Seems like a good deal for a Z690 motherboard that's a step above entry level and cheaper than comparable B660/H670 models.
It has a BIOS Flashback feature ready for 13th gen CPUs too.
ASRock Z690 PG Riptide LGA 1700 DDR4 ATX Motherboard $219 + Delivery @ BPC Technology
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Yeah but is Asrock….solid pass. Once you've had asrock, you'll never go back.
I've had 2 of them. Never an issue. Even OCing a bit.
I don't think using the brand alone to judge is a good idea. It really depends on the model.
I've had issues with Asus boards before. It was a memory compatibility issue. I had to return the Asus board and get a cheaper Asus board (basically the Z series chipset board I picked had some poor memory compatibility issue for some weird reason). What I found is that at low end, they can all be pretty ordinary.Honestly though, for the price range most of us are interested in, those boards are generally just okay, not that great.
I used two for friends builds, different generations, and both developed faults, total failure faults. Never again, and their replacements lasted over a decade+.
So it sounds like you're writing off the brand completely based off an experience from over ten years ago?
@samba: It's that very behaviour that has served me well.
That and over the years following hardware reviews, you'll soon learn where ASRock (assrock) cheapen out. Cheap VRMs lack of cooling, cheap heat stinks or none, motherboard build quality, lack of bios development, head in the sand on issues. I once read someone coined the term Jews of the computer industry. Fitting really. There's enough manufacturers to wipe one of the board. Much like Ford or RIP Holden, it's not like I'm missing out giving them the flick.
It's not like i'd want to make friends with someone I found to not like.
@Sheep Whisperer: What you described indicates those are low end boards. It's true that most people go ASRock due to the price and you do get what you paid for.
However, ASRock do have better boards. As for the BIOS, while I agree their AMD board BIOS isn't great compared to the main 3, the intel BIOS is decent from what I read.
If those ASRock boards are mid or high end ones, name them. We know MSI has junk X570 boards with hopeless VRMs (and MSI also have quality ones with great VRMs). I've never had luck with Asus boards, but because I did not get Asus' top of the range boards, I am not going to state Asus is rubbish. However, it is clear that Asus is good at cutting corners at the low end. Gigabyte's dual BIOS is good and bad.
Honestly, this brand X is bad is not objective at all, especially if you use "VRM" as an excuse because we know every time a new chipset is released, we need to go through and check the boards. If not, why do we care about those reviews? We just go the same brand every time.
Example, when I talked to a store staff about MSI X570 boards, the staff said to me, they are generally fine, except don't get 2 of the boards (and he named them). Those 2 are the cheapest MSI X570 boards (and yes, they do have el cheapo VRMs).
Car example: a relative has a Mercedes, it needed repairs every single year for the first 4 years. Extended warranty was purchased. Once that runs out, another 2 major repairs needed (both quite expensive). Upon research, it is quite common for that particular model to have those issues. Another family friend has issues with his BMW car (again, it is to do with the model). Both cars were made in Germany.
@Sheep Whisperer: From Wiki:
ASRock was originally spun off from Asus in 2002 in order to compete with companies like Foxconn for the commodity OEM market.
While they are separated now, you can still feel there is still some sort of relationship (and a bit of copying of some of the features). What I am most annoyed about Asus is that Asus knows how to cut corners on lower end boards. Asrock, I feel, takes that one step further. So, if you don't opt for an Asrock's mid range board, you are essentially looking a board that really does cut cost down. However, once you really analyse the boards in depth, you will notice all low end boards cut corners a bit too much.
There is also a tendency where one manufacturer did well in one series (i.e. B450 / X470) and then manufacturer stays put initially in the next series (X570) whereas other makers all caught up and overtake. After the initial reviews, that manufacturer realises the problem of staying put and starts to release improved low to mid range boards. That example is MSI. So this rely on brand is simply dangerous, especially for people who read reviews a lot.
I bought a second one (possibly even third thinking about it) - my last one worked fine for 5+ years and counting
had 2 asrock mobos, 1 mid range, 1 cheap and both were excellent value, no problems.
I'm on my third Asrock board, a Z690 Taichi & it's frankly awesome. Extremely high end specs, 20 power phases, Japanese caps etc etc I'm running i7-12700K lightly OC'd & 11 HD's, runs cool & beautiful (moving cog, led's etc). I previously had a Z390 Taichi for years, previously Fatal1ty Z77 - before that always Gigabyte, which were great a decade ago but wouldn't go near them nowadays.
I'm no fanboi just research & try to find stuff which is value for money & will last, and Asrock for me fits the bill. I don't like disinformation either, if you have a legitimate gripe with anything you should be prepared to put up the evidence (ownership experience is a good start) or shut up.
Grabbed one for a midrange build with some upgrade path in the future
Price looks good after some research
I own this board and can vouch for it. Running a 13600KF on it. Plenty of bios features. Very stable. Ive always heard bad things about ASRock but every time I've used one of their boards it's been rock solid (3 or 4 by now).
:( $27 Sydney delivery
Found it on MSY (pickup) for a bit cheaper for me
https://www.msy.com.au/product/asrock-z690-pg-riptide-lga-17…Hmmm..Bad VRM temps on this boards..
https://www.hardwarecooking.fr/test-asrock-z690-pg-riptide-u…
but the comparision is to much better / expensive boards..
wouldn't be putting more than a 12600k/ 13600K to this board..
Don't let these temperature value cloud your decision making, most users not gonna push the CPU to draw the power seen in stress test.
This board has some good features, rear UCB-C, 2.5 GB LAN, 3 M.2 slots, GPU support, Bios flashback. A B660 price on a Z690.As you pointed out, it is not a fair comparison. Because all the other boards are at least a tier above. AsRock Taichi is there and it does well. We are also seeing MSI Tomahawk there. It generally does well, but there is still a small gap between it and the other higher tier motherboards (in terms of max PCB temperature).
If you care about VRM performance, then PG Riptide is not for you. Do bear in mind:
- The review did state: it's also the most "entry-level" Z690 board that we tested.
- The test was done using i9-12900K.
So, no, don't get this with an i9. This is an entry level board so probably for i5 and i7.
the i7-13700K is pretty much identical in cores and structure as the i9-12900K,
so you should avoid this board with the 13th gen i7 as well..
You're looking at the VRM performance under worst case test conditions, in a review that doesn't specify how much airflow is flowing over the heatsinks/socket area.
We set the CPU frequency at 5.1 GHz and our measured Vcore is 1.393 V at the multimeter for a target at 1.392 V.
To heat up the VRMs of this motherboard, we run a one-hour stress test on Prime95. A stress test that will put a strain on the processor and therefore the power stage. Note, however, that under normal conditions of use we never reach such a level of VRM and CPU usage, at least not over such a long period of time.Realistically nobody's slamming 350W of CPU power into this board pegged at 100% AVX load 24/7. It'll handle a 12900K/13700K just fine. Anyone in the market for a 13900K will likely go for DDR5 and extreme overclockers would be looking elsewhere anyway.
Gigabyte Z690M AORUS ELITE AX is better choice or not?
Asrock intel boards are not well recieved by reviewers so typically any other well known brand is a better option.. asrock tend to cheap out on the power delivery for the lower end Z's to the point that they can't run the higher end chips at their boost levels when on load defeating the purpose of them being open to overclocking….
My advice is to watch some reviews and compare the features you need, i typically go to HUB (hardware unboxed) for MB reviews … just keep in mind most reviewers test things at their limits and the thinking is if they run fine at their limit then every day use is going to be no issue's. :)
thanks so much
Gigabyte is probably the better board, but its m-atx and more expensive so not 100% comparable
As far as asrock, this board reviewed pretty well when i checked last night, its more bang for your buck than the best board out there
It's hard to get an objective view on this because most people here have their perception on brands. While I will try to be objective, please do your research and consider my view as subjective.
- Z690M AORUS ELITE AX is a microATX board, whereas the ASRock is an ATX board.
- In most aspects, Z690M AORUS ELITE AX is better, but it cuts corners in slightly different ways.
- The second PCIe x16 slot (which runs at x4) is PCIe gen 3. That's disappointing since this is a Z690 board.
- While wifi is included, Gigabyte opted for Wifi ax, instead of Wifi 6E or Wifi 6.
- BIOS flashback is on the board itself, instead of at the back of the motherboard (probably not an issue since it is something you normally use only once when you first set up your system (due to new CPU requiring a BIOS upgrade)).
- I doubt you care about the extra SATA port on the AsRock board (it's really only 1 extra because when you use all 3 m.2 slots, the final SATA port cannot be used).
- PS2 port and the high refresh rate USB ports probably not a big deal. 4 extra USB 2.0 ports on the gigabyte can be quite handy.
So, the real bummer (for me) is PCIe gen 3 on the x4. And, while you could get a Wifi 6E card and put it in the ASRock, it is time consuming and not pleasant (also not that cheap). The 2 PCIe x1 slots are really a non issue. To be fair, PCIe gen 3 x4 is sufficient for Thunderbolt 4.
Great answer in detail. Thanks
That's a quality MB compared to this. I have an ozbargain'd Gigabyte Z590 Aorus Master wifi 6E, lovely mobo, quality bit of kit.
Z590 Aorus Master is in a different class altogether. Proper PCIe Bifurcation.
This is a Z class motherboard though.
yeah nah assrock
Nothing wrong with ASRock - had several of their mid-tier boards and never had an issue. Some people place way too much emphasis on motherboard 'quality'.
Or rock solid stability, that just happens to be printed on the box.
Good deal for an ATX Z690.