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The Asus TUF Z390-Plus Gaming motherboard is quite literally a solid entry level board. TUF-branded motherboards have durable components, which should improve this board’s lifespan compared to rivals. That’s where this guide comes in. We’ve sifted through the market to find the best eight boards, which have been tested for performance, features and value, so you can come to a conclusion over which could take pride of place in your next rig, regardless of your budget, or what you want to accomplish. 1. MSI MEG Z390 Godlike Cutting-edge Thermal Design with Fins-Array Heatsink, Direct Touch Heatpipe and NanoCarbon Baseplate This board has reasonable features, with PCI connectivity and storage being particular highlights. Other boards do sometimes offer more, though, and it couldn’t outpace rivals in either application or gaming benchmarks. This subdued board isn’t awful, especially for storage or work, but the Gigabyte is a better all-rounder. Read the full review It’s a better specification than the Asus ROG Maximus XI Hero (Wi-Fi) – that board is more expensive, and it has fine hardware, but it isn’t quite as well-equipped when it comes to storage or rear I/O.
There’s a lot to like about the specification of the Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Pro. A mid-range Z390 motherboard, it has solid PCI options that match its rivals, and few others at this price have steel supports around both PCI and memory slots.
M.2 heatsink
The MSI did deliver poor application performance in most of the benchmarks, and its gaming results were mediocre. That won’t prove too much of a hindrance at this end of the market, though. You can certainly get more features and speed if you pay extra elsewhere, but this MSI is a fine, well-rounded option if you want Z390 without spending lots of cash. Read the full review
The board is almost all-metal, although it’s dark and brooding – nothing like the competing Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Xtreme. This board is louder and has more lights, and its features are skewed more towards gaming and tweaking than work and creativity. The networking and audio hardware is good, and you get plenty of on-board fan connectors and USB options – including a front-panel USB 3.1 Type-C connector. The rear I/O is well equipped, too, with five full-size USB 3.1 ports and a couple that support the newer, faster Gen 2 protocol. This board is a few pounds more expensive than others in the middle of the market, but it justifies its price with great features and performance. It’s the best mid-range all-rounder. Read the full review
The motherboards are put through a demanding suite of benchmark tests. We run Geekbench 4 to test single- and multi-core application speed, and Maxon’s Cinebench R15 to test CPU and OpenGL GPU performance. We use CrystalDiskMark to test NVMe and SATA storage speeds, and SiSoft Sandra to evaluate memory performance and processor arithmetic speeds. Intel Z390 Ultra Durable motherboard with 12+1 Phases Digital VRM, Direct Touch Heatpipe, Thunderbolt™ 3, CPU attached RAID, 802.11ac Wireless, Dual M.2 with Thermal Guards, Dual Intel ® GbE LAN with cFosSpeed, Front & Rear USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C It also means that Intel Z390 motherboards support both the 8th generation and 9th generation Coffee Lake CPUs – such as the Core i5-8600K, the Core i7-8700K, and the Core i7-9700K. It’s a revision to Intel’s high-end consumer chipset, so it’s no surprise that this platform is well-served by beefy processors. All motherboards will have enough connections for basic front-panel USB connectivity, basic fan arrays and basic cooling. However, if you want to have synchronised RGB LEDs, complex water-cooling, plenty of USB ports or more fans in your machine, then this is an area where it’s worth paying attention. It’s no good buying a case or a load of water-cooling gear, only to find out that it isn’t compatible with your new motherboard.
Intel has added native support for 802.11ac wireless internet for Z390, but many motherboard manufacturers will add their own, better wireless chips, especially on more expensive boards. The MSI MEG Z390 Godlike is the most expensive Z390 motherboard in the group. For that money, the MSI delivers a vast slate of features: support for 128GB of DDR4, lots of M.2 connectivity, six SATA ports, and even a U.2 connection. In addition, you get four PCI-E x16 slots – more than any other board here.Motherboards also tend to be covered by tiny connectors. These handle CPU cooling, USB connectivity, all of your PC’s front-panel connections, and your system’s lighting and case fans.
As usual, there’s support for 64GB of DDR4 memory, a solid Realtek ALC1220 audio codec and entirely normal wired networking. On board you get reasonable USB connectivity, and average allocations of fan connectors and CPU power plugs. Its networking and audio are suitably entry-level, but that’s still absolutely fine for most mainstream builds. Fire Strike, 3D Mark: Time Spy, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider are run to evaluate gaming ability. Then we test power efficiency by measuring the board’s power draw when idling and when running Prime95’s CPU stress-testing benchmark. Intel Z390 GAMING Motherboard with 10+2 Digital PWM Design, ALC1220-VB, 2-Way SLI™ / 2-Way CrossFire™ Multi-Graphics, USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A, M.2 Thermal Guard, Intel GbE LAN with cFosSpeed, Smart Fan 5, Dual M.2, Dual Armor with Ultra Durable™ Technology, CEC 2019
MSI’s board returned excellent application results that outpaced the Gigabyte, and the MSI board was frugal. However, it was inconsistent in gaming, and often behind the Gigabyte.
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