We here at ThinkComputers are finally getting a chance to take a look at some new Intel Z690 motherboards!  With the introduction of their Alder Lake processors and subsequent Z690 chipset Intel is taking the fight back to AMD.  Motherboards are one of the favorite things we like to cover and Intel is really stepping things up with Z690, giving the platform both PCI-Express 5.0 and DDR5 support.  We are starting our Z690 journey with ASUS's ROG Maximus Z690 Hero motherboard.  If you are not familiar with the ROG Maximus line from ASUS it basically serves as their flagship with the Hero board being the entry point.  This motherboard features a 20+1 power phase design with 90A power stages, USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 support, dual Thunderbolt 4 ports, three M.2 slots with an add-in card that adds two more, WiFi 6E, 2.5G LAN, and the new PCIe slot release button.  This seems like one very feature-packed motherboard so let's take a look and see what it can do!