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 Z390 Taichi Ultimate
Much of what the ASRock Z390 Taichi Ultimate offers has been outlined above with the 'regular' Z390 Taichi model. The Z390 Taichi Ultimate is also based on the ATX form factor with what from a visual perspective looks like the same 12-phase power delivery and same PCIe layout which consists of three full-length PCIe 3.0 lanes (x16, x8, x4) and has an additional PCIe 3.0 x1 slots. The Z390 Taichi and Z390 Taichi Ultimate share the same memory support with four slots supporting up to 64 GB of DDR4, with support extending up to DDR4-4200. In regards to storage connections, there are three M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4/SATA slots and a total of eight SATA ports.
The main differences between the two Taichi branded models come in terms of controllers as the Z390 Taichi Ultimate adds an additional LAN port to the already inclusive dual Intel-based LAN, an Aquantia 10 G NIC which is one of the only Z390 motherboards to include one. The rest of the rear panel is much of the same with three USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A, one USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C and four USB 3.0 Type-A ports. A Realtek ALC1220 codec handles the onboard audio and ASRock has included a pair of video outputs which consist of a DisplayPort and HDMI 1.4 port. The Z390 Taichi Ultimate keeps eight 4-pin fan headers which makes it one of the most cooling focused ATX boards alongside its younger brother, the Z390 Taichi. To add more, ASRock has included a pair of separate power/reset buttons and has upgraded the Wi-Fi to support 2T2R Wave 2 802.11ac.
The ASRock Z390 Taichi Ultimate at launch costs $300 and is the most expensive Z390 models. Everything about this board has flagship status including a proper triple NIC (unlike the MSI MEG Z390 GODLIKE) with the inclusion of an Aquantia controlled 10 G LAN port, 2T2R 802.11ac Wi-Fi, triple M.2 and plenty of USB 3.1 Gen2 to keep professional users, enthusiasts and gamers satisfied. The board is more targeted towards the enthusiast rather than the gamer, but ASRock makes this clear with the inclusion of the similar spec and closely priced Z390 Phantom Gaming 9 motherboard.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
79 Comments
View All Comments
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.