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
ASUS ROG Maximus XI Gene
The last time the market has seen a high-performance mATX motherboard on a mainstream desktop chipset from ASUS was back in 2015 with the Z170 chipset Maximus VIII Gene. Since then loyal ASUS users looking for a replacement of sorts has had to opt for a gaming-focused Strix branded mATX model, until now. The Gene is back and it's back with a slightly different approach as the new ROG Maximus XI Gene drops four RAM slots and opts for two which has support for DDR4-4600 which is the fastest rated out of the box from any Z390 at launch. ; this is news that will please enthusiasts and extreme overclockers who favor two slot memory configurations for better latency thanks to shorter memory tracks. Touching more on the memory, one of the biggest features is official support for the brand new double height, double capacity 32 GB SO-DIMMs that are expected to come to the market very soon; we reported on this a week or so ago. This means the board will have support for up to 64 GB of system memory over the two available RAM slots. Another enthusiast level feature is an LED debug, set of dip switches which will most certainly be related to LN2 and sub-zero cooling with what seemingly looks like a reset CMOS button, reset switch and a start button.
On the tightly packed PCB of the mATX Maximus XI Gene, ASUS has included the ROG DIMM.2 M.2 slot which supports PCIe 3.0 x4 directly from the CPU. There are two internal M.2 slots on the board with support for PCIe 3.0 x4 drives with bandwidth coming from the PCH; the official specification does not mention SATA M.2 SSD support, so unless these will change as the board is released, it remains unknown. We know the Z390 ROG Gene will have four SATA ports and support for RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10 will feature. The board visually looks as if it might house a 10+2 phase power delivery and is supported by two 8-pin 12 V ATX CPU power inputs making this one of the most powerful non-ATX motherboards on the entire platform; especially enticing for extreme overclockers to sink their teeth into.
While we don't have any other images available as of yet other than the one VideoCardz leaked out, we can confirm the ROG Maximus XI Gene is on, we can confirm it's in the ASUS Z390 product stack and the specifications noted above are directly from ASUS; it is coming and it's nice to see the Gene make a return after three years out. Like a mini-ITX board would, the mATX Gene has only one full-length PCIe 3.0 x16 slot with a smaller PCIe 3.0 x4 slot located just above this which is believed to be for M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4.
On the rear panel will include plenty of USB connectivity including three USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A, one USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C, and two USB 3.0 Type-A ports. A single HDMI video output is present along with a single Intel I219V Gigabit powered LAN port and onboard audio selection consisting of five 3.5 mm audio jacks and S/DPIF optical output controlled by a gaming-focused Supreme FX S1220 audio codec. The Maximus XI Gene also includes an Intel 9560 Wi-Fi adapter which supports Wave 2 1.73 Gbps wireless connectivity as well as Bluetooth 5 support. That's all we currently know about the rear panel.
There is currently no pricing or information on the availability as of yet for the mATX sized ROG Maximus XI Gene, but we expect ASUS will look to release this towards the end of October or early November.
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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.