Following the launch of Intel 8th gen Coffee Lake line of CPUs, Intel’s chipset partners have released their versions of Z370 motherboards. The four partners are Asus, Asrock, Gigabyte and MSI.
From the inventory position on Newegg, Asus motherboards seem to be the most popular, as they’re already out of stock. The price ranging on all four motherboards are between $160 to $250 US. With Asrock being the most affordable and Gigabyte, Asus being the most expensive; while MSI is selling theirs for $210 US.
The major difference noticed in Z370 motherboards is among the price range. Because motherboards like Gigabyte and ASUS provide extra PCIe 16x port, gold plated audio ports, better quality sound processor chip, extra control switches on panel hub, 3D-printed custom-accent RGB-strip support. Apart from metal plates covering the motherboard components.
The main features in all Z370 motherboards are similar such as:
- RGB synchronization with chassis, motherboard, fans and graphics card colors.
- High-end audio processor with 32-bit audio processing support 120+ and -115 dB audio resonance.
- LAN + LAN guard static killer/ protector
- HDMI + HDCP + DVI ports
- Red / Yellow USB ports for charging.
- 3 x M.2 ports and mostly shielded for better cooling and thermal support.
- 4 USB 3.1 ports divided into Gen 1 and Gen 2.
- 4 RAM slots with Clock speeds starting 2133 MHz all the way till 4000+ MHz on Overclocked.
- Premium quality capacitors, MOSFETs, and ICs for better voltage resistance, long life, anti-corrosive materials.
- Metal shielded PCIe 16x Slots for long life and durability against, joints getting lose.
While Asrock focuses on durability and important features more than the optional features such as that extra switch to reset motherboard on panel hub, extra PCIe 1x slots, gold plated audio ports, USB charging ports etc.
MSI lies somewhere in the middle with the best of both ends including a middle ground price range. Keeping in mind that all of these motherboards are very good to great build qualities. The only major difference is of optional features.
Therefore it ultimately comes down to your usage. All of the Intel 8th gen Z370 motherboards are very good and all of them support 1151 socket CPUs with at least 2133 MHz RAM.
Asus:
Asrock:
MSI
Gigabyte
Let us know what you think about these Z370 motherboards and which one you are most interested in.
