Colorful CVN Z690M Gaming Frozen V20 Review - PAGE 1

Colorful CVN Z690M Gaming Frozen V20: Introduction

The latest product from Colorful that we’ll be covering in this article is the CVN Z690M Gaming Frozen V20. This micro ATX form factor motherboard packed with features including DDR4 memory support with up to DDR4-3200 XMP speeds, several PCIe slots including a Gen5/4 x16, Gen3 x4, and Gen3 x1, 7.1-channel audio, 2.5G LAN and Intel Wi-Fi 6, 6 SATA 6 Gb/s ports, and two M.2 Gen4 x4. slots for 2242/2260/2280 drives.

The Colorful CVN Z690M has a white PCB and silver accents with rainbow foil stickers on the heat sinks, making it ideal for white- or silver-themed builds.

Colorful CVN Z690M Gaming Frozen V20: Closer Look

The packaging for the CVN Z690M highlights the Intel 12th generation CPU support, and a QR code links to a marketing video for the motherboard. The back panel goes into more detail covering the different specifications and features, along with a rendering of the motherboard and four images highlighting various features. Various accessories are included with the motherboard like RGB cable, SATA cables, two antennas for Wi-Fi 6, USB and front panel headers, user manuals, and a driver CD.

Both the VRM and Southbridge heat sinks have reflective chromatic stickers that look better in person than in our photos, while the audio chipset and top M.2 slot heatsink show aircraft carrier silhouettes. Colorful had fun with their naming conventions this time, as the CVN-69 is in fact a United States nuclear aircraft carrier named the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower; Colorful also has a B660M motherboard which references the CVN-66. The motherboard colors also resemble that of an aircraft carrier, and there is a fighter jet silhouette painted between the CPU and the RAM slots. At first glance we can see a ton of different headers, which we’ll cover in detail later. Flipping the board over gives us a better look at the white PCB, which I’m always a fan of since they’re less common. From the back we can see that the chipset and VRM heatsinks are held on with four screws, while two screws hold the I/O plate on, and another two keep the Wi-Fi module in place. The I/O panel has HDMI and DisplayPort connectors, four USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.2 Gen2 ports (one Type-C and one Type-A), two USB 3.2 Gen1 ports (with one for BIOS Updates in conjunction with a dedicated button), 2.5G LAN, Intel Wi-Fi 6, and 7.1-channel surround sound connectors.

The bottom headers on the motherboard include (from left to right): front audio, 5V RGB #1, chassis fan, ESPI, JCOM1 serial, front USB 2.0, JBIOS1, a clear CMOS header about an inch above the BIOS header, JME1, chassis fan #2, 5V RGB #3, front panel headers, and finally a 12V RGB header. The right side has six SATA ports, a 20-pin USB 3 header, a USB 3 Type-E port, the 24-pin main power plug, a fan header, and the second 5V RGB header. This area is also RGB LED backlit, with reliefs in the board to allow for more lighting to bleed through. An Intel AX201NGW M.2 wireless card encased inside a metal frame, supporting Intel Wi-Fi 6.

With all of the heat sinks and accessories removed, we can get a better look at the overall layout of the CVN Z690M. This board appears to be using a 14/1/1 phase design, with a Richtek RT3628AE phase controller that is likely a doubled up 7-phase design. MOSFETs include Alpha & Omega 142F MOSFETs for the CPU phases (which use a DrMOS design combining high and low sides with a Driver IC in one package), while the onboard graphics get separate high and low MOSFET chips from Alpha and Omega — AON6414A for the high side and AON6354 for the low side. Capacitors are provided by CapXon throughout the motherboard. Between the VRM and I/O panels is a Nuvoton 3101S NCT3101S for DDR4 regulation, an ASMedia ASM1562 USB 3.1 Gen2 IC, and a Parade PS8803 USB 3.1 Gen2 IC. Another Parade PS8803 IC sits near the USB 3 headers between the RAM and chipset, alongside another Nuvoton NCT3101S. Below the bottom M.2 slot is a Nuvoton NCT5585D Super I/O chipset for monitoring voltages, fan speeds and speed control, and temperatures. A Holtek HT32F52352 32-bit Arm-based microcontroller is nearby, as well as a BCD AS358M amplifier, and four diagnostic LEDs for HDD, GPU, DIMM, and CPU boot status. The BIOS IC is a Macronix MXIC MX25L12833F with 128mb of space, and nearby is the Genesys GL852G USB 2.0 controller.

Continue on to the next page for all the setup, software, and testing!