The GIGABYTE Z390 Aorus Master Motherboard Review: Solid, But Not Special
by Gavin Bonshor on March 21, 2019 12:30 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- Intel
- Gigabyte
- ATX
- LGA1151
- i7-8700K
- Z390
- Aorus Master
Board Features
The GIGABYTE Z390 Aorus Master is a high-end ATX motherboard targeted at gamers and enthusiasts with a variety of features and controllers. Highly notable features include triple M.2 with all of them supporting NVMe drives and each coming equipped with its own M.2 heatshield. The single LAN port is controlled by an Intel I219-V 1 Gbe PHY and GIGABYTE utilizes the CNVi on the Z390 chipset with an Intel 9560 802.11ac 1.73 Gbps capable Wi-Fi adapter. Users looking for a solid onboard audio solution will appreciate the Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec with an assisting ESS Sabre 9118 digital to analogue converter. Up to two-way NVIDIA SLI and three-way AMD CrossFire multi-graphics cards configurations can be used on the Z390 Aorus Master due to three full-length PCIe 3.0 ports (x8/x8/ or x8/x8/x4).
GIGABYTE Z390 Aorus Master ATX Motherboard | |||
Warranty Period | 3 Years | ||
Product Page | Link | ||
Price | $290 | ||
Size | ATX | ||
CPU Interface | LGA1151 | ||
Chipset | Intel Z390 | ||
Memory Slots (DDR4) | Four DDR4 Supporting 128 GB Dual Channel Up to DDR4-4400 |
||
Video Outputs | 1 x HDMI 1.4 | ||
Network Connectivity | Intel I219-V Gigabit Intel 9560 802.11ac 2T2R |
||
Onboard Audio | Realtek ALC1220-VB ESS 9118 DAC |
||
PCIe Slots for Graphics (from CPU) | 2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 (x16 or x8/x8) | ||
PCIe Slots for Other (from PCH) | 1 x PCIe 3.0 x4 3 x PCIe 3.0 x1 |
||
Onboard SATA | Six, RAID 0/1/5/10 | ||
Onboard M.2 | 2 x PCIe 3.0 x4/SATA 1 x PCIe 3.0 x4/x2 |
||
USB 3.1 (10 Gbps) | 3 x Type-A Rear Panel 1 x Type-C Header |
||
USB 3.0 (5 Gbps) | 2 x Type-A Rear Panel 1 x Header (two ports) |
||
USB 2.0 | 4 x Type-A Rear Panel 2 x Header (four ports) |
||
Power Connectors | 1 x 24-pin ATX 2 x 8pin CPU |
||
Fan Headers | 1 x CPU (4-pin) 2 x CPU/pump (4-pin) 4 x System (4-pin) |
||
IO Panel | 3 x USB 3.1 G2 Type-A 1 x USB 3.1 G2 Type-C 2 x USB 3.1 G1 Type-A (AMP-UP) 4 x USB 2.0 Type-A 1 x Network RJ45 (Intel) 5 x 3.5mm Audio Jacks (Realtek) 1 x S/PDIF Output (Realtek) 2 x Intel 9560 Antenna Ports 1 x Power/Reset button 1 x Clear CMOS button |
On the rear panel, GIGABYTE has equipped the Z390 Aorus Master with four USB 3.1 G2 ports; three Type-A and one Type-C. Also present is two USB 3.1 G1 Type-A ports which double up with GIGABYTE’s DAC-UP 2 technology for audio enthusiasts, as well as four USB 2.0 ports. Users can add an additional USB 3.1 G2 Type-C port, two USB 3.1 G1 Type-A ports and four USB 2.0 ports due to internal headers. GIGABYTE also has support for fast DDR4-4400 memory and supports the 32 GB UDIMMs which means the Z390 Aorus Master can house up to 128 GB of system memory.
Test Bed
As per our testing policy, we take a high-end CPU suitable for the motherboard that was released during the socket’s initial launch, and equip the system with a suitable amount of memory running at the processor maximum supported frequency. This is also typically run at JEDEC subtimings where possible. It is noted that some users are not keen on this policy, stating that sometimes the maximum supported frequency is quite low, or faster memory is available at a similar price, or that the JEDEC speeds can be prohibitive for performance. While these comments make sense, ultimately very few users apply memory profiles (either XMP or other) as they require interaction with the BIOS, and most users will fall back on JEDEC supported speeds - this includes home users as well as industry who might want to shave off a cent or two from the cost or stay within the margins set by the manufacturer. Where possible, we will extend out testing to include faster memory modules either at the same time as the review or a later date.
While we have been able to measure audio performance from previous Z370 motherboards, the task has been made even harder with the roll-out of the Z390 chipset and none of the boards tested so far has played ball. It seems all USB support for Windows 7 is now extinct so until we can find a reliable way of measuring audio performance on Windows 10 or until a workaround can be found, audio testing will have to be done at a later date.
Test Setup | |||
Processor | Intel i7-8700K, 65W, $300, 6 Cores, 12 Threads, 3.7 GHz (4.7 GHz Turbo) |
||
Motherboard | GIGABYTE Z390 Aorus Master (BIOS F8e) | ||
Cooling | be quiet! Silent Loop 240mm AIO | ||
Power Supply | Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 1200W Gold PSU | ||
Memory | 2x16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-2400 Ran at DDR4-2666 CL16-18-18-35 2T |
||
Video Card | ASUS GTX 980 STRIX (1178/1279 Boost) | ||
Hard Drive | Crucial MX300 1TB | ||
Case | Open Benchtable BC1.1 (Silver) | ||
Operating System | Windows 10 RS3 inc. Spectre/Meltdown Patches |
Readers of our motherboard review section will have noted the trend in modern motherboards to implement a form of MultiCore Enhancement / Acceleration / Turbo (read our report here) on their motherboards. This does several things, including better benchmark results at stock settings (not entirely needed if overclocking is an end-user goal) at the expense of heat and temperature. It also gives, in essence, an automatic overclock which may be against what the user wants. Our testing methodology is ‘out-of-the-box’, with the latest public BIOS installed and XMP enabled, and thus subject to the whims of this feature. It is ultimately up to the motherboard manufacturer to take this risk – and manufacturers taking risks in the setup is something they do on every product (think C-state settings, USB priority, DPC Latency / monitoring priority, overriding memory sub-timings at JEDEC). Processor speed change is part of that risk, and ultimately if no overclocking is planned, some motherboards will affect how fast that shiny new processor goes and can be an important factor in the system build.
New Test Suite: Spectre and Meltdown Hardened
Since the start of our Z390 reviews, we are using an updated OS, updated drivers, and updated software. This is in line with our CPU testing updates, which includes Spectre and Meltdown patches. As we are in the process of testing more Z390 boards, that data will be added in future reviews however at this point we only have Z370 on the old testing as a reference.
36 Comments
View All Comments
Timur Born - Thursday, March 21, 2019 - link
I have to keep ring ratio below x46 to stay stable overclocked.gavbon - Friday, March 22, 2019 - link
I tested DPC Latency on the latest 2 revisions (F7 and F8e). Retested the full suite on both revisions and didn't notice any significant differences. GIGABYTE has good hardware, just tetchy firmwareTimur Born - Thursday, March 21, 2019 - link
I am confused by the supposed usage of "DPC Latency Checker" on Windows 10?! Do you use LatencyMon or how do you make it work?gavbon - Friday, March 22, 2019 - link
We use LatencyMon :)Timur Born - Saturday, March 23, 2019 - link
I guessed so, which means this is just a typo in the text. Do you report maximum or average latencies and is this using the "Balanced" or "High Performance" Windows power profile?Gasaraki88 - Friday, March 22, 2019 - link
That gaming performance is pretty bad. A difference of 10+ frames between the best and worst board (this one) is a big different when you have the same cpu, gpu, and memory.IndianaKrom - Saturday, March 23, 2019 - link
I have this board and a 9900k, and the gaming performance is nothing like what they are getting in benchmarks (even my 7700k system was doing better than that). I wonder if it isn't because the BIOS defaults for this board actually respect the Intel turbo boost spec and will dial down the CPU clocks/energy back down to the rated TDP after a few seconds of load. I went in to BIOS and deliberately set P1/P2/P3 turbo power states to unlimited watts/duration so my CPU will turbo at its highest possible bins forever as long as the thermals are in check, but if you don't do that the board will clamp the CPU to 115w after 10 seconds and 95w after like 30 seconds IIRC.Arbie - Friday, March 22, 2019 - link
Even if the company's legal name is in all caps, that's just marketing hype and hard on the reader's eyes. I wouldn't indulge them by repeating it - which does them no favors anyway, as it looks gimmicky and cheap.WickedMONK3Y - Monday, March 25, 2019 - link
The performance of this board seems to vary greatly depending on the CPU used, and the BIOS revision that is on the board. F5 and F6 seem to be the best BIOS versions so far, I am running mine with F6 and a 9900K, and stuck in an 8700K to check these numbers and my performance was higher, but my girlfriends PC is running the same board on F8 with a 9700K and when I put in the 8700K the numbers are close to these. Scary how much a BIOS can affect performance on these boards.VoodooRufus - Wednesday, March 27, 2019 - link
Beefy power section, ESS Sabre DAC, gold plated audio connectors, dual 8-pin CPU power, and front USB-C. Very good aesthetics, integrated IO plate. VRM's run cool with minimal airflow. I love my Aorus Master. Stable and easy to tune. I mostly hate my Z68X-UD7-B3 in comparison.