ASRock Z690 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB4

The ASRock Z690 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB4 falls into a sub-niche market which already has a host of hurdles to overcome. First, let's discuss the initial price point. ITX motherboards generally cost the same as the mid-range offerings, but have less features overall. The saying "less is more" does not apply here. You are essentially paying more because the small form factor is a premium feature in and of itself. That being said, ASRock does keep it competitive with Gigabyte, ASUS, and MSI, which all offer at least one Z690 ITX motherboard.

I enjoy Mini ITX, as I'm always amazed at how much high-performance gear motherboard makers can stuff into such a small footprint. And yes, with PCIe 5.0 graphics, a duo of M2 slots even overclocking capability thanks to a robust VRM, we just can't complain. ASRock stuffed this motherboard with premium features, yet ~300 USD/EUR is a lot of money. Having said that, I am not dissatisfied with this product whatsoever. Among the premium features are dual M2 slots, WIFI6E, and 2.5 GigE. There's also the single M2 shield and, of course, the sheer performance, as the Z690 chipset with an Alder Lake CPU and feature set performs extremely well. Additionally, the 17x17cm board supports three SATA3 drivers. Thus, your bases are covered (and all your base are belong to us). To summarize, if you're looking for a tiny yet robust motherboard capable of housing 12th Gen Intel multi-core processors, the ASRock Z690 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB4 should be at the top of your list. The performance of the storage, network and audio solutions are good.