2019-05-01+PC+Gamer

2

Z390AorusUltra

GIGABYTE£230

Gigabyteisn’tasflashy

astheothertoptier

motherboardmakers,

butit hasmanagedto

accumulateplentyof

recommendationsoflate.

Combinedwitha consistently

lowercost,thatmakesGigabyte’s

Z390AorusUltraa bitofa winner.

We’velikedtheAorusbranded

motherboardsstartingwith

Skylakein2016,anditsRyzen

boardshavebeenexcellent

all-aroundpicks,butthisis the

bestI’vetested.

TheGigabyteZ390Aorus

UltracompeteswiththeMSI

Z390GamingProCarbonACand

theAsusROGMaximusXIHero

(Wi-Fi),witha betterpriceand

features.It hastripleM.2slots,

IntelWi-FiWave2andEthernet, a

fullRGBtreatmentwithmultiple

headers,andALC1220audio.

You’dhavetoclimbtothe top of

theproductstacktoget the same

fromMSIandASUS,both of

whomoffermorepolishbut also

chargeplentyfortheprivilege.

Thisis greatvalue.

Theonlyrealdownside for me

is thatthismobois perhaps a bit

tooflashy,andmaynotsuit more

restrainedgamingbuilds. It’s a

smallcriticismofanotherwise

excellentboard.

No-compromisefeaturesincluding

tripleM.2slots

IntelCPUcompatible

Potentiallytoomuchbling

VERDICT

SPECSCHIPSET:Z390/MEMORY:(4)DIMM,64GB,DDR4-4266/PCIESLOTS:X16,X16(X8),X16(X4),(3)X1 / VIDEO

PORTS:HDMI/USBPORTS:(10)REARIO,(7)INTERNAL/STORAGE:(3)M.2,(6)SATA/NETWORK:ETHERNET, 1733MBPS

1

X470Aorus Gaming5 Wi-Fi

GIGABYTE£174

Therearemore
expensiveX470
motherboardsout
there,includingtheexcellent
AsusROGCrosshairVII,but
forkingovertheextracashfor
higher-endhardwarewon’t
necessarilyprovidea better
buildingorgamingexperience
thanGigabyte’sX470Aorus
Gaming5 Wi-Fi.Thisboard
servesupa fullplateoffeatures
alongwitha sideofRGBstyle,all
foraround£75lessthan
comparablehardware.
RyzenCPUsaren’toverclock-
happy,particularlytheX-models,
buttheX470AorusGaming5’s
8+3phaseVRMreliablyallows
chipslikethe2700Xtorunall
coresatfullboostspeeds

alongside3200MHzmemory

modules.DualBIOS,dualPCIe

Gen3x4M.2slots,anda healthy

stackofbothinternaland

externalUSBportsareplentyfor

mostgamingbuilds.Combined

witha top-tieraudiocodecand

greatnetworkinghardware,the

X470AorusGaming5 is mybest

overallpickforRyzen7 builds.If,

however,you’relookingformore

advancedfeaturesandtheability

todoseriousoverclocking,this

onewon’tsatisfylikethe

CrosshairVII.

SpeedyIntelWi-FiandBluetooth

Otherboardsoverclockbetterand

runfastermemory

Fewadvancedhardwareoptions

VERDICT

SPECSCHIPSET:X470/MEMORY:(4)DIMM,64GB,DDR4-3200/PCIESLOTS:X16,X16(X8),X16(X4),(2)X1/VIDEO
PORTS:HDMI/USBPORTS:(10)REARIO,(9)INTERNAL/STORAGE:(2)M.2,(6)SATA/NETWORK:ETHERNET,1.73GBPS

2

HARDWARE

Group Test

HOW WE TEST

The motherboards recommended in this

guide all received extensive research and

evaluation, including enclosure

installation, performance benchmarking,

stability testing, and a follow-up period of

real-world break-in usage that focuses on

gaming, entertainment, and media

software.

When possible, all tests are

performed with the same components

installed to remove any variables except

the motherboard itself. We also research

the entire field of Z370, X470, X299, and

older motherboards and narrow the list

down to the best, most competitive

boards.

Benchmarks include AIDA 64

Extreme, PCMark 8/10, Cinebench 15,

CrystalDiskMark, 3DMark FireStrike,

DPC Latency Checker, and others. The

real-world break-in period encompasses

office and creative work, media

streaming, and gaming with a variety of

demanding titles like GTAV, Total War:

Warhammer II, DiRT Rally, Rise of the

Tomb Raider, Far Cry 5, Hitman, and

others.

Gaming tests are run at 1080p at

medium to high settings to remove any

bottlenecks caused by graphics card

performance. When relevant, both single-

and dual-graphics card configurations

are tested to ensure motherboard

stability in SLI and Crossfire situations.