The BIOS:
As far as the BIOS is concerned, at first glance, we can see that we are at Asus. Those who are used to the brand will find it without any difficulty. As a reminder, the tab that will interest us the most is “Extreme Tweaker”. Before starting, we remind you that it is essential to regularly update your BIOS. The advantage of a card like this APEX, is to have two BIOS. You can test a new one while keeping the previous one. For those who tinker, this is a real plus! The bios captures were made with the XMP profile of our Corsair kit activated. The other new option is ” Memory controller: DRAM Frequency Ratio ” which arrived with Rocket Lake. You will have the right between Gear 1, Gear 2 and Gear 4. Be aware that in most cases, it will be the Gear 2. The Gear 4 solution is there, for kits > 7000 MHz.
The ” Loadline calibration ” is in auto mode for comparative tests but we will come back to its function when overclocking the i9-12900K. The other sections are present since the previous generations and allow you to flash your motherboard, to control the speed of the fans and to create test profiles.
The different voltages :
We will see in the ” overclocking ” section, the most important voltages for the CPU as well as for boosting the DDR5 memory.
Be aware that it is possible to disable the E-core but that the performance of your processor then takes a serious blow. We’ll tell you about it in the rest of the article.
Finally, saving profiles is highly recommended when performing tests. It saves time. You can also save them on a USB key.
Hydranode functionality:
Asus again offers 4-pin connectors that support a new connection standard called Hydronaude (test here). With a single plug, it is now possible to control up to 3 fans, while maintaining control over each of them individually. Activation is done via the BIOS and control via the Asus AI Suite III utility and more specifically the Fan Xpert 4section.
Integrated Memtest86 :
YES, one of the new features of this Maximus XIII APEX is the integration within the BIOS of Memtest86 in the ” Tool ” section. This will allow you to identify memory problems with a single click. The software will test your memory kit and reveal errors if it encounters any during the various tests.
LN2 mode :
There is a LN2 mode, which must be activated via a jumper placed on the PCB. Be careful, this one is really dedicated to cold tests, so don’t activate it for air/water tests because some safety devices will be automatically disabled. Once this one is activated, there is a LN2 CPU profile.
Once we have finished our tour of the Z690 motherboards in the lab, we will be sure to test our CPUs under liquid nitrogen. Don’t hesitate to ask for advice on our forum and discord if you encounter any problems when setting up your BIOS.
