ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero

Mit der 14. Maximus-Serie nimmt Hersteller ASUS Abschied von den klassischen römischen Zahlen für die Modellbezeichnung, sondern setzt konsequent auf die Chipsatz-Nomenklatur. Auch für Intels Alder-Lake-S-Prozessoren ist das Hero-Mainboard wieder hoch im Kurs, sodass wir es natürlich selbst auf den Prüfstand stellen. Lohnt sich der hohe Anschaffungspreis?

ASUS delivers a compelling infrastructure for Alder Lake with the all new Hero. So who's this motherboard intended for? Well, for those looking for high-end and somewhat extreme features, the HERO series from ASUS is a great choice. Three M.2 slots + two extra on that sweet PCIe Gen 5.0 ready add-in card, overclocking assistance, a more efficient, very luxurious power delivery setup. Then all the USB ports (including Thunderbolt), RGB display, physical buttons for BIOS switching, and a 2.5G LAN connection are all available to you on this motherboard. All things combined make the however a solid foundation for an enthusiast build or a creator PC, depending on your preferences. The answer to the question "should you buy this motherboard?" boils down to how much money you have to spend on it and what requirements you need as this motherboard will be priced at just over 600 EUR/USD. In our belief for lots of people, Alder Lake is what they've been waiting for, a completely new architecture with improved IPC and fabulous overall performance, so lots of people will make the step to upgrade as it also brings PCIe Gen 4.0 and 5.0 as well as DDR5 support and WIFI6E to the table. You'll also receive a sweet audio codec and integrated Wi-Fi 6E technology, as opposed to the others that have been around for a while and so employ last-generation audio and Wi-Fi 6. This board has everything you could ever want in a high-end-class component, thanks to its strong VRMs and cutting-edge features. The BIOS is refined, and overall it'll serve all your needs and then some. If you're looking for an excellent Z690 motherboard and have a budget of roughly $600, the ROG Maximus Z690 HERO is highly recommended albeit pricy.