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 Formula
Another high-end board on the Z390 chipset from ASUS is the ROG Maximus XI Formula which has a similar rear panel cover as the Maximus XI Code along with what looks to be a near identical PCIe slot layout. Other similarities stretch to the use of a PCB cover which looks to have a little more flair and more RGB than the Code, but from a quick glance, the entirety of what's visible PCB wise looks to be identical to the ROG Maximus XI Code; this is not necessarily a bad thing. The biggest difference and impressive inclusion on the Formula over the Code is the EKWB power delivery water block which allows enthusiasts to hook it up to custom water cooling loops for even lower VRM temps; perfect for users to overclock their processors and NOT have to worry about the quality of the power delivery heatsinks.
The Maximus XI Formula keeps the same power and reset buttons with a LED debug in the top right corner. There are four RAM slots with support for DDR4-4400 with a maximum capacity of up to 64 GB in total. Built-in into the board is a pair of PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots (one with SATA support and one without) which feature a pair of heatsinks which amalgamate into the boards overall aesthetic. Also present is a total of six SATA ports with support for RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10 arrays.
The board has three full-length PCIe 3.0 slots which allow for two-way SLI and three-way CrossFire multi-graphics card support at x16/x0/x4 and x8/x8/x4 respectively much like the majority of the Maximus XI boards including the Hero, Hero (Wi-Fi) and Code. This also stretches to the onboard audio and networking with a Supreme-FX S1220 8-channel HD audio codec and a single Intel I219V Gigabit NIC on the rear panel.
With a host of quality connections integrated, there's dual LAN with one port being powered by an Aquantia AC111C 5 G NIC and the second by an Intel I219V Gigabit controller. Wireless networking is provided by a Wave 2 2T2R 802.11ac Wi-Fi adapter and a single HDMI 1.4b video output. The same pair of buttons consisting of a BIOS Flashback and clear CMOS is featured much like the Code, and the onboard audio is controlled by a gaming-focused SupremeFX S1220A HD audio codec. Last but not least is USB support, with three USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A ports, a single USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A port and a hefty six USB 3.0 Type-A ports completing a packed rear IO.
The ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula has an unknown price as of yet, but is one of the top ASUS Z390 boards at launch with a clear focus on gaming based features and enthusiast grade components such as the EKWB made power delivery heatsink. The Formula is primarily targeted at gamers and enthusiasts with overclocking as a focus and the inclusion of 5 Gigabit LAN sets this board apart from the most of the Maximus XI range.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
79 Comments
View All Comments
Smell This - Tuesday, October 9, 2018 - link
Much.Of.
The.
Same.
2 HSIO lanes per Gen 2 port and WiFi. Wow (rolling I-eyeballs) ...
MadAd - Tuesday, October 9, 2018 - link
58 motherboards, only 13 of which are smaller than ATX. When on earth are we going to move off this outdated oversized format? Its just more of the same every time, so depressing.gavbon - Wednesday, October 10, 2018 - link
13 is better than 0, or 12 :DMadAd - Wednesday, October 10, 2018 - link
Considering very small form formats (ITX) are harder to build for and only 7 are uATX, a size which is the most useful to transition away from ATX then no, it feels like an afterthought from a lazy industry. I mean who uses more than 1 main video card and 2-4 sticks of ram in a gaming PC these days? Even water builds into uATX isnt that hard to accomplish.After literally decades ATX should be a choice for edge cases not a mainstream build.
shaolin95 - Monday, October 22, 2018 - link
who cares about midge boards!Edkiefer - Wednesday, October 10, 2018 - link
All these MB with 2x 8 pin power inputs, is both mandatory and if so I guess new PSU will need 2x 8pin now.entity279 - Wednesday, October 10, 2018 - link
so it's ok to just buy SM motherboards now with them being involved in a security scandal?gavbon - Thursday, October 11, 2018 - link
I currently have the Supermicro C9Z390-PGW awaiting to go on the test bench next week, so from a consumers standpoint, I could potentially shed light on that board. As far as the Chinese/Supermicro/Spy scandal goes, I don't want to speculate without the finer details.eastcoast_pete - Wednesday, October 10, 2018 - link
Ian & Gavin, thanks for the overview.@ both - Question: I've read that Intel, to deal with its bad planning/capacity problems on 14 nm, has contracted the fabbing of some of its chipsets out to TSMC, specifically in TSMC's 22 nm tech. Is that correct, and did you have a chance to confirm that the new 390s used by these boards are indeed made by Intel on their 14 nm FinFET tech, or are they made by a contractor (TSMC)?
DanNeely - Wednesday, October 10, 2018 - link
AFAIK the chipsets being reverted to 22nm are using Intel's 22nm process in old unupgraded fabs. Doing so would be far less work than porting to a process from a different company; the latter would require massive rework to follow a completely different set of design rules.