Motherboard Z690 ITX Motherboards

[rfarmer]

I finally got my Gigabyte z690i Aorus Ultra DDR4 today, installed my 12600k and my Noctua NH-L12 GE does indeed fit.

It just fits, with both the VRM and M.2 heatsinks in place. You do have to slide the fan back to the heat pipe bend in order to clear the M.2 heatsink. Fortunately my Ghost used an inverted motherboard layout which puts the heatpipes pointing up. You can install the cooler rotated 180 degrees but you have to remove the M.2 heatsink and the cooler extends about 1" past the top of the motherboard.

 

[Neathdrawls]

I finally got my Gigabyte z690i Aorus Ultra DDR4 today, installed my 12600k and my Noctua NH-L12 GE does indeed fit.

It just fits, with both the VRM and M.2 heatsinks in place. You do have to slide the fan back to the heat pipe bend in order to clear the M.2 heatsink. Fortunately my Ghost used an inverted motherboard layout which puts the heatpipes pointing up. You can install the cooler rotated 180 degrees but you have to remove the M.2 heatsink and the cooler extends about 1" past the top of the motherboard.

It looks jam packed to the brim!

Shame about the heatpipes having to face up though, if one doesn't want to remove the M.2 heatsink.

I know Noctua doesn't recommend the heatpipes facing up as an orientation as it will impact cooling, would you be taking the risk to test out how bad the temperatures will be?

 

[rfarmer]

It looks jam packed to the brim!

Shame about the heatpipes having to face up though, if one doesn't want to remove the M.2 heatsink.

I know Noctua doesn't recommend the heatpipes facing up as an orientation as it will impact cooling, would you be taking the risk to test out how bad the temperatures will be?

Noctua recommends not pointing the heatpipes down, up is fine.

 

[Neathdrawls]

It looks jam packed to the brim!

Shame about the heatpipes having to face up though, if one doesn't want to remove the M.2 heatsink.

I know Noctua doesn't recommend the heatpipes facing up as an orientation as it will impact cooling, would you be taking the risk to test out how bad the temperatures will be?

Ah I must have remembered wrongly! Thanks for the clarification.

 

[MvKeinen]

Isn't it about time to shrink the physical dimensions of RAM by half? I mean both normal and SO-DIMM.

DDR5 seems to get capacities up to ?? 128GB. half of that seems to be enough IMO. Would be great for SFF. Would the pin out be a problem?

 

[Phuncz]

When you look at most DDR5 DIMMs, it looks like there's plenty of room for atleast another DIMM on there.

 

[GucksTV]

For everybody wanting to check out the MSI Z690i UNIFY:

 

[GucksTV]

hey guys! here is Part 1 of my comparison between the @Alloy Craft LOBO and the @Nouvolo Auquanaut Extreme:

 

[ikjadoon]

Good to see more updates coming out. Just grabbed an i7-12700K and am shopping around for a good DDR4 motherboard. Has anyone tried Arctic Cooling's Liquid Freezer II on the Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra?

It's not on the LGA 1700 incompatibility list, so I was helpful; I asked Arctic Cooling a while back generically about their AIOs and LGA1700:

As the mentioned boards were not available at the time the kit was designed there was no full testing with all new boards possible.
We do have many Asus boards which wont be compatible from the get go as the Pump cover is in the way of nearby components, removing the cover will solve the issue for now. Later you can request a special pump cover to close the pump on that side (using the Cooler without the cover will not affect the safety or functionality of the AIO).

I'll also check in again with them and see if they've tested it or if there any workarounds. On reddit, someone said it might be a hard no.

Not without some modding. The pump block and brackets run into the vrm and m.2 heatsinks. I got it to fit by 1) removing the pcb cover on the pump block (Arctic provides instructions for this); 2) cutting off extraneous bits from the end of the fan end of the block and from both sides of the brackets; and 3) flipping the mounting so that the fan is facing south.

Sigh, I always wondered if the large block on the Liquid Freezer would ever bite me in the bum and that day might be coming soon

EDIT: Terribly sad news.

The entire Liquid Freezer II is incompatible with the Gigabyte Z690I Aorus Ultra. And, from my research, so is the EK 280mm AIO. So, with one fell swoop, the best Z690I DDR4 motherboard is incompatible with the top two AIOs. Frankly, Gigabyte screwed up here with the VRM & M.2 placement. Other Z690I motherboards only needed a few modifications. To be completely incompatible with two different brands of AIOs is an accomplishment, Gigabyte.

 

[ikjadoon]

As an update, GIGABYTE's unfortunate choices recently (AIO compatibility above, the long-running WHEA issues, and the exploding PSUs / banning reviewers) have pushed me to avoid this board. Specifically, the WHEA errors are now 3+ months old. Tellingly, GIGABYTE hasn't made much progress.

...with the small form factor size, there is still some interference that could not be detected in benchmarks and it causes WHEA errors.

There's no update. It takes more than a BIOS for that to be fixed...

Those were GIGABYTE's responses 27 & 17 days ago, respectively, and that was already after the F6 (DDR4) / F5 (DDR5) release. This board has unfortunately spent ~3 months (25%) of its lifecycle stuck on teething issues.

 

[DMEsal]

Good Day All

just curious has anyone found a proper CPU cooler for Z690 MB's that fit within a 47mm height without any interference from the MB or RAM . I'm looking at doing a Valka 7 with a i7-12700k without a GPU card just air cooled very light OC if any

all info greatly appreciated

DME

 

[DMEsal]

Good Day All

just curious has anyone found a proper CPU cooler for Z690 MB's that fit within a 47mm height without any interference from the MB or RAM . I'm looking at doing a Valka 7 with a i7-12700k without a GPU card just air cooled very light OC if any

all info greatly appreciated

DME

just adding by the reviews of the case seems tough enough to lug in my back pack around the world.

 

[GucksTV]

Good Day All

just curious has anyone found a proper CPU cooler for Z690 MB's that fit within a 47mm height without any interference from the MB or RAM . I'm looking at doing a Valka 7 with a i7-12700k without a GPU card just air cooled very light OC if any

all info greatly appreciated

DME

So I've done a Video with the Asus Z690-i Strix Board and i5-12600K with 47mm cooler:


It fits and works great...with the Asus Board you are lucky to be able of using LGA 1200 coolers aswell.

 

[Broxin]

As an update, GIGABYTE's unfortunate choices recently (AIO compatibility above, the long-running WHEA issues, and the exploding PSUs / banning reviewers) have pushed me to avoid this board. Specifically, the WHEA errors are now 3+ months old. Tellingly, GIGABYTE hasn't made much progress.




Those were GIGABYTE's responses 27 & 17 days ago, respectively, and that was already after the F6 (DDR4) / F5 (DDR5) release. This board has unfortunately spent ~3 months (25%) of its lifecycle stuck on teething issues.

how is the situation 12 months later?

 

[Broxin]

As an update, GIGABYTE's unfortunate choices recently (AIO compatibility above, the long-running WHEA issues, and the exploding PSUs / banning reviewers) have pushed me to avoid this board. Specifically, the WHEA errors are now 3+ months old. Tellingly, GIGABYTE hasn't made much progress.




Those were GIGABYTE's responses 27 & 17 days ago, respectively, and that was already after the F6 (DDR4) / F5 (DDR5) release. This board has unfortunately spent ~3 months (25%) of its lifecycle stuck on teething issues.

wow. the reddit thread is full of angry responses from buyers, even now. is the only alternative the asrock z690m itx ddr4 board?

 

[rfarmer]

wow. the reddit thread is full of angry responses from buyers, even now. is the only alternative the asrock z690m itx ddr4 board?

I have the updated version of this board and it is fine. I had the original and had serious WHEA errors using PCIe 4.0, but the new Plus version works just fine.

 

[Broxin]

I have the updated version of this board and it is fine. I had the original and had serious WHEA errors using PCIe 4.0, but the new Plus version works just fine.

meh, i just ordered the asrock z690m itx one.
is yours ddr4 or 5?

 

[rfarmer]

meh, i just ordered the asrock z690m itx one.
is yours ddr4 or 5?

DDR4.

 

[GucksTV]

I can recommend the asus Z690-i Strix.

 

[ikjadoon]

how is the situation 12 months later?

It should be better, as @rfarmer noted. Though, I did a quick check and some still might be having WHEA issues with 13th Gen and or PCIe 4.0 SSDs? But, I honestly haven't checked on it again and have no personal experience, so a grain of salt.

reddit.com: /r/gigabyte search results - z690i WHEA

My build unfortunately needed to be ready earlier, so I had to switch to the ASUS Z690-I. Quite pricey and I wish I could've saved a few $$$, but it has been rock solid stable beyond RGB quirks, so I can't complain too much.