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 a nice solid 5.0GHz. we upped the multipler to x50 and increased the Vcore voltage to 1.350v
CPU-Z Info
Load Temps @ 5.0GHz
Load temperatures reached a dangerously high of 98 degrees Celsius. Beyond 100 degrees, CPU throttling will occur, which will slow your system down.
If you plan to overclock to 5.0GHz without de-lidding, then we highly recommend you use a powerful AIO liquid cooler (or custom loop).
Verdict and Conclusion
Overall, the EVGA Z370 Micro ATX motherboard is a decent performer and a good all-rounder. It produced some decent scores in our benchmark tests, and it compared very well against the Asus Maximus X Hero and the ASRock Z370 Killer/ac. As for overclocking ability, I was able to reach 5.0GHz on all 6 cores when overclocked with ease, but one thing to bear in mind is that, the temperatures can rocket beyond 90+ degrees Celsius. So if you don’t want to de-lid your 8th gen processor, I recommend you use a powerful AIO liquid cooler (or custom loop).
I was a little disappointed with the fact that it lacked some features, which I think should be pretty standard these days … such as video outputs and USB-C port. Remember, this motherboard uses the Intel Z370 chipset, which supports all 8th Gen Core processors and this already has integrated Intel UHD graphics built-in. Both the the Asus Maximus X Hero and the ASRock Z370 Killer/ac has video outputs and USB-C ports. The EVGA Z370 Micro does not.
Let’s move on to the positives. The EVGA Z370 Micro does comes with a mini dual-band Wifi card, onboard power and reset buttons, diagnostic LEDs and reinforced PCIE slots which supports 2-way SLI. Other features include 8 x native USB 3.0, 4 x USB 2.0, 6 x SATA3 ports, onboard Intel gigabit LAN, 8 channel HD audio, as well as 100% solid state capacitors and a 6 layer PCB.
Currently, you can buy the EVGA Z370 Micro ATX from Amazon for around USD $235.00 – http://amzn.to/2Fm8xro or direct from EVGA’s store for USD $220. At this price, it’s towards the premium end of the market, so you might want to consider other Z370 motherboards too.
Pros:
- Supports all Intel 8th Gen Core processors (Coffee Lake)
- Micro ATX form factor
- Wifi card included
- Onboard power and reset buttons
- Reinforced PCIE slots
- Supports 2-way SLI
Cons:
- Lacks USB-C
- Lacks video outputs
Final Thoughts:
If you want a decent performing Z370 micro ATX motherboard that can overclock well, and you don’t mind not having USB-C or video outputs, then take a look at the EVGA Z370 Micro. It’s one of only a handful of Z370 micro ATX motherboards on the market that offers all of the above features.
Related articles
- EVGA Z370 Micro Motherboard Review
- EVGA CLC 280 Liquid CPU Cooler Review
- EVGA X299 Micro Motherboard Review
- EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti SC2 GAMING 11 GB Review
