CONCLUSION

   Even though the TUF Z390-Pro Gaming motherboard by ASUS is one of their budget models it is based on the very good Intel Z390 chipset which is the best one can get for an LGA 1151 CPU (something which will probably never change since the Z490 chipset with the LGA 1200 CPUs is just days away). Granted its 10-phase digital design may not be the best for overclocking but we did hit 5GHz on the I9-9900K effortlessly and we also had no problem with the Trident Z Royal 4GHZ RAM by G. SKILL. On top of that the TUF theme looks very nice (however I am a black/red theme person myself) and the three heatsinks used do a somewhat good job in cooling the VRM’s and the Z390 chipset (although not quite as good as the other Z390 mainboards we’ve tested to date). As with other models the Intel I219V Gigabit LAN controller works as expected and the same goes for the Realtek S1200A audio card which although far from impressive (and inferior to what we've seen used so far with other Z390 solutions) should cover the needs of most gamers out there (especially the ones on a budget). Unfortunately, there are still some issues with the Aura Sync software by ASUS (v1.07.79 used for this review) since it just wouldn’t detect the mainboard (just the RAM and their ROG Ultra Wide monitor I’m currently testing). I did try several workarounds (including some I found online) without luck so ASUS really needs to pay more attention to their software (not detecting the Trident Z Royal RAM would make a lot more sense to me than not detecting their own motherboard).

   After over 18 months in the market the price of the TUF Z390-Pro motherboard by ASUS has dropped to very tempting USD169.95 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and 182.99Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) a price tag which reflects the entry/mid-level status of this particular model and makes it extremely appealing to gamers. Bottom line if you’re planning on building an LGA 1151 based system and are looking for a budget-friendly yet feature-rich and high-performance mainboard the TUF Z390-Pro Gaming by ASUS is certainly worth your attention.

PROS

- Overall Build Quality
- OC Potential (10 Phase Design)
- RGB Features (Aura Sync)
- Single Reinforced PCIe 3.0 x16 Slot
- M.2 Heatsink
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- VRM & Z390 Chipset Heatsinks Not Linked (Cooling Efficiency)
- Aura Sync Software Issues
- No Mainboard Switches & Displays
- Realtek S1200A Performance