ASRock Z690 Steel Legend review , steel battle

ASRock has started z690 challenge with a good jump , Z690 steel legend is one of most popularity motherboards for it's special specs ,13 Power Phase Design , Dr. MOS help to have an extreme power when overclocking the CPU The 6 Layer PCB provides stable signal traces and power shapes delivering lower temperature and higher energy efficiency for memory overclocking! Thus, it's able to support the latest memory modules with most extreme memory performance , 2 ounce copper inner layers that provide stable signal traces and power shapes! Delivering lower temperature and higher energy efficiency for overclocking.

ASRock Z690 Steel Legend specs : 

Supported CPU

CPU Socket Type	LGA 1700 * Dedicated LGA1700 mounting bracket is required.
CPU Type	Supports 12th Gen Intel Core Processors Supports Intel Pentium / Celeron Processors
Supported CPU Technologies	Turbo Boost Technology 3.0

Chipsets

Chipset	Intel Z690

Onboard Video

Onboard Video Chipset	Supported only by CPU with integrated graphic

Memory

Number of Memory Slots	4×288pin (DDR4)
Memory Standard	DDR4 5000+(OC)* * Supports DDR4 3200 natively. * Please refer to Memory Support List on ASRock's website for more information. (http://www.asrock.com/)
Maximum Memory Supported	128GB
Channel Supported	Dual Channel

Expansion Slots

PCI Express 5.0 x16	3 x PCIe x16 Slots (PCIE2/PCIE3/PCIE5: single at Gen5x16 (PCIE2); dual at Gen5x16 (PCIE2) / Gen4x4 (PCIE3); triple at Gen5x16 (PCIE2) / Gen4x4 (PCIE3) / Gen3x4 (PCIE5))* * Supports NVMe SSD as boot disks.
PCI Express x1	2 x PCIe Gen3 x1
Other Slots	1 x M.2 Socket (Key E), supports type 2230 WiFi/BT PCIe WiFi module and Intel CNVi (Integrated WiFi/BT) 15µ Gold Contact in VGA PCIe Slot (PCIE2)

Storage Devices

SATA 6Gb/s	8 x SATA 6Gb/s * If M2_2 is occupied by a SATA-type M.2 device, SATA3_7 will be disabled.
M.2	1 x Hyper M.2 Socket (M2_1, Key M), supports type 2260/2280 PCIe Gen4x4 (64 Gb/s) mode* 1 x Ultra M.2 Socket (M2_2, Key M), supports type 2230/2242/2260/2280 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s & PCIe Gen3x4 (32 Gb/s) modes* 1 x Hyper M.2 Socket (M2_3, Key M), supports type 2242/2260/2280/22110 PCIe Gen4x4 (64 Gb/s) mode* * Supports Intel Optane Technology. * Supports Intel Volume Management Device (VMD). * Supports NVMe SSD as boot disks. * Supports ASRock U.2 Kit.
Intel Optane Ready	Yes
SATA RAID	0/1/5/10

Onboard Audio

Audio Chipset	Realtek ALC897
Audio Channels	7.1 Channels

Onboard LAN

LAN Chipset	Dragon RTL8125BG
Max LAN Speed	10/100/1000/2500Mbps

Rear Panel Ports

Back I/O Ports

2 x Antenna Mounting Points 1 x PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard Port 1 x HDMI Port 1 x DisplayPort 1.4 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port 1 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A Port (10 Gb/s) (ReDriver) (Supports ESD Protection) 1 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C Port (10 Gb/s) (ReDriver) (Supports ESD Protection) 4 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Ports (Supports ESD Protection) * Ultra USB Power is supported on USB3_1_2 ports. * ACPI wake-up function is not supported on USB3_1_2 ports. 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED) 1 x BIOS Flashback Button HD Audio Jacks: Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone (Gold Audio Jacks)

Internal I/O Connectors

Onboard USB

2 x USB 2.0 Headers (Support 4 USB 2.0 ports) (Supports ESD Protection) 2 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Headers (Support 4 USB 3.2 Gen1 ports) (ASMedia ASM1074 hub) (Supports ESD Protection) 1 x Front Panel Type C USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Header (20 Gb/s) (Supports ESD Protection)

Other Connectors

1 x SPI TPM Header 1 x Power LED and Speaker Header 1 x RGB LED Header * Supports in total up to 12V/3A, 36W LED Strip. 3 x Addressable LED Headers * Support in total up to 5V/3A, 15W LED Strip. 1 x CPU Fan Connector (4-pin) * The CPU Fan Connector supports the CPU fan of maximum 1A (12W) fan power. 1 x CPU/Water Pump Fan Connector (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control) * The CPU/Water Pump Fan supports the water cooler fan of maximum 2A (24W) fan power. 5 x Chassis/Water Pump Fan Connectors (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control) * The Chassis/Water Pump Fan supports the water cooler fan of maximum 2A (24W) fan power. * CPU_FAN2/WP and CHA_FAN1~5/WP can auto detect if 3-pin or 4-pin fan is in use. 1 x Front Panel Audio Connector (15µ Gold Audio Connector) 1 x Thunderbolt AIC Connector (5-pin) (Supports ASRock Thunderbolt 4 AIC Card)

Physical Spec

Form Factor	ATX
LED Lighting	RGB
Dimensions (W x L)	12.0" x 9.6"
Power Pin	1 x 24 pin ATX Power Connector (Hi-Density Power Connector) 2 x 8 pin 12V Power Connectors (Hi-Density Power Connector)

Windows Compatibility

Windows 11	Ready

Features

Features

Unique Feature: ASRock USB 3.2 Gen2 - ASRock Front Panel Type C USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Header (20 Gb/s) - ASRock USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A Port (10 Gb/s) - ASRock USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C Port (10 Gb/s) ASRock Super Alloy - XXL Aluminum Alloy Heatsink - Premium 60A Power Choke - 50A Dr.MOS - Nichicon 12K Black Caps (100% Japan made high quality conductive polymer capacitors) - I/O Armor - Matte Black PCB - High Density Glass Fabric PCB - 2oz Copper PCB 2.5G LAN ASRock Auto Driver Installer ASRock Steel Slot ASRock Full Coverage M.2 Heatsink ASRock Hyper M.2 (PCIe Gen4x4) ASRock Ultra USB Power ASRock POST Status Checker (PSC) ASRock Full Spike Protection (for all USB, Audio, LAN Ports) ASRock Live Update & APP Shop BIOS Feature: - 256Mb AMI UEFI Legal BIOS with multilingual GUI support - ACPI 6.0 Compliant wake up events - SMBIOS 2.7 Support - CPU Core/Cache, CPU GT, DRAM, VCCIN AUX, +1.05V PROC, +1.8V PROC, +0.82V PCH , +1.05V PCH Voltage Multi-adjustment Support CD: - Drivers, Utilities, AntiVirus Software (Trial Version), Google Chrome Browser and Toolbar Software and UEFI: Software - ASRock Motherboard Utility (A-Tuning) - ASRock Dragon 2.5G LAN Software - ASRock Polychrome SYNC * These utilities can be downloaded from ASRock Live Update & APP Shop. UEFI - ASRock EZ Mode - ASRock Full HD UEFI - ASRock My Favorites in UEFI - ASRock Auto Driver Installer - ASRock Instant Flash - ASRock Internet Flash - ASRock Easy RAID Installer Hardware Monitor: - Fan Tachometer: CPU, CPU/Water Pump, Chassis/Water Pump Fans - Quiet Fan (Auto adjust chassis fan speed by CPU temperature): CPU, CPU/Water Pump, Chassis/Water Pump Fans - Fan Multi-Speed Control: CPU, CPU/Water Pump, Chassis/Water Pump Fans - Voltage monitoring: CPU Vcore, PCH, DRAM, VCCIN AUX, +1.05V PROC, VCCSA, +1.8V PROC, +0.82V PCH, +12V, +5V, +3.3V OS: - Microsoft Windows 11 / 10 64-bit

Packaging

Package Contents	Accessories: - Quick Installation Guide, Support CD - 2 x SATA Data Cables - 4 x Screws for M.2 Sockets - 2 x Standoffs for M.2 Sockets - 1 x Graphics Card Holder

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