this compatible with windows 11 without update bios?

[AyearoldARAB]

Trading my crap MSI back in for this today. Nothing but issues. I usually go Asus, but wanted to give msi a try. RGP issues, boot time is literally 1+ minute with nvme (old Asus board was 15 seconds or less), weird graphics card issues as well. Never got anything Asrock either, but for 289 (ddr5) this looks comparable to what Asus wants 379 for, so giving it a shot. Also, the ddr5 version has tons of usbs. The sonic board looks cool too, but no wifi and lacking usb ports.

[pitt]

Well this video did it for deciding on a motherboard. I gave my wife my old computer when I built one a few years ago but hers is now getting kinda slow for what she is doing on it(10 years old). I also bought her a Phanteks 500A case with an i5-12400. Maybe I can overclock it some. Gave her 16gb b-die memory that I wasn't using and a 1tb drive I had as a drawer. So she should be good for several years. I would like to put a video card in there so we can game together but the prices give me lots of pause. Anyway thanks for the review!! First board I have bought from ASrock.

[ChronikCarlos]

Extreme showed up but waiting on cooler bracket to start up pc

[ACHonezGaming]

Your radiator is mounted upside down. Your tubes should be on the bottom if mounted on the front.

[letsdoit]

hahaha it is so obvious that you bot your likes, comments, AND subscribers LOL