Asus ROG Strix Z370-G Gaming WI-FI AC Review: Top Micro-ATX Z370 Performance

By Thomas Soderstrom
published

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How We Test

We stacked the Z370-G Gaming against another Micro-ATX Z370 board, ASRock's Z370M Pro4. Realizing that the difference in features and price would make such a limited comparison pointless, we also included two ATX boards with similar feature sets, the MSI Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon AC and Asus ROG Strix Z370-E Gaming.

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SoundIntegrated HD audio
NetworkIntegrated gigabit networking
Graphics DriverGeForce 382.53

During the Intel X299 launch, we upgraded our test bed to handle the tremendous heat the Intel Core i9-7900X produces. The award-winning Fractal Design S24 liquid cooler system serves the same purpose for the newer, lower-heat Core i7-8700K. Cooler Master’s HAF-XB provides an optimal layout for blowing the S24’s fans sufficiently over each motherboard’s voltage regulator.

Comparison Products

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Asus ROG Strix Z370-G Gaming

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ASRock Z370M Pro4

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MSI Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon AC

All four competing boards have a broader range of overclocking settings than any production hardware can realistically use, which should lead us into a highly competitive overclocking race!

Benchmark Settings

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Synthetic Benchmarks & Settings
PCMark 8Version 2.7.613Home, Creative, Work, Storage, Applications (Adobe & Microsoft)
3DMark 13Version 4.47.597.0Skydiver, Firestrike, Firestrike Extreme Default Presets
SiSoftware SandraVersion 2016.03.22.21CPU Arithmetic, Multimedia, Cryptography, Memory Bandwidth
DiskSPD4K Random Read, 4K Random Write128K Sequential Read, 128K Sequential Write
Cinebench R15Build RC83328DEMOOpenGL Benchmark
CompuBenchVersion 1.5.8Face Detection, Optical Flow, Ocean Surface, Ray Tracing
Application Tests & Settings
LAME MP3Version 3.98.3Mixed 271MB WAV to mp3: Command: -b 160 --nores (160Kb/s)
HandBrake CLIVersion: 0.9.9Sintel Open Movie Project: 4.19GB 4K mkv to x265 mp4
BlenderVersion 2.68aBMW 27 CPU Render Benchmark, BMW 27 GPU Render Benchmark
7-ZipVersion 16.02THG-Workload (7.6GB) to .7z, command line switches "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=9"
Adobe After Effects CCRelease 2015.3.0, Version 13.8.0.144PCMark-driven routine
Adobe Photoshop CCRelease 2015.5.0, 20160603.r.88 x64PCMark-driven routine (light and heavy)
Adobe InDesign CCRelease 2015.4, Build 11.4.0.90 x64PCMark-driven routine
Adobe IllustratorRelease 2015.3.0, Version 20.0.0 (64-bit)PCMark-driven routine
Game Tests & Settings
Ashes of the SingularityVersion 1.31.21360High Preset - 1920 x 1080, Mid Shadow Quality, 1x MSAACrazy Preset - 1920 x 1080, High Shadow Quality, 2x MSAA
F1 20152015 Season, Abu Dhabi track, RainMedium Preset, no AFUltra High Preset, 16x AF
Metro: Last Light ReduxVersion 3.00 x64High Quality, 1920 x 1080, High Tesselation, 16x AFVery High Quality, 1920 x 1080, Very High Tesselation, 16x AF
The Talos PrincipleVersion 267252Medium Preset, High Quality, High Tesselation, 4x AFUltra Preset, Very High Quality, Very High Tesselation, 16x AF

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Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.
8 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Lutfij
    For the sake of relevance, Asus have two versions of the board:
    https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/ROG-STRIX-Z370-G-GAMING/
    https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/ROG-STRIX-Z370-G-GAMING-WI-FI-AC/

    The one you have and ultimately reviewed is the latter version which should be mentioned in the title.
    Reply
  • Crashman
    21311202 said:
    For the sake of relevance, Asus have two versions of the board:
    https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/ROG-STRIX-Z370-G-GAMING/
    https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/ROG-STRIX-Z370-G-GAMING-WI-FI-AC/

    The one you have and ultimately reviewed is the latter version which should be mentioned in the title.

    Thanks! It doesn't help that the Amazon link leaves out the parenthesized portion but sells the Wi-Fi board, or that Asus goes both ways in its description :D
    Reply
  • stuffwhy
    Aren't these vertical m.2 slots problematic and potentially hazardous? Or is there something I don't know?
    Reply
  • Crashman
    21311820 said:
    Aren't these vertical m.2 slots problematic and potentially hazardous? Or is there something I don't know?
    Well, if your drive cage overhangs the board it could be a problem. I can't think of any hazards though.
    Reply
  • shinto
    Water pump header amp rating is upto 2 amps as mentioned in the manual (paper version).
    Reply
  • Crashman
    21314377 said:
    Water pump header amp rating is upto 2 amps as mentioned in the manual (paper version).
    Thanks Shinto. I didn't find anything elsewhere :)
    Reply
  • stdragon
    21312079 said:
    21311820 said:
    Aren't these vertical m.2 slots problematic and potentially hazardous? Or is there something I don't know?
    Well, if your drive cage overhangs the board it could be a problem. I can't think of any hazards though.

    Oh, I can! If not careful, a pulled cable could wrap around and snap it or damage the socket. It's the stupidest and most irresponsible design!

    If you must, you can in theory get an M.2 slot extension ribbon cable and relocate the NVMe drive. But they're over $60. No way, that money is better spent on another MB with two M.2 slots that lay flat like normal.
    Reply
  • Crashman
    21314612 said:
    21312079 said:
    21311820 said:
    Aren't these vertical m.2 slots problematic and potentially hazardous? Or is there something I don't know?
    Well, if your drive cage overhangs the board it could be a problem. I can't think of any hazards though.

    Oh, I can! If not careful, a pulled cable could wrap around and snap it or damage the socket. It's the stupidest and most irresponsible design!

    If you must, you can in theory get an M.2 slot extension ribbon cable and relocate the NVMe drive. But they're over $60. No way, that money is better spent on another MB with two M.2 slots that lay flat like normal.
    Sometimes a manufacturer has to make space somewhere. When the option is upright or none, upright is "more options".
    Reply