The GIGABYTE Z390 Aorus Pro WIFI Motherboard Review: A Sturdy $200 Surprise
by Gavin Bonshor on April 12, 2019 10:00 AM ESTBoard Features
For a sub $200 option, the GIGABYTE Z390 Aorus Pro WIFI offers a good variety of features and a decent controller set. The Realtek ALC1220-VB HD audio codec is a premium controller and the board also includes a 1.73 Gbps capable Intel 9560 802.11ac Wi-Fi adapter which is this model's main marketed feature. A slightly cheaper variant of this model is available without the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5 features, but given the $15 difference GIGABYTE gives users the option to save a little bit of cash if they aren't intending on using it. GIGABYTE has also included an HDMI 1.4 video output on the rear panel to allow users to use the onboard graphics capabilities of compatible 8th and 9th generation Intel processors.
| GIGABYTE Z390 Aorus Pro WIFI ATX Motherboard | |||
| Warranty Period | 3 Years | ||
| Product Page | Link | ||
| Price | $200 | ||
| Size | ATX | ||
| CPU Interface | LGA1151 | ||
| Chipset | Intel Z390 | ||
| Memory Slots (DDR4) | Four DDR4 Supporting 128 GB Dual Channel Up to DDR4-4266 |
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| Video Outputs | 1 x HDMI 1.4 | ||
| Network Connectivity | Intel I219-V Gigabit Intel 9560 802.11ac 2T2R |
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| Onboard Audio | Realtek ALC1220-VB | ||
| PCIe Slots for Graphics (from CPU) | 2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 (x8/x8) | ||
| PCIe Slots for Other (from PCH) | 1 x PCIe 3.0 x4 3 x PCIe 3.0 x1 |
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| Onboard SATA | Six, RAID 0/1/5/10 | ||
| Onboard M.2 | 2 x PCIe 3.0 x4/SATA | ||
| USB 3.1 (10 Gbps) | 2 x Type-A Rear Panel 1 x Type-C Rear Panel |
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| USB 3.0 (5 Gbps) | 3 x Type-A Rear Panel 1 x Type- A Header (two ports) 1 x Type-C Header (one port) |
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| USB 2.0 | 4 x Type-A Rear Panel 2 x Header (four ports) |
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| Power Connectors | 1 x 24-pin ATX 1 x 8pin CPU 1 x 4pin CPU |
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| Fan Headers | 1 x CPU (4-pin) 2 x CPU/pump (4-pin) 6 x System (4-pin) |
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| IO Panel | 2 x USB 3.1 G2 Type-A 1 x USB 3.1 G2 Type-C 2 x USB 3.1 G1 Type-A 3 x USB 2.0 Type-A 1 x Network RJ45 (Intel) 5 x 3.5mm Audio Jacks (Realtek) 1 x S/PDIF Output (Realtek) 2 x Intel 9560 Antenna Ports |
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The rear panel offers a total of three USB 3.1 G2 ports including two Type-A and a single Type-C. This isn't exactly comprehensive, but GIGABYTE does include a USB 3.1 G1 Type-C header for users requiring more of this port type. A further two USB 3.1 G2 Type-A ports and three USB 2.0 ports are present on the rear panel, with the option to expand upon this with a single USB 3.1 G1 Type-A header (two ports) and two USB 2.0 (four ports) headers. Storage options are also basic with two M.2 slots each with their own individual M.2 heatsinks and six SATA ports supporting RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10 arrays.
Test Bed
As per our testing policy, we take a high-end CPU suitable for the motherboard that was released during the socket’s initial launch, and equip the system with a suitable amount of memory running at the processor maximum supported frequency. This is also typically run at JEDEC subtimings where possible. It is noted that some users are not keen on this policy, stating that sometimes the maximum supported frequency is quite low, or faster memory is available at a similar price, or that the JEDEC speeds can be prohibitive for performance. While these comments make sense, ultimately very few users apply memory profiles (either XMP or other) as they require interaction with the BIOS, and most users will fall back on JEDEC supported speeds - this includes home users as well as industry who might want to shave off a cent or two from the cost or stay within the margins set by the manufacturer. Where possible, we will extend out testing to include faster memory modules either at the same time as the review or a later date.
While we have been able to measure audio performance from previous Z370 motherboards, the task has been made even harder with the roll-out of the Z390 chipset and none of the boards tested so far has played ball. It seems all USB support for Windows 7 is now extinct so until we can find a reliable way of measuring audio performance on Windows 10 or until a workaround can be found, audio testing will have to be done at a later date.
| Test Setup | |||
| Processor | Intel i7-8700K, 65W, $300, 6 Cores, 12 Threads, 3.7 GHz (4.7 GHz Turbo) |
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| Motherboard | GIGABYTE Z390 Aorus Pro WIFI (BIOS F9) | ||
| Cooling | be quiet! Silent Loop 240mm AIO | ||
| Power Supply | Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 1200W Gold PSU | ||
| Memory | 2x16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-2400 Ran at DDR4-2666 CL16-18-18-35 2T |
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| Video Card | ASUS GTX 980 STRIX (1178/1279 Boost) | ||
| Hard Drive | Crucial MX300 1TB | ||
| Case | Open Benchtable BC1.1 (Silver) | ||
| Operating System | Windows 10 RS3 inc. Spectre/Meltdown Patches | ||
Readers of our motherboard review section will have noted the trend in modern motherboards to implement a form of MultiCore Enhancement / Acceleration / Turbo (read our report here) on their motherboards. This does several things, including better benchmark results at stock settings (not entirely needed if overclocking is an end-user goal) at the expense of heat and temperature. It also gives, in essence, an automatic overclock which may be against what the user wants. Our testing methodology is ‘out-of-the-box’, with the latest public BIOS installed and XMP enabled, and thus subject to the whims of this feature. It is ultimately up to the motherboard manufacturer to take this risk – and manufacturers taking risks in the setup is something they do on every product (think C-state settings, USB priority, DPC Latency / monitoring priority, overriding memory sub-timings at JEDEC). Processor speed change is part of that risk, and ultimately if no overclocking is planned, some motherboards will affect how fast that shiny new processor goes and can be an important factor in the system build.
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austinsguitar - Friday, April 12, 2019 - link
not with gigabytes current bios implementation.imaheadcase - Friday, April 12, 2019 - link
What a wonderful insight into something only you know.austinsguitar - Saturday, April 13, 2019 - link
i dont want to brag (because i really dislike gigabyte recently) but i have owned almost all chipsets from intel going back to p45 exclusively on gigabyte boards. i used them for a solid 10 years, religiously. they were my only board to go to, until i got tricked and humiliated buy the am4 boards they came out with on the mid end. never again man. im on an msi board and there is no going back. the bios is just buggy on all gigabyte boards. its not the best. they need to change things man.GlossGhost - Sunday, April 14, 2019 - link
Got an H81 Gigabyte board, and, I understand it's cheap but that bios is not only ugly but utterly buggy as well, surely they could have done better especially seeing what Asus can do for the same price.LoneWolf15 - Friday, May 17, 2019 - link
I'm going to be straight up....I've been building since the 80386. My first computer job was for a builder for three and a half years...I'm now 24 years into an IT career.
The BIOS could be better on this board in that it's somewhat disorganized, and not as intuitive as it could be. However, the features all work properly (currently at the F9 revision) and the board itself is rock-solid hardware.
This board, hands down, has the best VRM and feature implementation of boards in the mid-price range. ASUS delivers a better BIOS, but when you consider you can get this board for $180USD, I find the ROG Z390-H, Z390-F don't have as good of VRM setup, and the Z390-E doesn't either and costs far more. The MSI Z390 Gaming Edge AC has almost as good VRMs, but its featureset and polish is not quite as nice.
Considering the combination of features, price, and stability, the Z390 Aorus Pro WiFi is a mid-price bargain. I'm running an i9-9900K at constant 4.7GHz turbo on all eight cores without any effort on my part, at 100% load for days on end (Folding@Home) with two GTX 1070s in WiFi and it hasn't complained once.
psedog - Thursday, July 18, 2019 - link
I'm running this board with a 8700k (Delidded) at 5.3Ghz all core with a AVX offset of 2. It passes every stress test I've thrown at it and the intel XTU has me in the top 3% of 8700k's. Not bad for a $200 board.See the results for yourself. Look up my username in hwbot. (Adding the like flags this post as spam.)
Native7i - Sunday, April 14, 2019 - link
I’ve used z97x gigabyte board for 5 years straight not knowing RAM running at single channel all the time. Tried to fix it every possible way but never got it right. Last bios update was stuck on beta bios so, no help from gigabyte either. Right now I need new pc but also very sketchy about gigabyte boards.DanNeely - Tuesday, April 16, 2019 - link
If your ram is running single channel you plugged the second dimm into the wrong slot. 2 of the 4 slots are wired to channel A, the other two to channel B. Nothing in software can change which slots go where.LoneWolf15 - Saturday, May 25, 2019 - link
I'm going to say the same thing DanNeely said... if you did that, it is very likely you didn't have the DIMMS plugged into the correct sockets. Before this board, I had Gigabyte's Z97X-UD5H-Black. I ran it in 16GB (2 x 8GB) and 32GB (4 x 8GB) configurations and never had this problem. I ran the board for five years, with an i7-4790K running all cores at max turbo of 4.4GHz, with no hiccups whatsoever, solid as a rock.I like ASUS' BIOS, but not their misleading VRMS, nor their quality control (multiple reported issues there). I don't think MSI is bad at this range, but the similar Z390 Pro Carbon AC is $20-25 more. I've had this board for three weeks, two of them running an i9-9900K at 100% load on max eight-core turbo of 4.7GHz with two GTX 1070 cards also running on high load (Folding@Home) 24/7 and it has been rock solid. About the only things I wish I had were the debug LED (used rarely) and the power/reset buttons on the backplate (not found without paying above $250 for a board, not worth it); those are nice, but not necessary. I wouldn't hesitate to buy this board again
Foeketijn - Monday, April 15, 2019 - link
Unfortunately the people considering the Bios on a mobo are really a niche. I just put together two AM4 builds. Gigabyte gave some troubles untill I found the right bios. Asus also gave me troubles. 4 creative ways to update the bios. None worked. In the end asus told me to replace the thing because apperantly the current version was known not to work propperly.I'm on a time schedule. Who has time for that. I just hope the customer never resets it's bios.