Gigabyte AORUS Z690 Elite AX DDR4 Packaging Image Leaks Online!

With Intel’s Alder Lake-S processors set for release on November 4th, there is clearly a lot of anticipation surrounding these new CPUs. Given that they are moving to a get LGA1700 socket, the (somewhat) bad news for those interested in these 12th-gen releases is that they will require a new motherboard. Albeit, we daresay that most of you who are interested in Alder Lake-S have probably known about this for some time now (the LGA1700 socket was first noted over a year ago).

In terms of the motherboard models, however, while it’s understood that there will be a number of Z690 designs made available at release, to date, there hasn’t been much concrete regarding them. Following a report via Videocardz, however, an image of the Gigabyte AORUS Z690 Elite AX’s packaging has been posted online, giving us our first semi-in-depth look at what we can expect!

Gigabyte AORUS Z690 Elite AX DDR4

Now, we’ll freely concede that the quality of the image is quite poor. In fact, when it comes to leaks like this, we sometimes wonder if they use the same photographic equipment used in UFO spottings. Based on the information listed on the packaging, however, it does appear to confirm the following:

• A pretty substantial 16+1+2 VRM design
• An overall aesthetic improvement is definitely noted on the last-gen model
• The board appears to feature 4 x M.2 slots
• Wireless (Wifi 6) connectivity
• PCIe Gen5 interface

The only mild downside is that this particular Z690 model is a DDR4 memory-based board. As such, we don’t really have any information (or even a look) at the DDR5 module or slot design here.

What Do We Think?

Despite packing some pretty beefy specs, it’s almost certain that this will not be Gigabyte’s top-spec board from its upcoming Z690 platform. This is, however, our first window into what we can potentially expect, and, overall, it seems that Gigabyte has an exceptionally nice motherboard on its hands here. Albeit, one that will likely carry a pricetag to match it!

What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!