The Gigabyte Z390 AORUS PRO WIFI Review and is an expensive motherboard but justifies its cost with tons of features and compatibility.
It is a great option for gamers as well as for the creators and offers decent audio quality.
If you are planning to buy Gigabyte Z390 AORUS PRO WIFI and are unsure about it then read on as we explore its key features, specifications and performance in this review.
The motherboard is based on an Intel Z390 chipset that contains everything you need for proper graphics card support and clear video output.
It includes two M.2 slots with PCIe Gen3 x4 interface that can use up to 32 Gb/s of bandwidth along with Intel Optane memory support.
The RGB LEDs are perfectly placed that even light up your case from inside, especially if you have a windowed side.
Key Features
- The board has two digital lighting headers as well as two 12V lightings headers
- The motherboard supports two M.2 ports with thermal guards
- It has plentiful hybrid fan/pump headers and ample thermal sensors
- Comes with 12+1 Phases Digital VRM Solution
- Supports 8th and 9th Generation Intel Processors
- Has 2×2 Wave 2 WiFi solution with Intel Gigabit NIC
- The PCIe x16/x8 slots are also reinforced
- It also supports two-way NVIDIA SLI or AMD CrossFire
- Can support high-end gaming without causing lags
Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Pro Wifi Review
Review:
Z390 is Intel’s latest and leading consumer side chipset for the 9th generation of the Core i-series.
After their release, the motherboards established themselves as an industry leader in performance and stability.
Design:
Every aspect of AORUS has been meticulously conceived and engineered, resulting in a truly unique experience for users.
An aggressive, game-oriented design language expresses itself throughout the construction of hardware, software, and packaging.
The external chassis is forged by aluminum, which delivers a rugged but lightweight structure that is purely functional as well as aesthetically pleasing.
The surface finishing processes are meticulous; from sandblasting fade patterns onto the metal finish to adding texture with anodized diamond cut treatments — every detail was refined to enhance the user experience.
The internal thermal solution utilizes high-performance heat pipe technology to swiftly dissipate heat away from vital components and into the airflow stream generated by two unique blade fans.
Visual Inspection:
Nestled on a fully black PCB is the Aorus Falcon logo at the bottom left. The Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Pro WIFI uses black and silver heatsinks with a black glossy plastic rear panel cover.
It has customizable RGB LED zones, on top of the RAM slots, and is even etched onto some parts inside for good measure!
The board offers eight 4-pin headers, making it one of the most comprehensive Z390 boards for cooling.
These are divided into four different areas, which include a CPU fan, a water cooling fan, two water cooling pumps, and four system fans.
GIGABYTE Z390 Aorus Pro WIFI supports both non-ECC and ECC unbuffered memory with a maximum supported capacity of up to 128 GB across four available slots!
It’s also capable of supporting the new 32GB UDIMM DDR4 modules. Additionally, it supports dual-channel XMP 2.0 profiles that enable users to use high spec DDR4 memories such as those at speeds like 4266MHz.
The front panel USB 3.1 Type-C header sits very close to one of the RAM slot clasps and could potentially make installing and uninstalling memory an issue if it is being used.
The quick fix would be to temporarily remove this while you are working, but everything requires a temporary workaround which isn’t convenient for everyone, so as a result, this con is worth mentioning.
Features:
The Z390 Aorus Pro goes some way to justifying its cost with excellent aesthetic design.
The rear I/O cover, the heatsink at the top of the board, and southbridge heatsinks have brushed metal and dramatic angles, while you get more RGB LEDs on this board than in any of its affordable rivals — they’re in two major heat sinks: one that cools an audio circuitry and another between memory slots.
The Gigabyte also supports dual-graphics systems from AMD or Nvidia and overall provides better compatibility than its rivals.
You get two M.2 slots, both of which have heatsinks — something few rivals offer. The Gigabyte has the usual six SATA ports, and at the top, you’ll find an extra four-pin CPU power connector similar to the likes of ASRock or MSI boards, and well, that’s a boon if you want to pump more electricity into your CPU for overclocking!
There’s standard gigabit Ethernet as well as audio from Realtek ALC1220 chipset that is mainstream but better than what competitors can provide in this price range.
The motherboard is equipped with six fan headers, all of which are four-pin connectors and can be controlled by PWM.
There are also two lighting strip ports as well! Additionally, the board has a USB 3.1 Type C connector for attaching to an external case’s front panel, so you won’t have to purchase one separately — it’s fully compatible with most cases on the market today too.
The rear IO has five full-size USB 3.1 ports, two of which support the faster Gen 2 protocol and a Type C port with five analog audio jacks for your speakers or headphones, as well as four standard USB2 ports that can be used to plug in an external hard drive.
However, the board doesn’t offer DisplayPort, but it does come equipped with HDMI.
BIOS:
The GIGABYTE Z390 AORUS PRO WIFI has dual BIOS with no option for the user to switch between them. In case of any issue, it will automatically use the secondary BIOS and give a chance to fix settings from UEFI.
The GIGABYTE has a great interface that is user-friendly and easy to use. The one drawback? It’s not as good as the ASUS or MSI, but with some time spent on it, you’ll be back in business!
One of the best features about it is how well laid out everything is, which makes it easier when overclocking your CPU and RAM settings.
GIGABYTE’s BIOS has an easy mode for beginners, but advanced settings are still available. Unfortunately, the Easy mode is only shown on the first load.
All settings are in order on the left side of the screen above, and you can access them by clicking on the category name at the top of the screen.
The CPU section lets you control a lot of different things; you’ll want to set your power.
The UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) has both Easy and Classic modes for overclocking settings, as well as control through GIGABYTEs newer skin when you get your system by default.
You can find CPU Core-related advanced settings under Advanced CPU Core Settings. Memory timings are also located on this page, and DRAM timings are there too!
Then you’ll need to go over the Voltage section for more modification of your PC’s power needs.
You might be interested in checking out Load Line Calibration or Phase Power as well; just make sure that everything works together nicely.
Performance:
The Gigabyte is an excellent motherboard with a good price point. One of the best features of this computer, and one that many people love, are its specs and performance.
Which happen to be better than other competitors in both Cinebench tests as well as GeekBench scores.
The board bolstered performance by maintaining consistency across applications, storage testing, memory speeds never bad or mediocre but always above average for boards at this end of the market!
Overclocking, Power Consumption, and Thermals:
We disabled the Gigabyte Core enhancement to stay with Intel’s default settings.
On stock, all of the settings were left at auto. AIDA64 Extreme 6 was used to stress out my CPU (CPU, FPU, Cache, and System Memory) in order for me to verify how well it overclocked on Red Dead Redemption 2 when I played around an hour before taking a real-world reading using 1080P Ultra preset.
I have been able to push the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 card I am using on this machine up to +205MHz and 400 MHz for its Core Clock, Memory Clock, respectively. It has given me a Time Spy score of 7491, which is pretty good as well, considering that it’s just an overclocked system with no liquid nitrogen or anything like that used in conjunction.
The only thing not great about my setup here is how much more voltage I’m required to give the chip before reaching 5GHz because if you compare against other boards out there doing what mine does at similar clocks, they take less power.
Public benchmark:
The user benchmark for this motherboard has an impressive score. It is a valued investment and has positive reviews.
Conclusion:
On paper, the GIGABYTE Z390 Aorus Pro WIFI looks highly competitive with a respectable controller set and plenty of support for USB and RGB.
Its target gamers looking to use Intel’s 8th or 9th generation processors without breaking the bank but still wanting that premium user experience.
A solid-looking 12 phase power delivery adds to its allure; however, it does sit in a highly contested market segment that has various rivals.
The motherboard is somewhat more expensive than its rivals at the affordable end of the market but it has good specifications, with ample PCI versatility and many ports on-board.
Plus, this motherboard’s rear I/O looks great and comes with so many RGB LEDs in its design!
It is also one of the best boards on the mainstream market for its mix of high quality, great design, and an impressive array of ports that allow you to connect multiple peripherals without any hassles or problems.
Originally published at https://motherboardpros.com
