Asus tuf z390 pro gaming review in Spanish (full analysis)

We have once again in our hands a motherboard from the Asus TUF series, one of the most popular on the market, thanks to the fact that it offers very good characteristics, as well as an aesthetic with a military touch that looks great, although the latter is has been reducing throughout the last versions. Asus TUF Z390 PRO Gaming is the new bet of a company for the ninth generation of Intel processors, let's see all its details.

Ready to learn more details about it? Don't miss our review! Here we go!

We thank Asus for trusting the product for its analysis:

Asus TUF Z390 PRO Gaming technical characteristics

Unboxing and design

First, we will analyze the presentation of this great Asus TUF Z390 PRO Gaming motherboard, just as we do in all the products that pass through our hands. The manufacturer has opted for packaging that follows the typical design of the TUF series, which results in the predominant use of the colors black and yellow. The cover is decorated with the product name, the incorporation of Aura Sync technology and the TUF logo.

If we move to the back we find each and every one of the most important technical characteristics in several languages, including Spanish. An excellent presentation that will allow all users to know all the virtues of the product before going through the box.

Once we open the box we find the following bundle:

Asus TUF Z390 PRO Gaming motherboard Back plate.Instruction manual and quick guide.Installation kit for Intel processors.Disk CD with drivers.SATA Cable Set.SLI Cable HB.Decal stickers and manage wiring.Protectors for all sockets and connections.

Finally we focus our view on the Asus TUF Z390 PRO Gaming motherboard. Its design is very characteristic and unmistakable, a PCB made in black and gray, with heatsinks and trim also black and with touches of yellow.

The truth is that the TUF aesthetic has little to do with its origins, the first motherboards in this series had a very military design, with camouflage imitations and greenish tones, something that was loved and hated in equal measure. TUF aesthetics has evolved to appeal to all users.

Going into technical details, the Asus TUF Z390 PRO Gaming is an ATX format motherboard that reaches dimensions of 30.5 x 24.4 cm. How could it be otherwise, it includes the second generation LGA 1151 socket that is compatible with eighth and ninth generation Intel Core processors. In this case we find the Z390 chipset, to which the motherboard owes its name. It is the most advanced chipset from Intel, which comes to replace the Z370. The differences between the two are very few, some additional USB ports and compatibility with Intel CNVi.

Rear view of the motherboard. Asus TUF Z390 PRO Gaming does not include the "TUF Thermal Armor" armor, so characteristic of the first motherboards in this series and that it gave an overwhelming aesthetic, in addition to protecting the PCB and its elements from dust. Times change and you have to adapt to what the market demands, although it is a shame that features like this are eliminated.

What has not been neglected is the use of high-quality components, one of TUF's hallmarks. Asus TUF Z390 PRO Gaming comes with an 8 + 1 phase Digi + VRM, which are manufactured with high quality elements like TUF Chokes, TUF capacitors and TUF MOSFET. Two large aluminum heatsinks are placed on this VRM to optimize its cooling. It is not a beastly VRM with a high number of phases, but it is very well cooled and based on high quality components following the premise of best little but good. With this VRM we will not have problems to get the most out of the new Core i9 9900K processor with 8 cores and 16 threads.

This VRM is powered by a 24-pin ATX connector and an 8-pin EPS connector. This is more than enough to meet the needs of a 95W processor such as the Core i9 9900K, the most powerful that we are going to be able to mount on this motherboard.

On the right side of the socket we find the usual 4 DDR4 DIMM slots with OptiMem II, which will allow us to mount a maximum of 64 GB with frequencies of up to 4266 Mhz in dual chanel to get the most out of the Whiskey Lake architecture. There is full compatibility with the XMP 2.0 profile so that we can get the most out of it in a very simple way. 64GB is the maximum supported by the integrated memory controller in Intel processors, so no complaints in this regard.

Asus places on all its Z390 motherboards an anti-interference shield for the RAM memory, which allows them to work in the best possible way, to guarantee the user that they will take full advantage of the benefits of their processor. MEMOK! Technology II recovers the default memory settings in case the system is unable to boot, very useful for overclockers.

The Asus TUF Z370 PRO Gaming includes three PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots, one of which has an Asus SafeSlot steel reinforcement, to easily support the weight of the largest and most powerful graphics cards. This allows us to mount two Nvidia SLI or AMD CrossFire graphics cards, with which we will obtain a sensational performance in the most demanding games at 4K resolution. Added to this are two PCI Express 3.0 x4 slots for expansion cards.

Asus TUF Z370 PRO Gaming also offers us two M.2 slots, one of them type 2280 and the other type 22110, for the installation of two high-speed SSD drives, one of them is compatible with PCI Express and SATA interfaces. III while the second is only satisfied with PCI Express that will allow us to take advantage of the benefits of NVMe and Intel Optane. To save you space, 6 traditional SATA III 6 Gb / s ports have also been added for mechanical hard drives or 2.5-inch SSDs.

We continue with the TUF Audio Design sound card supported by the 8 channel HD Realtek S1200A chip and with independent section of the PCB to avoid interference, it also includes premium Japanese audio capacitors, and a high impedance headphone amplifier and DTS technology.

Asus Aura Sync lighting puts the finishing touch on aesthetics, it is an RGB system configurable in 16.8 million colors and various light effects. It also gives us the possibility to synchronize it with other compatible devices, such as LED strips that we can mount thanks to the RGB heads of this motherboard. Some of the available light effects are as follows:

Static: Always on Breathing: Slow cycle on and off Strobe: On and off Color cycle: Goes from one color to another Music effect: Responds to the rhythm of music CPU temperature: Changes the color according to the load of the CPUCometaFlashOff

The network is run by a Gigabit Ethernet port, brought to life by the Intel I219V controller and TUF LANGuard technology that improves speed and stability. Asus has included a protection system against electric shocks, very important to avoid a disaster.

Among its rear connections we find:

1 x PS / 2 Keyboard / Mouse Combo Port 1 x DVI-D 1 x HDMI 1 x Network (RJ45) 1 x Optical S / PDIF Out 5 x Audio Jack (s) 2 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 (Blue Color) Type A 4 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 (blue) 2 x USB 2.0

Test bench and tests

TESTING BENCH
Processor:	Intel Core i7-8700K
Base plate:	Asus TUF Z370-PRO
Memory:	Corsair Vengeance 64GB DDR4
Heatsink	Cryorig A40
HDD	Samsung 850 EVO 500 GB.
Graphic card	Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti
Power supply	Corsair AX860i.

To check the stability of the Intel Core i7-8700K processor at stock values and the motherboard we have stressed with Prime 95 Custom and air cooling. The graphics we have used is an Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti, without further delay, let's see the results obtained in our tests with a 2560 x 1440 monitor.

BIOS

The BIOS in this case is identical to that of the Z370 motherboards. Only when we put a 9th generation Intel processor is when we see the option of how good its silicon can be. Without a doubt, a very interesting note for those who have eighth generation processors.

Final words and conclusion about Asus TUF Z390 PRO Gaming

The Asus TUF Z390 series is one of the most beloved series by Asus fans. It offers very ultra-durable components, a beautiful but not intrusive design, a great cooling system and a great overclocking capacity when we want it.

In our tests we have tested the Z390 PRO Gaming with a 5 GHz i7-8700K processor, a GTX 1080 Ti graphics card, 16 GB of RAM and an M.2 SSD. The performance is excellent and without creating a bottleneck.

We recommend reading the best guide on the motherboard

One of the things we miss the most is the classic armor on both the back and front of the motherboard. Offering greater robustness, the ability to support heavy hardware such as heatsinks over 1 kg or triple slot graphics cards and a distinctive that made it a unique motherboard.

We really liked the addition of a heatsink for the M.2 connection. This time it is quite robust. Good job!

The Asus TUF Z390 PRO Gaming will arrive in Spain for a price of approximately 175 euros. We believe it is one of the best quality / price options for the new generation of Intel processors. Admittedly, it does not have the ROG Maximus series BIOS phases and power but will meet the 95% needs.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ QUALITY AND ULTRA DURABLE COMPONENTS	- WE MISSING THE CLASSIC ARMOR TUF
+ IMPROVED SOUND
+ COOLING M.2.
+ GOOD PERFORMANCE
+ ATTRACTIVE PRICE