About $100 cheaper compared to elsewhere. It is bit expensive for what it is, but these premium ITX Z690 motherboards haven't really come down in the price over the past year.
Scorptec $639 - https://www.centrecom.com.au/msi-meg-z690i-unify-d5-wi-fi-lg…
PCCG - $599 - https://www.pccasegear.com/products/56422/msi-meg-z690i-unif…
CentreCom - $589 - https://www.centrecom.com.au/msi-meg-z690i-unify-d5-wi-fi-lg…
Edit: BPC will do BIOS update for $10 to support 13th Gen.
Once you got ITX, it's hard to go back to Micro ATX or ATX - Depends on what you want from case design/form factor/does it meet your desired specs. I ended up going for the CoolerMaster NR200P, it's a case with a 850W PSU and 280mm AIO built into the chassis. It's a $500 solution but at least you get three parts in one. I have also stuffed a 13700k/4080 into it!
I'm planning on doing the exact same build or maybe even one with Dan A4 H2O.
Can you share your parts list?
What happens if one of the PSU or the AIO cooler fails? Do you have to scrap the entire thing?
They are all seperate parts and can be replaced with like for like CM parts or other brands.
I bought this one last month on Amazon for $522, pls note that, the thunderbolt ports on this one has some flaws with no turning off usb security function in BIOS, which requires rebooting a few times when going back from sleeping/turning off, otherwise it would not fuctioning properly with thunderbolt display and/or any thunderbolt docks, still hasn't fix till now. And no BIOS flash back to support 13th gen! Fk I need to spend $30 on scroptec to let them flash for me, pls ask BPC to do it for you if they do it for free.
Thanks for the insights - can you elaborate on "bios flash back to support 13th gen" i thought you could just do this yourself post-purchase?
Í'm assuming he has a 13th gen CPU so needs a BIOS update to support 13th gen on Z690 mobo.
You can do it urself only if you have a 12th gen cpu
For $40 I bought a Celeron G6900 with included intel box cooler s/h. I'd rather pay $10 extra and have a CPU/cooler spare than pay $30 for some spotty 15 year old kid to spend 5 minutes doing a BIOS update
$40 is not retail price, and G6900 is really hard to find, I have tried to buy 12gen i3 then sell it, ended up saving the time to assemble, thermal paste… Just paid $30.
That's why I said I bought it s/h (second-hand) for $40. ;)
Wait this board doesn't have BIOS flash back? That's really poor considering the price point…
FYI BPC will do BIOS update for $10
I bought it this month on Amazon for $519 but I did find the BIOS version to be v17 which means it is 13th ready out of the box with no BIOS flashing required (or you can use your current 13th gen chip to upgrade to the latest). Though I only found this out when I went to the local computer shop and the guy charged me $40 to flash the BIOS as I do not know what version of BIOS it is shipped with without turning it on so $40 wasted for me.
I am not sure if the BPC stock would come with v17 BIOS already. It is a chicken and egg situation which is really annoying. Though it doesnt hurt to just take a gamble and stick in the 13th gen chip to see if it post. If it doesn't post then updating BIOS is obviously required.
Beside the BIOS update issue, I can vouch this board is of highest qualify and based on limited my research, it is better than the ROG Strix z690i (or maybe even the z790i) as it has way more features.
I know this board remains more expensive than the MSI MPG z790i as the MEG line is the top tier (MEG > MPG > MAG).
I've touched base with BPC and they can do the BIOS update for $10.
If your budget can't stretch to $500. Seems this Gigabyte z690 Aorus Ultra Lite ITX is a decent price at $200. https://www.bpctech.com.au/product/ga-z690i-a-ultra-lite-d4-…
Hmm, DDR4 though.
Unless you are running a 13900k the performance differences in most tasks between DDR4 & DDR5 on intel CPUs are minimal and not worth the extra outlay for MB and RAM. If you are running the latest Ryzen CPUs however, DDR5 can make a difference.
PCIE gen3, and this model has recalled before
Again, PCIE gen 3 to gen 4 doesn't matter unless you plan to build with the latest high-end AMD 7900xt/xtx or 4080/90 GPUs. All are relevant to the budget and ITX form factor unless you build in one of the bigger ITX cases (RTX 4080/4090) won't fit in most ITX cases with a couple of exceptions.
If you want budget ASRock better or just get b660i
Point is more that you’re spending $500 for a board with gen3 and ddr4…
@SmoothCactus: The MSI MEG Z690 Unify runs DDR5 and PCiE gen 5 and is $500. The gigabyte z690 Aorus Ultra Lite is DDR4 and PCIE gen 3 and is $200. You would need a RTX 3090 and about to use all of the bandwidth in a PCIe gen 3 slot.
My point is…. Most people who buy the Gigabyte Aorus board won't be pairing it with a RTX4090 or 12900k/13900k. That would be where the MSI Unify board would come in for a top end build. If you are spending $3.5k on a CPU & GPU are you really gonna cheap out on a $200 motherboard? Of course not. The Gigabyte would fit into a current mid tier gaming PC build just fine.
Does the Aorus have wireless ? else could be a bit of an issue with limited expansion slots …..
Yes. Wi-Fi 6
I'd love a mini ITX but soo much more expensive than mini ATX for MB, case and power supply.