Intel’s Z390 Chipset ft. MSI Z390 Ace & Edge

My overall opinions on Z390, 9th gen, as well as a brief look at two Z390 boards.
Check prices below
MSI MEG Z390 Ace: geni.us/o16SfF
MSI MPG Z390 Edge: geni.us/APeN1Xd
Intel Core i9 9900K: geni.us/rtof7
Intel Core i7 9700K: geni.us/1Fngv
Intel Core i5 9600K: geni.us/BD2l
AMD RYZEN 5 2600: geni.us/AZ4m
AMD RYZEN 7 2700: geni.us/cTOBO
Intel Core i7 8700K: geni.us/MKEO2
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[@optimumtech]

Note - more of a discussion than a board review. What’s everyone’s thoughts on Z390 / 9th Gen? Will you be upgrading?

[@neurodriven]

I'm upgrading and already have all my new components...except for the 9900k. Intel and their shitty paper launches...

[@madd5]

Already ordered one :)

[@grizzly6699]

I really appreciate some of the insight into the motherboard VRMs, thanks!

[@florian1264]

I like the detailed information about the vrms. Keep it up ! :)

[@k.postma3339]

Nice and really clear video! Would love to see another build video

[@SznoopedCastGaming]

What about the Z390M gaming edge? Will it overclock well as the gaming edge? Is the 9900k good with it?

[@blai5e730]

Lacking a 9900k to test... well, that's Australia for you! 500 units available at launch and all sent to North America. Hopefully stock will eventually filter down to us and I'll pick one up and whack it into my EVGA Z370 Classified K which appears to have decent VRMs to support this CPU. Informative video Ali

[@blai5e730]

I wasn't prepared to drop down a large sum of cash up front on a pre order with an unknown ETA. That said, I can afford to wait a bit and carry on with my 8700k in the meantime.

[@MrJericho07]

I upgraded and used the MSI Z390 edge ac mini atx and the i9 9900k along wth the msi duke 2080Ti. I read a lot about how the i9 9900k runs hot but took the risk and was suprised that the i9 ran cooler than my i7 around 30 degrees on tickover and under load never reached above 75 degrees (running battlefieldV)on a bios overclock at 4.6 GHz XMP'd the memory at 3000MHz using this board and a corsair liquid cooled 100i V2 240mm fan, so its a good board in terms of temps something you can attribute to the extended PWM heatsink and enhanced circuit design. I have really good airflow even though the case is a phanteks enthoo (which some reviews say its not so good with airflow) 3 x 240mm intake fans 1 exhaust. The wireless signal speed dipped 15gb from wired, but I never use wireless. Overall I am Happy with this lower end of the Z390 boards, but if you have the cash to splash go for a better board for straight line performance as it lacks in this department. Overall like I say I'm happy with the board for now (low price), but I feel an upgrade coming on in 12 months.

[@sitordan]

Nice in-depth view. I like it.

[@hisevilness_com]

There is a old gen Celeron CPU with socket 1151 for about 50 dollars you could get that as a stand-in CPU to flash the BIOS.

[@MudassirKhan-ui2rj]

Yea...

[@daduncker20D]

There’s still like 40 modern features its missing lol

[@hisevilness_com]

@@daduncker20D all you need is a stand in for a BIOS flash

[@MaksimBuligyn]

Does the z390 gaming pro carbon supports Intel i7 7700 ?

[@wasabinator]

For m-ITX builders, there is also a lot more choice of z390 boards that support 2 m.2 drives (no longer need to pay the ASUS premium which was the case with z370 boards)

[@sumphi9057]

I'm looking to buy a new processor and a motherboard. My budget for those two is around 500-600€. What would you all recommend? I use my computer for video games like Black Ops 4, GTA 5, FH3 and PUBG. So what would suit my needs? I have an 1070GTX 8GB GPU to run along the new motherboard and CPU. Also going to buy 16GB of DDR4 RAM. I'd also be looking to be able to record/stream while playing. Thank you in advance!

[@allgsmnetwork]

Hello,one question why MSI exemple z390 pro gaming carcon have two block on for 12 pin+ one block 4pin and one block 12 pin?is essenzial or optional?i used before z370 8 pin two block from 8 pin or not?others mainboard has also Z370 8 pin two block 8 pin 4+4?

[@DrunkNeltey]

It's optional, you can use this extra connector to have a better overclock but more stable

[@madd5]

Do you think Maximux xi hero a better option compared to this? Considering the price of 290 USD right now. Also I heard that xi hero is using 4 phases on VRM. Not sure how bad will that be for overclocking.

[@RodrigoSantos-qh7se]

I've read/seen that the Maximus XI Hero is not good at all for the 9900K. The VRM throttles under severe load.

[@madd5]

Throttling is caused by CPU overheating, not the motherboard itself in this case.

[@AtsulWoW]

Gamer Nexus said the same thing. 4 phase only.

[@paulm2467]

10 phases on maximus board.

[@DrunkNeltey]

​@@madd5 VRM wattage limits, so thermal throttling by the way. This motherboard has 13 dedicated phases to the processor and the cooling system is pretty good, much more than the XI Hero

[@GregGGs]

Hi, what do you think about ASUS Maximus XI Hero? For i9 9900K CPU.

[@DrunkNeltey]

Crap, 4 phases dedicated to the CPU, extremely not recommended for that CPU..

[@shaolin95]

can you confirm if its true that you CANNOT enable iGPU from something like the 9900k on this mobo? Thanks

[@DrunkNeltey]

Yes, no display connector at the back IO

[@1973makina]

What kind of vrm does the msi ace z390 wear?

[@scalliboy2698]

Answer is no unless you need all of its VRMs and compatibility for the 9th gen CPUs.

[@optimumtech]

You watched 12 minutes of video in just 23.42 seconds? Impressive.

[@scalliboy2698]

@@optimumtech I know right? Nah, just been doing research myself :D It's like every other motherboard refresh out there for each generation of CPUs.

[@wickedirish1267]

im actually upgrading to an I7 8700k board from an i5with a 9th gen in mind for future upgrades so this board is fine for me.

[@andrewfeng4019]

Dose the rgb on the mSI z390 gaming edge sync with mystic sync

[@markdavenportjr5129]

very nice for the price i will get this board and a 9600k upgrade for fhd high refresh rate gaming. :)

[@3lectronic0]

Excellent reviews, very informative. I like the Aorus Master, but I hate buggy software and bios from Gigabyte. The MSI Ace would have been perfect with Intel Nic instead of Killer 2500 Nic.

[@arnokalliokorpi7048]

Exquisite content as always!

[@kindbud]

I just bought the Strix z370 ITX 2 weeks ago, should’ve waited

[@danielgrimshaw400]

Maybe not the best to be recommending a z370 for 9900K with a possible weaker VRM and run the risk of thermal throttling ?

[@optimumtech]

The point is that you could get seeing as Z370 is overall cheaper than Z390, when normalising for price you essentially can grab a higher end Z370 board. By all means, Z390 is the way to go if value is not of importance :)

[@AllThatJazOfficial]

Please note. Many review outlets are reporting heavy performance loss and increased heat with z370 and 9900k. If you are planning this chip on z370 it must be the very very high end z370 like asus maximus apex or formula etc

[@optimumtech]

The way current Z390 boards are priced, those Z370 options actually make sense

[@AllThatJazOfficial]

@@optimumtech i agree. I was considering the z370 maximus x formula as it can be had for $550 new aud opposed to the z390 formula for $730 aud. But after seeing z370 vrm and the single eps cpu power can struggle with the 9900k it seems worth it for the z390

[@steelwrath]

Please make a testing with meg Ace and 9700k to see what is capable of

[@nicolasmartinez7662]

any updates?

[@seollenda]

More boards need more armor! My Maximus X Code with all its armor looks sooooooo much better than the exposed designs on most boards out there!

[@paulm2467]

Who cares what it looks like, how it performs (especially in the power phases and latest tech) is what matters.

[@wickedirish1267]

seriously... who cares what it looks like. No one is going to go up to my tower and look inside saying wooooeeeeeee

[@dufey1969]

I just got the msi z390 edge ac and the i9 9900k for $549 us in a combo deal

[@nicolasmartinez7662]

hows it running so far?

[@clockfume8335]

Love your channel :)

[@3lectronic0]

Meg Ace with HDMI port and Intel NIC instead of Killer 2500 would have Ben perfect...

[@DrunkNeltey]

Yeah but I think if you take this mobo you're a "enthusiast" gamer, so you automatically have a graphics card by the way and the Killer E2500 is better in the question of the ping in game and overall

[@MrProTechHD]

edge ac has been giving me hell, i replaced it with the same exact board same issue,random freezing High CPU usage,random yellow/greenish discoloration,. i tested it every single component , it was also freezing on Linux Mint , i have a nvidia 970 replaced with the gt 730 for testing purpose's no change same shit,i reformat it windows seven times so far and still not a change , and it makes the video card to refresh constantly at times, i didnt have an issue with my previous board that being the gigabyte z370 , so i tested a new cpu along with the rams hell even replacing the power supply....its been so frustrating all this shit started after i reformat it windows,something tells me that MSI knows whats up it seems like an bios issue , screw MSI

[@iliagofman]

Interesting as I just upgraded from an onlder msi 970 gaming mobo build but with the newer 1080ti last year, that oc a lot and stable as a rock. Now upgraded to gigabyte Master z390 with good 9900k and all other components are just as good. My gpu can't oc on the master z390 for some reason, checked all settings and drivers too. I'm thinking of going for msi z390 meg ace, as my old msi 970 gaming mobo was amazing for oc, just top benchmark scores, where as gigabyte master z390 is shite unfortunatelly, and I have checked all the setting and done a lot and a lot of research.

[@timpreston46]

ive been pulling my hair out for 6 weeks trying to figure out if i wanted to build a new ryzen system or intel and while the ryzen prospects were great they lack the one thing i love , over clocking ability, so i look at the intel z370 and z390 options and im like ok i can do either but holy fucking coins to drop, and then i find out the asus board i was going to buy has a shit power delivery which would completely defeat my purpose. so i said ok well my 7700k runs as solid at the same voltage that ive had it on for what 3 years now, why not upgrade my z270 system , ya know like actually updat the system like people used to do b4 intel got all fantic after amds ryzen launch and screwed everyones brain up. so i bought a z270 MSI Platinum $360 board with 16 vrm phases and a ton of other features for $150, bought another GTX 1070 FTW card and bought some new o rings for my water cool fittings for 20 bucks, a new corsair 570 mirror black limited edition case, some pastel white and uv black dyes and now i have a brand new system that still performs more than it needs to and actually in gaming its a damn gem to over clock with and have fun, all for less than the price of an RTX 2080 so heres my thoughts , fuck you nvidia and intel you have lost your fucking minds.

[@amunderdog]

Well there was little point in upgrade from Z270 to Z370; Now we have the little difference from Z370 to Z390. So where does that leave those with Z270?

[@AllThatJazOfficial]

Well if you are upgrading your cpu then you have to choose. If you're staying same cpu you cant upgrade...simple

[@batu-740]

or just go with amd

[@sargeyyboyy]

im still running the strix z270e gaming motherboard and its great, haven't had any problems with it. But i wouldn't mind upgrading to the z370 motherboards and the 8th gen cpu.

[@granautismo786]

Did you guys see the Asus Z390I mITX board? Sheeeesh pants dropper!

[@ErrorUser]

NO if you have a 300 series board no point

[@calculus989]

Search Kennys on google and you will find Optimus tech brother

[@nildo547]

Linda , uau I Love good like