Asus ROG Strix Z370-I Gaming Motherboard Review

ATTO Disk Benchmark

The ATTO disk benchmark is a Windows-based utility for testing storage performance of any storage drive or controller. We use the default benchmark setup.

M.2 PCIe Performance

For M.2 testing we use a Samsung 960 EVO 500GB SSD.

The Asus board’s benchmark results are on par with other full-size and mini-ITX boards – a great result.

We tested our Samsung drive with the bare M.2 slot on the rear of the board and with the Asus Double Decker heatsink and saw no difference in performance, too, so there’s no sign of throttling – a sign that the temperatures are kept at reasonable levels.

SATA 6Gbps Performance

For SATA 6Gbps testing we use a Crucial BX300 480GB SSD.

Audio

Rightmark Audio Analyser is a freeware benchmarking utility designed to objectively test the performance characteristics of audio solutions. We setup a line-in line-out loop and execute the record/playback test before generating the results report you see below. A sampling mode of 24-bit, 192 kHz is tested where available. If unavailable the closest alternative operating mode available is used and clearly marked.

The Asus board returned results of Very Good or Excellent in most tests, with an overall rating of Very Good. It only slipped to a mere Good result in one test.

That’s solid, although it is a couple of minor steps behind last year’s Asus board and this year’s full-size MSI Z370 board. It’s not going to make a difference to most people, but audiophiles may want to bear this in mind.

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