F E A T U R E // E V G A Z 3 9 0 D A R K
the BIOS. The great thing here is
that you’ll not get any of that auto
switching between failed POST
or BOOT attempts as on some other
boards. There’s an LED which lets
you know which UEFI you’ve
selected and are using. Again, an
insignificant thing for everyday use,
but meaningful for overclocking or
those emergencies. CPU to the lowest multiplier (x8),
useful for overclocking where
stability may be compromised when
taking screen shots etc. due to an
excessively high CPU frequency.
The rest of the on-board
components aren’t really concerned
with overclocking barring the
PCI-Express 6-pin plug for
SLI extreme overclocking.
In addition to the Power, Reset and
ClrCmos buttons. The Dark has a
Safeboot button and dual Q-Code
LED output (Post Code orientation
can be changed in one direction). For the gamers and daily users,
this board has everything a gaming
board should have and more. This is
Bluetooth and Wifi (courtesy of the
chipset), an additional ASmedia USB
3.1 controller (you’ll also need this
for Windows 7 USB support), the best
motherboard audio controller right
now (Creative Labs Sound Core), dual
M.2 sockets and believe it or not, a
U.2 SAS controller. I have yet to see a
single drive with this form of
interface, but should you have one
for whatever reason, the EVGA Z390
Dark supports it.
These are in a single corner
on the top right of the board, a
moderate distance away from any
condensation or ice build up that
may occur during XOC sessions.
It is around here as well where EVGA
has placed the two 8-pin 12V CPU
power plugs along with the 24-pin
ATX plug, all parallel to the PCB in
typical EVGA fashion.
Other features on the board
including a 4-way DIP-switch which
allows you to turn on and off
different PCI-Express slots. Useful
for diagnosing issues or dealing with
SLI overclocking. Right above that is
where you’ll find one more switch
which is a slow mode setting
essentially. This locks the
14 The OverClocker Issue 47 | 2019
THE UEFI | BIOS
EVGA’s UEFI or BIOS as we still
call it, is in one word – fantastic!
Honestly, I think this one in terms
of functionality, ease of use and
presentation is perhaps my favorite
on this latest generation of boards.
It’s laid out in an obvious manner
with easy to read tabs that a are
simply a breeze to navigate.
The font is sharp and the
descriptions where they are
available are written in a coherent
and informative manner. This is
particularly great for overclocking
because navigating your way is quick
and painless even if you’ve not used
an EVGA board before.
In the Extras drop down menu,
EVGA has some useful tools,
including a stress test, the typical
automated overclocking feature
(OC ROBOT) and OC profiles.
This is where you can update
the BIOS as well. Not the most
obvious place to look at first, but its
placement does make sense when
one think s about it.
Regarding the OC profiles,
there are only four unfortunately and
at that, not descriptive at
all. I’m unsure if this is due to
character limitations or some other
reason, but all you have are basic
descriptions of the memory settings
and little else. There’s a Generic
LN2 setting for 4133 C12, a daily
4300 C14 setting for slightly above
average B-die memory and of
course two settings from KIngP|N
for A2 PCB B-die kits (4800MHz C14
etc). I would have liked to see
a more flashed out explanation or
detail as to what it is that is being