THE Z390 AORUS MASTER

Just like with the MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon model the Z390 Aorus Master is also a 2nd hand sample so aside scratched and being filled with stickers on all sides but the front the box inside just had the motherboard with the user manual and 2 SATA cables (still according to GIGABYTE inside the box you will also find a software CD, four SATA cables, SLI bridge, 2 digital LED adapters, RGB extension cable, two thermistor leads, two Velcro straps, WiFi antenna, G-Connector an several case stickers).

The black, silver and gunmetal grey of the Z390 Aorus Master combined with the Aorus M.2 heatspreaders certainly give it the appearance of a flagship model.

GIGABYTE has placed an L-shaped direct touch heatpipe heatsink over the VRM's which should provide good cooling.

Unfortunately, the heatsink over the Z390 chipset is not linked to the larger one and that may not have been the best choice (temperatures-wise).

Just over the Z390 chipset we find the four DDR4 DIMM slots all of which are reinforced and shielded with stainless steel (these support RAM up to 128GB in capacity and with frequencies of 4400MHZ+).

For people who are not into overclocking GIGABYTE has placed an OC button just next to the DDR4 DIMM slots which can be used for a quick and optimized overclock result.

On the lower left side of the motherboard we see the six PCIe slots, three M.2 connectors with their Aorus heatspreaders/shields, ESS Sabre 9118 DAC, dual-BIOS mode and BIOS selection switches, digital display and a reset button.

The I/O includes power on/off and clear CMOS buttons, two WiFi antenna ports, 4 USB-A 2.0 ports, two USB-A 3.1 Gen 1 ports, HDMI v1.4 output, single USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 ports, three USB-A 3.1 Gen 2 ports, RJ45 LAN port, digital audio output (SPDIF) and the analog audio outputs and inputs (all gold plated).

Taking a look at the other side we see a partial base plate that covers roughly 60% of the entire motherboard.

As with every other Z390 Motherboard we'll be using an Intel Core I9-9900k for our tests.