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EVGA's motherboards have long held a strong following within the PC DIY community. EVGA maintains a relatively small motherboard portfolio by the standards of its competitors, just a handful of motherboards per chipset, containing models specifically for overclockers and gamers alike. EVGA simply does not do a “low-end” or “entry-level” motherboard for Z390, as the Z390 FTW intends to demonstrate.
The EVGA Z390 FTW is one of the company's two Z390 options, sitting alongside the Z390 DARK, and is the more affordable of the pair. The focus with the FTW (For The Win) model is on overclocking and performance, at a more accessible price than the DARK model. That said, the FTW is still positioned as a premium motherboard option for high-end system builds.
From the get-go the Z390 FTW lays down its overclocking intentions by completely omitting a VRM for the Intel integrated graphics, instead focusing on delivering power primarily for the CPU cores (VCore). EVGA has some other novel interpretations of motherboard design such as a large number of right-angled connectors across the motherboard for cable management and horizontally mounted audio capacitors for a striking visual impact.
Clearly, the Z390 FTW is not your average Z390 motherboard. However, is it style over substance or innovation over practicality? Let's find out.
| EVGA Z390 FTW | |
| Form Factor | ATX, 24.4 x 30.5cm |
| CPU Socket | Intel LGA 1151 v2 |
| CPU VRM PWM |
Infineon International Rectifier IR35201 in 4 phase operation, 8 effective (VCore + VCCSA), uP1537p 1 phase (VCCIO) |
| CPU VRM MOSFETs |
9 x International Rectifier IR3556M (VCore + VCCSA), 1 x On Semiconductor 4C10N & 4C05N (VCCIO) |
| Chipset | Intel Z390 |
| Memory | DDR4, 4 DIMMs, up to 64GB, up to 4133MHz+ with OC |
| On-board Graphics | Not supported (No iGPU power supply (VCCGT) provided) |
| Discrete Graphics | 2-way Nvidia or Quad-SLI, 2-way AMD CrossFireX or Quad CrossFireX |
| Expansion Slots | 2 x PCIe 3.0 X16 (16x/0x, 8x/8x, from CPU) 1 x PCIe 3.0 X4 (PCH) 2 x PCIe 3.0 X1 (PCH) 1 x M.2 32mm (“Key E” WiFi module slot, PCIe 3.0 X1) |
| Storage | 2 x M.2 PCIe 3.0 X4 (32Gbps) or SATA III (6Gbps)* 6 x SATA III (Intel Z390) *bandwidth shared with SATA ports 4/5 |
| USB | 6 x USB 2.0 (2 Rear, 4 Front, all via Z390) 4 x USB 3.0 (2 Rear, 2 Front, all via Z390) 5 x USB 3.1 [10Gbps] (4 Rear, 1 Front – Type-C Header, all via Z390) |
| Networking | 1 x Intel I219V Gigabit Ethernet |
| Audio | Realtek ALC 1220 7.1 Channel HD Audio (+ EVGA Nu Audio) |
| RGB | No onboard RGB lighting 2 x 12v G R B headers |
| Fan Headers | 6 x 3/4 pin (2 x CPU, 4 x PWM/DC), all support maximum power of 12v @ 1A (12W) |
| Rear I/O | 1 x Clear CMOS Button 2 x USB 2.0 4 x USB 3.1 (10Gbps) 2 x USB 3.0 1 x Intel i219V Gigabit LAN 5 x Audio Jacks 1 x Optical S/PDIF |
| UEFI | Type-686 UEFI AMI BIOS |
