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
NZXT N7 Z390
Right at the start of this year, NZXT launched their first 'component' onto the market and while NZXT themselves don't manufacturer computer hardware per say, the N7 Z370 which we reviewed at its launch. The N7 Z370 was manufactured by ECS o NZXT themselves created the majority its feature set with very unique aesthetics. The main selling point for NZXT on the N7 was through this unique design which included a full PCB cover with users having a choice between two primary color schemes; black cover and black PCB, or white cover and black PCB. NZXT essentially took the style from some of their renowned PC cases and integrated to the motherboard market giving users the ability to create something unique This full cover feature was enhanced with the inclusion of removable plates on the full cover which could be modified with spray paint, or with the option to purchase additional plates in different colors for an additional cost. Even the full cover could be removed, spray painted and re-designed to give the ultimate look, which is a rather refreshing idea given the number of users voiding their warranties with minor modifications to create their own style inside their systems.
The new NZXT N7 Z390 keeps much of the same specifications as the previous NZXT N7 Z370 board with a cover which stretches from top to bottom across the majority of the PCB with the only bare elements being located around the CPU socket and along the very top and bottom of the board. As with the N7 Z370, the N7 Z390 will be available with white or black full-PCB covers. The N7 Z390 also keeps the same PCIe layout with a full-length PCIe 3.0 x16 slot, a full-length PCIe 3.0 x8 slot, two PCIe 3.0 x4 slots and a single PCIe 3.0 x1 slot.
A total of two PCIe 3.0 x4 and SATA compatible M.2 slots are located under the cover with a supplement of just four SATA ports; an ATX sized board on a chipset offering six ports should really have six ports. The included SATA ports feature support for RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10 arrays. In regards to the cooling, the NZXT N7 Z390 is one of the more comprehensive offerings with a total of eight 4-pin fan headers with two designated as for a CPU fan and AIO pump, and the other six featuring support for 0 db mode with support for up to 6 W of power per channel.
On the rear IO is a good variation of connections including four USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A ports, two USB 3.0 Type-A ports, a single LAN port controlled by an Intel I219V Gigabit NIC, with a total of five 3.5 mm audio jacks and S/PDIF optical output powered by a Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec. A single HDMI 1.4b video output is present with a set of very handily placed buttons which consist of a clear CMOS, reset and power switch. The rear IO now includes an LED debug which is handy, but the location might not be when troubleshooting in a cramped location. Lastly there's two antenna connectors for the integrated 2T2R Wave 2 802.11ac capable Intel 9560 Wi-Fi adapter which offers users with compatible wireless networking capabilities to utilize up to 1.73 Gbps speeds.
The NZXT N7 Z390 has an MSRP of $280 which like it's predesessor (the N7 Z370) is directly placed into the higher end of Z390 offerings, with NZXT looking to compete with other premium offerings available on the chipset. The NZXT N7 Z390 is compatible with a wide variety of NZXT's other products with capability expanded on by the CAM software with HUE 2 and GRID+ support which offers control over RGB lighting and onboard fans respectively. Availability of the N7 Z390 is expected from the middle of November in the US market and in the EU towards the end of November.
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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.