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ASRock Fatal1ty Z370 Gaming ITX/ac Motherboard Review

Overclocking

Disclaimer: Overclocking is never guaranteed, so the results may vary depending on certain conditions and various hardware configurations. I am not recommending overclocking if you do not know what are you doing. High voltages may damage hardware and it will not be covered by warranty.

We were able to overclock the Intel Core i7-8700K (Coffee Lake) to 5.0GHz, however it was a little unstable. It failed to run all of our benchmarks. In the end, we settled on 4.9GHz. For this, we set the multipler to x49 and increased the Vcore voltage to 1.400v

Since our CPU air cooler couldn’t handle the 8700K, we decided to use the Corsair H115i Pro AIO cooler for better cooling.

 

CPU-Z Info

 

Load Temps @ 4.9GHz

Load temperatures reached an eye-watering 89 degrees Celsius. It may seem high … but don’t worry, the our 8700K can handle it. The good thing was … the CPU was at 100% with NO throttling. Nice!

If you plan to overclock to above 4.7GHz without de-lidding, then we highly recommend you use a powerful AIO liquid cooler (or custom loop).

 


 

Verdict and Conclusion

I love all things ITX … I’m just fascinated how you can cram so much technology into a board that measures just 17x17cm. If you haven’t seen these type of boards before, you should take the time to check it out. As for ASRock Fatal1ty Z370 Gaming ITX/ac motherboard, I’m really impressed with the whole package. Not only does it offer great performance, but also comes with a long list of features.

During our benchmark tests, it produced some decent scores which we thought was more than acceptable. Remember, we only used a GeForce GTX 1060 here. The size of the motherboard makes it ideal for modders and HTPC users… I can think of some great ideas for my next modding project.

One of its main selling point is the support for Intel’s Thunderbolt 3, which normally can only be found on more high-end motherboards. It allows you to connect various devices including external storage as well as graphic cards. Yes, even graphic cards. This can be done via an external enclosure what has a Thunderbolt 3 connector (USB-C type).

 

 

As far as other features is concerned, the ASRock Fatal1ty Z370 Gaming ITX/ac is packed with plenty, including … 7.1 CH HD Audio (Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec), supports Creative Sound Blaster™ Cinema 3, and has 6 x SATA3, 1 x Ultra M.2 (PCIe Gen3 x4 & SATA3), 1 x USB Type-C (Intel Thunderbolt 3), 8 x USB 3.1 Gen1 (2 Front, 5 Rear, 1 Fatal1ty Mouse Port), 1 x Intel Gigabit LAN, Intel 2T2R Dual Band 802.11ac WiFi + BT v4.2 Module, 1 x ASRock WiFi 2.4/5 GHz Antenna, Intel Optane Memory Ready via M.2 slot.

Overclocking was fairly decent. I was able to overclock our 8700K to 4.9GHz with rock solid stability. I did manage to boot at 5.0GHz but the system was a little unstable. Overall, I’m pretty happy with its overclocking performance, considering the size of this tiny motherboard.

Pricewise, the ASRock Fatal1ty Z370 Gaming ITX/ac motherboard costs around USD $205, which I think is a little pricey. But hey, considering the facts, all I can say is … check out the feature list and you’ll know why. Buy it from Amazon for around USD $205 – http://amzn.to/2FL5QPG

 

Pros:

  • Good performance
  • Decent overclocking
  • Mini-ITX form factor (17x17cm)
  • Packed with features
  • Thunderbolt 3 support
  • Built-in AC wifi

Cons:

  • None I can think of

 

Final thoughts

If you’re looking for a decent Z370 based mini-ITX motherboard that is packed with features, and performance to match … then look not further. The ASRock Fatal1ty Z370 Gaming ITX/ac motherboard has it all.

 

editors_choice

 

You can buy the ASRock Fatal1ty Z370 Gaming ITX/ac Motherboard from Amazon for USD $205 – http://amzn.to/2FL5QPG

 

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