THE NEW INTEL Z690 MOTHERBOARD CHIPSET
Our take? Don't skimp on getting a certified cooler for your new processor. After all, you'll need to invest in several new components to get the best out of the processing platform, so add coolers to the equation.
Another recent development we've noted is some motherboard vendors like ASUS (at least for their Z690 boards), offer LGA 1200 mounting holes in addition to LGA 1700. This makes it easier to consider re-using an LGA 1200 cooler that has passed the manufacturer's certification to be used with an LGA 1700 socketbased processor like the 12th Gen Core CPUs.
To accompany the new Intel 12th Gen Core processors, especially the highend K-SKU variants, Intel has chosen to introduce the Intel Z690 chipset as the first of their Intel 600 series motherboard chipsets. Specifically, the Intel Z690 offers maximum overclocking potential with 12th Gen Core K-SKU processors by according you memory overclocking and base clock tweaking.
We'll get into more about the overclocking knobs offered by the new processor and platform further down, but let's first get acquainted with what else the Intel Z690 brings to the picture.
Though the new processor's capabilities like DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 necessitate a brand
new motherboard, the Intel Z690 extends the unlocked 12th Gen Core processor's capabilities by giving it even more 'legs' through support for up to 12 PCIe Gen 4.0 lanes and 16 PCIe Gen 3.0 lanes, doubling the x8 DMI throughput from Gen 3.0 to 4.0, and increased bandwidth with up to quad USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20G) ports. Interestingly and for the first time, Intel is bringing Intel Volume Management Device (VMD) to PC chipsets to simplify storage control by allowing direct control and management of NVMe-based SSDs from the PCIe bus without additional RAID controllers or other hardware adaptors. Initially designed for enterprisegrade management of NVMe SSDs connected to Intel Xeon CPUs, Intel VMD brings enterprise reliability, availability, and serviceability (RAS) features to NVMe SSDs, and it's now available on the Intel Z690 for enthusiasts too. There's also the optional bits that some motherboard vendors might choose to pair to differentiate their offerings, such as Intel 2.5Gbps Ethernet capability, Intel Wi-Fi 6E and Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RST) to manage PCIe storage and RAID support as well as Intel Optane Memory to augment solid-state storage. These are par for the course since it has been introduced with Intel 10th Gen Core processors and Intel Z490 chipset as optional add-ons too. Next up, memory configuration matters, and what's new in the realm of memory overclocking.