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
MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon AC
The MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon AC as it stands is the premier model from the MPG (performance gaming) range and as such, encompasses some of the higher end controllers such as an Intel I219V Gigabit LAN and 2T2R supported Intel 9560 802.11ac wireless networking adapter. The aesthetic has that famed carbon styled look across the board's heatsinks and rear IO cover, which also has built-in RGB LED lighting too. The board has an all-black PCB and the bottom M.2 slot has an integrated heatsink which lines up alongside the chipset heatsink.
With a very similar PCB layout to the MPG Z390 Gaming Edge AC, the MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon AC has a total of three PCIe 3.0 full-length slots which operates (top to bottom) at x16, x8 and x4. This means that 3-way CrossFire and two-way SLI multi-graphics card configurations; also present is three PCIe 3.0 x1 slots. Storage wise the top MPG model has a pair of PCIe and SATA compatible M.2 slots, while the bottom slot gets paired up with a heatsink which integrates itself into the chipset heatsink. As with all of MSI's Z390 launch ATX motherboard lineup, MSI has opted to use all of the available six SATA ports provided from the Z390 chipset itself. Memory support is limited to DDR4-4400 and has the capacity for a total of up to 64 GB across all of the four available memory slots.
The rear panel as expected accommodates a larger number of USB real estate than other MPG series models with the Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon AC making the most of the USB 3.1 Gen2 integration with the chipset as three Type-A and a single Type-C are present. Rounding off the rear panel USB is two USB 2.0 ports while an additional four USB 3.0 and four USB 2.0 ports through the use of internal headers. Also present is a pair of video outputs which consist of a single HDMI and DisplayPort. The onboard audio and five 3.5 mm audio jacks take their direction from a Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec while the single LAN port is controlled by an Intel I219V Gigabit networking chip.
MSI's suggested pricing of the MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon is $230 which seems very reasonable considering this is basically a cut-down version of the MEG Z390 ACE. Users looking to make use of the super fast 1.73 Gbps wireless network can do so thanks to the inclusion of an Intel 9560 2T2R Wave 2 capable WiFi adapter. Users who don't want to spend extra money on the wireless networking can save themselves $30 as MSI also lists a non-AC version of this board, the MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon for $200.
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pawinda8 - Monday, October 15, 2018 - link
Still no mention of any Z390 boards with native Thunderbolt 3 (not AIC)! Has Intel given up on Thunderbolt for the PC world?gavbon - Monday, October 15, 2018 - link
If it's not integrated into the chipset, it's not really native as such. The ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ac has a Thunderbolt 3 port on the rear panel, but that's the only one I'm afraidHikariWS - Monday, October 15, 2018 - link
Oculus Rift requires 3 USB3 ports and doesn't accept any of them being connected to a hub, they all need to be connected directly into a raw port. I had to buy a dedicated 3GIO USB 3 board that added 6 useful extra ports. In my (yes, old) Gigabyte z87 mobo I also had issues using keyboard and mouse on USB 3 ports inside UEFI and some recovery softwares, so I had to buy a USB 2 mirror to connect them.Because of that, having USB 2 ports on front panel and nice quantity of USB 3 is what most differs mobos for me, given that all other features are nearly the same.
ASUS Z390-A seems to be the best option. It has the important double USB2 ports, 5 USB3 ports and still has HDMI and DP for emergencies.
just4U - Monday, October 15, 2018 - link
I wish MSI had released a "godlike" board for the Ryzen series.ThugEsquire - Tuesday, October 16, 2018 - link
You list the ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ac above as an ATX board, but it's actually mITX. FYIgavbon - Friday, October 19, 2018 - link
I have gone through every page where the Phantom Gaming-ITX/ac is listed, but I can't see where it says it's an ATX board? Could you please be more specific? Are you viewing on mobile or desktop?Galcobar - Tuesday, October 16, 2018 - link
It would be really helpful to break out one more criteria into a table: Type-C header for case-front ports.Helping a friend put together an i5 system and, knowing he'll keep it for a long time, am trying to get even with peripheral connectors (already has a monitor, so no using that as a hub). It's relatively easy to identify cases with a Type-C port, but that's pointless without a motherboard header. Having to go into each board's page to check is time-consuming.
jjnam - Thursday, April 18, 2019 - link
6 months later and I'm here for EXACTLY this reason. I've gone through probably 50 manuals over the past few days squinting to find this information. What a pain.Synomenon - Thursday, October 18, 2018 - link
So on the ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ac, is the TB3 port on the rear using up lanes from CPU (making the only 16x slot, 8x only)?If it's not using lanes from the CPU, how will using that TB3 port (say with a USB3.1 Gen2 hub OR TB3 hub) affect all the other ports / IO on the board?
repoman27 - Thursday, October 18, 2018 - link
Going off of what TweakTown published, it's a single-port Intel JHL6240 "Alpine Ridge" controller with a PCI 3.0 x2 connection to the PCH. So it won't affect the PEG lanes from the CPU. I'm amazed it's not Titan Ridge at this point though.