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The Asus Republic of Gamers STRIX Z370-I Gaming is the first mini-ITX motherboard that to arrive with Intel’s new Z370 chipset and revised LGA 1151 socket – which means it’s the first small board we’ve seen to support Coffee Lake processors. This new mini-ITX board tries to cram in as many features as possible onto its 17cm-square black PCB: there are two M.2 sockets, loads of USB 3.1 ports, improved memory speed support and the ubiquitous RGB LEDs.
This updated Asus ROG Strix Z370-I Gaming costs £193, which is about the same as Z370 ATX boards – there might be less PCB in this product, but the cost of miniaturisation can’t be ignored.
We’ve compared this product to last year’s Asus equivalent board and a couple of ATX contenders from the current ranks to find out if Z370’s mini-ITX debut can earn a place in your PC.
| Asus ROG Strix Z370-I Gaming | |
| Form Factor | Mini-ITX, 17cm x 17cm |
| CPU Socket | Intel LGA 1151 Version 2 |
| Chipset | Intel Z370 |
| Memory | DDR4, 4 DIMMs, up to 32GB, up to 4333MHz+ with OC |
| Onboard Graphics | Intel HD Graphics (supported CPUs) |
| Discrete Graphics | n/a |
| Expansion Slots | 1 x PCIe 3.0 X16 (16) |
| Storage | 4 x SATA III 6Gbps 1 x M.2 PCIe 32Gbps or SATA III 6Gbps1 x M.2 PCIe 32GBps |
| USB | 7 x USB 3.1 (4 Rear, 2 Front, 1 via ASM3142) 6 x USB 2.0 (4 Rear, 2 Front, via Z370) |
| Networking | Intel I219V Gigabit LAN Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265 |
| Audio | SupremeFX S1220A Codec (1 front, 5 rear) 7.1 channel HD audio |
| Fan Headers | 3, all support 3/4 pin fans (1 CPU, 1 x W_PUMP, 1 x SYS) |
| Rear I/O | 4 x USB 2.0 Type-A ports 4 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A ports 1 x HDMI port1 x DisplayPort 1 x LAN (RJ45) port 5 x OFC audio jacks 1 x Optical S/PDIF OUT connector |
| UEFI | UEFI AMI, 1 x 128Mb |
The small Asus ROG Strix Z370-I Gaming board arrives in a typically smart package. It’s all black cardboard on the inside, with the board in its own smart box and the accessories included in a second box below – a more considered approach than just tossing all of the accessories beneath the motherboard tray.
It feels like a compact and classy bit of design: the Strix is neat on the inside and looks more mature than many other motherboard boxes on the outside.
The accessory and documentation bundle includes the following items:
- User’s manual
- Rear I/O shield
- 4 x SATA cables
- WiFi antennae with stand
- CPU installation tool
- 30cm ROG LED strip
- 2 x M.2 stand-off and screw
- Cable ties
- Panel cable
- Driver disc
- Cablemod voucher code
- Asus ROG stickers
It’s no surprise that the Asus ROG Strix Z370-I Gaming is a good-looking product. The PCB is black and all of the ports, sockets and connectors use black too – so the trio of gunmetal grey heatsinks stand out even more.
As with last year’s Z270-I board, a row of RGB LEDs is installed on the underside of the PCB, with twelve LEDs that can be controlled through the Asus Aura software. That’s paired with the strip of RGB LEDs that’s included in the box.
That same side of the board is the busiest. Above the 24-pin power connector is a tiny row of debug LEDs, and there’s the front panel connector, two SATA ports, a speaker connector, an addressable RGB header and a USB 3.1 Gen 1 connector.
Move a centimetre inwards and you’ll find the two memory slots, which support up to 32GB of DDR4 at an overclocked speed of 4,333MHz – a little higher than last year’s equivalent board. Two more SATA connectors sit on the other side of the memory slots, although these are a little cramped.
The new version of the LGA 1151 socket is surrounded by two VRM heatsinks. This year the new Coffee Lake chips are governed by a four-phase design, and Asus has retained the two dedicated phases for the integrated graphics chipset and the single phase for the memory.
Below the processor socket is Asus’ clever Double-Decker M.2 heatsink. It’s a good-looking lump of metal that can be removed with two screws and used to cool down an M.2 SSD that may throttle if it gets too hot, but that’s not its only talent – beneath the M.2 connector is a second heatsink that chills the PCH.
There’s the usual sole PCI-Express x16 slot at the bottom of the board, and it’s reinforced with steel to help support hefty graphics cards.
The audio gear sits beside the PCI-Express slot. It’s the same setup as the older Z270 board, which means the Realtek S1220A HD codec with 113dB SNR line-in and 120dB SNR line-out and Asus’ own SupremeFX shielding. There’s an OPA1688 operational amplifier, too, alongside an RC4580 dual operational amplifier, and the same Gold Series Nichicon audio capacitors are used again.
In fact, there’s no real difference between the audio gear on this small board and on Asus’ latest ATX products, which means you’re going to get a good-quality audio experience no matter which form factor you choose.
That covers the journey across the heart of this small board. Once that’s done, you’re at the rear I/O, which remains one of the most impressive in the mini-ITX marketplace right now.
It’s got four USB 3.1 Gen 1 connectors, which is an improvement over the Gen 2 connectors on last year’s board. One of those USB 3.1 sockets is a Type-C port, too. There are four slower USB 2 ports, the full offering of five audio jacks, an optical S/PDIF output and both HDMI and DisplayPort outputs.
The Gigabit Ethernet connector is controlled by the Intel I219-V NIC, and the WiFi chip is capable of handling dual-band 802.11ac traffic. Bluetooth is included, and on the new board it’s been upgraded from Bluetooth 4.1 to version 4.2.
There’s a USB 3.1 Gen 2 connector for the front panel, which is useful if you’ve got a rare enclosure with front-facing USB 3.1 Type-C. At the back there are quartets of USB 3.1 Gen 1 and USB 2 ports alongside an optical S/PDIF connector, five audio jacks, the wireless aerials and both HDMI and DisplayPort outputs.
The top corner of the board holes the eight-pin CPU power connector and the CPU fan connector. It’s one of three 1A/12W fan connectors on this board, but it’s the only one that’s easy to access: one sits between the WiFi module and the board’s largest heatsink, while another is found between the M.2 heatsink and the PCI slot.
The tricky fan connectors and a couple of cramped SATA ports are the only real issues with the layout on this board, though – considering the tiny footprint and the wealth of features to be found here, Asus has done a good job.
There’s another feature on the rear of the board – the second M.2 connector. This setup mirrors last year’s board, and this second connector supports both PCI-E and SATA-based M.2 SSDs.
The Asus ROG Strix Z370-I Gaming board has the usual Asus UEFI. It’s certainly familiar, but that’s no bad thing – it’s one of the best UEFI software packages on the market today.
The UEFI boots into Asus’ familiar Easy Mode, which serves up key settings and readings in an easily-digestible format. You’ll find the CPU and board temperatures, boot priority, memory and storage information, fan speeds and a boot menu, alongside Normal, Fast and Extreme tuning options.
There’s a lot included on the Easy Mode screen, but information is sensibly clustered together into relevant sections – so important settings are easy to find.
Tapping F7 opens up the familiar Advanced mode. The opening screen here has more detailed information about the CPU and the UEFI alongside detailed memory and voltage readings. That’s good, but there’s actually less information here than on the Easy Mode’s welcome screen.
To get much more, then, you’ll have to delve into individual menus. The first, AI Tweaker, is the most interesting – as here you’ll find the usual array of overclocking features. They’re all familiar, and that makes it a cinch to navigate: you can use Asus’ automatic options to keep the CPU running at stock speeds, or XMP tools to load profiles.
The options to specify per-core speeds or sync every core to the same clock are present, and Asus includes a one-click profile to get the CPU running at 5GHz – an option that worked flawlessly with our i7-8700K.
If you’re feeling ambitious, it’s possible to run the core ratio up to 83 and the memory clock to 8,533MHz.
There’s the DRAM Timing Control menu and Tweaker’s Paradise module for extreme fine-tuning of memory and CPU attributes, and there’s also a separate Advanced menu with platform and chipset configuration and storage settings. The On-Board Devices menu serves up settings for audio, RGB lighting, wireless, Ethernet and Bluetooth.
The Monitor menu has more voltages, temperatures and fan speeds than any other area of this UEFI, and the Boot menu has configurable options, fast boot tools, options to change the boot order and the usual override settings.
The last menu provides tools like EZ Flash 3 and Secure Erase, and it’s also got the option to load overclocking profiles. Oddly, this is also where GPU information can be found.
There isn’t much missing from the Asus UEFI, then – it might not have gimmicks like visual board diagrams or snazzy graphics, but it’s got basically every option you’d ever need from a modern UEFI package.
The Asus ROG Strix Z370-I Gaming comes with the usual selection of utilities. The key bit of software is AI Suite 3, which has a main screen full of component, voltage, temperature and fan speed information alongside one-click optimisation options.
A menu on the left of this tool opens up more advanced areas for cooling, energy-saving, updating and tailoring performance to applications. There’s a PC-cleaning tool too.
It’s certainly easy to navigate and has plenty of options, but some of them are also accessible in Windows – which means that AI Suite 3 isn’t bringing much new to the table. It’s also possible to get other software tools that will do a better job, especially when it comes to PC cleaning.
The familiar Aura lighting tool can be used to program the motherboard’s RGB LEDs to run in static colours or patterns, and they can also react to CPU temperature or workload. Compatible light-strips can also be added to this app and managed from within the software.
The GameFirst IV tool monitors the network usage of running applications – key for improving network responsiveness during intense gaming sessions. Other screens also serve up a Wi-Fi analyser and detailed networking information.
The GameFirst tool can automatically monitor and manipulate network traffic, or control can be fully given over to the user – including settings priorities for important gaming apps.
Elsewhere, there are charging utilities, a RAMDisk tool and Intel’s Extreme Tuning software.
Little has changed since last year’s selection of software, which is no surprise considering that there isn’t much new from the Z270 chipset to the Z370 silicon included on this board. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, because all of the Asus apps are pretty easy to use and have lots of options – but just don’t expect any brand-new utilities.
We will be outlining the Asus ROG Strix Z370I-Gaming motherboard’s performance with the Intel Core i7 8700K CPU, 16GB of 3000MHz Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR4 memory and a Zotac GTX 1080.
Z370 Motherboard Test System:
- Processor: Intel Core i7 8700K (4.3GHz All-Core Turbo).
- Memory: 16GB (2x8GB) Corsair Vengeance RGB (3000MHz 15-15-15-36 @ 1.2V).
- Graphics Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1080
- System Drive: Samsung 960 EVO M.2 SSD
- CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i V2 with Two ML120 Pro Fans.
- Power Supply: Cooler Master GX650
- Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
Comparison Z370 & Z270 Motherboards:
Drivers and UEFI:
- Intel Chipset 15.8.1.1007
- Nvidia GeForce 388.00 VGA drivers.
- Asus UEFI Version 5428 (01/11/2017)
Tests:
- Cinebench R15– All-core CPU benchmark (CPU)
- SiSoft Sandra 2017– Processor Arithmetic Test (CPU) and Memory Bandwidth Test (Memory)
- 7-Zip 16.04 x64 – Built-in 7-Zip benchmark test (CPU)
- AIDA64 Engineer 5.92– System cache & memory benchmark and stress test (Memory and Power Consumption)
- 3DMark Time Spy v1.0– Time Spy (1440p) test (Gaming)
- Ashes of the Singularity – Built-in benchmark tool CPU-Focused test, 1920 x 1080, Extremequality preset, DX12 mode (Gaming)
- Deus Ex: Mankind Divided– Built-in benchmark tool, 1920 x 1080, Ultra quality preset, DX12 mode (Gaming)
- ATTO 3.05– M.2 and SATA 6Gbps transfer rates (Motherboard)
- Rightmark Audio Analyzer 6.4.1– Record and playback test using a line-in to line-out loopback with a 3.5mm audio cable (Motherboard)
7-Zip
7-Zip is an open source Windows utility for manipulating archives. We measure the Total Rating performance using the built-in benchmark tool. The test stresses all CPU cores to 100% and shows an affinity for memory bandwidth.
Cinebench R15
Cinebench is an application which renders a photorealistic 3D scene to benchmark a computer’s rendering performance, on one CPU core, all CPU cores or using the GPU. We run the test using the all core CPU mode.
Sandra Processor Arithmetic
SiSoft Sandra 2017 is a multi-function utility program that supports remote analysis, benchmarking and diagnostic features for PCs, servers, mobile devices and networks. We run the application’s processor arithmetic test to gauge the CPU performance on each tested motherboard.
There’s a lot to like about the Z370i’s processing performance, although the usage of different processors mean it’s difficult to find a direct comparison.
Nonetheless, the Asus board is certainly not holding the Coffee Lake silicon back. Its 7-zip results are significantly quicker than boards tested with Core i5 Coffee Lake parts, and the Cinebench score is good – a little slower than other i7-8700K tests, but perhaps because of slightly slower memory.
If you’re putting a Core i7 chip in the Asus ROG Strix Z370i Gaming, then don’t worry about performance – smaller form factor hasn’t meant any speed compromises.
AIDA64 Engineer
AIDA64 Engineer is a multi-featured software suite for diagnostics, stress testing, benchmarking, software auditing and various other measurement parameters. We use AIDA64 Engineer to benchmark memory throughput and latency.
Sandra Memory Bandwidth
SiSoft Sandra 2017 is a multi-function utility program that supports remote analysis, benchmarking and diagnostic features for PCs, servers, mobile devices and networks. We use the SiSoft Sandra memory bandwidth test to provide a set of memory bandwidth results.
The Asus board’s memory results are on par with what we’d expect from a motherboard running 3,000MHz memory – a little behind products with 3,200MHz DDR4, but not far enough back to cause any significant problems.
The board’s latency measurement of 54.1ns is a little slow, though – other boards were a couple of nanoseconds quicker in this test. That’s likely due to their better speeds or quad-slot designs.
3DMark
3DMark is a multi-platform hardware benchmark designed to test varying resolutions and detail levels of 3D gaming performance. We run the Windows platform test and in particular the Time Spy benchmark, which is indicative of high-end 1440p PC Gaming.
Ashes of the Singularity
Ashes of the Singularity is a Sci-Fi real-time strategy game built for the PC platform. The game includes a built-in benchmark tool and was one of the first available DirectX 12 benchmarks. We run the CPU-focused benchmark using DirectX 12, a 1080p resolution and the Extreme quality preset.
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is an action role-playing stealth video game released in August 2016. A built-in benchmark utility is included and we test using the Ultra quality preset and the DirectX 12 API at a 1080p resolution.
The Asus’ gaming results are exactly what we expected given the Zotac-powered GTX 1080 used in our test rig – like with processor applications, there’s no sign of compromise despite this board’s smaller form factor.
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.
Manual CPU Overclocking:
To test the Asus ROG Strix Z370i Gaming motherboard’s CPU overclocking potential, we set the CPU VCore no higher than 1.3V and push for the highest stable clock speed. We maintain the DRAM frequency at 3000MHz to take memory stability out of the overclocking equation. Once the highest clock speed for 1.3V is achieved we see if there is potential to roll back on the voltage while maintaining system stability.
We were able to easily achieve a stable 5GHz when manually overclocking with the tiny Asus board, and the system remained stable once we’d dialled the voltage back from our initial 1.3V rating to 1.29V.
That’s a good result, but we couldn’t get this board to overclock stably to 5.1GHz, no matter how much electricity we pumped through the chip.
Overclocked Performance
The i7-8700K’s revised clock speed saw the chip deliver a Cinebench score of exactly 1600cb – a modest but welcome leap from the board’s original result.
Power
We leave the system to idle on the Windows 10 desktop for 5 minutes before taking a reading. For CPU load results we run AIDA64 CPU, FPU, Cache and Memory stress tests and take a reading after 5 minutes. The power consumption of our entire test system (at the wall) is shown in the chart.
The Asus board’s idle power requirement of 61W is higher than the Coffee Lake Core i5 chip and last year’s Core i7 Kaby Lake part. That’s no surprise when you consider that this chip has two more cores than any of those other processors.
Its 112W peak power requirement is a more pleasant figure – lower than any of the other boards and chips in our graphs. Intel may have added two more cores, but the efficiency has clearly improved too.
Overclocked tests saw the board’s idle figure only rise by 4W, and its load result of 139W is mid-table, and significantly lower than two of the ATX Z370 boards we’ve tested. It’s also just one Watt more than last year’s mini-ITX board required.
When it comes to power, then, the Asus is generally impressive. It might be packed with features, but it keeps things frugal.
Intel may have released new Coffee Lake processors, but don’t be fooled by the revised LGA 1151 socket and Z370 chipset. Aside from a few minor changes and some alterations to cope with the six-core CPU’s increased power requirements, very little is new.
Because of that, Z370 motherboards are going to bear a strong resemblance to their Z270 counterparts. That might disappoint people searching for truly new products, but we’re not upset: last year’s version of this board was outstanding, and the Asus ROG Strix Z370-I Gaming is another excellent product.
It’s good-looking, with smart metal heatsinks and RGB LEDs, and the good physical design is paired with an intuitive UEFI and solid software – even if there’s nothing fresh in this department. It’s got debug LEDs, beefed-up SupremeFX audio, and two M.2 sockets.
Asus continues to use its Double-Decker heatsink on the primary M.2 socket and above the chipset, and it continues to work well – we never had any SSD-related thermal issues. Connectivity includes solid wired and wireless offerings alongside a minor Bluetooth update. It’s got a USB 3.1 Gen 2 front panel connector, even though this standard still hasn’t made it to the rear I/O.
That’s a little disappointing, but the back of the board is still packed with USB 3.1 ports, display outputs and audio jacks. Aside from high-end features like Clear CMOS or BIOS Flashback buttons, there’s nothing missing from the average ATX product.
The performance is largely the same as ATX boards, too. The mini-ITX Asus board delivered the same sort of benchmark results that we’d expect from an ATX board with a Coffee Lake Core i7 chip, and the new CPU architecture could be seen working well in CPU-intensive games tests, the 7-Zip benchmark and in Cinebench. The two extra cores are clearly well-implemented.
The Asus board delivered slightly lesser memory results and was marginally ahead in our NVMe tests, but take these tests with a grain of salt due to different components being used in our test rigs.
The bottom line, though, is entirely positive. There’s no real difference between this board and ATX boards in benchmarks, and it proved stable and adept at overclocking too.
The only minor issues on this board are related to layout – and even then, they’re hardly a surprise. It’s accepted that a mini-ITX board will only have room for two memory slots and a single PCI-Express socket, for instance. There are three fan headers, but they’re tricky to reach in between heatsinks and other features, and the SATA sockets are awkward positioned around the memory slots.
There’s a lot to like about this board, even if the minor chipset and socket revision mean that there’s not much new here. It’s got a lot of features considering it uses the mini-ITX form factor, and the layout is mostly fine – issues here are minor. If you’re considering a Coffee Lake upgrade and want to build a smaller system, the Asus board is a stellar choice.
The Asus ROG Strix Z370-I Gaming is available from Overclockers for £195. Asus offers a three-year manufacturer warranty with this product.
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Pros:
- Solid performance across all benchmarks
- Two M.2 slots and Double-Decker heatsink
- Consistent, solid software and UEFI
- Debug LEDs included
- Good networking and rear ports
Cons:
- No improvements to UEFI and software
- Layout can be a little tricky
- No USB 3.1 Gen 2 on rear I/O
KitGuru Says: Last year’s Asus mini-ITX board was the best around, and the Z370 update continues this fine form. The Asus ROG Strix Z370-I Gaming has good performance and loads of features – so it’s a great choice for a small Coffee Lake computer.
