Spotted the first ASUS Z690 motherboards

Canadian retailer PC Canada has listed nine ASUS Z690 motherboards for Intel's upcoming 12th generation of Alder Lake processors. However, please note that prices may only be placeholders. Alder Lake is based on a completely new platform, which includes motherboards with Intel 600 series chipsets and DDR5 memory. At launch, motherboard manufacturers will make their Z690-based products available on the market, while those with lower-end chipsets will arrive at a later date.

If the first US reseller listings prove Truthfully, the Core i5-12600KF, which is the cheapest chip in Alder Lake's K-series, will start at $ 260. For comparison, a standard 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-4800 memory kit retails for around $ 300. As a result, even without the motherboard, storage or graphics card, a mid-range Alder Lake configuration already costs over $ 550. Of course, there is also the option to purchase a Z690 motherboard with DDR4 support, which could potentially mitigate the overall cost.

Motherboard Price Memory support Asus ROG Maximus Z690 Hero $ 599 DDR5 Asus ROG Strix Z690-F $ 401 DDR5 Asus ROG Strix Z690-A $ 350 DDR5 Asus Prime Z690-A $ 306 DDR5 ASUS TUF Gaming Z690-Plus WiFi D4 $ 294 DDR5 Asus Prime Z690-P WiFi $ 255 DDR5 Asus Prime Z690-P WiFi D4 $ 243 DDR4 Asus Prime Z690-P $ 231 DDR5 Asus Prime Z690-P D4 $ 222 DDR4 Anyway, the price difference between DDR4 and DDR5 with the same motherboard doesn't seem to be very significant. For example, the Prime Z690-P is only $ 9 more than the Z690-P D4, while the Prime Z90-P WiFi is just $ 12 more than the Prime Z90-P WiFi D4. Apparently, the potential savings come from the memory itself rather than the motherboard.

Unfortunately, no other DDR5 memory has been spotted on sale besides TeamGroup's 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-4800 kit, which retails for $ 310.99 on Amazon and Newegg. We will have to wait until the official launch of Alder Lake to check the price difference between the DDR4 and DDR5 memory kits. By default, Alder Lake comes with support for DDR5-4800 and DDR4-3200 memory, so it will be even more interesting to evaluate the hybrid chip with both memory formats to measure any advantages brought by DDR5.

Going back to Asus Z690 motherboards, the $ 350 ROG Strix Z690-A might be the most attractive option for gamers, while the price goes up to $ 599 for the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero. That's hardly consoling for future Alder Lake owners, as the Hero is pretty much the entry-level model of the ROG family. If PC Canada's prices turn out to be true, high-end models like Formula or Extreme will need to shell out quite a lot of money.