[SOLVED] Gigabyte Z390 Gaming X vs Aorus Pro?

[Hypoltan]

I'm looking to overclock the i5 9600k, pairing it with a Noctua d15s. I am just focused on the VRM between the two motherboards, and is Aorus Pro really worth the extra money over the gaming x and how does it compare in terms of overclocking?

 

[davidgirgis]

The Aorus has light-up DIMM slots.
Also, better audio, including optical out, and support for DSD files.
Also, USB type C

 

[Karadjgne]

Pretty much the same ability, couple of different gimmicks like extra RGB headers, lighted ram slots etc.

 

[Hypoltan]

The Aorus has light-up DIMM slots.
Also, better audio, including optical out, and support for DSD files.
Also, USB type C

How does the overclocking compare?

 

[Hypoltan]

Pretty much the same ability, couple of different gimmicks like extra RGB headers, lighted ram slots etc.

Yep, but how does the overclocking compare?

 

[Karadjgne]

Almost all the boards in that bracket are so close in ability you might as well call them the same, doesn't matter what the board is. They aren't the uber budget, tiny heatsink, shouldn't be Z boards, nor are they the Godlike, ROG extreme series that cost $300+.

Being roughly the exact same board and both being Gigabyte, they'll even have the same bios and basically the exact same OC potential. The only differences being the few small gimmicks like RGB etc.

It's like buying a 6 cyl car. The ugly brown one with roll up windows is $20k, the black one with power windows is $25k and the red one with power windows and fancy rims is $30k. Same car. You pay more for the gimmicks and extras and looks. Same 6cyl.

 

[Hypoltan]

Almost all the boards in that bracket are so close in ability you might as well call them the same, doesn't matter what the board is. They aren't the uber budget, tiny heatsink, shouldn't be Z boards, nor are they the Godlike, ROG extreme series that cost $300+.

Being roughly the exact same board and both being Gigabyte, they'll even have the same bios and basically the exact same OC potential. The only differences being the few small gimmicks like RGB etc.

It's like buying a 6 cyl car. The ugly brown one with roll up windows is $20k, the black one with power windows is $25k and the red one with power windows and fancy rims is $30k. Same car. You pay more for the gimmicks and extras and looks. Same 6cyl.

True, but in terms of VRM, the Gaming x has "10+2 Phases Digital VRM Design with Low RDS(on) MOSFET", with the Aorus Pro "12+1 Phases Digital Power Design", how big a difference is this?

 

[Karadjgne]

That simply means that 1 board runs with 10 power phases for the cpu, and 2 power phases for the igpu. Or 12+1. More power phases means that the voltage going to the cpu through the VRM's theoretically should be cleaner and lead to cleaner and more stable OC. Some also believe since there's less actual workload per VRM that there's less heat generated vrs a lower number phases, but also consider that there's more of them.

10 or 12, honestly not that mu h difference either way, but technically the 12+1 should have a better chance at higher OC of being more stable. But by higher OC, you are talking absolute maximums, 5.3GHz or better etc not your standard normal OC.

With modern boards, good psus etc you are more likely to run into cpu lottery issues long before maxing out the ability of the mobo.

 

[davidgirgis]

There is a small difference. More power phases means cleaner power delivery.
I thought the +1 or +2 refers to the power phases required for the memory subsystem?

The cost difference between the two boards however is mostly going towards those aesthetic differences mentioned above, and maybe a few mechanical rigidity options added in for extra physical durability. The latter is not much of a concern, as you will not be installing/uninstalling the mobo from case to case with any tangible frequency.

 

[ocer9999]

For the CPU, 9600K you will be fine, it's not like it's going to pull crazy amounts of power compared to a i7K .
One alternative would be the Z390 Extreme 4. Great design and great VRMs priced pretty good.

 

[fpshooterful]

I'm looking to overclock the i5 9600k, pairing it with a Noctua d15s. I am just focused on the VRM between the two motherboards, and is Aorus Pro really worth the extra money over the gaming x and how does it compare in terms of overclocking?

I AM kinda LATE to the party, but i do have the Gaming X gigabyte mobo, and i think THE MOST important thing that EVERYONE forgot to mention was, that the...

Gaming X has support up to 128GB of RAM, where as PRO only goes up to 64gigs of RAM.
https://pangoly.com/en/compare/motherboard/gigabyte-z390-gaming-x-vs-gigabyte-z390-aorus-pro