We already know Intel Alder Lake CPUs are going to perform best on Windows 11 due to the Microsoft operating system taking full advantage of Alder Lakes infrastructure, but you’ll need the right motherboard to use it.

When is the Z690 Chipset release date?

We know Z690 motherboards will drop on November 19th, 2021, but there’s bound to be more details on the launch revealed during the Intel Innovation digital event. You can catch this over two days, October 27th and 28th, with Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger’s keynote premiering today at 9 AM Pacific. All the details you need are right here.

Z690 Specifications and features

Z690 marks the debut of the 600 chipset series, designed specifically to make the most out of the Intel Alder Lake series CPU. Supporting K and Non-K chips (K chips are favored by users looking to overclock CPUs thanks to a slightly higher headroom on processing power), the chipset will also support DDR5 alongside DDR4. It’s nice to see the backward compatibility, but you’ll probably want to go for DDR5 RAM to take full advantage of the Alder Lake infrastructure.

PCIe Gen 5 is supported alongside some enhanced overclocking abilities, which means users will be able to get the most out of the chipset and Alder Lake out of the box. Make sure to do some research on max clock speeds for the CPU in mind first though, no one wants to burn out their CPU on day one. The CPU socket is switching from LGA 1200s square socket to LGA 1700 socket, a rectangular configuration that will require new coolers or brackets from your existing cooler manufacturer.

Where to buy a Z690 motherboard

Z690 Scan Computers:

Z690 on Amazon

Z690 on Best Buy

Z690 at eBuyer

Z690 at Overclockers

Z690 at Novatech

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About the Author

Christian Wait

Christian 'Reggie' Waits' is a contributor to PC Guide, having written a wide array of how to and buying guide content.