ASRock Z690 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB4 Review: Thunderbolt, but Limited Expandability

Two M.2 sockets, Thunderbolt 4, and Killer-based networking in a Mini-ITX form factor for $349.99.

Reviews
By
Published
ASRock Z690 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB4
(Image credit: © ASRock, Shutterstock)

Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

Firmware

ASRock’s BIOS on the Phantom Gaming boards maintain the same format as the last generation as well. It has a black background with white writing and red for highlights. An EZ Mode displays high-level information, including CPU clock speeds and temperatures, fan speeds, storage information, and more. Advanced Mode has several headers across the top that drop down additional options. The BIOS is easy to maneuver in and laid out logically. You’ll need to do a bit of digging for some options for overclocking, but overall, it’s a user-friendly BIOS with more options than most will ever use.

Joe Shields
Joe Shields
Staff Writer, Components

Joe Shields is a staff writer at Tom’s Hardware. He reviews motherboards and PC components.

4 Comments Comment from the forums
  • tennis2
    $350...insane

    Can I suggest placing the "best" metric at the top of the charts. Whether that's "lower is better" or "higher is better".
    Reply
  • Co BIY
    ITX could have an appeal to me ... if it didn't always cost more.

    Even priced the same as mATX would make sense but priced higher it looses appeal for me.

    Complaining about fewer SATA ports on an ITX board seems silly.

    If one needed (max) for transfer of data only.
    Reply
  • tennis2
    @ AsRock, please give us mITX boards with 4 SODIMM slots. If you use a fixed peg in the middle, 2 SODIMMs will fit in the same slot length as a desktop stick
    Reply
  • ocer9999
    Asrock does solid ITX motherboards, this Z690 Phantom is a good example. The pricing is on the high side, but all Z690 are. I see B660 selling for close to 200$ which is pretty crazy, so this price for a good ITX Z690 is not out of this world.
    Reply