Closer Look
Colorful CVN Z690M Gaming Frozen V20 arrived in a retail package which well described in a similar way as most gaming series motherboards. On the back, we have a picture of the motherboard and listed specifications and key features. The box design is similar to that of the previously reviewed CVN motherboards.
We will find a well-protected motherboard, user’s manual, drivers and software DVD, SATA data cables, and WiFi antennas inside the box. The I/O shield is pre-installed which is a good step compared to previous models where it was separated.
The motherboard itself looks great, especially due to the white PCB. The same as in the last Gaming Frozen motherboard that I reviewed, also here I wish to see heatsinks be white instead of silver. I’m also not sure what 69 means and without it, it would look better.
The motherboard doesn’t have any fans or anything else that could make noise. It’s of course an advantage.
On the motherboard are two M.2 sockets, which is more than enough for most users. Both M.2 sockets are PCIe 4.0 x4 and the second one also supports Optane and SATA storage. I wish to see a second PCIe x16 but I doubt it would be in use by many users.
The PCIe x16 slot is strengthened and compatible with PCIe 5.0. With the current graphics cards, it runs at full PCIe 4.0 x16 bandwidth. On the test graphics card, we could reach close to 26GB/s, so about the same as on other top motherboards.
The motherboard is equipped with Intel 2.5Gbps LAN and Intel 6 WiFi/Bluetooth. Both are optimal for a modern PC and are available in higher series motherboards.
The motherboard supports up to 128GB RAM in 32GB modules. It also supports up to DDR4-4400+. On our test rig, we couldn’t reach DDR4-4400 but we were more focused on how high it will work in Gear 1 mode. In our case, it was DDR4-3800.
The motherboard is also equipped with single HDMI and single DVI outputs. This is also popular in Z690 motherboards and provides all the available display resolutions for integrated Intel graphics.
There are more detailed specifications on the next page, so let’s move there to check additional components that were not described yet.
