Board Layout

Unlike the Phantom Gaming 9 I reviewed last year, the ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming X does not borrow any visual elements from the Taichi board line. The ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming X does fit in very closely with the recent Phantom Gaming 7, which makes sense.

Where the Phantom Gaming 7 had extensive PCB printing in a largely gray theme, the ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming X has a completely black PCB, which is only logical since very little is visible.


The back of the ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming X is a similar black, but not empty as a large metal backplate takes up more than half the rear of the board. The backplate does add structural integrity as the heatsinks are mounted to it. ASRock has placed several controllers on the back of this board, most notably for the 2.5 Gb/s LAN. The ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming X is very sharp and modern-looking, with a great level of detail.


The CPU socket is open enough to accommodate most coolers, and the VRM heatsink looks quite capable.


There are three M.2 slots on the ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming X; one above the first PCIe x16 slot and another between the second and third PCIe x16 slots. All three (and the chipset besides) share a single monolithic heatsink. While not a hugely complex part, the machining and finish on the heatsink are absolutely excellent. The Torx screws are an interesting twist, though I wish they had been used throughout the board instead of just for the three M.2 heatsink screws.


The top M.2 heatsink overlaps with the chipset heatsink, and the two are interfaced with a thermal pad. I did not have any problems with the thermal pad of the chipset heatsink sticking like I did with the Phantom Gaming 7.


The ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming X offers three PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots, all encased in steel armor, as well as two PCI Express 3.0 x1 slots. The board has a total of eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports, and all are angled 90 degrees from the board. Six of these ports are powered by the Z390 chipset, while the last two are supported by an ASMedia ASM1061 controller.


The ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming X has a superb rear I/O offering that includes three LAN ports and an optical S/PDIF out port. Combined with the WiFi 6, the ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming X has some serious horsepower when it comes to networking.

• 2x Antenna ports
• 1x HDMI port
• 1x DisplayPort 1.2
• 1x PS/2 keyboard and mouse combo connector
• 4x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A ports
• 1x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A ports
• 1x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C port
• 3x RJ-45 LAN ports
• 1x Optical SPDIF out port
• 5x 3.5 mm audio jacks

Networking on the ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming X is handled by an Intel I2119V and an Intel I211AT, while a Dragon RTL8125AG from Realtek provides the 2.5 G LAN (red port). WiFi 6 is provided by an Intel 802.11ax module.