[Review]Asus Strix Z370-I Gaming, small but packs a punch!

[royfrosty]

Please note: Pardon me if the pictures did not turn out to be great. I'm currently trying to venture into macro shots with my Fuji A-X3 camera. This is my first review fully taken with my Fuji A-X3 XC16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OIS II Lens (With Macro Extension).

Introduction

The first Strix line of product that was first introduced was in 2014. Asus introduced the first Strix branding back then was emcompasses graphics card and headset. It is a "new gaming" brand from ASUS that targets performance-to-premium segment. Later on they have extended the Strix branding to motherboards and other peripherals. This year i have the opportunity to share with you guys the new Asus Strix Z370-I Gaming ITX motherboard along with Intel's latest 8th Gen Processor code name "Coffee Lake" the i5-8600k.

Unboxing

The Asus Strix Z370-I Gaming comes in a small squarish box that is somewhat or rather thick packaging.



At the back of the box, it shows a brief details and features of the motherboard.



Just lift up the front flap of the box cover and you will be greeted with two seperate boxes. One for the motherboard, while the other houses all the accessories. Lets take a look at the accessories provided.



Accessories

Sadly being a ITX motherboard, there is only so much that Asus can provide. There isn't anything that Asus could have provided to sweeten up the bundled accessories.



1 & 2) 2x M.2 screw sets
3) CPU installation tool
4) A couple of cable ties

What is interesiting is that they provided a front panel connectors extension. This is a good idea as in some cases, some ITX case may not have their front panel cables long enough to reach the motherboard front panel connectors. Hence with the help of this extension, it could help users to connect to their front panel cables easily. Apart from that, Asus provided a total of four SATA cables and a Asus AURA RGB extension cable.



An IO Shield and Wifi Antenna.



An old skool DVD Driver Disc, ROG stickers/Cable label stickers, a user guide and a cool Cablemod coupon.



Alright not much in the accessories department, lets look at what Asus has to offer for this motherboard.

Walkthrough

As usual, i would start from the top left corner of the motherboard and move in the clockwise direction.

 

[royfrosty]

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On the top left corner, there is a oddly positioned USB 3.1 to Type C header. Which is really an odd position, not many ITX cases that mount an ITX motherboard in a vertical position has a USB 3.1 to Type C cable that long to reach to the back of the motherboard. And not many ITX cases that mount an ITX motherboard in a horizontal position has a USB 3.1 to Type C cable that long to reach.

There is an Asmedia ASM3142 controller responsible for the USB 3.1 and Type C at the rear.

Lastly there is a 4pin PWM fan header.



Further to the right, there is a 8pin CPU connector.



Power Phases

There are a total of 8 power phases that are being cooled by the VRM heatsink. Quite big and tall if you were to ask me. And all the VRM are accompanied with this Digi+ EPU ASP14008T for Digital Power Design, E-Energy P-Processing U-Unit.





A closer look at what VRM are they using. Asus implemented the 4C098 mosfet from ON-Semiconductor.



Using the MIL 560/6.3 solid caps.



Over to the rigt you will see 2 different LED debugging. There is an LED status that shows the "Boot" "VGA" "DRAM" failure when lighted up.



Over to the right you will find 2x DIMM slots.

 

[royfrosty]

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Very nice individual PCB routing for every single pin from the RAM slots.



Next to it is the 24pin motherboard power.



Further down just after the 24pin motherboard power, there is 2 headers, one of it is the front panel headers, while the other is the Asus Addressable RGB header. Just above the RGb header, there is a AURA controller 82UA0.





Next to the front panel headers there is the 2x SATA ports and USB 3.0 front header. While just before the 2 RAM slots, there is another 2x SATA ports.





There is quite a beefy heatsink for the M.2 NVME SSDs. Just below the heatsink there is a Steel Safe slot for heavy GPU owners.



Just above the PCIE slot, there is an oddly position USB 2.0 header and another 4pin PWM fan header.

 

[royfrosty]

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Just below the m.2 heatsink, there is a TPU KB3720Q controller. Don't quote me on this, but i believe this is the temperature sensor for the motherboard.



Just slightly above the m.2 controller there is a MX25L12873F controller from Macronix. This is suppose to be responsible for the IO of the motherboard interfaces.



Near the rear there is a front audio header and above the front audio header is a CMOS battery that are sticked on the WiFi card using some adhesive. I wished that Asus would route it somewhere else where it is accessible. It is pain to Clear CMOS for this board given that my fingers need to slip in a very awkward position to get it removed.





Audio, for the audio department this time roundv it isn't the best but they are using the SupremeFX 8-Channel High Definition Audio Codec S1220A which has dual headphone amplifiers just enough to push monster cans. With support up to 32bit/192kHz playback.



Now to the Wifi card. The Asus Z370-I Gaming included a Asus RTL8822BE wifi+Bluetooth v4.2 card that is in M.2 2230 format. Supports Wifi a/b/g/n/ac dual band frequency and supports MU-MIMO.

Lastly there is another 4pin PWM fan header located in between the rear Wifi card and RJ45 port. Making the hardest 4pin PWM fan header to use. People like me that has fat fingers might wanna use a plier/pincer to put in your fan connector.



Moving to the back of the motherboard, there is another m.2 slot. This will then support another NVME ssd if you would need to do so.



At the side of the motherboard there are surface mounted LEDs. This the Asus Aura motherboard back lit.

 

[royfrosty]

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Lastly the rear IO



1. USB 3.1 Gen 2
2. USB 3.1 Gen 1
3. USB 3.1 Type C
4. 4x USB 2.0
5. Display Port and HDMI Port
6. Intel I219V LAN
8. Asus RTL8822BE Wifi+Bluetooth card
9. 7.1 audio output with optical output

Now lets move on to the benchmark!

Test rig setup

I have with me the all new Intel i5-8600k processor. It is a 6 cores with no hyperthread. It has a base clock of 3.6GHz and a boost clock up to 4.3GHz. A total of 9MB cache and rated at 95w TDP.

Overclocking

I was able to hit the 5GHz mark on the i5-8600k. But however the amount of voltage to get it stable is insane. Furthermore i was limited by heat with the Cryorig A40 Ultimate cooler, the i5 8600k went into thermal throttling as it hit a total of 104degC. So hence i have to drop down to 4.8GHz at 1.36v which hover around the 8XDegC range.

So here are the test rig specs:

Intel Core i5-8600k clocked at 4.8GHz
Asus Strix Z370-I Gaming

AMD Ryzen 5 1600x clocked at 4GHz
MSI X370 Gaming Plus

AMD Ryzen 5 1700x clocked at 3.9GHz
Asus X370 Prime Pro

The rest stays the same:

GSkill Trident Z RGB 3066Mhz 2x8gb kit
Samsung 950 Pro 512gb
Nvidia GTX 1080 Founders Edition
Seasonic Prime 850w Gold PSU

Synthetic CPU Benchmark

Blender

The i5-8600k performs remarkably well. As being a 6c6t CPU, making full use of its blazing high clock speed. It managed to trail just behind the AMD R5 1600X.



Cinebench R15

Here we can see that the i5-8600k single threaded strength. It is trailing just behind the AMD R5 1600X in terms of multi threaded workloads. Indeed with strong single threaded performance, the i5-8600k managed to close up the gap of AMD R5 1600X.



Geekbench 4

Geekbench on the other hand shows the same thing, due to the higher clock speed, the i5 8600k scored a remarkable 4776!



Lets move on to gaming benchmark.


Gaming Benchmark

Deus EX Mankind Divided DX12

The Intel i5-8600k performed somewhere at the same level as the AMD counterpart.



Hitman 2016

Intel i5-8600k indeed pull ahead and went above the AMD counterpart. It was found to be 18.84%-32.25% faster than the AMD R7 1700X and R5 1600X respectively.



Metro Last Light

In Metro Last Light, the i5 8600k pulls out ahead than the other two counterpart. In minimum frame rate, it is 13.95% faster than the R5 1600X and around 8.88% faster than the R7 1700X.

On average the i5 8600k is 9.52% faster than the AMD counterpart.



Tomb Raider 2016

Yet again we can see another lead from Intel. The i5-8600k did pull out ahead.

 

[royfrosty]

Power Consumption and Temperature

The i5-8600k power consumption were rather average high. Idling at 57w and pulling a total of 225w when running Blender. No where as high as any HEDT CPU.



But when it comes to temperature, the i5-8600k can get a little toasty. I would recommend at least an AIO 240mm liquid cooling solution if you intend to overclock it. It can hit 86DegC.



Final thoughts and conclusion

Asus Strix Z370-I Gaming

From each gen of CPU launch, Asus never fail to impress different group segment with various product. The Asus Strix Z370-I Gaming is clearly targeted for people whom want a SFF build with some fancy features cramped up into one ITX board. The Asus Strix Z370-I Gaming will definitely win some user hearts out there with its unique dual m.2 slot, ample IOs and some blink factor. But of cause, with all the fanciful features, comes with a hefty price tag. But i can see where this board is going. And i believe a true SFF enthusiast would appreciate this kind of board, a minimal size pc yet packs a lot of features in it.

Performance: A SFF despite only a small amount of power phases yet able to sustain good temps on those VRMs and sustain high overclocked settings, there is no wrong in this department. Even able to overclock my 2400Mhz RAM up to 3200Mhz with no issues. So 10/10.

Functionality: This is a tough one. I wished the Asus Strix Z370-I Gaming would be able to place some fan headers and other headers in a better position. There are some fan headers which are too difficult to reach. Next is a weird USB 3.1 front header located at the rear of the motherboard. This will hinder people with cases that are vertical motherboard mounting. Not many case that has USB 3.1 cable that can reach all the way to the rear of the motherboard. So a .5 points off. Next is the clear CMOS button would actually be helpful. But there isn't any, making it hard to clear CMOS during a fail overclock or for troubleshooting purposes, hence another .5 points off. But against all the weird positioning of headers, the beauty of this board comes with ample IO, dual m.2 slots, m.2 heatsink and a neat wifi card, i will not deduct another point. So 9/10.

Aesthetics: Definitely not the most flashy motherboard. I felt that Asus could have gone with a dull heatsink instead of a shiny silver heatsink. It is just too shiny and noticeable in a windowed case, so .5 points deducted. But however, if you guys noticed, there is no chipset heatsink. Which makes the board looks great imho. Score 9.5/10.

Pricing: At S$409 SRP, it is a very expensive motherboard. In fact it cost as much as any entry level HEDT X299 motherboards out there that offer far much more features. But of cause as a SFF ITX board yet with some neat features, this will truely enticed only the SFF enthusiast. Else it is very hard to justify the pricing to other users. Apart from that, being an ITX motherboard, the bundled accessories that comes with it were underwhelming. There is not much accessories provided to complement the pricing. Hence this has to be the weakest scoring among the rest of the attributes. Hence the score of 7/10.

Total Score ~ 8.9/10

Intel 8th Gen i5-8600k

Coffee lake is indeed an answer to AMD Ryzen. Introducing more cores/thread for the mainstream users. Intel will never do so if AMD did not introduce Ryzen. So hence competition is always good.

Of cause it is a fast chip. Intel strength in single threaded made up the lost of hyperthread performance. But indeed the i5 8600k is a very capable CPU for both gaming and productivity applications. But of cause with the two extra cores, it comes with a hefty price tag. A whooping $400 i5 unlocked. This is $47 more expensive than its predecessor. Making the most expensive i5 ever made by Intel. But of cause with the price paid it complements the performance gain.

Against the red team, the r5 1600 cost around $329. It is $71 cheaper than the i5 8600k. However the r5 1600 is a tad slower than the i5 8600k, that pretty much sums up the price/performance. Apart from that you do get a nice wraith spire cooler with the r5 1600 which is decent!

I won't rate the i5 8600k just yet. I will follow up with another upcoming review with all the the CPUs from either camps.

 

[royfrosty]

Last reserved.

 

[royfrosty]

Ups. TBC tomorrow for final ratings.

 

[tjkjean]

This is the mb im getting tmr!!!

 

[royfrosty]

This is the mb im getting tmr!!!

Coool! Long time no see bro. How have you been?

What case are u going to use with it?

 

[icheb]

Wah eh poison sia!! I’m a sucker for itx motherboards and this is pretty dope!

Pctheme selling at 409 just for the mobo. 748 and 910 bundles with i5 8600k and i7 8700k respectively. Abit higher than I expected. Was hoping 650 at the most. Wonder how much other shops selling...

 

[BananaMilkShake]

Thanks for the review. Are the mobo/cpu available locally already?

 

[Solo_Apple]

This is the mb im getting tmr!!!

err, you still playing HW.

 

[royfrosty]

Thanks for the review. Are the mobo/cpu available locally already?

You are most welcome. Should be available in stores. Check and call in pct before heading forward.

This coffeelake launch isnt suppose to be a paper launch.

 

[royfrosty]

Wah eh poison sia!! I’m a sucker for itx motherboards and this is pretty dope!

Pctheme selling at 409 just for the mobo. 748 and 910 bundles with i5 8600k and i7 8700k respectively. Abit higher than I expected. Was hoping 650 at the most. Wonder how much other shops selling...

Well this is something that you may want to ask yourself. Itx boards are always at a premium pricing. Due to the chipset and sff. So yeah. Usually this kind of board are within 3xx to 4xx range. Cause the fact that they can squeeze in a few good features on a sff board, like 2 m.2, 4 Sata ports, all the rear io and front io.

The next question would be do you need the 12 threads? Cause these two cpus launched is on par if you really wanna just game. Hence i dont recommend the i7 8700k as a value cpu to buy.

If you indeed to go for productivity line, then the 12 threads from 8700k can be useful.

If you really in a budget, then "bo pian" the r5 1600 is still a bargain imho. Together with a cheaper itx board available. This make the am4 platform to be a cheaper adoption rate.

 

[berber]

Will it make sense to pair this board with i5-8400? Seems like its the only ITX board currently available.. or should I wait out? Not really planning to oc but Hand itchy to upgrade

 

[hlots123]

thx roy for the nice mb writeup & cpu benchmark compares
wah 6c/6t at 4.8ghz!
only if u hav the time, can u run realbench benchmark for the i5-8600k?

 

[Encrypted11]

Roy got any screenies of BIOS (non-EZ mode), no rush just curious .

Nice review btw

Just the refresh of the only dual M.2 ITX board and its already unique, but a pity that they're going for a budget realtek wireless card than the previous atheros or intel ones.

 

[royfrosty]

thx roy for the nice mb writeup & cpu benchmark compares
wah 6c/6t at 4.8ghz!
only if u hav the time, can u run realbench benchmark for the i5-8600k?

Sure no prob. Will run it tonight.

 

[royfrosty]

Roy got any screenies of BIOS (non-EZ mode), no rush just curious .

Nice review btw

Just the refresh of the only dual M.2 ITX board and its already unique, but a pity that they're going for a budget realtek wireless card than the previous atheros or intel ones.

Thank you!

Ah the bios section. I will get back soon.

Yeah. I was expecting at least an atheros or intel wifi. Sadly they didnt include it this time round. I believe they might reserve it for the higher end itx board in the near future.