At first we would like to thank Supermicro for offering us a sample of the C9Z390-PGW Z390 LGA1151 for testing and reviewing.

 

 

About Supermicro:

 

“We are a global leader in high performance, high efficiency server technology and innovation. We develop and provide end-to-end green computing solutions to the data center, cloud computing, enterprise IT, big data, high performance computing, or HPC, and embedded markets. Our solutions range from complete server, storage, blade and workstations to full racks, networking devices, server management software and technology support and services. We offer our customers a high degree of flexibility and customization by providing what we believe to be the industry's broadest array of server configurations from which they can choose the optimal solution which fits their computing needs. Our server systems, subsystems and accessories are architecturally designed to provide high levels of reliability, quality and scalability, thereby enabling our customers benefits in the areas of compute performance, density, thermal management and power efficiency to lower their overall total cost of ownership.

 

We perform the majority of our research and development efforts in-house, which increases the communication and collaboration between design teams, streamlines the development process and reduces time-to-market. We have developed a set of design principles which allow us to aggregate individual industry standard components and materials to develop proprietary products, such as serverboards, chassis, power supplies, networking and storage devices. This building block approach allows us to provide a broad range of SKUs, and enables us to build and deliver application-optimized solutions based upon customers' requirements. As of June 30, 2015, we offered over 4,550 SKUs, including SKUs for server and storage systems, serverboards, chassis, power supplies and other system accessories.

 

We conduct our operations principally from our headquarters in California and subsidiaries in Taiwan and the Netherlands. We sell our server systems and server subsystems and accessories through a combination of distributors, including value added resellers and system integrators, and to a lesser extent to OEMs as well as through our direct sales force. During fiscal year 2015, our products were purchased by over 900 customers in 100 countries. We commenced operations in 1993 and have been profitable every year since inception.”

 

 

Product Features:

 

Intel® 8th/9th Generation Core™ i9/Core™ i7/Core™i5/Core™i3/Pentium®/Celeron® series Processor., Single Socket LGA 1151 supported, CPU TDP support Up to 140W

Intel® Z390 Express

Up to 128GB Unbuffered non-ECC UDIMM, DDR4-4000MHz (O.C), in 4 DIMM slots

*Coffee Lake refresh core i5/i7 processors support 32GB memory

4 PCI-E 3.0 x16 slots (16/NA/16/NA or 16/NA/8/8 or 8/8/16/NA or 8/8/8/8),

1 PCI-E 3.0 x1

M.2 Interface: 2 PCI-E 3.0 x4, RAID 0 & 1 and 1 CNVi

M.2 Form Factor: 2260/2280/22110, 2260/2280, 2230

M.2 Key: M-Key, M-Key, E-Key (RAID 0,1 support)

M.2-M1 port shares PCI-E link with U2-1 port;M.2-M2 port shares link with SATA port4 and port5; M.2-E1 port pre-installed one 802.1ac WiFi+BT5.0 module

U.2 Interface: 2 PCI-E 3.0 x4 and PCI-E 3.0 x4

2 DP (DisplayPort) ports, 1 HDMI port,

Display port up to 1.2, HDMI up to 2.0a

Intel® Z390 Express controller for 6 SATA3 (6 Gbps) ports; RAID 0,1,5,10

Single LAN with Intel® single Ethernet PHY i219V

Single LAN with Aquantia® AQC107 10G Ethernet Controller

 

Product Specifications:

 

 

 

SuperMicro has recently sent us their high-end offering regarding the Z390 chipset series that carries a C9Z390-PGW code name. Besides the durable VRM area, it incorporates many more as well: 10G LAN, no less than two M.2 and two U.2 ports for expanding the storage capabilities, enough USB 3.1 and 3.0 for connecting other devices, and more.

 

The motherboard has arrived in a medium-sized cardboard enclosure (for a motherboard), that contains the main product, along with its bundle and documentation:

 

 

 

The motherboard interfaces are described in more detail on the back:

 

 

 

After lifting the box, cover, we will have a clear view on the included accessories:

 

 

 

If we do look in more detail, we will get to see the I/O shield, four SATA cables, two antennas for the Wi-Fi interface, a disk with drivers and utilities, a case badge but also some SATA cable stickers:

 

 

 

The Quick Reference Guide is available as a short manual version; the full manual can be downloaded in electronic format from SuperMicro’s website:

 

 

 

 

The motherboard is held secure inside a cardboard tray, but also wrapped inside an anti-static bag:

 

 

 

The C7Z390-PGW board sports a gunmetal color scheme for the heatsinks and a black PCB; the large PCH/M.2 heatsink arrangement remind us of the MSI X470 Gaming M7 AC:

 

 

 

Let’s take a closer look at the board layout; near the 8-pin power connector we will get to see a PWM CPU fan header:

 

 

 

Between the CPU socket and the first PCI-E 3.0 X16 slot we do have a Broadcom ExpressLane PLX PEX 8747 that is able to take x16 lanes from the CPU and outputs no less than x32 PCI-E 3.0 lanes; this chip does have a heatsink on its own, since it can get quite hot during normal use:

 

 

 

Another system fan header (PWM type) can be seen between the I/O shield and the first PCI-E x16 slot:

 

 

 

The 10Gbit AQtion AQC107 network controller is also covered by a dedicated aluminum heatsink:

 

 

 

The audio interface is provided by the Realtek ALC1220 CODEC:

 

 

 

The interface can be also disabled by using the dedicated jumper:

 

 

 

Near the CMOS battery, we do have a pre-installed buzzer that will send us signals during POST, but also inform us when devices are plugged inside the ports (unlike other consumer motherboard models):

 

 

 

Nearby, we can spot an IDR 6V41642B clock generator that allows BCLK overclock:

 

 

 

The board does feature four PCI-E 3.0 x16 slots (with one x1 slot in the middle) that can operate at x16/x0/x16/x0 or x8/x8/x8/x8, a configuration useful in many situations. The board does also support CrossFireX:

 

 

 

Plenty of interfaces are also available in the lower PCB area:

 

 

 

From left to right, we can spot an Audio Front Panel header, SMB to PCI slot jumpers, but also one USB 3.1 header:

 

 

 

Next, we will be able to spot an USB 2.0 header, a Standby Power header but also an USB 3.0 front panel header:

 

 

 

A Trusted Platform Module header is next, that is followed by the front panel header and some Boot initialization status LEDs; in the corner we will spot a COM port header:

 

 

 

Near the PCH heatsink, we can find a two-digit Status Code LED, a Watch Dog Function Enable, but also a Power LED indicator header:

 

 

 

Under the removable heatsinks, we can find two M.2 slots; one of the slots does share bandwidth with one of the included U.2 ports, while the other does share bandwidth with two SATA 6Gb/s ports:

 

 

 

 

Thermal pads can be found not only between the M.2 SSD and the heatsink, but also between the SSD heatsinks and the PCH heatsink:

 

 

 

On the right side of the board, we’ve got two U.2 ports, but also six SATA 6Gb/s ports:

 

 

 

A PWM-type system fan connector is also located in the vicinity:

 

 

 

Moving on, we will get to see a black 24-pin ATX power header:

 

 

 

In the top right corner, we’ve got a Power button, a Reset button, a Clear CMOS button but also another system fan PWM header:

 

 

 

As the PCI-E x16 slots, the memory slots are reinforced:

 

 

 

Between the RAM slots and the VRM heatsink, we do have a 12V_PUMP_PWR1 header, for connecting AIO pumps, but also JRLED3/4 headers for connecting RGB LED strips:

 

 

 

The I/O area is protected by a plastic shroud, while the area with the SuperO logo is made of aluminum and is also RGB-enabled; the setup does also show the 6+2 phase VRM:

 

 

 

 

Another RGB-enabled component is the chipset heatsink:

 

 

 

On the I/O, we’ve got plenty of connectivity options:

 

-PS/2 keyboard/mouse combo port

-2x USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports

-2x DisplayPort outputs

-2x LAN ports

-3x USB 3.1 Gen 2

-1x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C

-two WiFi antenna ports

-1x HDMI port

-audio ports, including S/PDIF out

 

 

 

Here is also a look on the back side of the PCB; we can spot here the separation between the audio interface and the rest of the motherboard; this area is also RGB-enabled:

 

 

 

Since the last generation, the SuperMicro UEFI interface has been completely reworked, in order to be more user-friendly; the GUI comes with an EZ mode, but also an Advanced mode that can be enabled by pressing F7:

 

 

The Advanced menu begins with the Overclocking section, that houses several sub-menus:

 

-CPU Overclocking

-Memory Overclocking

-Graphics Overclocking

-Voltage Configuration

 

 

The CPU Overclocking section comes with a lot of options we can adjust, like multipliers for each core, presets that allow easy overclocking, BCLK frequency and more:

 

 

The CPU Feature section allows the user to enable/disable different CPU-related options such as HT, Intel Speed Step, C-states, but also work with Ring or CPU VR Settings options:

 

 

Ring

 

 

CPU VR Settings

 

 

The Memory Overclocking section allows the user to see the pre-programmed timings of the installed modules, enable XMP presets for fast configuration:

 

 

We can also go with a Custom memory profile, where we will be able to adjust all necessary timings and sub-timings:

 

 

The Graphics Overclocking section does take care of the integrated graphics options:

 

 

The Voltage Configuration menu also comes with a ton of settings we can adjust; the CPU volrage can be set as override or we can configure an offset; LLC options are not missing either and from the same menu we can get to the Uncore/Voltage PLL Trim Controls configuration options:

 

 

Uncore

 

 

Voltage PLL Trim Controls

 

 

The CPU menu does allow the user to see some technical specifications, but also access the CPU Configuration and Power & Performance sections:

 

 

CPU Configuration

 

 

Power & Performance

 

 

CPU – Power Management Control

 

 

GT – Power Management Control

 

 

From the Memory Configuration menu, we can take a look and modify some miscellaneous options:

 

 

A lot of options are available inside the Advanced menu as well:

 

-Boot Feature

-NCT6792D Super IO Configuration

-Serial Port Console Redirection

-System Agent (SA) Configuration

-Graphics Configuration

-PCH-IO Configuration

-SATA and RST Configuration

-PCH-FW Configuration

-USB Configuration

-Connectivity Configuration

-PCIe/PCI/PnP Configuration

-Security

-HDD Security Configuration

-Secure Boot

-HTTP BOOT Configuration

 

 

Various boot options are available in the Boot Feature menu:

 

 

The NCT6792D SuperIO Configuration menu allows Serial Port (COM header) configuration:

 

 

The System Agent Configuration menu does allow us to configure the PEG ports, along with various other miscellaneous options:

 

 

Multiple other iGPU-related options can be found inside the Graphics Configuration menu and from here we can also specify which display device should init first:

 

 

PCH-IO Configuration options are available next:

 

 

The storage ports can be further configured in the SATA and RST menu:

 

 

PCH-FW Configuration menu only allows for Management Engine Image re-flashing:

 

 

The USB Configuration menu is next:

 

 

The Connectivity Configuration allows the user to enable/disable the integrated Intel WiFi&BT chip (Integrated Connectivity – CNVi):

 

 

Various other interfaces can be enabled or disabled from the PCIe/PCI/PnP Configuration menu:

 

 

The Security menu allows the user to set a password check option, but also to specify an Administrator password:

 

 

HDD Security Configuration is next:

 

 

Secure Boot options are available in a separate section:

 

 

HTTP Boot options can be configured as well:

 

 

From the H/W Monitor options, we can take a look at the current temperatures/voltages, but also configure the fan speeds:

 

 

The Fan Control Setting option does allow the user to set one of the available presets or choose Custom mode:

 

 

The Save & Exit menu allows the user to set the regular boot device order, Boot Override but also save the settings in three different slots (User Defaults, Profile 1, Profile 2):

 

 

The BIOS Update menu helps us with information regarding the currently flashed version, but also boot into Flash mode for upgrades:

 

 

Test Setup

CPU: Intel I7 9700K Retail

CPU Cooler: Deepcool Captain 240 EX RGB Liquid Cooler

Motherboard: currently tested mobo.

RAM: Patriot Memory Viper RGB Series DDR4 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3200MHz @ XMP

Video: KFA2 GeForce GTX 1060 6GB OC

Power Supply: Cooler Master 850W

SSD: OCZ Vector 150

Case: Cooler Master ATCS 840

 

With the help of the AIDA64 software, we did extract more info regarding the product:

Motherboard

IMC

Chipset

Network Adapters

Audio CODEC

 

 

After running the tests at stock settings, we have tried to overclock the CPU at 4.7GHz, the maximum we could reach under decent thermals with our Z370 AORUS Ultra Gaming board from Gigabyte. SuperMicro UEFI BIOS has presets ready for this particular speed and sets a lot of options for us from scratch, so we only needed to fiddle with some voltages, that we thought that they were a bit high; we have managed stability at just 1.230V, by running Prime95 12K, version 26.6:

 

(click to enlarge)

We have then tried the “magical” 5.0GHz speed on all cores and unfortunately hit a wall because even at 1.310V VCore, we were getting crashes in Prime95 and we decided not to go further, because of the high temperatures of the individual cores (90+ degrees Celsius). 4.9GHz though was fully attainable and at a surprising voltage of just 1.250V, with a LLC Level 1 set inside the UEFI interface:

 

(click to enlarge)

 

Here is also the validation at this speed, via CPU-Z:

 

(click to enlarge)

 

 

AIDA64

Memory

CPU Queen

CPU PhotoWorxx

CPU Zlib

CPU AES

CPU Hash

FPU Julia

FPU Mandel

FPU SinJulia

FP32 Ray-Trace

FP64 Ray-Trace

 

 

CineBench R11.5

CineBench R15

Blender Ryzen Render

PCMark 7

PCMark 8

 

 

SuperPI XS 32M

X265 Benchmark (HWBOT)

1080P 64-bit Normal

3DMark Vantage

3DMark 11

3DMark 2013

Unigine Valley

Ultra AA Off DX11 1920X1080

Ashes of the Singularity DX12

CPU Focused

 

SuperMicro does provide the installation CD, that comes with the necessary drivers, but also the SuperDoctor 5 monitoring application:

 

 

 

The mentioned software runs in a browser window and can be accessed throughout the network (mostly used in server environments):

 

Health Info

 

 

 

 

System Info

 

 

 

Configuration

 

 

 

Report

 

 

 

Power Control

 

 

 

SuperOBooster is quite helpful in terms of system tuning and replicates the aspect of the UEFI interface; it will start in the CPU section of configuration and allows the user to adjust the core multipliers, BCLK and more:

 

 

 

We can work with different profiles in the “Profile” menu, but also enable Auto Tuning:

 

 

 

Memory timings configuration is also available from the next menu:

 

 

 

By navigating to the Thermal menu, we will be able to adjust the fan curves for the available headers:

 

 

 

System voltages adjustment is next:

 

 

 

Luminous menu assists the user with the lighting setup regarding configuration options:

 

 

 

BIOS Updates can be also performed from this application:

 

 

 

The CODEC implementation for this board is great and is in the top with other high-end boards from other manufacturers:

 

BIOSTAR RACING X370GT7 16/44

BIOSTAR RACING X370GTN 16/44

ECS Z270H4-I 16/44

ECS Z370-LIGHTSABER 16/44

Gigabyte Z370 AORUS Ultra Gaming 16/44

SuperMicro SUPERO C7Z370-CG-IW 16/44

BIOSTAR Racing Z370GT6 16/44

BIOSTAR Racing X470GT8 16/44

MSI X470 Gaming M7 AC 16/44

SuperMicro C9Z390-PGW 16/44

 

 

 

 

 

BIOSTAR RACING X370GT7 24/96

BIOSTAR RACING X370GTN 24/96

ECS Z270H4-I 24/96

ECS Z370-LIGHTSABER 24/96

Gigabyte Z370 AORUS Ultra Gaming 24/96

SuperMicro SUPERO C7Z370-CG-IW 24/96

BIOSTAR Racing Z370GT6 24/96

BIOSTAR Racing X470GT8 24/96

MSI X470 Gaming M7 AC 24/96

SuperMicro C9Z390-PGW 24/96

 

SuperMicro have quite impressed us with their latest C9Z390-PGW board, that features server-quality hardware components for the VRMs, a Broadcom ExpressLane PLX PEX 8747 that is able to take x16 lanes from the CPU and outputs no less than x32 PCI-E 3.0 lanes, that helps when using dual-VGA configurations, no less than two LAN interfaces, one being 10Gbit (Aquantia® AQC107 10G Ethernet Controller) and a good Realtek ALC1220 implementation. Wi-Fi is also available via the pre-installed Intel AC 9560 module, that also comes with Bluetooth 5.0 compatibility.

 

Plenty of storage can be installed on the C9Z390-PGW thanks to the SATA, U.2, M.2 interfaces (some of them sharing bandwidth) and you can also attach other devices via the included four USB 3.1 Gen2 ports (Type A and Type C) on the I/O, but also get even more ports from the internal header.

 

The board also comes with a revamped, much easier to use UEFI interface than before, that also comes with plenty of overclocking presents, in order to make this as straight forward as possible. You can save your settings to three different slots for later use and disable the board interfaces you do not need. Unlike other consumer boards, you will hear speaker beeps when you are connecting devices to the board and some interfaces can be completely disabled via the onboard jumpers, such as the audio CODEC.

 

Via the downloadable SuperOBooster utility, you can work with most system tuning settings from inside the Windows OS, a feature that saves time; the utility also takes care of the LED lighting system, which can be configured to your liking (including the RGB strips you can attach to the designated headers).

 

As you probably know, the HWBOT X265 encoding benchmark requires High Precision Event Timer or HPET to be turned on in Windows; do not keep this option enabled on the C9Z390-PGW because your 3D performance will decrease considerably and the Windows 2D interface will feel also quite sluggish.

 

C9Z390-PGW is an enthusiast board with a current sale price of about 364 Euros.

SuperMicro C9Z390-PGW Z390 LGA1151 Motherboard is Recommended for:

 

 

We would like to thank Supermicro for making this review possible!