ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 9
October, 2018Type
MotherboardPrice
$268.99 USTest Setup
For testing, we used the latest Intel Core i9-9900K which was sent to us by Intel. The Intel 9th Gen Coffee Lake Refresh family comes with a higher core count on the mainstream platform but prices are close to the predecessors in the same segment. The Core i9 SKU wasn't available last time but the Core i7 price matches around the same as what you paid for the Core i7-8700K. The CPUs was tested on the ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 9 motherboard.
Intel Z390 Chipset Motherboards Test Platform
| Processor | Intel Core i9-9900K |
|---|---|
| Motherboard | ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 9 ASUS ROG Maximus XI HERO (Wi-Fi) ASUS ROG STRIX Z390-E Gaming ASRock Z390 Taichi Ultimate Z390 AORUS Master |
| Power Supply | Corsair AX1200i PSU |
| Solid State Drive | Samsung SSD 960 EVO M.2 (512 GB) |
| Memory | G.SKILL Trident Z RGB Series 32 GB (4 x 8GB) CL16 3600 MHz |
| Video Cards | MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Lightning X |
| Cooling Solutions | Corsair H115i GTX |
| OS | Windows 10 64-bit |
Our test rig includes the Samsung 960 EVO 500 GB SSD that boots up our main OS while a 2 TB Seagate HDD is used for demonstration purposes for the Intel Optane memory. In addition to these, we are running an MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Lightning X graphics card, a Corsair AX 1200i power supply and 32 GB of G.Skill provided Trident Z RGB series memory which runs with a clock speed of DDR4-3600 MHz. For cooling, we used the Corsair H115i PRO cooler. At stock (out of the box) settings, all motherboards maintained a 100.00 MHz BCLK ratio out of the box.
We won't be focusing on Intel's Core i7-8086K architecture in this review since it is entirely the same chip as Skylake along with minor improvements. The Skylake / Kaby Lake architecture analysis can be seen in detail here. For overclocking, I made the following tweaks to the CPUs:
- Intel Core i9-9900KK @ 5.3 GHz With 1.365V (100 x 53) on ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 9
Contents
You can find additional information about our hardware review process and ethics policy here.
If you are going to build a new 8th or 9th Gen Intel-based PC, the ASRock Phantom Gaming 9 delivers you flagship features and performance for a slightly lower price which is impressive.
- Enthusiast Grade Motherboard Design
- Full Support For 8 Core Intel CPUs
- Excellent Design and Build Quality
- Excellent VRM Cooling With XXL Design
- Excellent Overclocking Performance
- High-Quality Components With 12 Phase IRDigital PWM
- Phantom Gaming 2.5G LAN and WiFI + BT5.0 Capabilities
- Triple M.2 slots (One with full coverage heatsink)
- Dual USB 3.1 (Type-A + Type-C) Ports
- Lots of USB 3.1 Gen 1 Ports
- Polychrome RGB LEDs System Looks Stunning
- Creative Sound Blaster 5 Audio (ALC1220 Codec)
- PCIe Steel Slots
Pros
- High Price ($268.99 US)
- Software and bundled applications aren't much of use
Cons
About the author: A Software Engineer by training and a PC enthusiast by passion, Hassan Mujtaba serves as Wccftech's Senior Editor for hardware section. With years of experience in the industry, he specializes in deep-dive technical analysis of next-generation CPU and GPU architectures, motherboards, and cooling solutions. His work involves not only breaking news on upcoming technologies but also extensive hands-on reviews and benchmarking.
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