Asus prime z390

Advanced users looking to buy an ASUS Z390 motherboard, without most of the expensive drivers and aesthetics the more expensive models, will likely be looking towards the Prime series, which offers a good range of input to the Intel Z390 chipset, while maintaining compatibility with overclocking and offering better overall value than higher-end models. Let's see what the Asus PRIME Z390-A has to offer.

First of all, we thank Asus for the trust placed in us when transferring the product to us for analysis.

Asus Prime Z390-A technical characteristics

Unboxing and design

The Asus Prime Z390-A motherboard comes with the typical Asus presentation for its Prime brand, it is a medium-sized cardboard box, with a very high quality print and based on black and white. The motherboard box describes all its most important features, which we will see throughout this complete analysis.

When opening the box we find the motherboard first, very well accommodated and covered by an anti-static bag to avoid damage during transport. Under the motherboard we find all the accessories:

• User Manual ASUS Q-Shield3 x SATA 6Gb / s Cable (s) 1 x M.21 Screws x SLI HB BRIDGE (2-WAY-M) 1 x Q-Connector1 x SCD1 x CPU Fan Holder

Asus Prime Z390-A is an ATX size motherboard, featuring a white, silver, and black design throughout. The board has a white back panel cover and a chipset heatsink, with RGB LED lighting built into both and with support for Asus Aura Sync. This will allow us to enjoy great aesthetics in the equipment, thanks to all the light effects and the many configuration options that this RGB system offers us.

Rear view of the motherboard, surely the most curious like this photo.

Its powerful VRM offers AI overclocking, which optimizes CPU performance instantaneously based on the CPU and heatsink, offering results similar to those achieved by experts. Asus has assembled a VRM consisting of 8 +1 power phases, with Super Alloy Power 2 components such as Japanese capacitors and MOSFET Dr. MOS to achieve the best stability under load. The aluminum heatsink will prevent overheating of this VRM even with the hungry Intel Core i9 9900K.

The PCB has a white pattern that contrasts quite nicely and represents one of the Asus Z390's more subtle options. Asus Prime Z390-A has three full-length PCIe 3.0 slots, two of which receive ASUS Safe protection treatment and the slots work at x16, x8 and x4 from top to bottom. This means that the Prime Z390-A is officially compatible with two-way SLI and three-way CrossFire multi-graphics card configurations. The steel reinforcement will ensure that there are no problems in supporting the high weight of the most powerful and largest cards.

The memory capacity comes from four RAM slots with support for DDR4-4266 and a maximum capacity of up to 64 GB in dual Chanel, more than enough to take full advantage of the advanced Intel processors based on Coffee Lake. As always, Asus isolates the memory circuitry to the maximum thanks to its OptiMem II technology, so that it is more stable and the user can achieve the highest operating speed.

The storage solutions offered on The Asus Prime Z390-A include two PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots, and only one of them offers support for SATA drives. Also included are six SATA ports with the ability to operate on RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10. This means that we have quite ample options when it comes to enjoying a team that combines all the benefits of SSDs and mechanical hard drives of a lifetime.

Plus, a heatsink is included for the main M.2 slot, perfect for preventing our NVMe SSD from being weighed down by heat. It reduces temperatures of the M.2 SSD up to 20 ° C to make it work at full capacity and be more reliable.

The audio of the Asus Prime Z390 is in charge of the Realtek S1220A HD 8-channel controller, which is based on isolated sections of the PCB for its two channels, thanks to this the interference will be minimal and we will be able to enjoy the best quality sound. This audio system also features DTS Connect and DTS Headphone: X, as well as a built-in amplifier for high-quality sound with high-quality headphones and speakers with 120 dB SNR output and 113 dB NSR input. Supports up to 32 Bits / 192 kHz

We continue to see its features with a single LAN port powered by an Intel I219V Gigabit network controller. To finish off the back panel, there's a pairing of DisplayPort and HDMI 1.4b video outputs, as well as a handy PS / 2 keyboard and mouse combo port.

Asus Prime Z390 has a total of seven USB ports consisting of three USB 3.1 Gen2 Type A ports, one USB 3.1 Type C, two USB 3.0 Type A ports, and two USB 2.0 ports. It also offers us a combination of six audio connectors that are divided into five 3.5 mm audio connectors and an S / PDIF optical output. The native USB 3.1 Gen2 integration into the Z390 chipset has been used well on this board and appears to be a popular board for users not looking to use a Wi-Fi enabled model. Finally, on the rear panel we find the following connections:

1 x PS / 2 keyboard / mouse combo port

1 x DisplayPort

1 x HDMI

1 x Network (RJ45)

1 x Optical S / PDIF Out

5 x Audio Jack (s)

3 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 (blue color) Type A,

1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C

2 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 (blue) Type A

2 x USB 2.0

BIOS

Asus has a rock solid BIOS. This means that it will allow us to have a team with great stability and capable of being able to overclock to get the most out of it.

We have options to bore, and that is that the Asus BIOS in overclock are not the simplest, but with our overclocking guide in Z370 you can quickly reach a very stable overclock.

We also have options to adjust voltages to our liking, monitoring of the main components, advanced adjustments of the whole system and startup options. Nothing to complain about to the company.

testing bench

TESTING BENCH
Processor:	Intel Core i9-9900K
Base plate:	Asus Prime Z390
Memory:	16 GB G.Skill Royal Gold
Heatsink	Corsair H100i V2
HDD	Kingston UV400
Graphic card	AORUS GeForce RTX 2080 Xtreme
Power supply	Corsair RM1000X

Overclocking and temperatures

The processor in frequency of stock reads 1.29 v instead of the 1.32 v that we saw in other motherboards. Regarding overclocking, we have reached 5 GHz with a voltage of 1, 325v. Maybe a little high, but we believe that we do not have a black leg processor and that with a little time we can reach a very good voltage / temperature ratio.

We continue with our new temperature test. After 12 hours of prime95 in long duration we achieved a temperature in the VRM of 62 ºC a with some peaks at 66 ºC. Asus returns to demonstrate that although the Prime Z390 is not in the highest range of the company, it has temperatures that the competition is not capable of achieving. All this with an i9-9900k processor in stock speed. Great job from Asus!

Final words and conclusion about Asus Prime Z390-A

Asus positively surprises us with each new generation of Intel and AMD motherboards. On this occasion, we have been fortunate to test the Asus PRIME Z390-A with an i9 9900k processor, with very good results. Its 8 + 1 power phases, a design that adapts to almost any component, the equipment of very good components and a slightly intrusive RGB system, are its strongest points.

In our tests we were able to bring the 9900k to 5 GHz without messing up. Not with the best voltage we've tested, but it's pretty close. With the Maximus series, will everything be more efficient? We have also found that the temperatures of the VRM are excellent, and we are surprised because their heatsinks are not the most robust that we have seen mounted. Very good work Asus!

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We are missing a Wifi connection and a second heatsink for the M.2 NVMe connection. We have to know that if we install two NVMe SSDs, it will automatically disable SATA connections 5 and 6 . It is a fact to keep in mind, for those users who like to use all storage connections.

Currently we can find it in online stores for about 208 euros. We believe that it is a fair price and seeing its characteristics and performance, it is a 100% recommended Z390 motherboard. If you want a good motherboard and want to have as few RGB lights as possible, the Asus PRIME Z390-A is a great option.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ DESIGN	- DOES NOT HAVE A WIRELESS NETWORK CARD (WIFI)
+ QUALITY OF THE COMPONENTS
+ REFRIGERATION AND TEMPERATURES
+ VERY GOOD PERFORMANCE
+ ALLOWS A GOOD OVERCLOCK

The Professional Review team awards him the gold medal:

Asus PRIME Z390-A

COMPONENTS - 85%

REFRIGERATION - 89%

BIOS - 82%

EXTRAS - 77%

PRICE - 78%

82%