Thanks to ASRock, we’ll be taking a quick look at the ASRock Fatal1ty Z370 Gaming ITX/ac motherboard. It utilizes Intel’s latest Z370 chipset and supports all of Intel’s latest 8th Gen processors (Coffee Lake) using the LGA1151 socket.
This is one of the tiniest motherboard I’ve had the pleasure to review. But for Bart Wuluk, our European editor, he’s already reviewed his fair share of ITX motherboards, including the ASRock Fatal1ty X370 Gaming-ITX/ac, ASRock X299E-ITX/AC, and the Supermicro C7Z370-CG-IW ITX.
The ASRock Z370 Gaming ITX/ac carries the “Fatal1ty” branding, and this can only mean one thing … Gaming! So what’s special about with gaming motherboard? Well, firstly, they come many features and extras that are not normally found on your standard motherboard.
Take for example, the ASRock Fatal1ty Z370 Gaming ITX/ac … it comes with 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 … Wow, what a list, and I ain’t finished yet!
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 Fatal1ty Z370 Gaming ITX/ac Motherboard to produce some pretty decent results. We’ll be comparing it with a high-end enthusiast grade motherboard from Asus – the ROG Maximus X Hero, EVGA Z370 Micro and the the mainstream ASRock Z370 Killer/ac motherboard.
OK, now let’s first take a look at the features and specification of the Intel Z370 chipset, then will move on to the ASRock Fatal1ty Z370 Gaming ITX/ac Motherboard itself. You can buy the ASRock Fatal1ty Z370 Gaming ITX/ac Motherboard from Amazon for USD $205 – http://amzn.to/2FL5QPG
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