Review

AORUS Z370 Ultra Gaming Review
Rakesh Sharma Jan 02, 2018   5044

AORUS Z370 Ultra Gaming Review

AORUS Z370 Ultra Gaming Review

With the new Intel Coffee lake release, we are receiving quite a number of Intel Z370 chipset motherboards many of which are specifically designed for overclocking or that combine features which both overclockers, enthusiasts and gamers in mind, but today we are taking a look at an AORUS solution oriented toward value high end gaming build. The AORUS Z370 Ultra Gaming motherboard a feature packed full ATX board supporting new Coffee lake processors, fastest DDR-4 RAMs out there, Digital RGB LED support, Dual M.2, 120dB SNR ALC1220, Intel Gaming LAN, Front USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C & Rear USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C, Smart Fan 5 and more.

Now let's see what this new Intel Z370 chipset based AORUS gaming board have for us.

Features

  • Supports 8th Gen Intel® Coreâ„¢ Processors
  • Dual Channel Non-ECC Unbuffered DDR4, 4 DIMMs
  • Intel® Optaneâ„¢ Memory Ready
  • ASMedia 3142 USB 3.1 Gen 2 with USB Type-Câ„¢ and Type-A
  • Front USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-Câ„¢ Header
  • Multi-Way Graphics Support with Dual Armor and Ultra Durableâ„¢ Design
  • ALC1220 120dB SNR HD Audio with Smart Headphone AMP and WIMA audio capacitors
  • Intel GbE LAN Gaming Network with cFosSpeed Internet Accelerator Software
  • RGB FUSION with Multi-Zone Digital LED Light Show design, support digital LED & RGB LED strips
  • Swappable Overlay for Accent LED
  • Smart Fan 5 features Multiple Temperature Sensors and Hybrid Fan Headers with FAN STOP
  • Dual Ultra-Fast M.2 with PCIe Gen3 x4 & SATA interface
  • USB DAC-UP 2 with Adjustable Voltage
  • Anti-Sulfur Resistors Design
  • Ultra Durableâ„¢ 25KV ESD and 15KV Surge LAN Protection
  • Lightning-Fast Intel® Thunderboltâ„¢ 3 AIC Support
  • APP Center Including EasyTuneâ„¢ and Cloud Stationâ„¢ Utilities

Specifications

 

 

CPU

Support for 8th Generation Intel® Coreâ„¢ i7 processors/Intel® Coreâ„¢ i5 processors/Intel® Coreâ„¢ i3 processors in the LGA1151 package L3 cache varies with CPU(Please refer "CPU Support List" for more information.)

Chipset

Intel® Z370 Express Chipset

Memory

4 x DDR4 DIMM sockets supporting up to 64 GB of system memory

Dual channel memory architecture

Support for DDR4 4000(O.C.) / 3866(O.C.) / 3800(O.C.) / 3733(O.C.) / 3666(O.C.) / 3600(O.C.) / 3466(O.C.) / 3400(O.C.) / 3333(O.C.) / 3300(O.C.) / 3200(O.C.) / 3000(O.C.) / 2800(O.C.) / 2666 / 2400 / 2133 MHz memory modules

Support for ECC Un-buffered DIMM 1Rx8/2Rx8 memory modules (operate in non-ECC mode)

Support for non-ECC Un-buffered DIMM 1Rx8/2Rx8/1Rx16 memory modules

Support for Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) memory modules

(Please refer "Memory Support List" for more information.)

Onboard Graphics

Integrated Graphics Processor-Intel® HD Graphics support:

1 x DVI-D port, supporting a maximum resolution of 1920x1200@60 Hz

* The DVI-D port does not support D-Sub connection by adapter.

1 x HDMI port, supporting a maximum resolution of 4096x2160@30 Hz

* Support for HDMI 1.4 version and HDCP 2.2.

Maximum shared memory of 1 GB

Audio

Realtek® ALC1220 codec

High Definition Audio

2/4/5.1/7.1-channel

Support for S/PDIF Out

LAN

Intel® GbE LAN chip (10/100/1000 Mbit)

Expansion Slots

1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 (PCIEX16)

* For optimum performance, if only one PCI Express graphics card is to be installed, be sure to install it in the PCIEX16 slot.

1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x8 (PCIEX8)

* The PCIEX8 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIEX16 slot. When the PCIEX8 slot is populated, the PCIEX16 slot operates at up to x8 mode.

1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x4 (PCIEX4)

* The PCIEX4 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIEX1_2 and PCIEX1_3 slots. When the PCIEX1_2 or PCIEX1_3 slot is populated, the PCIEX4 slot will operate at up to x1 mode.

3 x PCI Express x1 slots

(All of the PCI Express slots conform to PCI Express 3.0 standard.)

Storage Interface

Chipset:

1 x M.2 connector (Socket 3, M key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 PCIe x4/x2 SSD support) (M2Q_32G)

1 x M.2 connector (Socket 3, M key, type 2242/2260/2280 SATA and PCIe x4/x2 SSD support) (M2A_32G)

6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors

Support for RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10

* Refer to "1-8 Internal Connectors," for the installation notices for the M.2 and SATA connectors.

Intel® Optaneâ„¢ Memory Ready

Multi-Graphics Technology

Support for NVIDIA® Quad-GPU SLIâ„¢ and 2-Way NVIDIA® SLIâ„¢ technologies

Support for AMD Quad-GPU CrossFireâ„¢ and 3-Way/2-Way AMD CrossFireâ„¢ technologies

USB

Chipset+ASMedia® USB 3.1 Gen 2 Controller:

1 x USB Type-Câ„¢ port on the back panel, with USB 3.1 Gen 2 support

1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A port (red) on the back panel

Chipset:

1 x USB Type-Câ„¢ port with USB 3.1 Gen 1 support, available through the internal USB header

6 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports (4 ports on the back panel, 2 ports available through the internal USB header)

6 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports (2 ports on the back panel, 4 ports available through the internal USB headers)

Internal I/O Connectors

1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector

1 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector

1 x CPU fan header

1 x water cooling CPU fan header

3 x system fan headers

1 x system fan/water cooling pump header

2 x digital LED strip headers

2 x digital LED strip power select jumpers

2 x RGB (RGBW) LED strip headers

6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors

2 x M.2 Socket 3 connectors

1 x front panel header

1 x front panel audio header

1 x S/PDIF Out header

1 x USB Type-Câ„¢ port, with USB 3.1 Gen 1 support

1 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 header

2 x USB 2.0/1.1 headers

1 x Thunderboltâ„¢ add-in card connector

1 x Trusted Platform Module (TPM) header (2x6 pin, for the GC-TPM2.0_S module only)

1 x Clear CMOS jumper

Back Panel Connectors

1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse port

1 x DVI-D port

1 x HDMI port

1 x USB Type-Câ„¢ port, with USB 3.1 Gen 2 support

1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A port (red)

4 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports

2 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports

1 x RJ-45 port

1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector

5 x audio jacks (Center/Subwoofer Speaker Out, Rear Speaker Out, Line In, Line Out, Mic In)

I/O Controller

iTE® Controller Chip

H/W Monitoring

Voltage detection

Temperature detection

Fan speed detection

Water cooling flow rate detection

Overheating warning

Fan fail warning

Fan speed control

* Whether the fan (pump) speed control function is supported will depend on the fan (pump) you install.

BIOS

2 x 128 Mbit flash

Use of licensed AMI UEFI BIOS

Support for DualBIOSâ„¢

PnP 1.0a, DMI 2.7, WfM 2.0, SM BIOS 2.7, ACPI 5.0

Unique Features

Support for APP Center

* Available applications in APP Center may vary by motherboard model. Supported functions of each application may also vary depending on motherboard specifications.

3D OSD

@BIOS

AutoGreen

BIOS Setup

Color Temperature

Cloud Station

EasyTune

Easy RAID

Fast Boot

Game Boost

ON/OFF Charge

Platform Power Management

RGB Fusion

Smart Backup

Smart Keyboard

Smart TimeLock

Smart HUD

System Information Viewer

USB Blocker

USB DAC-UP 2

V-Tuner

Support for Q-Flash

Support for Xpress Install

Bundle Software

Norton® Internet Security (OEM version)

cFosSpeed

Operating System

Support for Windows 10 64-bit

Form Factor

ATX Form Factor; 30.5cm x 24.4cm

Package

Looking at the front of the box, we see AORUS logo with motherboard model no. in big at center of the box. At the rear of the box, we find that AORUS goes into great detail on the specifications of the motherboard

Inside the box

Looks

Board is a solid build on a black PCB with white line graphics over the PCB, giving whole board a great appearance and wild look.

Layout

Detailed layout of board.

1. Intel LGA1151 socket, supporting New Intel's 8th gen processors

2. 4 DIMM Dual channel DDR4 memory slots with Armor supporting max. 64GB at 2133MHz in normal and up to 4000MHz when OC.

3. ATX Power connector (24-pin EATXPWR)

4. ATX CPU Power Connector (8-pin ATX12V).

5. Back Panel Connectors : 1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse port, 1 x DVI-D port, 1 x HDMI port, 1 x USB Type-Câ„¢ port, with USB 3.1 Gen 2 support, 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A port (red), 4 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports, 2 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports, 1 x RJ-45 port, 1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector, 5 x audio jacks (Center/Subwoofer Speaker Out, Rear Speaker Out, Line In, Line Out, Mic In)

6. 7. 14.CPU fan connector, Water-pump-fan connector and 4 x system fan connectors

8. USB Type-Câ„¢ port, with USB 3.1 Gen 1 support and 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 header

9.

10. System Front panel Connector

11. 2 x USB 2.0 Connectors

12. 13. RGB LED strip extension cable headers and TPM Connector

15. Front panel Audio connector

16. 17. Dual PCIe Gen3 x4 M.2 connector

18. Expansion Slots : 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 (PCIEX16), 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x8 (PCIEX8), 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x4 (PCIEX4), 3 x PCI Express x1 slots

Removing Heat-sinks

AORUS used dense aluminum heatsink in this board. Heatsinks base is having thermal pad installed. VRM heatsink are secured in place using screws and spacers.

Component Layout

Let's now see what all components AORUS have planned for this board.

1. 2. CPU voltage regulator circuit has ON Semiconductor NTMFS 4C06N and 4C10N Power MOSFETS each with combined stage limited to 69A controlled by Intersil ISL95866 Hybrid Digital Four Phase PWM Controller.

3. Single-Phase digital memory power supply section for DDR4 memories

4. 5. PTN336ODBS is PCIe-to-two-port USB 3.1 controllers and ASMedia ASM3142 single chip USB3.1 solution.

6. Intel Gigabit LAN solution.

7. The ITE IT8686E chip provides the super I/O functions, such as fan control and system monitoring

8. AORUS equipped this board with ALC 1220 120dB SNR HD Audio codec at the heart of the audio solution.

ALC 1220 120dB SNR HD Audio - The ALC1220 is a high-performance multi-channel High Definition Audio Codec with up to 120dB SNR for crystal clear audio along with premium quality CHEMI-CON audio capacitors for a warmer sound.

A semi-transparent line on motherboard separates the whole audio section from the rest of the board in order to minimize interference. So listening under Stereo mode produces high audio quality with excellent dynamic range.

RightMark Audio Analyzer (RMAA) suite is used for testing AORUS High Definition audio against Asus Xonar U7 External Sound card. You can see clearly the difference between Noise level, dynamic rang and Total harmonic distortion percentage produced by AORUS High Definition audio.

RMAA Asus Xonar U7

RMAA AORUS Audio

9. Intel Z370 Chipset.

10. AORUS uses MXIC MX 2SL12873F a capacity of 128 Mb for storing UEFI BIOS.

11. ITE 8295 microcontroller used for RBG LED control and other functions.

12. Array of NXP LD4083B PCI-e switch chips.

Testing

CPUIntel Core i7 8700K
Board AORUS Z370 Ultra Gaming
RAM2 X 8GB Vengeance LPX DDR4 3600Mhz
HDDSeagate 2TB FireCuda SSHD
SSD Corsair Force GT 240 SSD
CoolerCorsair H100i GTX AIO
GFX AORUS RX 570
PSUCorsair RM650X

BIOS

Bundled Softwares

Benchmarks

Overclocking

At this extreme overclocking, CPU do sometime hits 100C, but that is just due to TIM used by Intel on these chips. Waiting for some liquid metal and delid kit to arrive, sure these crazy temps will come under control then. Will update you more on this.

Power Consumption

Wattage reading as per displayed by APC Pro 1000VA (Model no. BR1000G-IN) UPS.

Pros

  • Nice Features
  • Good value for money
  • Decent Audio
  • Great RGB support

Cons

  • Nil

Conclusion

AORUS has done a great job in designing this board. At a price tag of Rs.17300(approx.), this board offers more than any other product in this range and segment. The board delivers solid and consistent performance throughout our testing.

Intel new Coffee lake processors are most significantly forward since a few generations ago. For those who might have not upgraded since a while, the AORUS Z370 Ultra Gaming motherboard is might something that you should consider. AMD Ryzen is a great buyer, but if you want better memory support and more of in a single core performance with Intel's 8th Generation processors this board is most suitable and is worthy of our PC TeK Reviews VALUE Award.

Manufacturers Info

Site Link

Thanks.

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