Thanks to ASRock, we’ll be taking a look at their Z370 Killer SLI/ac Motherboard. It utilizes the latest Z370 chipset from Intel and supports all of their latest 8th Gen processors (Coffee Lake) using the LGA1151 socket.
Looking at the specifications and price, the ASRock Z370 Killer SLI/ac is designed and aimed at the mainstream user who wants the latest technologies, with good performance at an affordable price point.
It offers a pretty decent set of features including, support for 2-way multi-GPU, DDR4 ram upto DDR4-4266+ (OC), Intel Optane, 7.1 HD audio, HDMI out, DVI out, RGB LED, Intel Gigabit LAN and dual band 802.11ac WiFi. For expansion, it comes with 2 PCIe 3.0 x16, 4 PCIe 3.0 x1, 1 M.2, 6 x SATA3 ports and a total 9 x USB 3.1 Gen1 (1 Front Type-C, 2 Front Type-A, 1 Rear Type-C, 5 Rear).
Before I start, I just wanted to say how “pissed-off” I am about the whole thing with Intel’s recent release of their latest 8th Gen processors (Coffee Lake). Don’t get me wrong, these CPUs are quite something. The Core i7-8700K now feature six cores with 12 threads and even the lower model, the Core i5-8600K now have full six cores. And what’s more, the prices are extremely competitive in comparison to AMD’s Ryzen processors, which have been a huge success. I guess AMD must have really took them by surprise. And this is where I’m not happy. Early this year around January/February, Intel released their Z270 chipset to cater for all their 7th Gen processors (Kaby Lake), which at that time was the latest and greatest. But within only 6 months, Intel released the Z370 chipset with all brand new 8th Gen Coffee Lake processors. And the MOST crazy thing is … they’re not even compatible with each other! So not upgrade path for existing Z270/Kaby Lake owners. To the ordinary buyer and consumer like myself… it’s extremely annoying, especially when you’ve invested in the previous 7th Gen platform (Z270/Kaby Lake).
OK, that’s my rant over. Let’s move and see what the ASRock Z370 Killer SLI/ac Motherboard can do for us in terms of performance and overclocking.
Please note that this motherboard and all Z370 chipset based motherboards, do not support and is currently not compatible with older 6th or 7th Gen Intel Core processors LGA1151 (Skylake/Kaby Lake).
I would like to thank ASRock for providing the review sample. This is a snippet from what ASRock has to say about themselves on their website:
ASRock Inc. is established in 2002, specialized in the field of motherboards. ASRock strives to build up its own brand. With the 3C design concept, “Creativity, Consideration, Cost-effectiveness”, the company explores the limit of motherboards manufacturing while paying attention on the eco issue at the same time, developing products with the consideration of eco-friendly concept.
ASRock has been growing fast and become world third largest motherboard brand with headquarter in Taipei, Taiwan and branches in Europe and the USA. The young and vibrant company targets from mainstream to enthusiast MB segments for different kinds of users, owning reputation around the world market with its reliability and proficiency.
Take a look at the chart below which shows all the 8th Gen Intel Core processors currently available. The Z370 chipset offers a maximum of 24 x PCIE 3.0 lanes, dual channel DDR4-2666 memory support, as well as support for Intel Optane memory.
Using an Intel Core i7-8700K, I’m expecting the ASRock Z370 Killer SLI/ac to produce some impressive results. We’ll be comparing it with a high-end enthusiast grade motherboard from Asus – the ROG Maximus X Hero.
OK, let’s waste any more time and take a look at the features and specification of the Intel Z370 chipset, then will move on to the ASRock Z370 Killer SLI/ac motherboard itself.
You can buy the ASRock Z370 Killer SLI from Newegg for USD $150 or buy something similar – ASRock Z370 Extreme4
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