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
EVGA Z390 FTW
The second board we know that is in existence from EVGA is their slightly remodelled Z390 FTW. From a design point of view, all that seems to have changed aesthetically is the audio PCB now features a quintuplet of gold audio capacitors, the removal of some branding on the power delivery heatsink and the placement of the M.2 slots was moved around. The Z390 FTW has rather 'basic' look with an all-black PCB complemented with brushed aluminium styled VRM heatsinks and a black ridged chipset heatsink.
On the PCB of the Z390 FTW, the PCIe layout looks identical with two full-length PCIe 3.0 slots running at x16 and x8, with a PCIe 3.0 x4 slot located at the bottom. An additional two PCIe 3.0 x1 are featured and the board looks to feature two M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 slots with a Key-E slot present which is more an inclusion for users looking to add Wi-Fi capability to the board. The Z390 FTW also features six SATA ports with native support for RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10 arrays.
While the extent of the componentry and controller set is currently unknown due to a lack of specification from EVGA at present, from what we can see we know the rear panel includes a total of eight USB Type-A ports, a combo PS/2 port, a single LAN port, what looks like either a clear CMOS or BIOS Flashback button and a set of onboard audio connectors; most likely powered by a Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec which the Z370 FTW features.
We do not currently know what EVGA plans with its Z390 FTW model or when it will be available if it's not already available at the time of reading. The Z390 has a near identical feature set to the previous Z370 FTW from a visual once-over, but once the official specifications and availability are known, we will update this section.
Update 10/09:
We now know the EVGA Z390 FTW has an 11-phase power delivery as stated by EVGA themselves and offers support for both Intel's 8th generation and 9th generation Core i3/i5/i7/i9 processors. The PCB includes an onboard clear CMOS switch, a power button, a reset switch and an onboard CPU temperature monitor. The Z390 FTW will have a 3-year warranty and will also include an SPI flashing port which allows users to flash the BIOS with a USB stick without requiring a CPU. The EVGA Z390 FTW also features a Realtek 7.1-channel HD audio codec with EVGA NU audio support and an Intel-based Gigabit NIC.
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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.