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 Strix Z390-F Gaming
The ASUS ROG Strix Z390-F Gaming has a very similar feature set to the Strix Z390-E gaming with the main differences coming in integrated networking capabilities and in that the Strix Z390-F Gaming only has a single M.2 heatsink included. Visually it’s expected the Strix Z390-F as similar visuals to the Z390-E Gaming model, with only minor visual adjustments between the two gaming-focused models with a single M.2 heatsink (as opposed to two) and the lack of an integrated Wi-Fi adapter.
Specifications wise the ROG based Z390-F Gaming model has support for two-way SLI and three-way CrossFire multi-graphics card support thanks to three-full length PCIe 3.0 slots which operate at x16, x8 and x4; accompanying these are three further PCIe 3.0 x1 slots. The storage capabilities are identical to the Z390-E Gaming with two PCIe 3.0 x4 capable M.2 slots, with only one offering SATA support; the main difference is the Strix Z390-F Gaming has a single M.2 heatsink. The Strix Z390-F Gaming has six SATA ports in total which support RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10 arrays. There are four available RAM slots which support DDR4-4266 and with up to a maximum of 64 GB in total.
What we do know about the rear panel is that it has a single LAN port powered by an Intel I219V Gigabit controller and five 3.5 mm jacks, with a single S/PDIF optical output which takes direction from a SupremeFX S1220A HD audio codec. Also included are three USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A ports, one USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C port, a DisplayPort and HDMI video output too.
The current availability and pricing of the ASUS ROG Strix Z390-F are currently unknown, but as more details and information becomes available, we will ensure to keep this section updated.
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DanTMWTMP - Thursday, October 11, 2018 - link
Are they ALL made in China? What happened to the ones made in Taiwan from a few gens ago? :/gavbon - Friday, October 12, 2018 - link
Unfortunately, I cannot confirm this. The ASRock Z390 Taichi I have in my hands says 'designed in Taipei', but that's about it.Nagorak - Sunday, October 14, 2018 - link
Gigabyte apparently has a factory in Taiwan. It seems all the rest moved production to China.WickedMONK3Y - Friday, October 12, 2018 - link
The MEG Z390 Godlike looked like such an interesting board until I checked the MSI Specifications page and realised it actually does not have the PLX chip as suspected. The PCI Express slots on the board are configured as 16x / 4x / 8x / 4x instead of 16x / 16x / 8x / 4x or 16x / 8x / 16x / 4x. It seems after PLX sold to whomever owns them now, that the price hike stopped their usage on consumer boards completely.I really really hope somebody comes out with a board that has a PLX chip on board.
gavbon - Friday, October 12, 2018 - link
The Supermicro C9Z390-PGW has a Broadcom 8747 PLX PCIe switch :)ZioTom - Friday, October 12, 2018 - link
It would be a nice touch including in next MB review what pheriferals stop funcioning when too much PCI-E lanes are used. Some motherboards disable SATA ports when M.2 slot are used; others may require limiting bandwith to one PCI-E slot... etc. Before byuing a motherboard I would like to be warned that is not possibile to use all the features they are advertising.happyfirst - Friday, October 12, 2018 - link
I wish we would get better thunderbolt support. Only one board has it built in? I'm thinking of a Taichi board and see a Thunberbolt AIC connector in the manual, but then I can't really find enough good quality posts of people having success putting it to use. I'd like to get a new external nvme ssd thunderbolt drive to run my vms off of so I can more easily take them on the road with me and use from my notebook.ddcc - Saturday, October 13, 2018 - link
Certain Gigabyte boards, e.g. Z390 Aorus Pro WiFi, seem to be using Intel's Z390 CNVi, but aren't listed in the article.gavbon - Monday, October 15, 2018 - link
I'm going to be updating tomorrow with more information; been working on getting one of the board reviews ready for the end of the week :)gavbon - Sunday, October 21, 2018 - link
Will be adding these in tomorrow (not at a PC currently) - We didn't have the information available prior to writing