Review of Gigabyte Z390 AORUS PRO WIFI motherboard with Intel Core i7-9700K coffeelake processor

Review of Gigabyte Z390 AORUS PRO WIFI motherboard with Intel Core i7-9700K coffeelake processor
OCworkbench 19 Oct 2018

Today, Intel launch it’s 9th generation coffelake processors. Together with the launch is a new Z390 chipset. In this review, we will take a look at how the Intel Core i7-9700K which aims at the AMD Ryzen 2000 high end processors.

The Core i7-9700K is manufactured by 14 nm process. It has a TDP of 95W. It consists of 8 cores and 8 threads and it rated at 3.6 GHz and max turbo frequency at 4.90 GHz. It has 12 MB Smart Cache. It supports Dual Channel DDR4-2666 (officially).

For those who intend to use it as without an external graphics card, the processor comes with built in Intel UHD Graphics 630 that runs at 350 MHz and at a max of 1.2 GHz. It has 64 GB of graphics video memory. It supports up to 4K 4096×2304 using HDMI (24 Hz), DPI (60 Hz) or Integrated Flat Panel at 60 Hz.

We will be testing this processor on the Gigabyte Z390 AORUS PRO WIFI motherboard.

The Gigabyte Z390 AORUS PRO WIFI motheroard is based on the Intel Z390 Express chipset. So, what is the difference between this and the older Z370. Basically, the Z390 is the Z370 plus a Intel CNVI interface supporting 802.11a/b/g/n/ac at 2.4/5 GHz. It also supports 802.11ac at 160 MHz up to 1.73 Gbps data rate. Secondly, it supports up to 6x USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports in addition to the 10x USB 3.1 Gen ports currently supported by the Z370 chipset.

The mainboard has 4 DIMM slots supporting up to 64 GB of system memory in dual channel memory architecture of up to DDR4-2666 (overclocking can go beyond spec. speed). The audio component use the Realtek ALC 1220-VB codec for HD Audio. Intel GbE LAN is supported on board.

Wireless communication module is something new on the Z390 board. Instead of using a separate WIFI chip, it is now integrated within the chipset. It supports Bluetooth 5, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac at 2.4/5 GHz and 802.11ac at 160 MHz up to 1.73 Gbps data rate.

The board comes with 3 PCIe full length slots which supports NVIDIA Quad GPU SLI and 2 way NVIDIA SLI. It also supports AMD Quad GPU CrossFire and 3/2 way AMD crossFire.

In terms of storage (via chipset), it supports 2 x M.2 Slot. One supports Intel Hybrid SSD support (M2M) while the other doesn’t (M2A) . There are also 6 SATA 6Gbps ports that supports RAID 0,1,5 and 10. The board also supports Intel Optane memory.

As for USB (via chipset), there is a 1 USB Type C port with USB 3.1 Gen 2 on the back panel and another Gen 1 through the on board USB connector. There are 2 USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type A ports (red) at the back panel and 5 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports (3 ports on back panel, 2 ports through USB header). Through the USB 2.0 hub, there are 8 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports on board , 4 at the back panel and another 4 through USB headers.

[nextpage title=”Mainboard Layout”]

[nextpage title=”Gigabyte Z390 AORUS PRO WIFI BIOS options”]

BIOS

[nextpage title=”RGB Fusion on the Gigabyte Z390 AORUS PRO WIFI motherboard”]

RGB Fusion

One of the software utility in the installation disc is the RGB fusion. With this utility, you can control the the speed, brightness, the way the colours are presented in forms of static, flash, music, pulse etc. Below is a video demo of how it looks like.

[nextpage title=”Overclocking & CPU-Z”]Overclocking and CPU-Z

The Core i7-9770K is 14nm processor that has a TDP of 95W. This 8 core 8 threads processor is somewhat a show of Intel’s belief in it’s single thread performance. In fact, it never believed in multi core multithread performance till AMD Ryzen introduced it to the market.

We have tested a number of Ryzen processors in the past 2 years and found out that they can’t go beyond 4.2 GHz on Air cooling. In fact, water cooling may just push it slightly higher by another 100 MHz.

The introduction of the Intel 9th generation seems to foster the idea that Intel is capable of achieving easily at 5 GHz without much of a bump in settings. Well, the earlier generation Intel Core i7-8700K and Core i7-8086k can already push near the 5 GHz limit by upping the voltages.

With the Core i7-9700K, 5 GHz seems an easy task even with air cooling. During our test, we used an engineering sample with a normal cooler. Temperatures went as high as 95 deg C when we ran the processor at 51x multiplier. That makes it run up to a max. of 5.1 GHz.

In fact, the processor’s own turbo max speed is 4.9 GHz. So, running it by setting by default would easily achieve similar scores. 5.1 GHz is just 200 MHz more than the maximum speed in the specifications of the processor.

In our system setup, we used the Gigabyte Z390 AORIS PRO WIFI motherboard and paired it up with 16 GB of (dual stick x 8 GB)  G.Skill memory running at XMP Profile at DDR4-3200 CAS 14, 14,14, 2T.

A simple run of the benchmark built in to CPU-Z shows that the processor runs steadily at 5.1 GHz and CPU single thread wise it beats the reference AMD Ryzen 7 2700X. When it comes to multithread, it is still a 18% behind compared to a Ryzen 7 2700X running at default speed.

Will this result be reflected in other benchmarks, read on. We have included benchmark numbers from our AMD Ryzen Threadripper as these numbers are more recent.

[nextpage title=”Benchmarks – Cinebench R15 and SiSoft Sandra 2018″]

Benchmark – Cinebench R15 

Cinebench is a popular benchmarking tool that shouldn’t be stranger to our readers. Cinebench CPU test uses all of your system’s processing power to render a photorealistic 3D scene (from the viral “No Keyframes” animation by AixSponza).

This scene makes use of various algorithms to stress all available processor cores. In fact, CINEBENCH can measure systems with up to 256 processor threads.

This test scene contains approximately 2,000 objects which in turn contain more than 300,000 polygons in total, and uses sharp and blurred reflections, area lights, shadows, procedural shaders, antialiasing, and much more. The result is displayed in points (pts). The higher the number, the faster your processor.

Based on the CPU (Single Core) result of 208 cb, it confirms that Intel is very confident of it’s single core performance. AMD Ryzen 7 2700X can’t even reach 175 cb in our tests in the past.

When it comes to CPU test which uses all 8 cores and 8 threads, the score is 1477. The benchmark is run at default and at 5.1 GHz. It scored 1477 cb and when overclocked, it scored 1539. A Ryzen 7 2700X easily achieves 1808 CB.

The result is similar to that of the previous generation Core i7-8700K and slightly slower than a Ryzen 7 2700 (~ 1533 CB).

SiSoft Sandra 2018 Titanium SP2 benchmark

We ran the SiSoft Sandra 2018 Titanium SP2 benchmarks for overall processor score. This test runs tests on cryptography, scientific analysis, image processing etc. Some of the tests like financial analysis are very demanding and could cause system hangs if the system is unstable.

The score of 4.92 and 5.09 is obtained during overclocking at 5.1 GHz.

5.2 GHz results in hangs and we couldn’t complete the tests.

[nextpage title=”Benchmarks Blender 2.79b and PovRay”]

Benchmark – Blender 2.79b 

Blender benchmark 1.0b2 runs the test against the processor to render the image. This tool can be used to analyse the processor performance.

In this test, we noticed something strange. When the system is at 5.1 GHz, the time taken to complete the test is longer. I think this is probably due to the high temperatures and the processor gets throttled down. Nevertheless, the blender took 5 mins 3 secs to complete the test. The Ryzen 7 2700X is half a minute faster.

PovRay

PovRay is another test we used for testing the processor capabilities. In this test, we check out the single and multi thread performance.

It can be seen from the chart Intel processors all have amazing good single core performance. In fact the single thread performance beats the AMD counterparts, even the threadripper couldn’t match it except the Ryzen 7 2700X. When it comes to multithread, the Core i7-9700K overclock gets closer to the Ryzen 7 2700X.

It looks like application that do not use many cores and threads might benefit in benchmarks.

[nextpage title=”Benchmarks PCMark10 and 3DMark FireStrike”]

Benchmarks – PCMark10 

PCMark 10 test the 3 different groups of applications that are commonly used on desktop PCs. Essentials, Productivity and Digital Content Creation.

PCMark 10 scores 6303 at default and 6876 oc at 5.1 GHz.

It exceled in Digital Content Creation, even overtaking the Core i9-7980XE and all AMD desktop and HEDT processors. This is something very interesting. Is it because of the benchmark isn’t targetted for testing against multicore and multithread ?

3DMark Firestrike

Futuremark Firestrike Custom Physics test takes the processor test to see how fast it runs.

AMD Ryzen 7 2700X scores 67.6 fps while the Core i7-9700K scores 60.11 fps and 60.8 fps in normal and overclocked environment. Considering the result of the more expensive Core i9-7980XE, the price difference is too far apart for a 20 fps difference.

[nextpage title=”Conclusion”]

Conclusion

The performance of the Intel Core i7-9700K on the Gigabyte Z390 AORUS PRO WIFI is a pretty decent. If compared to a AMD system running a Ryzen 7 2700X, the processor we tested (unfortunately we do not have a Core i7-9900K) is not a good contender to give a fair judgement as it lacks the double amount of threads, it only has 8 core 8 threads while the AMD series comes with 8 Cores 16 threads.

Nevertheless, the processor and the new Z390 seems to be a refreshed from last year. Although most manufacturers will use the 5 GHz as the selling point, the Z370 can already do that with the Core i7-8700K or Core i7-8086K of yesteryear. The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X on air cool hits a wall around 4.2 GHz.

What we observed is Intel continues to excel in single thread performance. This can be seen in PC Mark10 benchmark test. When it comes to a multicore multithread benchmark like Cinebench R15 or PovRay, the AMD system can compensate for it’s multicore and multithread performance.

Although we can run the processor on Gigabyte motherboard steadily at 5.1 GHz on air which is quite an achievement, a water cool system might be more suitable for prolong usage as the temperatures are readily in the 90 deg C when all cores runs at high speed.

Features wise, this board highlights it’s 12 phase VRM and thermal design which makes it rock stable. The 2×2 802.11ac is something that most will use for connecting to home fibre broadband via 802.11ac router.

Installation is straightforward. I like the idiot proof way of overclocking but just choosing the speed of your choice. Just by selecting 5 GHz, and XMP profile #1, we got it up running at 5 GHz on AIR at C14 DDR4-3200 with 16 GB of G Skill modules.

Documentation is very concise but Gigabyte could have included the ranges of the options available e.g. frequency rage, voltage range. Packaging needs a bit of refresh as we are still supplied a DVD-ROM for drivers. A USB drive would be more suitable as DVD drives are being phased out.

The verdict is simple, if you like to achieve high CPU clock, Intel won’t disappoint. As for performance, AMD systems compensates with more cores with lower clock speeds.

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Pricing

Intel Core i7-8770K pricing $369

Intel Core i7-9700K pricing $409

Gigabyte Z390 AORUS PRO WIFI motherboard  $229.99

Gskill DDR4-3200 8 GB X 4 $149

Gigabyte RTX 2080 TI

AMD Ryzen 7 2700X $305

Gigabyte X470 AORUS Ultra Gaming  $132

Pros

• Turbo BCLK
• Integrated Intel 2×2 802.11ac WIFI
• DDR-4133 support

Cons

• Documentation
• Should bundle LED stripes

Ratings

Here are my ratings out of 10 stars.