EVGA Introduces Z690 DARK K|NGP|N Motherboard ($829.99) for 12th Gen Intel Core Processors

[Grimlakin]

If I could do something else with the interface, I'd say the same - but it's a convenience in the rare event that it's needed, which may be well after the board is repurposed down the road.

And it's like $10 and a switch the the BIOS when it's not needed. Costs more to add it later, so for $10?

If a desktop isn't on a wired connection that's a problem worth spending more than 10 dollars to correct. At least in my mind.

 

[Brian_B]

In my limited experience, on board Wi-Fi was either inferior to an external third party add on, or had very unsightly antenna that were difficult to get in good position where I tend to set my computers

That said, I don’t see why you need different SKUs for this when it could just as easily be an add-on accessory purchased separately or bundled, or even (to my non-preference) just included by default

You could make the same argument for sound, nics, etc

 

[LazyGamer]

If a desktop isn't on a wired connection that's a problem worth spending more than 10 dollars to correct. At least in my mind.

I don't disagree on a permanent basis - but I've done plenty of more temporary stuff where I've been thankful that the system had WiFi built in until a wired connection can be established. Actually going through this right now having just moved house.

In my limited experience, on board Wi-Fi was either inferior to an external third party add on, or had very unsightly antenna that were difficult to get in good position where I tend to set my computers

That said, I don’t see why you need different SKUs for this when it could just as easily be an add-on accessory purchased separately or bundled, or even (to my non-preference) just included by default

You could make the same argument for sound, nics, etc

I feel that motherboard manufacturers probably go a bit overboard when it comes to onboard sound, not that it's really that bad in a pinch - even just tested the front audio jack on my Lian Li O11 XL connected to my Gigabyte board, and it sounded fine.

But just basic audio, basic networking (i.e., what works with the chipset / southbridge / PCH), and wireless, well, these are just really cheap in the scheme of things, and with PCIe slots becoming rarer for some reason, it definitely makes sense to have these integrated.

WiFi is just weird because the functionality is almost always on a discrete card, usually soldered on for laptops but on desktops, there's a slot used that otherwise has no purpose.

And again, any and all of these functions can be disabled in the BIOS such that the OS doesn't even see them.

 

[Grimlakin]

I don't disagree on a permanent basis - but I've done plenty of more temporary stuff where I've been thankful that the system had WiFi built in until a wired connection can be established. Actually going through this right now having just moved house.


I feel that motherboard manufacturers probably go a bit overboard when it comes to onboard sound, not that it's really that bad in a pinch - even just tested the front audio jack on my Lian Li O11 XL connected to my Gigabyte board, and it sounded fine.

But just basic audio, basic networking (i.e., what works with the chipset / southbridge / PCH), and wireless, well, these are just really cheap in the scheme of things, and with PCIe slots becoming rarer for some reason, it definitely makes sense to have these integrated.

WiFi is just weird because the functionality is almost always on a discrete card, usually soldered on for laptops but on desktops, there's a slot used that otherwise has no purpose.

And again, any and all of these functions can be disabled in the BIOS such that the OS doesn't even see them.

The real question becomes if you disable the onboard features you don't intend to use. (Sound, wifi as an example) do you get back those PCI-E lanes that were sacrificed to enable these features. I'm betting 9 times out of 10 the answer is nope sorry.

 

[LazyGamer]

The real question becomes if you disable the onboard features you don't intend to use. (Sound, wifi as an example) do you get back those PCI-E lanes that were sacrificed to enable these features. I'm betting 9 times out of 10 the answer is nope sorry.

So, here's the thing - you can't. With WiFi it might be possible to hack something together though I haven't seen that tested, but with sound and ethernet they don't actually have 'PCIe lanes', they're wired directly into the PCH, which then has dedicated supporting interfaces and logic.

I'd definitely be singing a different tune if those interfaces could be put to other uses!

 

[Grimlakin]

As a motherboard manufacturer I would think flexibility reigns Supreme. A DIY edition motherboard fhat has all of the features but un used pcie slots that are only enabled when you disable other on-board features would be kida cool. Don't need that second nvme m.2 port. Get a four lane pcie slot activated. Don't need onboard sound get another 1x pcie slot enabled for something else. That's two expansion cards for other things that a DIY person might want. I game with a headset so would disable the onboard sound if just to free an interrupt or polling of an Un used device. Where I might want a bigger storage controller or video capture device. The flexibility would be king as long as the mosphets and such were good.

Is that even something others would desire? No wifi but hey you get another pcie slot to play with.