Finished Looks

I have a new test bench! I want to give a special thanks to EVGA for providing an RTX 2080 FTW3 Ultra to replace my old GTX 980; it was a much needed upgrade. In addition to the new hardware and the new bench, I have changed up the cooling, going with a larger loop. The Eisbaer performed well, but the ever-increasing heat density of mainstream CPUs was pushing it to the limit.


The ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming X is an exceedingly sharp and modern-looking board. ASRock has put a lot of work into the Phantom Gaming line since launch, and it really shows. The ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming X looks and feels like a flagship board, and I think the ASRock design department has a lot to be proud of.


The ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming X really starts to shine once the RGB LEDs are factored in. Like pretty much all ASRock designs, the RGB LEDs are integrated well enough to where they are not prominent when turned off. If you don't like LEDs on your hardware, they can be disabled. You won't even need to download any software as ASRock has included basic controls in the BIOS.


If you are like me, though, a well-implemented lighting system can really bring a build together. The ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming X takes the Phantom Gaming 7 lighting and just turns it up. There are three zones; the rear I/O cover, chipset, and underside on the right. All three have good diffusion and are very bright and responsive. The chipset in particular is perfectly integrated and monstrously bright.

Test System

The ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming X follows standard clock profiles.