Asus ROG STRIX z390-h or Gigabyte Aorus z390 Pro Mobo?

[tboooe]

Hi guys.  I going to upgrade from my i7-6700 to the i7-9700k so I will also need to get a new Mobo.  My current Mobo, a Gigabyte z270mx Gaming 5 has been fine but has an issue where I can't enable XMP with my Optane drive because it will result in an endless boot loop.  It's a well documented issue that has never been resolved so I am a bit turned off by Gigabyte.  I will probably add a GPU in the near future as well.   Between  these two models which  would  you get  and why? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

[Miska]

How about something like this:

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/Z390-DESIGNARE-rev-10#kf

It has DAC-UP 2 USB ports. The Aorus Z390 Pro doesn't seem to have...

 

 

 

Recently I've been more happy with Gigabyte than with ASUS. I've for example managed to brick ASUS motherboard with BIOS update. And some ASUS motherboards are still lacking fixes for well known security bugs. Gigabyte has been releasing security update BIOS even for somewhat older boards.

 

Overall, I've been long time ASUS user, but was put off by their BIOS releases.

 

[tboooe]

14 minutes ago, Miska said:

Overall, I've been long time ASUS user, but was put off by their BIOS releases.

Thank you @Miska I know you are a fan of Gigabyte Mobo.  Since you put them through more hardship than I ever will the fact that you recommend Gigabyte says a lot.  Perhaps I just got unlucky with the Mobo I have.

[rickca]

@tboooe have a look at ASRock Z390 Taichi it also has dual Intel gigabit LAN.  I also like their new Z390 Phantom Gaming series.

I think ASRock competes with either of the boards you like.

[Miska]

Perhaps I use the hardware different way. I'm not into overclocking or other tweaking, I just want something that works exactly within the specs 24/7/365 without issues. For me, reliability and consistency is more important than last percentage of speed.

 

That's why my primary computer is a "boring" Xeon E5 workstation with ECC RAM and completely zero tweaks available through BIOS. But it has things like next business day on-site warranty.

 

[Miska]

Just now, rickca said:

@tboooe have a look at ASRock Z370 Taichi it also has dual Intel gigabit LAN.  I also like their new Z390 Phantom Gaming series.

I think ASRock competes with either of the boards you like.

 

I have some ASRock industrial range computers:

https://www.asrockind.com/index.us.asp

 

Other than that, actually bricked ASUS motherboard for AMD Ryzen 7 was replaced with ASRock one. Cannot say their BIOS support would be better than ASUS. But at least it seems safer. Gigabyte has dual-BIOS, so the old is always there as backup copy if something goes wrong.

 

ASRock doesn't seem to have special USB connectors for audio though?

 

[rickca]

6 minutes ago, Miska said:

ASRock doesn't seem to have special USB connectors for audio though?

Right.  I think that is a Gigabyte exclusive feature.  But I don't think it's important if you use something like an ISO REGEN.

[asdf1000]

37 minutes ago, Miska said:

The Aorus Z390 Pro doesn't seem to have...

 

https://www.gigabyte.com/au/Motherboard/Z390-AORUS-ULTRA-rev-10#kf

 

Aorus Ultra does, another option with DAC-UP 2. A bit cheaper too.

[asdf1000]

I see the Z390 Aorus Master supports DAC-UP 2 also.

Local shops seem to have nice bundles available with both i7-8700K and i9-9900K too.

 

I wouldn't consider DAC-UP unless the motherboard was in a fanless case, having the DAC direct USB connected to the motherboard DAC-UP port, i.e. inside the listening room.

 

But thankfully HDPLex have a 95W TDP fanless case option available (their biggest fanless case).

 

[Miska]

Actually, I have no problem with my 6950X + GTX1080 machine in the listening room, although it is fan cooled. It is so quiet that there's really no sound to be heard at listening position.

 

[Miska]

22 hours ago, rickca said:

Right.  I think that is a Gigabyte exclusive feature.  But I don't think it's important if you use something like an ISO REGEN.

 

Maybe, but I don't use such devices. I connect DACs either straight to the HQPlayer computer or to a NAA...

 

[asdf1000]

3 minutes ago, Miska said:

Actually, I have no problem with my 6950X + GTX1080 machine in the listening room, although it is fan cooled. It is so quiet that there's really no sound to be heard at listening position.

 

 

Interesting. 

 

I know it's a very bad example but I first started with HQPe running on my i7-7700HQ laptop and you're description somewhere else, of it sounding like a vacuum cleaner was dead right.

 

I've been obsessed with fanless ever since that experience but without ever trying a quiet fan cooled machine. Obviously such machines do exist, like you have. I would need to hear one myself before committing funds though because I still have mental scars from the vacuum cleaner laptop.

[Miska]

8 hours ago, Em2016 said:

I know it's a very bad example but I first started with HQPe running on my i7-7700HQ laptop and you're description somewhere else, of it sounding like a vacuum cleaner was dead right.

 

I've been obsessed with fanless ever since that experience but without ever trying a quiet fan cooled machine. Obviously such machines do exist, like you have. I would need to hear one myself before committing funds though because I still have mental scars from the vacuum cleaner laptop.

 

Yes, small fans in small crammed spaces -> fans run at high RPM -> lot of noise. That is like NUC or Mac Mini too.

 

For quiet operation you need to have large slowly rotating fans and large air vents. For cooling number of liters of air per minute is what matters. If that goes through small places it needs to have higher velocity which creates noise.

 

In addition, the case I'm using has factory installed sound proofing. But that's also something you don't find in small tightly packed computers.

[tboooe]

Thank everyone for the feedback.  I am going to stick with the Aorus Z390.  Now I am trying to figure out if I should get the Pro or Ultra version.  I dont need wifi as I intend to use my AC1900 bridge.  It seems the main differences between the Pro and Ultra are:

 

Ultra has:

1 additional m.2 slot that shares bandwidth with PCIE 3 x 4 slot

DAC 2 UP

Wifi

 

Is there anything else I am missing the Ultra has over the Pro?  At this point I am leaning towards the Pro but I will definitely get the Ultra if it has better quality, better components, etc.

[dminches]

What case are you using for this PC?

[tboooe]

4 minutes ago, dminches said:

What case are you using for this PC?

A Fractal Design Define C.