CONCLUSION

   I have to admit that when the Z390 Dark arrived here and I saw that it only had two DIMM slots I was somewhat disappointed, mainly because I really wanted to see how it’d do with 64GB of RAM. The truth of the matter however is that people who want/need more than 32GB of RAM are professionals who’d probably go either for an X299 or an TRX40 system instead. With that out of the way I focused on the design of the mainboard which I actually liked quite a bit thanks to the black matte color and the large heatsinks (the lack of RGB lighting and headers however might turn away some potential buyers). The rotated CPU socket and DIMM slots do seem to help with airflow levels and the 17-phase VRM design does wonders when it comes to overclocking (can easily go well over 5GHZ on the i9-9900K if you have a very good cooler). RAM compatibility is also very good since the Z390 Dark supports modules with speeds surpassing 4600MHZ (we may get a chance to test some 4800MHZ modules on it to verify this). The angled power connectors are also a very nice touch even though it depends largely on the case you’re using. For example, the be quiet! Dark Base 900 Rev.2 case which is currently housing this system has the rubber grommets right beneath those power connectors so especially in the case of the 24pin ATX one routing it and bending it to fit in wasn’t easy (so do keep that in mind when building a new system). The same pretty much goes for the Creative Sound Blaster Recon3D onboard card since it may fall short of your expectations if you’ve been using PCIe audio cards but it’s still a lot better compared to many Realtek models used in past and current mainboards. Finally the lack of M.2 heat spreaders was certainly not something i'd expect from a enthusiast-grade mainboard like the Z390 Dark.

   Even after almost a full year in the market the Z390 Dark Motherboard by EVGA still retails for USD494.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 519.19Euros inside the EU (Directly from EVGA) making it one of the most expensive Z390 models in the market today. Of course, that price gets you what may be the best overclocking mainboard based around the 1151 socket today but still for most people it’s far from affordable. Overall, however the Z390 Dark delivers (and then some) on everything related to performance and for that it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- OC Potential (17 Phase Design)
- 3 Reinforced & EMI Shielded PCIe 3.0 slots
- OC Features (PCIe Disable Switches / Slow Mode / Safe Boot / Triple BIOS / Dual Clear CMOS Buttons / USB BIOS Update Port)
- Available BIOS Settings
- Creative Sound Blaster Recon3D & NU Audio Amplifier
- Angled Connectors
- 3 Year Limited Warranty

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- Dual DIMM Design
- No RGB Features (For Some)
- No M.2 Heat Spreaders