ASRock, ASUS, MSI, And EVGA Let Loose With Intel Z390 Motherboard Details For Intel 9th Gen
We are getting oh-so-close to the launch of Intel's 9th generation Core processors, and as that date approaches, motherboard makers appear to be bursting at the seams with excitement. ASRock has come out and formally introduced its Z390 lineup, while ASUS, EVGA, and MSI have all taken to social media to tease their upcoming motherboards.
"The leading global motherboard manufacturer, ASRock, is pleased to announce the launch of the new Intel Z390 motherboard series, and also the Phantom Gaming Motherboards, the latest addition to the company's popular Phantom Gaming line up. These versatile new motherboards support the latest 9th Generation Intel Core™ processors with socket 1151," ASRock said.
To be clear, Intel hasn't formally introduced its next-gen chips yet, and other than ASRock's announcement, Z390 is not official yet either. But that's all dealing with semantics, because at this point, we know both exist.
ASRock has confirmed a dozen models of its own, including the Z390 Extreme4, Z390 Taichi Ultimate, Z390 Taichi, Z390 Pro4, Z390 Phantom Gaming 9, Z390 Phantom Gaming 6, Z380 Phantom Gaming SLI/ac, z390 Phantom Gaming SLI, Z390 Phantom Gaming 4, Z390 Phantom Gaming ITX/ac, Z390M Pro4, and Z390M-ITX/ac. Among those last three are two mini ITX and one micro ATX (mATX) options for small form factor (SFF) builds.
Features vary by board, but the general takeaway is that there is something among the lineup for everyone. ASRock is also clearly taking aim at gamers and enthusiasts with RGB lighting, overclocking features, and so forth.
Our next-gen mobos are capable of peaking to 5GHz+ on all cores, and enable DDR4 memory speeds faster than 4266MHz with all slots populated, even if you’re using some fancy RGB-infused RAM. Ready for more? #ROG #readytobrew #nextgenmotherboard pic.twitter.com/5K4f74y5KI
— ROG Global (@ASUS_ROG) October 4, 2018
ASRock is not the only hardware partner that is itching to get this next-gen party started. Former parent company ASUS teased its own Z390 lineup on its ROG Global Twitter account, noting that its upcoming motherboards are capable of hitting 5GHz and higher on all cores. While ASUS did not come right out and say these are Z390 motherboards, the statement about hitting 5GHz is a veiled reference to Intel's upcoming Core i9-9900K, which is reported to have a 5GHz boost clock,albeit when utilizing one or two cores—the all-core boost clock is said to be 4.7GHz.
If previous leaks hold true, ASUS will have around a dozen Z390 motherboards at launch as well. Among them will be several ROG Maximus XI models, including the ROG Maximus XI Extreme, ROG Maximus XI Code, ROG Maximus XI Formula, ROG Maximus XI Hero, and ROG Maximus XI Hero Black Ops.
Unique - Being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else. pic.twitter.com/N1vZ23u5T5
— Jacob Freeman (@EVGA_JacobF) October 4, 2018
Staying in the Twitter space a moment, EVGA is another company that teased the upcoming Z390 launch. The company posted a teaser photo of an unnamed model that is focused on the upper section of the motherboard. We can see a heavy duty VRM, onboard LED diagnostics, power and reset buttons, and various headers. We can also see the word "Dark" in the upper-left corner. That essentially means it is built for hardcore overclockers.
"The Dark is crafted from the ground up to be the performance apex with everything you need to make a record-breaking benchmarking run or a 24/7 number cruncher, and nothing you don't—a board that is as reliable as it is fast," EVGA says of its X299 Dark.
EVGA will have other Z390 models as well, as few of them have leaked to the web.
Moving off Twitter and heading to YouTube, MSI posted a lengthy preview of its next-gen motherboards. In the video, MSI's Eric and Peter refrain from talking about the chipset.
"We cannot talk about performance, we cannot talk about what chipset, what platform, what CPU this is, and it also doesn't matter because we are going to talk about all new MSI features on all of these mainboards and we have a lot of things to talk about," Eric says.
The preview is over an hour and a half long, but if you're interested in MSI will be bringing to the table, grab yourself a beverage, sit back, and soak it all in.
Look for these and other Z390 motherboards to become official next week.
