Although it is said that when the 12th generation Intel processors were released, the official team mainly used a new generation of DDR5 memory to achieve better performance. However, given the current market price and arrival status of DDR5 memory, it is not a combination at this stage. Good choice. And Chen Ba also used DDR4 memory for actual measurement in the second wave of actual measurement (Intel 12th generation Core processor and DDR4 memory are the mainstream choice for both measured performance and price), and today I want to introduce in detail, that is, matching The ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 motherboard was used when testing DDR4 memory.

●ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 motherboard unpacking and appearance

First of all, let's take a look at the unpacking and appearance of ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4. Compared with the red and black noble color matching of ROG series, TUF feels relatively "simple".

The boxed front of the ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 motherboard, in addition to the actual image of the motherboard, there are many additional specifications of the TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4, including dts audio decoding support, ASUS AURA SYNC. Lighting synchronization, ARGB Gen2 lighting support, and more.

Additional specifications supported by ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 motherboard, including dts audio decoding, HDMI output, WiFi 6 wireless network, PCIe 5.0 Ready, ASUS AURA lighting effect synchronization, etc.

The back of the ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 motherboard box, details the types and numbers of main ports, and lists four major hardware features, including USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 ports, four M.2 SSD slots, bidirectional AI Voice noise reduction and 2.5G gaming network configuration.

Internal accessories of ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 motherboard, including manual, sticker, reliability certificate, SATA transmission cable, WiFi antenna, program CD and M.2 SSD fixing screws.

ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 The front of the motherboard body. TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 is considered a mid-level positioning level in the Z690 chipset motherboard, including the processor power supply design, PCIe slot configuration, M.2 SSD slot, and the configuration of the motherboard's built-in ports, all of which are similar to the mid-to-high level. There is a gap in the ROG series with high-end positioning, which is also related to the fact that most of the motherboard manufacturers will be equipped with DDR4 memory products, and the positioning is set below the mid-level.

Top half configuration of ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 motherboard.

But even so, the ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 motherboard should not be too bad, such as the VRM heat sink design to increase the processing and the extension of the first set of M.2 SSD heat sink design, basically still It can provide certain overclocking capability when paired with Intel 12th Gen K version unlocked processors.

The processor power supply design and heat dissipation layout of the ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 motherboard, you can see that the processor power supply socket is 8+4 Pin design, the power supply module is also covered with a large metal heat sink, and through the multi-layer + The three-dimensional notch method increases the air contact area and improves the heat dissipation efficiency.

From an oblique perspective, the heat dissipation design of the ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 motherboard processor power supply adopts the configuration of two sets of heat sinks, and the heat sink on the left is integrated with the motherboard IO cover.

The processor power supply socket is an 8+4 Pin configuration, and the socket has not been strengthened.

After removing the processor power supply and cooling module, the processor power supply configuration of the ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 motherboard adopts 14+1 DrMOS power stages, 80A per phase configuration.

ASP 1200 responsible for processor core and internal display power control.

There is also a thermally conductive adhesive strip behind the heat sink of the processor power supply module to connect with the power supply module.

On the memory side, the ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 motherboard provides four sets of DIMM slots, which can accommodate up to 128 GB of memory (32 GB x 4 configuration). The maximum overclocking clock is DDR4-5133. In addition, only one set of CPU-FAN and CPU-OPT 4-Pin sockets are provided in the processor fan section.

The motherboard IO interface on the storage side, from top to bottom, is the motherboard ATX 24 Pin power input, USB 3.2 Gen 2 front panel cable socket (Type-C) and USB 3.2 Gen 1 front panel socket (can connect two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port).

The lower half of the ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 motherboard is configured, you can see the M.2 SSD slots on the upper and lower sides, and the configuration with a large metal heat sink above the Z690 chipset. In the PCIe slot section, a set of PCIe x 16 (Gen 5), a set of PCIe x1 (Gen 3), a set of PCIe x 4 (Gen 3), and a set of PCIe x1 (Gen 3) are provided from top to bottom , a set of PCIe x16 (Gen 3 specification, support x4 mode), a total of five sets of PCIe slots, except the first set of PCIe x16 slots are designed for direct connection to the processor, the rest are connected to the Z690 chipset.

In the M.2 SSD slot section, the ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 motherboard provides a total of four sets of M.2 SSD slots, all of which are PCIe Gen 4x4 specifications. The second set of M.2 SSD slots also supports SATA Mode.

This time, the Q-Latch SSD quick-installation screws commonly found on the Z690 chipset motherboard are also available in the ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4, providing a more convenient SSD installation/expansion option.

Z690 chipset heatsink design for ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 motherboard.

Removing the heatsink reveals the Z690 chipset underneath.

There is also a configuration of thermally conductive adhesive on the back of the heatsink.

As for the SATA interface, ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 provides two sets of 6Gbps connection sockets on the side and bottom of the motherboard respectively. There is no conflict in the channel configuration part. It can be said that this time ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 is expanding. In terms of port configuration, the configuration provided by the Z690 chipset is not fully utilized.

The bottom configuration of ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 motherboard, from left to right are Thunderbolt expansion card cable socket, addressable RGB lighting effect pin x2, USB 2.0 cable socket x2, 4 Pin chassis fan power socket x1, SATA 6 Gbps socket x2, 4 Pin chassis fan power socket x1, front panel connection pin group.

The connection configuration on the other side of the bottom of the ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 motherboard, from left to right are the chassis audio panel socket, COM Port socket and 4 Pin chassis fan power socket, retaining the RS-232 COM Port in today's It's pretty rare already. In addition, on the far left, you can see the AFE1230E sound effect chip covered with a metal casing, and has an insulation barrier design with the main circuit.

The IO configuration of ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 motherboard, from left to right are DisplaPort 1.4 port (top), HDMI 2.1 port (bottom) (both support up to 4K60p resolution), USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A Ports x4 (blue), USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C port, 2.5 Gbps wired network port, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port x2 (green), USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C port, WiFi 6 wireless network antenna, SPDIF optical output, 3.5 mm audio jack x 5.

Xiangshuo ASM1074 model in charge of USB 3.0/2.0 interface">ASM1074 model">ASM1074 model">ASM1074 model">ASM1074 model">ASM1074 model">ASM1074 model">ASM1074 model">ASM1074 model">ASM1074 model">ASM1074 Model">ASM1074Model">ASM1074Model">ASM1074Model">ASM1074Model">ASM1074Model">ASM1074Model">ASM1074.

The 2.5 Gbps wired network is unsurprisingly powered by the Intel i225v solution.

The wireless network is Intel AX201 wireless network card, which provides WiFi 6 wireless network and Bluetooth 5.1 connection specifications.

Responsible for USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 is the Realtek RTS 5463 controller chip, which provides 20 Gbps of transmission bandwidth.

Chen Ba actually connected the SILVERSTONE MS12 M.2 SSD external box equipped with the ASM2364 bridge chip for testing, and the data came out as follows:

●ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 motherboard BIOS and performance test

Next, install the processor, memory, SSD and other components to see the performance configuration of the ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 motherboard. The following are the system combinations tested:

○ Processor: Intel Core i9-12900K

○Memory: G.Skill Trident Z Royal DDR4-3600 C16 8GB x2

○ System SSD: Samsung 980 Pro 1TB

○Power supply: Seasonic TX-1000

○ Cooling system: ROG RYUJIN 2 360 AIO

○ Operating system: Windows 11 Pro 21H2

The state of the testbed this time.

●ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 motherboard BIOS settings

First of all, let’s look at the BIOS part. The following is the state of the ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 motherboard after loading the default values. Compared with the ROG series motherboard, the TUF series provides a simple and graphical interface mode. First of all, Chen Ba Let's start with this mode.

After loading the default value and turning it on, you can see that the maximum clock frequency of the Core i9-12900K processor is set to 4.9 GHz, and the XMP memory overclocking settings are not applied.

Air-cooled overclocking

water cooling overclocking

In this setting mode, the ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 motherboard provides a simple one-click overclocking option. In addition to the default "Normal" mode, it also provides "Air Cooling Overclocking" and "Water Cooling Overclocking". Options, mainly set for the processor's PL1 power wall limit.

And this mode only provides one set of XMP memory overclocking profiles to apply.

Even in easy mode, you can enter the Q-Fan function menu to adjust the fan operation mode.

After entering the "advanced mode", there are more XMP modes that can be applied, but it still depends on the settings of the memory module itself, and the highest frequency of the P-Core performance core is also improved.

Under the Ai Tweaker function, you can set the frequency multiplier limit for individual P-Core performance cores.

Efficient Core The core part of the efficiency is set in groups.

In addition, if it is set to water-cooled overclocking in easy mode, the power consumption limit part of the processor PL1 will be automatically adjusted to the highest value of 4096w.

Adjustment fields for processor and memory voltages.

Adjustment field for processor core work.

Setting fields for the M.2_1 SSD slot and PCIe x16 slot directly connected to the processor.

Storage interface settings in the SATA section.

Re-Size BAR function support for direct access to graphics card memory is also provided.

Control page for individual USB ports.

The settings page of the built-in device.

Provides system temperature, fan speed, and voltage monitoring functions, and can perform Q-Fan fan settings here.

Then apply the XMP memory overclocking settings in the easy mode, and set the "water cooling overclocking" mode for testing. The maximum clock frequency of the processor set by the motherboard itself is 5.0 GHz.

●ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 motherboard performance test

Then, under the above settings, do a simple test of the core performance of the system. The following are the test results:

First use CPU-Z to see the information of the motherboard.

In the CPU-Z performance test project, the single-core score was 808.6, and the multi-core score was 11673.1.

In the CineBench processor core performance test section, the R15's score is single-core 282 cb/multi-core 3978 cb, R20 is single-core 752 pts/multi-core 10129 pts, and R23 is single-core 1957 pts/multi-core 27168 pts.

In the CPU PROFILE test item of 3DMark, the performance score of a single core is 1100, and the performance score of the maximum number of cores is 12109.

As far as the core performance performance is concerned, the power supply design of the ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 motherboard can withstand the requirements of the Intel Core i9-12900K under the 5.0GHz setting of automatic overclocking as long as it is equipped with sufficient processor cooling solutions. So what if you go to a higher setting? Chen Ba used the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility (XTU) overclocking application to set the settings. The following are the test results:

Using the automatic optimization function in the Intel XTU program to set, the maximum core clock obtained is 5.1GHz.

Enter the advanced adjustment page to see the detailed settings, and set the processor power consumption limit to "Unlimited".

It can be seen that under the automatic setting of XTU, the Intel Core i9-12900K is adjusted to the official overclocking limit: the P-Core performance core part is 5.3 GHz x1, 5.2 GHz x1, 5.1 GHz x6, and the E-Core efficiency core is All-core 4.0 GHz setting.

pressure test

AVX Stress Test

AVX2 Stress Test

It can be seen that under Intel's official default overclocking settings, although the temperature wall hits a lot of times, the overall level is maintained at 5.1 GHz, and the processor power consumption is around 250 to 260 W.

Chen Ba also used the FILR infrared thermometer to measure the surface temperature of the heat sink of the processor power supply module during the processor stress test. The values captured are as follows:

overall

side

above

Group 1 M.2

The surface temperature of the processor power supply cooling module can be controlled within about 50 °C, which is indeed helpful compared to the large heat dissipation design of high-end motherboards.

●ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 motherboard out-of-box test summary

Although Intel officially released the 12th generation Core processor with DDR5 memory as the main push, but judging from the current shortage of DDR5 memory on the market and the price situation, the main force of consumers will still choose DDR4 memory. Although this ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 motherboard is not a high-end motherboard in terms of product positioning, but in terms of materials and heat dissipation configuration, it can withstand the Core i9-12900K in automatic overclocking settings The only difference is the configuration of PCIe expansion card slots and Thunderbolt 4 ports, which is still far from high-end motherboards. If there is no need for future expansion in this regard, ASUS TUF GAMING Z690 PLUS WIFI D4 motherboard It's quite an affordable option.