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.
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Chaitanya - Monday, October 8, 2018 - link
That video advert on pages is stupid pain in rear side to say the least when reading through all those pages.Mr Perfect - Monday, October 8, 2018 - link
The "How to pick a CPU" video? If you pay close attention to it, it's actually Anandtech content.That being said, they'll probably be fine with you ad-blocking it. Blocking content doesn't affect ad revenue, right? ;)
leexgx - Monday, October 8, 2018 - link
I just opened the site in edge now so I could block them as very distracting and annoying (as well as the scam ads between the article and comments section that I have to scroll past )edwpang - Wednesday, October 10, 2018 - link
I tried not to block ads, but I cannot bear the sight of some pictures and videos.imaheadcase - Wednesday, October 10, 2018 - link
I don't understand how anandtech would allow the scam ads to appear on here, its prob the #1 reason i use a adblock in the first place. The only reason i know about it is from phone, when i first saw them i was like "wtf is this shit".I guess anandtech doesn't think its ads reflect its site.
Ryan Smith - Thursday, October 11, 2018 - link
If you guys are encountering issues with the ads, please reach out to me and let me know. Ads fall under a different department in Future, but if there are specific problems then I can at least pass those along to get them addressed.Ananke - Thursday, October 11, 2018 - link
The ads /the video/ are super annoying - its the same style as Tom's Hardware, apparently as business has been merged. The slotted video, or the minimized video screen upon changing the tab size for example makes me avoiding Anandtech and Tom's alltogether, after reading it for 20 years /yeah, since Anand was a teenager and started it as a blog/. I am multitasking, and I can't read when screen is smaller, and I use smaller screen at work, because you know, I work.hoohoo - Thursday, October 11, 2018 - link
Hi Ryan,The Choose a CPU video is auto-play. On a phone or mobile device this is obnoxious for two reasons: (1) it uses a lot of bandwidth and mobile plans usually have a cap on data above which the reader must pay extra; (2) when the video plays it either pauses any already playing media (mp3 player on the phone) or just plays in addition to the existing media, both are irritating.
Please explain to your ad people that auto-play video is not nice.
Valantar - Monday, October 8, 2018 - link
It's likely the camera/render angle playing tricks on me, but the VRM heatsink/rear I/O shroud on the ROG Strix Z390-I Gaming looks like it'll interfere with GPUs with backplates ...The Chill Blueberry - Monday, October 8, 2018 - link
It's most likely just the camera angle. see how the top of the rear I/O is sticking out over the board. A big company like Asus couldn't forget about such an important detail.