Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Pro Review

Conclusion

It's easy when looking at the various motherboard options available to you with the Z690 chipset to get carried away investigating the minutae of every result and convincing yourself that you need to push your budget to unsustainable levels to make the most from your latest investment.

With the Gigabyte Aorus Pro we think that the Taiwanese company have hit the sweet spot between price and potential. It's £280, which isn't insignificant but neither is it the kind of motherboard investment that costs the earth. For example, this and a Core i9-12900K cost the same as the Aorus Xtreme. Exactly. That isn't to decry the Xtreme, which is spectacular if you want all the bells and whistles, but if you merely want as many bells and whistles as you would realistically use, and you want it in a package that delivers all the newest "5" technology - DDR5, PCI Express 5.0 - then the Pro is right up your alley.

As you could see from our testing, most of the Z690 motherboards produce very similar results and the Aorus Pro is no exception. A tenth of a point here and there is something you haven't a chance of noticing in real world usage, and our time with the Aorus Pro didn't leave us scratching our heads at why we were waiting for so long for something to happen. It was relentlessly consistent. Okay it didn't hit new heights of excellence, but you're getting a motherboard with more than enough performance, and plenty of connectivity options, and getting it for under £300, which is the price that seems the norm for even averagely capable motherboards these days.

If we had to make any criticisms they are purely aesthetic ones. We actively hate the glitchy Aorus screaming eagle logo on the chipset heatsink, particularly when you compare it to the glorious one on the packaging. Similarly the heatsinks were all designed with a set square and a ruler, and we like a little curvaceousness in our life. We can tolerate some squareness as the nature of the beast, but this is bordering on a math lesson.

With a good selection of connection options and all the new features that the Z690 chipset has brought to the world, wrapped up in an attractive price point the Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Pro wins our OC3D Gamers Choice Award.

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