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
ASRock Z390M ITX/ac
The ASRock is the only manufacturer to release two mini-ITX motherboards at the launch of the Z390 chipset and the Z390M ITX/ac stands out for quite a number of reasons. First of all the Z390M ITX/ac has dual Gigabit NIC with two LAN ports on the rear panel. Secondly, ASRock has managed to cram six SATA ports onto this board with every port featuring straight angled connectors. Memory support on the Z390M ITX/ac is provided from two RAM slots with a capacity of up to 32 GB and support for up to DDR4-4000.
Design wise the Z390M ITX/ac is very simplistic with what seems like a 6-phase power delivery which looks to be running in a 4+2 configuration. The heatsink doesn't look up to much, but the board does feature a single 8-pin 12 V ATX input which does show that the board is more than capable of running the new 9th generation Intel Core i9-9900K, but perhaps not with an overly aggressive overclock applied. There is no RGB LEDs integrated into the board which says this board is more aimed towards professional users and power users looking to build a high spec small form factor system without too much fluff. The board also features a single PCIe 3.0 full-length slot with ASRock Steel Slot reinforcement and just above is a single PCIe 3.0 x4/SATA M.2 slot.
On the rear panel are a pair of USB 3.1 Gen2 (Type-A and Type-C), four USB 3.0 Type-A and two USB 2.0 ports. Users running processors for the integrated graphics capabilities of the 8th and 9th generation Intel CPUs will be pleased to know the Z390M ITX/ac has dual HDMI outputs along with a single DisplayPort. A combo PS/2 keyboard/mouse port is ever present and the board uses a cheaper Realtek ALC887 HD audio codec which is supplemented by three 3.5 mm audio jacks. Wireless networking is supported through an Intel-based 802.11ac Wi-Fi adapter.
While the ASRock Z390M-ITX/ac shares similar traits as the Z390 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ac, the latter is aimed at gamers while the Z390M-ITX/ac is aimed more towards professional users. This is characterized by the inclusion of dual Intel LAN and a lower quality ALC892 audio codec. The price of the ASRock Z390M-ITX/ac is also another indicator with a recommended retail price of $150 along with the lack of gaming-themed stylings as the board features a basic, yet subtle aesthetic.
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eastcoast_pete - Thursday, October 11, 2018 - link
Yes, you are correct, at least for H310c chipsets, maybe more (all?). I looked at the digitimes report on Intel outsourcing to TSMC, and that, if correct, would be about chipsets fabbed in 14nm. I wonder if Anadtech could check the 390s from the newest MoBos and sleuth out if they are also a case of "back to the future - 22 is the new 14 at Intel".peterfares - Wednesday, October 10, 2018 - link
Still waiting for someone to make a mini-ITX board with 4x SODIMM slots. The X299 one is interesting combined with a 9800X but I'd rather have the newer architecture with better IPC and clocks.gavbon - Thursday, October 11, 2018 - link
4 x SODIMMs has no performance benefit on Z370/Z390 other than a capacity increase because of the dual channel memory controller. The ASUS Z390 Maximus Gene and Strix Z390-I support the new 32GB double capacity SODIMMs to give more options for mini-ITX users needing more capacity.The X299 ASRock board put 4 x RAM slots on it so it could benefit from the quad channel memory controller
gamingkingx - Friday, October 12, 2018 - link
Gavon understands it..On ITX its all about how you use the space.. It would be sille to have 4 slots for dual channel.
BUT! It would interesting to use only 2x SO-DIMM..
cyrilp - Thursday, October 11, 2018 - link
Some of the asrock boards have 8 SATA3, 3 Ultra M.2 but it's a bit misleading as they share lanes. so you can't use 8 sata3 drivers and 3 m2 ones at the same timegavbon - Thursday, October 11, 2018 - link
Yeah, it's a bit of a pain, but one of the drawbacks of a chipset designed for the desktop. Unfortunately, in that situation, it's one or the other. If I was going to use 8 x SATA drives and 3 x M.2, I would probably be using a HEDT chipset such as X299 or TR4 anywayballsystemlord - Thursday, October 11, 2018 - link
Spelling and grammar corrections. I did not read this whole article. You 2 goofed this one up pretty badly."In the below table a question mark (?) denotes that we currently don't currently have this information available."
Too many currentlys.
"In the below table a question mark (?) denotes that we don't currently have this information available."
"My take on it is that it could be easier to mount a CPU pot for extreme overclockers for some reason, as I'm sure this board is all about the performance marbles and nothing else."
Sound bytes as a sentence (SBAAS). I've very little idea what you were trying to say. Maybe:
"My take on it is that it could be easier to mount a CPU pot for extreme overclockers. For some reason they insist on pots. Or maybe not, as I'm sure this board is all about the performance and nothing else."
"The new gaming themed naming structure consists of three different ranges which make a lot of sense when they deciphered; the MEG is the enthusiast gaming, MPG is performance gaming and the MAG is the arsenal gaming."
Missing "are".
"The new gaming themed naming structure consists of three different ranges which make a lot of sense when they're deciphered; the MEG is the enthusiast gaming, MPG is performance gaming and the MAG is the arsenal gaming."
"The MAG essentially renames the original arsenal range of boards with a name which seems fitting etc rifle mag, a happy coincidence perhaps."
Stray "etc".
"The MAG essentially renames the original arsenal range of boards with a name which seems fitting i.e. rifle mag, a happy coincidence perhaps."
gavbon - Friday, October 12, 2018 - link
Appreciated, updated :)ballsystemlord - Thursday, October 11, 2018 - link
I love your table on "Power Delivery Comparison".But how do you tell how many phases each board has from your table?
E.g. "GIGABYTE Z390 Gaming SLI" has 5+2 ISL69138 but then has 5 ISL6617A doublers leading me to the conclusion that it is a 25 + 2 phase design.
Thanks!
gavbon - Friday, October 12, 2018 - link
I've updated the table to make it more clear :) - The PPaks are dual channel MOSFETs so each of the GIGABYTE boards is running 10 phases, with 5 doublers = 2 phases per channel. This is the data we received directly from GIGABYTE.