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
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- Z390
ASRock Z390 Taichi
The ASRock Z390 Taichi is one of two Z390 models received prior to the launch and will be reviewed in the upcoming weeks. The Z390 Taichi is an ATX sized offering targetted at enthusiasts looking to push the limits of their Intel 8th and 9th generation processors. The Z390 Taichi features dual Intel LAN, built-in 802.11ac Wi-Fi and offers a Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec with an assisting Texas Instruments front panel NE5532 headset amplifier. As expected, the Z390 Taichi board follows a similar design to other Taichi branded models on the market and takes visual elements from both the Z370 Taichi and the X470 Taichi; coincidentally we review both models earlier this year. On the memory front, the Z390 Taichi supports up to DDR4-4200 and has a capacity of up to 64 GB across the four available RAM slots.
On the bottom half of the board, there are three full-length PCIe 3.0 x16 slots which run at x16, x8 and x8 respectively. All three full-length PCIe 3.0 slots have a coating of ASRock's Steel Slot armor and the board also has a pair of PCIe 3.0 x1 slots. The Taichi has a wave of storage options which includes three M.2 slots which have support for both PCIe 3.0 x4 and SATA drives and a total of eight SATA ports; six are provided from the chipset and the other two from an ASMedia 1061 controller. It's worth noting that we can confirm that the slot M2_1 shares bandwidth with two SATA ports, M_2 shares bandwidth with SATA ports if a SATA M.2 drive is used and the M2_3 shares bandwidth with another two ports and either/or is disabled depending on which slots are populated.
The rear panel has a host of connections available including three USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A, a single USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C and four USB 3.0 Type-A ports, as well as a DisplayPort 1.2 and HDMI video output. Also featured on the rear panel are a handy clear CMOS button, a PS/2 combo keyboard and mouse port. The onboard audio of the Z390 Taichi is handled by a Realtek ALC1220 audio codec and consists of five 3.5mm audio jacks and a S/PDIF optical output; a Texas Instruments NE5532 headset amplifier is located on the audio PCB too to enhance the quality and capability of the front panel audio. In terms of networking, the Z390 Taichi has two available Gigabit LAN ports with one being directed by an Intel I219V and the other by an Intel I211AT networking controller. Also included on the rear panel is a set of antenna connectors for the integrated 802.11ac Wi-Fi adapter.
From ASRock's marketing, the board is advertised as having a 12-phase power delivery and on the surface, it would appear so. The power delivery is made up of an Infineon IR35201 8-channel PWM controller with twelve Texas Instruments TI 87350D NexFET power blocks. On the rear of the PCB is six Infineon IR3598 doublers which make up 5+1 of the channels on the PWM controller; an additional two ON Semiconductor FDPC5030SG Dual-N channel MOSFETs make up the rest of the power delivery meaning the IR35201 is operating in a 5+2 configuration. In effect, ASRock is kind of underplaying their hand on this power delivery and it's more than capable in theory of overclocking one of the new 9th Generation Intel Core i7-9900K eight-core processors.
The general look and feel overall is that the ASRock Z390 Taichi is aimed at enthusiasts looking for a solid foundation for not just a very powerful gaming system with multiple graphics cards, but it also combines a Realtek ALC1220 HD codec, two Intel Gigabit powered LAN ports and a good quality power delivery into one solid and uniquely styled package. The ASRock Z390 Taichi has a suggested retail price of $240 which is more than reasonable as all the major key areas are covered.
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gavbon - Tuesday, October 9, 2018 - link
Thank you Hickory, will update now; this information wasn't available to us at the timebill44 - Tuesday, October 9, 2018 - link
All this boards, but only 1 with Thunderbolt 3. Looks like Thunderbolt 3 is dead (free or not).Type C ports and HDMI 2.0 is in short supply too.
Hopefully next year, we can have two or more USB C (maybe even 3.2), HDMI 2.1, PCIe 4/5 and Thunderbolt 3/4 (Titan Ridge?). Or maybe not, just the same old things hoping for 2020/21.
DanNeely - Tuesday, October 9, 2018 - link
There's no licensing fee for TB, the controller chip itself still costs money (IIRC $20 or $30) and still eats 4 PCIe lanes. Worse, IIRC to make the video out feature work they need to be CPU lanes; meaning that adding it means your main GPU slot is an x8, and the secondary one only x4.gavbon - Tuesday, October 9, 2018 - link
Yeah it's a case of certain vendors opting to dismiss including TB3 ports, which only seems sensible on mini-ITX boards where PCIe lanes aren't too much of an issue. Consumer choice is important though and I'm still glad ASRock has included it; it could be a key buying decision for some!gamingkingx - Friday, October 12, 2018 - link
Just too bad it is only wired as a x2.. And it is wired into the chipset as far as I am aware, so you are gonna max out your I/Os pretty fast.bill44 - Wednesday, October 10, 2018 - link
Sure, anything you add will cost something. The are plenty of non-gamers who prefer TB3 vs x16.This also highlights how old current PC architecture is. Either we need more PCIe lanes, or faster lanes. Otherwise, all advances will be hindered.
Up to 6 USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports? You’ be lucky to get 4. Why can’t we have 6 Gen2 ports and the rest Gen1 an no antiquated USB 2.0? PCIe resources.
All new peripherals use Type C, but this boards generally give you only 1 (saving money on redrivers). USB 3.2 (20 Gbps)? When it comes around, ithis too will need more PCIe lanes. M.2. PCIe 3.0 x4? All lanes are maxed out; the only way forward is faster lanes.
In the past, Gigabyte was a TB3 champion including the functionality on many of their boards. Now, not a single one.
Cost saving by motherboard makers? Prioritising gamers? Or simply no demand for TB3.
The outcome is the same.
repoman27 - Thursday, October 18, 2018 - link
Intel merely said that they planned "to make the Thunderbolt protocol specification available to the industry under a nonexclusive, royalty-free license" sometime this year. This hasn't happened yet, and is referring to the protocol spec, not the silicon that Intel produces. If and when they decide to do this, ASMedia or whoever could then begin development of their own Thunderbolt controllers. This means that third-party controllers probably won't appear in shipping products until sometime in 2023.As for the currently available Thunderbolt 3 controllers, tray prices range from $6.45 to $9.10. But you also need a USB Type-C and PD controller, power switch, and high-speed mux which runs around $4.59, plus the connector and a few other bits. I don't believe Intel charges a royalty on finished Thunderbolt products, but they do require licensing and certification which are paid for by the OEM and may add significant cost to relatively low-volume products.
AFAIK, Windows PCs are still required to connect Thunderbolt controllers via the PCH. Apple is the only one using PEG lanes for Thunderbolt, and they don't do that on the 27-inch iMacs where it might adversely impact the GPU.
Dug - Tuesday, October 9, 2018 - link
I hope it's not dead. Far more useful than USB C. I would be fine with USB C except there doesn't seem to be a good USB C to USB C hub, which really restricts how many devices you can use. I'm really glad to see it on ASRock itx board so I can attach a portable SSD array.imaheadcase - Wednesday, October 10, 2018 - link
Tons of monitors of USB-C, anker sells USB-C hubs, I don't think i've seen thunderbolt in a desktop PC to date though. That best part of USB-C is being able to just plug phone into it and copy paste to desktop files (no Microsoft didn't invent that, it was always that way by default in windows)Valantar - Wednesday, October 10, 2018 - link
TB3 is far from dead, it just has little use in desktop PCs. Have you looked at laptop lineups recently? TB3 is _everywhere_. My workplace (a major university here in Norway) has moved entirely to TB3 docking solutions as they're the only full-featured and universal(-ish) solution.eGPUs are useless on desktops. Desktops don't need docks. USB 3.1 is plenty fast for external storage, and if you need faster storage, desktops can fit that internally. The only real use cases for TB3 on a desktop are TB3 networking (for fast direct transfers between PCs) and adding things like extra NVMe or >GbE networking on ITX boards that don't have room for that and a GPU.