ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Formula ATX Motherboard with Water Cooling, WiFi 6E, PCIe 5.0, DDR5, Thunderbolt 4 - For Intel 12th Gen CPU

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐The ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Formula gaming motherboard is a true powerhouse designed to cater to the demands of gamers and PC enthusiasts, offering a remarkable blend of performance, connectivity, and innovation.Pros:1. Next-Gen Performance: Built for Intel’s 12th Gen processors, it supports DDR5 memory and PCIe 5.0, ensuring that you’re equipped for the latest gaming and productivity tasks.2. 20+1 Power Stages: The robust 20+1 power stage design ensures stable and efficient power delivery to your CPU for overclocking and high-performance applications.3. LiveDash 2” OLED: The LiveDash 2-inch OLED display offers real-time system information and customization options, providing a unique and personalized touch to your PC.4. Ample Storage Options: With 5 M.2 slots and the PCIe 5.0 Hyper M.2 card bundled, you have extensive storage possibilities for your games, applications, and files.5. Thunderbolt 4: The inclusion of Thunderbolt 4 ports provides blazing-fast data transfer and connectivity options for external devices.Cons:1. Price: The extensive features and capabilities of this motherboard are reflected in its price, making it an investment for high-end PC builders and gamers.In summary, the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Formula gaming motherboard is a juggernaut of performance and innovation. It’s geared towards those who demand the absolute best from their gaming rigs. With support for cutting-edge technologies like DDR5 memory and PCIe 5.0, advanced power stages, a LiveDash OLED display, and Thunderbolt 4, it’s an excellent choice for high-end gaming and content creation setups. While it may come at a premium price, it’s an investment for those who want top-tier performance and features. Highly recommended for PC enthusiasts and gamers who seek the pinnacle of technology in their builds.

I’ve replaced a Z590 hero from Asus with this board. So far it’s been great but it hasn’t been a smooth ride. I’ve seen a few bugs that still need to me smooth over. For one, XMP only works if you have 2 dim slots filled. I recently got all 4 filled with the same speed and timing and I got a blue screen of death with the code saying I have ram issues. At first I thought it was the 2 new ram sticks but that wasn’t the case. Alone the two worked great with XMP but as all 4 it would crash. I turned off XMP and the pc booted fine but at 4000 instead of 5200 as labeled. Another bug was the constant led / AniMatrix constantly crashing and not responding to the Armory crate. I would have to restart my pc just to be able to get it working. After 4 bios updates the led keeps working in sync but the AniMatrix crashes after 4 hours. I have to restart in order to get it working. The motherboard however has its greatest features such as the nice Oled display, cool rgb in the side. The backplate is a neat feature. Comes with tons of accessories. Overall great motherboard. I’m glad I opted for this instead of the Z690 Hero.

1/5 RatingProsBoard looks NICEHas Q-Error Code display that gives you a numerical number to let you know what is wrong if it does not boot upVery modern boardSupports DDR5 memoryConsI just could not get this board to work. I tried MULTIPLE times with two different boards. First board would not POST, second started smoking at the PCIE slot the first time I powered on. It would not POST unless I plugged HDMI directly into MB. and then it would turn itself off after 5 mins of being on. The new ASUS AIO Riyujin 2 360 cooler just would not work. None of it worked.ASUS Customer Support is BAD.. I must have spent well over 10 hours talking to them over 45 days time and completed 5-6 forms and returned.Ok, where should I start.1st off. Included are partsNew Intel 12th Gen I9 12900New 2TB Samsung 980 Pro SSD2 new 16GB X2 RGB Trident DDR5 Ram 36*36*36ASUS Riyujin 2 360 AIO CoolerNew ASUS Rog THOR 1200 Watt Power supply7 Lian Li AL120 FansCorsair 7000D airflow caseASUS Strix 1080 TI GPU (Not new.. Current GPU I use in my current build)Was super excited to get this board as I rock with Asus. My current build consists of mostly Asus parts and I even use Asus Monitors - love the brand been using for years. Excitement quickly turned into disappointment.I was so disappointed building this computer. I spent ALOT of money buying these parts only for the first motherboard to never POST. I assembled and disassembled it at least 30 times. I called ASUS and they were the most unhelpful Customer Service I ever encountered. I got fed up and sent the MB back. Amazon provided another.With newer board I assembled using the same parts and first time powering on I saw smoke coming from the PCIE slot - (That's a bad thing). It didn't deter me.. I was determined to get it to work. Assembled using all parts.. Could not get MB to acknowledge Strix 1080 TI GPU. I plugged HDMI cable into MB and it posts!!! But that was short lived as the AIO cooler never turned on therefore overheating MB and Intel chip. MB would shut down after 5 mins. This lasted for 2 weeks. I tried every single thing I could think of until I figured out it could be bad GPU or Bad PCIE slot on MB. It couldn't be bad GPU as the GPU still works in current build. Nevertheless I called ASUS and they put me back through the rat race with Customer Service reps that did not speak clear English and they asked the same questions and sent me the same forms to complete. I gave up. I clearly gave up.To build a computer will normally take 40 minutes to an hour - maybe 2 max. I worked on this build with this MB for over 45 DAYS!!! I troubleshooted my heart out and when I couldn't do anymore ASUS came in with the absolute worst customer service you could ever ask for. So I returned MB defeated.Who knows maybe I will try again after ASUS works out kinks. But this was a complete waste of $1K and 45 days of my life. I even turned down Photo and Video gigs so I could get this rig up and running.

Wife and I built new systems this year.Z790 Apex Encore14900KCorsair Titanium DDR5 @ 8200Crucial T700 Gen5 M.2Asus ROG Strix RTX4090 OCCouldn’t be happier. Blazing fast.Had originally purchased a Z790 Dark Hero, could not even get 7400 stable. Switched to the Apex, using the 8000 XMP1 profile, manually setting at 8200. Zero errors, immediately noticed how snappy and responsive the new build is. WowNote: Tried GSkill 8000, Tried T-Force - no dice. Corsair Titanium is where it’s at.