ASUS ROG Strix Z690-E Gaming WiFi Preview

Up Close – The Grand Tour

Starting as always with the top left hand corner and then working our way around, the Strix E begins with two Pro-Cool 8pin 12V power inputs next door to a ‘slender fingers only’ fan header. With the newly enlarged heatsink it’s a tight fit.

  

There are a lot of stickers placed on the Strix PCB that shout about its accomplishments and potential. It’s like being trapped in a lift with an American college student. Hopefully it’s not all hot air. Speaking of which the top edge has another two fan headers to help you keep your Alder Lake processor cool.

  

Moving down the right edge we have both Type-A and Type-C USB headers, with the Type-C model the 2X2 type for 20Gb of transfer speed. The keen eyed will also spot the rather unusual request that we “Well place this cover while removing processor”. Firmly replace? Replace? Carefully replace? Hmm.

  

On the side we have the six SATA ports just above another two useful fan headers, perfect for those front fans that are the bedrock of your system cooling. It does also give us an excuse to take a closer look at the many layered chipset heatsink, of which we’re big fans.

  

The buttom edge is, thankfully, not as busy as the Maximus Formula was, but there is still plenty to note. Front panel connectors, fan headers, temperature sensros, USB 2.0 front panel connectors and a very easy-access CMOS Batter are just the start.

  

Next to those the other two RGB/ARGB headers for connecting your light show to the AURA software, and rounded off with the SupremeFX audio. That M.2 heatsink is enormous, thanks to having two M.2 slots beneath it.

  

The top left shows us another take on the new colour scheme of the Strix, all blues and purples. It’s very nice and certainly a big step up from the glitch-font that made us despair on the last gen.

  

Onwards!