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
Z390 Power Delivery Specifications & Comparison
Prior to the launch of the new Z390 chipset, we reached out to all of the motherboard vendors to ask what power deliveries each board is equipped with. The setup and capabilities of the power delivery system on a motherboard are becoming an ever popular buying requirement, and manufacturers have taken notice of this. Especially as we have reported in a couple of our reviews now, that some boards are being embellished with claims above and beyond what they can actually support.
As it's been one of the most requested aspects of our Z390 content, we compiled as much information as we currently have in hand. This is what we've been able to pull from manufacturers in terms of specification sheets (directly from source), as well as other board information. In the below table a question mark (?) denotes that we don't currently have this information available. We don't want to speculate on what might be there, but when we get more information we will keep this table updated.
| Z390 Power Delivery Comparison | |||||
| Motherboard | Controller | H-Side | L-Side | Chokes | Doubler |
| ASRock Z390 Taichi | IR35201 (5+2) |
TI 87350D (12) ON FDPC5939SG (2) |
14 | IR3598 (6) |
|
| ASRock Z390 Taichi Ultimate | IR35201 (5+2) |
TI 87350D (12) ON FDPC5939SG (2) |
14 | IR3598 (6) |
|
| ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 9 | IR35201 (5+2) |
TI 87350D (12) ON FDPC5939SG (2) |
14 | IR3598 (6) |
|
| ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 6 | UPI9521 (?) |
SN Dual N-MOS (?) |
14 | ? (?) |
|
| ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 4 | UPI9521 (?) |
(?) (?) |
(?) (?) |
11 | ? (?) |
| ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ac | ISL69138 (?) |
ISL Smart Power Stage (?) |
7 | ? (?) |
|
| ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming SLI/ac | UPI9521 (?) |
(?) (?) |
(?) (?) |
11 | ? (?) |
| ASRock Z390M ITX/ac | UPI9521 (?) |
FC/SN Dual N-MOS (?) |
6 | ? (?) |
|
| ASRock Z390 Extreme4 | UPI9521 (?) |
SN Dual N-MOS (?) |
14 | ? (?) |
|
| ASRock Z390 Pro4 | UPI9521 (?) |
(?) (?) |
(?) (?) |
11 | ? (?) |
| ASRock Z390M Pro4 | ISL95866C (?) |
(?) (?) |
(?) (?) |
11 | ? (?) |
| GIGABYTE Z390 Aorus Master | IR35201 (6+2) |
IR3553 (12) |
14 | IR3599 (6) |
|
| GIGABYTE Z390 Aorus Ultra | ISL69138 (6+1) |
SiC634 (12) |
13 | ISL6617A (6) |
|
| GIGABYTE Z390 Aorus Pro WiFi | ISL69138 (6+1) |
SiC634 (12) |
13 | ISL6617A (6) |
|
| GIGABYTE Z390 Aorus Pro | ISL69138 (6+1) |
SiC634 (12) |
13 | ISL6617A (6) |
|
| GIGABYTE Z390 Aorus Elite | ISL69138 (6+1) |
SiC634 (12) |
13 | ISL6617A (6) |
|
| GIGABYTE Z390 I Aorus Pro WiFi | IR35201 (6+2) |
IR3553 (6) |
8 | - | |
| GIGABYTE Z390 Gaming SLI | ISL69138 (5+2) |
PPak (10) |
12 | ISL6617A (5) |
|
| GIGABYTE Z390 Gaming X | ISL69138 (5+2) |
PPak (10) |
12 | ISL6617A (5) |
|
| GIGABYTE Z390 UD | ISL69138 (5+2) |
PPak (10) |
12 | ISL6617A (5) |
|
| MSI MEG Z390 GODLIKE | IR35201 (?) |
TDA21462 (16) |
18 | IR3598 (8) |
|
| MSI MEG Z390 ACE | IR35201 (6+0) |
ON4C929N (12) |
ON4C024N (12) |
12 | IR3598 (6) |
| MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon AC | UPI9521 (?) |
ON4C929N (?) |
ON4C024N (?) |
10 | ? (?) |
| MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon | UPI9521 (?) |
ON4C929N (12) |
ON4C024N (?) |
10 | ? (?) |
| MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Edge AC | UPI9521 (?) |
ON4C929N (?) |
ON4C024N (?) |
10 | ? (?) |
| MSI MPG Z390M Gaming Edge AC | UPI9521 (?) |
ON4C929N (?) |
ON4C024N (?) |
8 | ? (?) |
| MSI MPG Z390I Gaming Edge AC | UPI9521 (?) |
TI87350D (6) |
6 | ? (?) |
|
| MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Plus | UPI9521 (?) |
ON4C929N (?) |
ON4C024N (?) |
8 | ? (?) |
| MSI MAG Z390 Tomahawk | UPI9521 (?) |
ON4C929N (?) |
ON4C024N (?) |
8 | ? (?) |
| MSI MAG Z390M Mortar | UPI9521 (?) |
ON4C929N (?) |
ON4C024N (?) |
? | ? (?) |
| MSI Z390-A PRO | UPI9521 (?) |
SM4337 (?) |
SM4503 (?) |
8 | ? (?) |
| Supermicro C9Z390-PGW | PXE1610C (6+1) PXM1310C (3+1) |
TDA2132 (?) |
9 |
- |
|
| Supermicro C9Z390-CG-IW | PXE1520 (5+2) |
TDA2132 (?) |
7 | - | |
| Supermicro C9Z390-CG | MP2949A (6) MP2940A (2) |
MP86945 (6) MP86908 (2) |
8 | - | |
As we get more information, we will update the table. We also have some motherboards in for review, so we can go into a deeper analysis on each individual article over the next few months.
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79 Comments
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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.