Asus launched a substantial choice of Z390 motherboards this week, with the Asus ROG Strix Z390-E Gaming rating amongst them as a strong mix of options and affordability. From its darkish and industrial styling, reliable construct high quality, and extreme performance, it nonetheless has that acquainted Republic of Gamers footprint we’ve come to count on from the model, however barely extra reserved in each appears and worth.
ROG motherboards are thoroughbreds, and the likes of the ROG Maximus Extreme, Formula, and Code are all prime examples of that high-end focus. But not all of us are excessive overclockers or hardline loop consultants, and whereas the £228 ROG Strix Z390-E continues to be a distant cousin to Asus’ genuinely budget-focused Prime motherboards, it’s a barely extra inexpensive board that also encapsulates that ROG pedigree.
Intel’s Z390 chipset is ready to exchange Z370 as high canine, though brings with it only some enhancements over the tried and examined method from the eighth Gen. Now each WiFi assist and USB 3.1 Gen 2 assist are native to the chipset itself, though, contemplating the Asus ROG Strix Z370-E Gaming already got here with each WiFi and three USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports due to supplementary controllers, the brand new chipset has little real-world impression on the specs checklist this time round.
The identical LGA 1151 socket Intel has been rocking for its previous couple of generations of CPUs has made one other return, this time retaining backwards compatibility with the final technology of Intel’s processors: the eighth Gen. That implies that even when the eight cores of the i9 9900Okay or i7 9700Okay aren’t your fashion, you possibly can nonetheless go for the hexacore or quad-core chips from final yr as an alternative.
| ROG Strix Z390 |
ROG Maximus XI Formula |
|
| Form issue | ATX | ATX |
| Chipset | Z390 | Z390 |
| Memory assist | DDR4 – as much as 4266MHz |
DDR4 – as much as 4400MHz |
| Expansion slots | 2x PCIe 3.Zero x16, 1x PCIe 3.Zero x4, 1x PCIe 3.Zero x1 |
2x PCIe 3.Zero x16, 1x PCIe 3.Zero x4, 1x PCIe 3.Zero x1 |
| Storage | 2x M.2 PCIe x4, 6x SATA 6Gb/s |
2x M.2 PCIe x4, 6x SATA 6Gb/s |
|
Intel Optane Ready |
 |
|
| WiFi | |
|
| LAN | Intel I219-V Gigabit |
Intel I219-V Gigabit, Aquantia AQC-111C 5G |
| Audio | ROG SupremeFX S1220A 8-channel codec |
ROG SupremeFX S1220A 8-channel codec |
| USB | 3x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A, 1x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C, 2x USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A, 2x USB 2.0 |
3x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A, 1x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C, 6x USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A, 4x USB 2.0 |
| USB inside | 1x USB 3.1 Gen 2, 2x USB 3.1 Gen 1, 4x USB 2.0 |
1x USB 3.1 Gen 2, 4x USB 3.1 Gen 1, 4x USB 2.0 |
| RGB lighting | |
|
| Fan headers | 5x 4-pin | 8x 4-pin |
| Price | £228 | £423 |
AI overclocking has been a characteristic rolled out throughout the board with the most recent Asus lineup in an try to make your motherboard smarter. Whether you needed it or not, motherboards are considering for themselves and now have the power to price your CPU’s silicon potential for overclocking prowess and spit out voltages and clockspeeds it thinks to be attainable in your explicit chip. It’s helpful steerage too, even when solely as a place to begin to tweak speeds additional.
Intel’s wireless-AC 9560 controller is now liable for WiFi connectivity, providing twin band 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac connectivity and MU-MIMO assist. LAN is equally dominated by Intel’s personal I219V, with a single LAN port out there from the rear I/O. Bluetooth has additionally been bumped up from v4.2 to v5 with the Strix Z390-E.
There are two M.2 sockets on the board, each assist PCIe 3.Zero x4 with one port additionally providing SATA connectivity, too. Both drives characteristic stylised heatsinks with thermal materials to attract a few of the warmth away out of your drives throughout giant transfers. Otherwise, you continue to have six SATA 6Gb/s ports for two.5” SSDs or chunky HDDs as per the usual for many ATX boards these days.
As for efficiency netted from all that, there’s not a lot to talk of. Until we are able to get an eight-core chip within the board, efficiency metrics are solely within the six-core area, and with Intel’s i7 8700Okay within the rig, there’s little change in efficiency over comparable Z370 boards launched one yr in the past.
Audio is supplied by the identical ROG SupremeFX 8-channel codec that made it into the designs from final yr. That’s not a nasty factor by any means, nonetheless, as this tried and examined configuration presents clear and crisp audio with little interference, and so far as motherboard audio goes, is among the strongest implementations round.
With the last-gen ROG Strix Z370-E typically hovering round £230, the virtually similar price ticket makes the most recent Z390 a powerful proposition. It’s all the pieces from final yr’s board with enhancements, what’s to not like?
Well, maintain on. So far this motherboard isn’t truly out there. Despite Asus launching the board this monday, inventory already appears somewhat brief, or non-existent, with many main retailers nonetheless awaiting precise ETAs on a few of the Z390 lineup, together with the Strix Z390-E. Asus has been cautious to maintain some Z370 motherboards mendacity in wait in case Intel’s 14nm shortage affects its own supply chain for Z390 motherboards.
So lengthy as there’s an abundance of inventory and costs subsequently stick with the £228 MSRP, or ideally much less, the ROG Strix Z390-E Gaming makes for an important fully-fledged motherboard that provides a variety of additional performance with out stepping over into the intense. If you need performance, dependability, and a complete heap of connectivity, the ROG Strix Z390-E Gaming is a worthwhile consideration in case your finances isn’t too stringent.
Asus ROG Strix Z390-E Gaming
The Asus ROG Strix Z390-E Gaming presents a breadth of options helpful to the avid gamer and average overclocker, but pulls again simply earlier than breaking into significantly area of interest fanatic territory. For a board that does all of it and somewhat extra, the Strix is a first-rate selection.
Source
