ASUS Prime Z690-P WiFi D4

Why a DDR4 Z690 Board Still Makes Sense in 2026

Z690 launched with 12th Gen Alder Lake as Intel's first LGA1700 chipset, and it shipped in both DDR4 and DDR5 flavors, unlike Z790 which leans almost entirely DDR5 at this point. That DDR4 support is still the single biggest reason to consider a Z690 board today: if you're upgrading from an older Intel or even AMD DDR4 system and already own decent DDR4-3200 or DDR4-3600 memory, this board lets you keep it and put the savings toward a better CPU or GPU. The chipset itself works fine with 13th and 14th Gen Intel CPUs too, after a BIOS update, so you're not locking yourself to 12th Gen.

This sits in ASUS's Prime tier, the value/mainstream line below TUF Gaming, ROG Strix, and ROG Maximus. Prime boards skip RGB and premium heatsink designs in favor of getting the fundamentals right at a lower price.

What's On the Board

The 12+1 power stage VRM is sized for realistic use, not extreme overclocking — a Core i5-12400F or i5-13400F runs comfortably within its limits, and even a Core i7 at stock clocks is fine. Push a K-series chip hard and you'll want to step up to the TUF Gaming Z690-Plus WiFi D4 instead. Three M.2 slots cover your storage needs without a bundled expansion card, and you get a PCIe 5.0 x16 primary slot for future GPU headroom.

The "WiFi" in the name means WiFi 6 is built in — a real convenience if your build isn't near your router, since you skip a USB dongle or add-in card. 1G LAN handles wired connections. Rear I/O is basic but complete: enough USB ports for a normal build, HDMI and DisplayPort for the CPU's integrated graphics if you're running headless or waiting on a GPU.

India Pricing

At ₹24,500-27,000 on Flipkart, this is one of the more affordable ways onto Z690. The non-WiFi Prime Z690-P D4 saves you another ₹1,000-1,500 if you don't need wireless — worth checking both listings before you buy, since ASUS India pricing on these two SKUs sometimes overlaps depending on retailer stock.

Who Should Buy / Who Should Skip

Buy this if you have existing DDR4 RAM, want WiFi without an add-in card, and are pairing this with a Core i5-class CPU running at or near stock clocks.

Skip this if you're buying RAM fresh anyway (DDR5 is the better long-term platform — see the Prime Z690-A DDR5 instead), or you don't need WiFi and want to save the extra cost with the Prime Z690-P D4.