By Jacob Terkelsen @ Tom’s Hardware
With Ryzen forging its path, we’re starting to get a few more AM4 motherboards, which means that we can evolve from AMD 970 chipset comparisons to a more level competition. We caught some flak from readers regarding reference data, choice of GPU, and limited depth in our review of the ASRock X370 Taichi.
Next up: the ASRock X370 Gaming K4. It’s back to the Fatal1ty series and placing the focus back onto gaming.
By Peter Donnell @ eTeknix
Have you been enjoying the Ryzen launch so far? We know we have! Of course, what is the launch of a new CPU range and a new batch of chipsets without the motherboards to house them all! Today we kick things off with a look at the latest high-end gaming motherboard from MSI, the all-new MSI X350 XPOWER Gaming Titanium, which features all the flagship hardware you would expect, including all those lovely overclocking features that are supported on every Ryzen chip (although not every Ryzen motherboard).
By Jacob Terkelsen @ Tom’s Hardware
With the plethora of connectivity options enabled by X370, ASRock has taken the bull by the horns and given us a board that will become the centerpiece to any PC builder’s work of art. Reminiscent of our MSI 990FXA Gaming review back in 2016, the Taichi is a beauty. The matte black PCB, black and white color scheme, and steampunk-esque gear motif are jaw dropping. Everywhere I look on this motherboard I see polish, finesse, and thoughtful design.
By Daniel Dobrowolski @ HARDOCP
GIGABYTE is one of the most well-known and respected motherboard manufacturers in the industry today. Following suit with its competition, GIGABYTE has recently started its “Aorus” brand to target the gamers and some enthusiasts who can appreciate the gaming focused aesthetic qualities common to motherboards in that market. The Z270X Gaming 9 is part of the Aorus family, and it is the premiere LGA 1151 entry. Make no mistake about it, this is not positioned as a value motherboard. At the time of this writing this monster comes in at $499.99. There are a lot of reasons for this and in a sense, it is a value option because of all that comes with it, but its cost is no doubt at the very ceiling of what you’ll see in the “mainstream” gaming motherboard market. I’ll expand more on this point later, but I think a few of you will come to see this motherboard as a good deal if you planned on buying many of the devices included with the motherboard.
By Thomas Soderstrom @ Tom’s Hardware
We recently marveled at how one of ASRock’s competitors was able to pack a full array of enthusiast-class features into a board that was only slightly oversized, stating that fitting all of those components into a standard ATX motherboard would have required a miracle (or more PCB layers). The standard ATX, lower-priced Z270 SuperCarrier is even better-equipped in some ways, but is it the miracle we were looking for?
Author: Morry Teitelman @ PC Perspective
With the release of Intel Z270 chipset, GIGABYTE is unveiling its AORUS line of products. The AORUS branding will be used to differentiate enthusiast and gamer friendly products from their other product lines, similar to how ASUS uses the ROG branding to differentiate their high performance product line. The Z270X-Gaming 5 is among the first to be released as part of GIGABYTE’s AORUS line. The board features the black and white branding common to the AORUS product line, with the rear panel cover and chipset featuring the brand logos. The board is designed around the Intel Z270 chipset with in-built support for the latest Intel LGA1151 Kaby Lake processor line (as well as support for Skylake processors) and Dual Channel DDR4 memory running at a 2400MHz speed. The Z270X-Gaming 5 can be found in retail with an MSRP of $189.99.
By MAC @ Hardware Canucks
Today, we are reviewing another MSI motherboard – the Z270 Gaming M7 – and this model sheds itself of any mainstream pretenses and aims for the top-end of the market. In fact, with a price point of about $245 USD / $320 CAD, the Gaming M7 is the most high-end Z270 motherboard that MSI offers. What does this model bring to the table that its cheaper sibling did not? Not as much as you might expect, at least with regard to conventional specs. Both have three PCI-E x16 and three PCI-E x1 slots, both have six SATA 6Gb/s ports, both have one USB 3.1 Type-A and USB 3.1 Type-C port, both have only one LAN port, and both have two video outputs. So as you can see, a lot of the fundamentals that most shoppers quickly look at when evaluating a motherboard are the same between both models. Thankfully, there are important differences that make the Gaming M7 a radically different beast.
By MAC @ Hardware Canucks
The model that we are going to be reviewing is the Z270 Gaming Pro Carbon, which as you might have guessed features a carbon fiber aesthetic. While carbon fiber might be a premium material, thankfully this motherboard retails for a fairly reasonable $175 USD / $230 CAD. Starting off with an attractive price is always a good position to be in, but only if the product doesn’t exhibit any signs of cost cutting. Thankfully, at least on paper, this model has everything that we have come to expect from a modern motherboard.
By MAC @ Hardware Canucks
Buyers of Intel’s new Kaby Lake processors already have a huge number of Z270 options but the ASUS Maximus IX Hero stands apart with an awesome combination of features and pricing. The Maximus IX Hero that are reviewing today represents the most affordable entry into the ROG family, with a suggested retail price of about $230 USD. Despite sitting behind the Maximus IX Code and the Maximus IX Formula – which feature various additions ranging from full-body shielding, to onboard Wi-Fi, to MOSFET water blocks, and greater RGB LED lighting – the Maximus IX Hero shouldn’t be overlooked since it features a very healthy specs list.
By MAC @ Hardware Canucks
Our first Z270 motherboard is here with ASRock’s Fatal1ty Z270 Gaming K6. This board represents a huge step up from the Z170 K6 by adding a number of new features including Intel Optane support. While the Fatal1ty Z270 Gaming K6 is not the flagship model in ASRock’s Z270 range it certainly doesn’t leave any features on the proverbial shelf.
