ASUS Ready with 19 Motherboard Models Based on Intel Z390 Chipset

[btarunr]

ASUS is ready with a staggering 19 motherboard models based on Intel's upcoming Z390 Express chipset. This chipset, as you'd recall, is a re-branding of the Z370 Express with a stronger reference CPU VRM design, to cope with overclocking Intel's upcoming 8-core "Whiskey Lake" processors better. This time around, ASUS lineup is more exhaustive than its Z370-based lineup, with its top-tier ROG Maximus XI series including nearly all extensions including the Maximus XI Hero (and its WiFi sub-variant), Maximus XI Code, Maximus XI Apex, Maximus XI Formula, and Maximus XI Extreme (no Gene, though). The upper-mid tier ROG Strix series includes three ATX models: Strix-E, Strix-F, Strix-H, and the mini-ITX Strix-I, but again curiously, no micro-ATX Strix-G.

The company's mainline Prime series is relegated to just three models: Prime Z390-A, Prime Z390M-Plus, and Prime Z390-P. The cheap entry-level TUF Gaming lineup swelled to five modes: TUF Z390M-Pro Gaming, TUF Z390M-Pro Gaming WiFi, TUF Z390-Plus Gaming, TUF Z390-Plus Gaming WiFi, and TUF Z390-Pro Gaming. There's also the Z390 Dragon, designed for gaming i-cafes. Intel is reportedly launching its first 9th generation Core "Whiskey Lake" processors as early as 1st August, 2018.



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[EntropyZ]

With TUF boards still sucking, and less variants overall for AM4 in the past. What's new, really? I think ASUS has gone downhill and everyone else followed after them to make the cheapest motherboards and sell them at stupid prices while having crappier VRM on each iteration.

If you look at datasheets what the voltage controllers are capable of and depending if the phases are doubled or not, you'd quickly find out your "8 phase" is really a 3+1 with twice the inductor count to make the motherboards look like they have proper VRMs. And they're getting away with this.

With the larger core count on the way, they have no excuse to skimp on the voltage control.

A little off-topic, but motherboards nowadays look kind of empty, if you look at pre-Z97 boards, they're just packed with components. I'm starting to think they're definitely using less components than before, with the removal of the northbridge (god that was not too long ago when you think about it), I'm feeling like there's something else missing.

 

[rtwjunkie]

Wow, and I’m still way back on Z97. Oh well, eventually I will actually buy latest and greatest.

 

[EntropyZ]

Wow, and I’m still way back on Z97. Oh well, eventually I will actually buy latest and greatest.

There's nothing wrong with Z97/Z170 they're the last great boards IMO and they're not even that old, you can still buy new Z170 boards at good prices. I stuck with a Z67 board and an overclocked i5-2400 until Ryzen hit. That's dedication to a platform that can still kick-ass. Sadly the Z-Chipset was PCI-E lane starved, so future expandability is limited, though you can add an adapter and enjoy all the things that are integrated into new iterations, basically it's not much of problem if not going with CFX or SLI. They're almost dead anyway.

With 8 cores being mainstream soon, maybe 2-3 years from now we might start thinking those four-core CPU's and their respective motherboards are a little bit obsolete.

While I'm glad the tech industry is finally moving on, to me there's an attachment to older hardware that still impresses me to this day.

 

[Space Lynx]

19 different models, what a joke.

If I ran one of these companies, I would streamline the design, have 3 models, low, mid, and high. Probably would cut costs and make it easier for consumer, plus allow said company to invest in better VRM cooling across the board, instead of some poor fool buying a model with bad VRM cooling just assuming its fine for his shiny new CPU. I suppose this is a niche hobby so most buyers are educated on this stuff, meh I dunno

 

[GlacierXD]

Still no Deluxe version. FeelsBadMan.
Really wish ASUS could bring back the old legendary Deluxe boards.

 

[Bones]

19 different models, what a joke.

If I ran one of these companies, I would streamline the design, have 3 models, low, mid, and high. Probably would cut costs and make it easier for consumer, plus allow said company to invest in better VRM cooling across the board, instead of some poor fool buying a model with bad VRM cooling just assuming its fine for his shiny new CPU. I suppose this is a niche hobby so most buyers are educated on this stuff, meh I dunno

Talk about a confusing - 19 different models for the same basic chipset/lineup?
It's like they can't make up their minds so instead they just said "Screw it" and included every idea tossed around in the boardroom that day.

My Z270 is doing well and no need to worry about upgrading anytime soon, should be good for a few years at least.

Bad thing is will Asus finally go the way of Abit, Soyo and DFI?
Mind you DFI did it intentially and Soyo was more or less forced to go the way they did, Abit was the only maker that truly went belly-up from it all when the time came. If Asus does go down, then who would fill the void?
Your guess is as good as mine.

 

[RejZoR]

Well, there are really only 3 big ones. ASUS, Gigabyte and MSI. Everyone else kinda seem to fill in the gaps in between these 3.

 

[Prima.Vera]

Aye. 19 different models it's retarded to say the least... Not to mention overly confusing since I have no ideea what are the main difference between models. That makes me ask,
What variant is the one that has all the major O.C. features and BIOS, but WITHOUT the stupid "hi-quality" sound card (have an X-Fi Titanium anyway) and also integrated Wi-Fi??
I use direct cable connection for lower latency over online games so no need for that bs.

 

[_UV_]

19 different models, what a joke.

If I ran one of these companies, I would streamline the design, have 3 models, low, mid, and high. Probably would cut costs and make it easier for consumer, plus allow said company to invest in better VRM cooling across the board, instead of some poor fool buying a model with bad VRM cooling just assuming its fine for his shiny new CPU. I suppose this is a niche hobby so most buyers are educated on this stuff, meh I dunno

these boards actually have 3-4 base designs with different options like additional controllers, heat sinks, leds, etc
whole purpose of this - catch as much $ from your pockets, oh sorry marketing name this scheme "customer satisfaction and experience" by providing goods for all marketing niches

Still no Deluxe version. FeelsBadMan.
Really wish ASUS could bring back the old legendary Deluxe boards.

After better inspecting model line i think ROG *Something* Hero WiFi exactly resemble old Deluxe line.

 

[dj-electric]

Waiting for 1 motherboard maker to break the 100-150$ circle of pain. Of pimped up budget design with horrible power and cooling capabilities. Who is going to be the one...

 

[R0H1T]

Well, there are really only 3 big ones. ASUS, Gigabyte and MSI. Everyone else kinda seem to fill in the gaps in between these 3.

You forgot Asrock

 

[Vayra86]

Talk about a confusing - 19 different models for the same basic chipset/lineup?
It's like they can't make up their minds so instead they just said "Screw it" and included every idea tossed around in the boardroom that day.

My Z270 is doing well and no need to worry about upgrading anytime soon, should be good for a few years at least.

Bad thing is will Asus finally go the way of Abit, Soyo and DFI?
Mind you DFI did it intentially and Soyo was more or less forced to go the way they did, Abit was the only maker that truly went belly-up from it all when the time came. If Asus does go down, then who would fill the void?
Your guess is as good as mine.

What void? There are enough board makers around, heck we may even see more of ECS and Biostar and they might even git gud someday. In the meantime we have Asrock and perhaps Gigabyte will also step up their game again. MSI has also shown to be capable - just not as consistent yet.

I won't shed a tear seeing Asus fall. They have exposed themselves as complete and utter garbage lately. Not just in product, but in general style of doing business. The overpriced branding was a dead giveaway really.

 

[Melvis]

I think ASUS has gone downhill

Your only just realizing this now? They have been like that for the past 18yrs.

So its true then, none of these new CPU's will work on Z370 boards?

And I agree 19 new boards? wtf! makes it so hard later on in the future to ever easily replace your mobo with the same one if it died and been ASUS it will.

 

[Animalpak]

They eliminated Impact and Gene from the Maximus line many years ago already. The Strix line is confusing for me and a part of RGB led's they dont have anything special, for me only the Maximus series is to be seriously considered from asus.

I have to change my case to ATX because i think Micro ATX motherboards are about to stay entry-level, and not be full with interesting extra's. I have a micro/mini atx case only.

 

[Bones]

What void? There are enough board makers around, heck we may even see more of ECS and Biostar and they might even git gud someday. In the meantime we have Asrock and perhaps Gigabyte will also step up their game again. MSI has also shown to be capable - just not as consistent yet.

I won't shed a tear seeing Asus fall. They have exposed themselves as complete and utter garbage lately. Not just in product, but in general style of doing business. The overpriced branding was a dead giveaway really.

The void left if Asus should eventually go the way the ones I mentioned.
It's more of a "Who would eventually take this share" of the market if it happens referring to the enthusiast part of it...... Well all of it that Asus currently has truth be told.

I'm with you on this for the most part - I also can see ASRock and Gigabyte doing it, MSI taking a smaller share and the rest being right where they are now. MSI's problem is they focus on being cheap, using the cheapest parts they can get which affects quality.
If they ever decide to finally ditch Nikos and still can innovate they could do much better and grab a fairly good portion of it at least.

Whatever happens if it does, someone will and we'll all have to adapt, make do or something if we want to continue doing what we do.

 

[RejZoR]

You forgot Asrock

Asrock is not really that big. ASUS makes everything from motherboard, graphic cards, soundcards, laptops, tablets, phones, PC peripherals etc. Asrock basically only makes 3 of these and in smaller scale imo.

 

[Manu_PT]

Always find it funny when I see ppl bashing a motherboard VRM, while it was designed to work with NON overclockable chips that will run at 20w most of the time.

Suddenly everyone wants beefy VRMs. If you check your old platforms VRM quality you gonna be scared. They are not even bad now and much less on Asus. Gigabyte yeah, made for low budget and too KABOOM.

 

[dj-electric]

All i'm asking from Z390 gen is to have 1 motherboard from each vendor that can properly, truly handle a 350W CPU power. Even if that board cost 300$+

 

[Sabishii Hito]

Aye. 19 different models it's retarded to say the least... Not to mention overly confusing since I have no ideea what are the main difference between models. That makes me ask,
What variant is the one that has all the major O.C. features and BIOS, but WITHOUT the stupid "hi-quality" sound card (have an X-Fi Titanium anyway) and also integrated Wi-Fi??
I use direct cable connection for lower latency over online games so no need for that bs.

The Apex, although I think marketing forces these companies to put integrated sound and possibly wifi into the OC-oriented boards. At least you can physically remove the WiFi card and disable the audio in the BIOS (last two Apex boards didn't come with Wifi though).

 

[Vayra86]

Always find it funny when I see ppl bashing a motherboard VRM, while it was designed to work with NON overclockable chips that will run at 20w most of the time.

Suddenly everyone wants beefy VRMs. If you check your old platforms VRM quality you gonna be scared. They are not even bad now and much less on Asus. Gigabyte yeah, made for low budget and too KABOOM.

What do you mean 'suddenly'... we've always wanted beefy VRMs to go with overclockable CPUs. Its just that a vast majority of kiddos doesn't even know what VRM means or how it works or even what the "+X" means in a spec sheet for VRM, so these companies try it every time. AND because VRM is a considerable part of the cost of a motherboard when done right, and can be very cheap when you really want to. Why do you think AsRock is doing good business? Because they are actually consistent across a large part of their board range in the VRM department. It inspires trust that the solution is adequate and it shows where the focus is. Asus prefers to 'design' a few dozen different plastic shrouds filled with RGB and butt ugly color schemes and you pay more for that while you get a crappy VRM to go with it. Even a 'budget minded' (LOL) midranger like the Strix Z370-A Prime offers much less than what AsRock gives you in every way at both lower and higher price points, and it is considered to be one of the more 'reliable' ones VRM wise... but still not quite the thing to get. But dont worry, Asus has you covered, just buy an extremely overpriced Apex (which, again, is eclipsed by an Asrock Taichi)!

Matter of fact, VRMs of the past were consistently better because they had to be, now the market is much more segmented into much finer detail and CPUs fit in a category, so you also get cost efficient boards to go with each category. Is that wrong? I don't think so. But its not too much to ask on a Z-board to have a decent VRM, especially when you realize these are chipset specifically built for overclocking. Thát is why people get their panties in a bunch.

 

[E-curbi]

Only wish for a simple Maximus 11 Extreme board to improve my clocks on an 8086K.

Is that asking too much?

 

[Manu_PT]

What do you mean 'suddenly'... we've always wanted beefy VRMs to go with overclockable CPUs. Its just that a vast majority of kiddos doesn't even know what VRM means or how it works or even what the "+X" means in a spec sheet for VRM, so these companies try it every time. AND because VRM is a considerable part of the cost of a motherboard when done right, and can be very cheap when you really want to. Why do you think AsRock is doing good business? Because they are actually consistent across a large part of their board range in the VRM department. It inspires trust that the solution is adequate and it shows where the focus is. Asus prefers to 'design' a few dozen different plastic shrouds filled with RGB and butt ugly color schemes and you pay more for that while you get a crappy VRM to go with it. Even a 'budget minded' (LOL) midranger like the Strix Z370-A Prime offers much less than what AsRock gives you in every way at both lower and higher price points, and it is considered to be one of the more 'reliable' ones VRM wise... but still not quite the thing to get. But dont worry, Asus has you covered, just buy an extremely overpriced Apex (which, again, is eclipsed by an Asrock Taichi)!

Matter of fact, VRMs of the past were consistently better because they had to be, now the market is much more segmented into much finer detail and CPUs fit in a category, so you also get cost efficient boards to go with each category. Is that wrong? I don't think so. But its not too much to ask on a Z-board to have a decent VRM, especially when you realize these are chipset specifically built for overclocking. Thát is why people get their panties in a bunch.

Overreacting. I bet you can overclock a 8700k to the same clocks and similar volts on a z370 prime and on an apex or taichi or gaming m5. You wont fry anything. Now everyone want VRMs for nitrogen world records overclock attempts. Ridiculous.

 

[R-T-B]

Overreacting. I bet you can overclock a 8700k to the same clocks and similar volts on a z370 prime and on an apex or taichi or gaming m5. You wont fry anything. Now everyone want VRMs for nitrogen world records overclock attempts. Ridiculous.

Pretty sure we want good VRMs for the better efficiency and lifespan they tend to have, but ok.

 

[rtwjunkie]

Pretty sure we want good VRMs for the better efficiency and lifespan they then to have, but ok.

Exactly! Many of us have only bought motherboards with great VRM heatsinks for the increased lifetime under load. I guess some will never understand that.