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In a market where motherboard manufacturers compete fiercely to provide more connectivity and features than rivals, EVGA has adopted a different approach with the Z390 FTW.
The design ethos for the Z390 FTW is overclocking-centric with features like onboard diagnostic and power/reset buttons, an 8 phase VCore VRM provided by International Rectifier components, an in-BIOS CPU stress test and automated OC Robot overclocking utility.
For overclocking it is a pleasant motherboard to use with a straight forward UEFI design and relative simplicity to get results. The VRM for the CPU VCore is comprised of well-regarded components and EVGA has thought carefully about the cooling, providing 4 VCore phases to each of the heatsinks. The provision of VRM sensor information to let users monitor VRM performance is also a nice touch.
Yet even for overclocking our testing showed results that were broadly identical to most other Z390 motherboards, leading us to conclude that the CPU will still be the limiting factor for most users. Initially it seemed like the Z390 FTW would perform better as the OC Robot tool returned a 5.2GHz result, yet this configuration did not post…neither did it post at 5.1GHz with the same voltage, leaving us doubting the efficacy of the OC Robot utility.
The UEFI also omitted important settings for overclockers such as Power Limit settings and the VCore Vdroop settings provided in-place of Load Line Calibration (LLC) were not as granular or intuitive to control as on other motherboards.
Overall connectivity is ample for most users with four USB 3.1 10Gbps ports, dual M.2, dual 12v G R B headers, an M.2 WiFi slot and full 7.1 channel audio.
Yet given the price point the average consumer can be forgiven for expecting more. Some of the nice-to-have features might have included; Integrated USB Type-C, onboard RGB lighting, M.2 heatsinks, onboard WiFi, dual LAN, support for integrated graphics (for application iGPU acceleration), heatpipe cooling or diagnostic LEDs.
Many of those omitted features might seem like an unreasonable ask yet rival motherboards at a similar price point, such as the ASRock Z390 Taichi or Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Ultra, offer most of the above features and with fewer compromises overall.
On the whole the EVGA Z390 FTW is worth considering for consumers with a preference towards the EVGA brand or seeking something that is different from the crowd, with more personality. In its own right the EVGA Z390 FTW is a good motherboard that will meet the expectations of most prospective buyers who want to game and overclock their system.
The EVGA Z390 FTW has a retail price of €249.99 (£220) in Europe at EVGA's own website and is sold with a 3 year warranty.
In the USA it can be had for $229.99 at EVGA's own website and has a 3 year warranty.
Pros:
- CPU VRM equally split across two heatsinks and with temperature monitoring
- High quality 8-phase CPU VRM
- Onboard diagnostic code reader and buttons
- Ample USB and storage connectivity
- 12v RGB expansion headers
- High quality audio
- USB BIOS flashback utility works without CPU installed
- Drivers provided on USB stick (not CD/DVD)
Cons:
- Disregard for Intel's stock Turbo specification
- No M.2 cooling
- Absence of onboard RGB lighting
- Integrated graphics not supported
- No power limit settings available in BIOS
- Very basic software functionality
- Limited retail availability
- USB Type-C only via header
KitGuru says: EVGA's Z390 FTW is a novel and interesting interpretation of an Intel Z390 overclocking motherboard.
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