Gigabyte’s Z690 Aorus Xtreme Leaks, Features Two PCIe 5.0 x16 Slots

With only about two weeks until Intel’s official launch of its Alder Lake CPUs and the Z690 chipset, it would appear that the leaks are getting kicked up a notch and the latest leak is a rather intriguing one to say the least. Gigabytes Z690 Aorus Xtreme is a rather unusual looking motherboard, in as much as you can make a motherboard that look unusual, least not with regards to the slot placement, but also for the peculiar cover over the DRAM slots.

It’s not quite clear what the function of the memory cover is beyond aesthetics, if any, but it seems unlikely that it has an integrated LCD screen, although not improbable. Pretty much the entire board is covered in either metal or plastic, which makes this look like a real chore to build, at least if you’re planning on using M.2 SSDs. The standout feature here is that the board features a pair of PCIe 5.0 x16 slots, although as per current consumer boards, the bandwidth would be shared between the slots if the second one is used, so both slots end up as x8 slots. There’s also a third PCIe x16 slot, but no indication of the bandwidth available to it.

Other features include an onboard 10 Gbps Ethernet controller courtesy of the Marvell AQC113C, as well as a 2.5 Gbps Ethernet controller and of course 802.11ax Wi-Fi. The board is also said to feature at least one Thunderbolt 4 port, as well as three M.2 slots. A few other observations include a 90 degree angled cut-out for a case mounted USB-C port, a rather unusual looking ATX power connector and support for an ESS DAC, as seen on many other high-end boards from Gigabyte. Finally we can spot a Post 80 debug LED, what appears to be right angled front panel connectors and a couple of buttons that should be for power and reset. No word on potential pricing, but if you have to ask, you most likely won’t be able to afford it.