Intel Z390 Motherboard Overview: 50+ Motherboards Analyzed
by Ian Cutress & Gavin Bonshor on October 8, 2018 10:53 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- Intel
- MSI
- Gigabyte
- ASRock
- EVGA
- Asus
- NZXT
- Supermicro
- Z390
GIGABYTE Z390 Aorus Ultra
As GIGABYTE has moved away from their numbering scheme and elected to use a more prominent gaming scheme, the previous Z370 Aorus Gaming 5 which sat in the mid-range of GIGABYTEs Intel range has been replaced by the Z390 Aorus Ultra. Aesthetically not much has changed as both models have integrated RGB LED lighting at various points across the board including the power delivery and chipset heatsinks and the Z390 does include a total of (insert) RGB headers to further expand the RGB capabilities of the board. Just like the Gaming 5, the Z390 Aorus Ultra has integrated 802.11ac Wi-Fi on top of a single LAN port so users can get the best of both worlds when connecting to a network. GIGABYTE also advertises a 13-phase VRM (12+1) so there should be plenty of headroom available for users looking to overclock the new 9th generation Intel processors.
The Z390 Aorus Ultra shares similar characteristics as the Z370 Gaming 5 such as three full-length PCIe 3.0 slots which operate at x16, x8 and x4 from top to bottom respectively. GIGABYTE has upgraded the previous board as the Z390 Aorus Ultra now has metal slot protection on all of the full-length PCIe 3.0 slots. Also included on the board is three PCIe 3.0 x1 slots.
While both the Z370 Aorus Gaming 5 and the new Z390 Aorus Ultra has three PCIe 3.0 x4/2 M.2 slots, all three slots now include a dedicated M.2 heatsink to aid in heat dissipation on the newer Z390 option. The board also makes use of six SATA slots with support for RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10 arrays. Focusing on memory, the Z390 Aorus Ultra has compatibility with DDR4-4133 RAM and up to a maximum supported capacity of 64 GB across four RAM slots.
On the rear panel, there are three USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A, one USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C and four USB 2.0 ports. Like the Z390 Aorus Master, there are also two USB 3.0 Type-A ports marked with GIGABYTE's DAC-UP audio boost technology. The Z390 Aorus Ultra has support for 2T2R Wave 2 802.11ac wireless networking and the single LAN port is controlled by an Intel I219V Gigabit networking controller. A single HDMI video output is featured for users looking to utilize the integrated graphics on supported 8th and 9th generation Intel processors and the onboard audio which consists of five 3.5 mm audio jacks and an S/PDIF optical output are controlled by a Realtek ALC1220-VB HD audio codec.
The GIGABYTE Z390 Aorus Ultra is a mid-high end Z390 option which costs $250 aimed towards gamers and enthusiasts looking to make use of multi-graphics card configurations and multiple M.2 storage devices with each slot garnering support for NVMe based drives. A handy LED debugger is also featured meaning users looking to overclock their processors have a handy method of diagnosing failed overclocks as well as POST related issues.
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pawinda8 - Monday, October 15, 2018 - link
Still no mention of any Z390 boards with native Thunderbolt 3 (not AIC)! Has Intel given up on Thunderbolt for the PC world?gavbon - Monday, October 15, 2018 - link
If it's not integrated into the chipset, it's not really native as such. The ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ac has a Thunderbolt 3 port on the rear panel, but that's the only one I'm afraidHikariWS - Monday, October 15, 2018 - link
Oculus Rift requires 3 USB3 ports and doesn't accept any of them being connected to a hub, they all need to be connected directly into a raw port. I had to buy a dedicated 3GIO USB 3 board that added 6 useful extra ports. In my (yes, old) Gigabyte z87 mobo I also had issues using keyboard and mouse on USB 3 ports inside UEFI and some recovery softwares, so I had to buy a USB 2 mirror to connect them.Because of that, having USB 2 ports on front panel and nice quantity of USB 3 is what most differs mobos for me, given that all other features are nearly the same.
ASUS Z390-A seems to be the best option. It has the important double USB2 ports, 5 USB3 ports and still has HDMI and DP for emergencies.
just4U - Monday, October 15, 2018 - link
I wish MSI had released a "godlike" board for the Ryzen series.ThugEsquire - Tuesday, October 16, 2018 - link
You list the ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ac above as an ATX board, but it's actually mITX. FYIgavbon - Friday, October 19, 2018 - link
I have gone through every page where the Phantom Gaming-ITX/ac is listed, but I can't see where it says it's an ATX board? Could you please be more specific? Are you viewing on mobile or desktop?Galcobar - Tuesday, October 16, 2018 - link
It would be really helpful to break out one more criteria into a table: Type-C header for case-front ports.Helping a friend put together an i5 system and, knowing he'll keep it for a long time, am trying to get even with peripheral connectors (already has a monitor, so no using that as a hub). It's relatively easy to identify cases with a Type-C port, but that's pointless without a motherboard header. Having to go into each board's page to check is time-consuming.
jjnam - Thursday, April 18, 2019 - link
6 months later and I'm here for EXACTLY this reason. I've gone through probably 50 manuals over the past few days squinting to find this information. What a pain.Synomenon - Thursday, October 18, 2018 - link
So on the ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ac, is the TB3 port on the rear using up lanes from CPU (making the only 16x slot, 8x only)?If it's not using lanes from the CPU, how will using that TB3 port (say with a USB3.1 Gen2 hub OR TB3 hub) affect all the other ports / IO on the board?
repoman27 - Thursday, October 18, 2018 - link
Going off of what TweakTown published, it's a single-port Intel JHL6240 "Alpine Ridge" controller with a PCI 3.0 x2 connection to the PCH. So it won't affect the PEG lanes from the CPU. I'm amazed it's not Titan Ridge at this point though.