November 2021 marks the generational dozen mark with Intel's desktop Core processors, and 12th Generation Core is shaping up to be one to remember. Intel’s new "Alder Lake" hardware, with its performance-and-efficiency-core design, is unquestionably the most revolutionary entry in Intel’s consumer-CPU product lines that we’ve seen in a decade. We’ve already covered the new CPU design in detail in our review of the flagship Core i9-12900K and the accompanying Z690 platform. (Hit those links for much more on both aspects.) Now it’s time to dig into the cutting-edge motherboard designs based on the Z690 chipset. (For an overview, we have a breakdown of more than two dozen of the initial Z690 offerings.) We’re kicking things off on the review front, though, with Asus’ flagship motherboard, the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero ($599.99). This board has many enhancements over its predecessor that from day one eclipse the now outdated Z590 platform introduced earlier this year for 11th Generation "...
The Asus ROG Maximus Z690 Hero is a well-built, top-end motherboard for Intel 12th Generation Core that’s easy to work with, and packs Thunderbolt 4 and a top-tier power design. Sky-high pricing is our only reservation.
Solid build quality; 90-amp power phases; Twin Thunderbolt 4 ports; Above-average ease-of-build features, including nifty PCIe slot release, swiveling M.2 mounts; Works with existing LGA 1200 CPU coolers
Lofty pricing; Hardwired Ethernet is "just" 2.5Gbps LAN