The ASUS ROG Strix Z370-F Gaming (Price Check) is one of the first 11 ASUS Z370 motherboards to hit the market in support of the new 8th Generation Intel Core (Coffee Lake) processors. In this review, we are going to take a close look at the ROG Strix Z370-F Gaming, and see how it performs with the Intel Core i7-8700K processor!

Don’t forget to check out the other ASUS Z370 motherboards in The 11 New ASUS Z370 Motherboards Revealed!

The ASUS ROG Strix Z370-F Gaming Specifications

Unboxing The ASUS ROG Strix Z370-F Gaming

Let’s take a quick look at the ASUS ROG Strix Z370-F Gaming (Price Check) motherboard’s box and unbox it.

Inside the box, you should find the following items :

• One ASUS ROG Strix Z370-F Gaming motherboard
• One ASUS ROG CPU installation tool
• One set of user manual, driver DVD and documentation
• One set of ROG Strix stickers and door hanger[adrotate group=”2″]
• One ASUS Q-Shield (I/O shield)
• One SLI HD Bridge card (2-way)
• One extension cable for RGB LED strips (80 cm)
• One extension cable for addressable LED strips
• One thermistor cable
• One ASUS fan holder
• Four SATA 6 Gb/s cables
• One pack of cable ties
• One pack of M.2 screws
• One pack of 3D mounting screws

Now, let’s go take a closer look at the motherboard, and check out its key features!

Next Page > The Z370-F Gaming Up Close, CPU Power & Overclockability, DDR4 Memory Slots

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The ASUS ROG Strix Z370-F Gaming Up Close

The ASUS ROG Strix Z370-F Gaming (Price Check) is a full-sized ATX motherboard, built around the new Intel Z370 chipset. This is their premium model for the mainstream enthusiast / gamers market. Hence, it boasts premium features like Aura Sync RGB lighting, SafeSlot reinforcement, and SupremeFX audio.

CPU Power & Overclockability

The ASUS ROG Strix Z370-F Gaming (Price Check) boasts the ASUS Pro Clock technology for greater overclocking capabilities. It combines a dedicated base clock generator, the ASUS DIGI+ VRM design and the ASUS TurboV processing unit.

The base clock generator is designed for the 8th Generation Intel Core processors, extending the base clock frequency up to 432 MHz. The ASUS TurboV processing unit (TPU), on the other hand, delivers enhanced voltage and base clock overclocking controls.

Finally, the ASUS DIGI+ VRM design features a 8+2 digital architecture that is designed to increase overclockability, while reducing electromagnetic interference with minimal power loss. Although high quality (and expensive) analog PWM exists, digital PWM allows for more accurate control of the power frequency and modulation.

The MOSFETs and inductors are kept cool by large aluminium alloy heatsinks, which help to increase reliability and longevity of the VRM. Just in case you plan to operate this in extreme climates, the inductors and capacitors are rated to work within an extended temperature range of -55 ℃ and 105 ℃.

To support CPU coolers with two fans, the ROG Strix Z370-F Gaming (Price Check) has two CPU fan headers placed behind the DIMM slots.

There is even an optional fan holder, with its own fan header, that can be installed to help increase air circulation, or to blow away fumes while using LN2 (liquid nitrogen) cooling.

If you’re planning to use an AIO water cooler, you will be glad to know that there is even a dedicated PWM / DC header for your AIO pump fan.

If there are any enthusiast-grade features that we regret were not included in this motherboard, it would be the Power and Reset buttons, or an debugging LED display.

DDR4 Memory Slots

The ASUS ROG Strix Z370-F Gaming (Price Check) has four DDR4 DIMM slots. The Intel Z370 chipset only supports DDR4 memory up to 2666 MHz, but the Z370-F Gaming allows for overclocked memory clock speeds of up to 4000 MHz, with all four slots populated.

To achieve such high headroom for overclocking, ASUS used their OptiMem design. This combines the optimal routing of memory traces and vias through the optimal PCB layer, and the T-Topology layout which ensures “time-aligned signalling” by balancing trace lengths between the memory slots.

Next Page > PCI Express Slots, Dual M.2 Sockets, Limited SATA Ports, SupremeFX Audio

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PCI Express Slots

The ROG Strix Z370-F Gaming (Price Check) motherboard has seven PCI Express slots – three full-sized PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots, and four smaller PCI Express 3.0 x1 slots.

The first two PCI Express x16 slots are sheet metal reinforced – what ASUS calls SafeSlot. They greatly increase the rigidity of the PCI Express slots, allowing them to support heavy graphics cards. The third PCI Express slot lacks this SafeSlot reinforcement.

The top-most PCI Express 3.0 x16 slot (PCIE_x16/x8_1) operates at full x16 speed with a single card.

If you have two graphics cards, you will need to install them in the first and second PCIe x16 slots; and they will both run at x8 speed. The third PCIe x16 slot only runs at x4 speed.

Dual PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 Sockets

The ROG Strix Z370-F Gaming (Price Check) motherboard has two PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 sockets. They support M.2 solid state drives, with lengths of 42 mm, 60 mm or 80 mm. The third PCI Express x16 slot (which runs at x4 speed) can be used to add a third SSD. You can run them in RAID 0, 1, 5 or 10.

Due to space constraints, only one of the M.2 sockets have a heatsink (seen in the PCI Express picture). The second M.2 socket (seen in the picture above) is “naked”, although you can always install a DIMM cooler to help keep both the memory modules and this drive cool.

Limited SATA Ports

The ROG Strix Z370-F Gaming (Price Check) has six standard SATA 6Gb/s ports. There are no SATA Express ports. But what’s really problematic is the stacked side-facing design. They may prove to be troublesome to access in tight cases. If only ASUS made a few vertical in orientation.

Do note that the first M.2 socket (M.2_1) uses the SATA_1 port, if you opt to use it in the SATA mode. In addition, the second M.2 socket (M.2_2) uses both the SATA_5 and SATA_6 ports.

What this basically means is you have limited support for SATA drives with the ROG Strix Z370-F Gaming. It’s not the end of the world, but don’t expect to run two M.2 SSDs with six SATA drives. That’s not happening.

ASUS SupremeFX Audio

The ASUS SupremeFX audio technology is a combination of five components :

• the ASUS SupremeFX S1220A codec (now with a low-dropout regulator)
• a shield for the SupremeFX chip – preserves the integrity of audio signals
• dual op amplifiers – one op amp adds voltage gain, while the second works as a buffer, to drive 32-600 Ω headphones
• premium Nichicon audio capacitors – produces warmer, more natural sound with exceptional clarity and fidelity
• audio line shielding – blocks electromagnetic interference from the motherboard and add-on devices, for cleaner audio

ASUS claims that the SupremeFX audio technology delivers 113 dB signal-to-noise ratio on the line-in input, and 120 dB on the line-out output.

Next Page > Back I/O Ports, ASUS Aura Sync, 3D Printing Support, ROG RAMCache II

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Back I/O Ports

The ROG Strix Z370-F Gaming (Price Check) did not have quite as many back I/O ports as we hoped for. It has three different display ports (DVI-D, DisplayPort and HDMI) that can all be active simultaneously when used with an Intel processor with HD Graphics.

To the left are two USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports – the red Type A port, and the smaller Type C port below it. To the right are two USB 2.0 ports, two blue USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports with the Intel I219V LAN port. Finally, we have the five audio ports and the optical S/PDIF out port.

ASUS used a stainless steel I/O panel that was chromium-plated for corrosion-resistance. The ports are also shielded with a cover that prevents static damage. This is useful if you plan to use this motherboard outside of a chassis. When installed in a chassis, that job is fulfilled by the I/O shield (also included) that is installed into the chassis.

ASUS Aura Sync

As its name suggests, the ROG Strix Z370-F Gaming (Price Check) is designed to appeal to gamers. Hence, it supports the ASUS Aura Sync technology, which allows you to control and sync the RGB LED lighting on the motherboard and other ASUS Aura Sync-compatible devices. You can change their colours in unison, or set dynamic modes to change the illumination effects across all devices.

The ASUS ROG Strix Z370-F Gaming (Price Check) also comes with a pair of onboard 5050 RGB headers, and an addressable RGB header. They can be connected to compatible lighting strips, fans, coolers and PC cases.

The addressable RGB header supports WS2812B addressable RGB LED strips (5V/Data/Ground), with a max power rating of 3A (5V) and a max of 60 LEDs.

The Aura RGB-strip header supports 5050 RGB LED strips with a max power rating of 3A (12V). For maximum brightness, strip length should not exceed 3 meters.

3D Printing Support

The ROG Strix Z370-F Gaming (Price Check) has dedicated 3D mount holes cut into the motherboard. This allows you to easily mount your 3D-printed parts using the same screws for the M.2 drives. ASUS even provides three downloadable 3D printable files for a cable cover, custom nameplate and an M.2 fan holder.

ROG RAMCache II

The ROG RAMCache II is a disk caching software that copies the most frequently-used data from your drives into a portion of your system memory. This allows the cached data to be accessed very quickly. This version introduces support for NVMe devices, in addition to standard SATA drives.

It is simple enough to use – just set how much system memory you want to allocate as the disk cache. RAMCache II will automatically cache all of your attached storage devices, according to your usage patterns. Of course, Microsoft Windows already has its own disk cache that dynamically uses free system memory and releases it whenever your apps need more memory.

Now, it is possible that RAMCache II uses better, faster caching algorithms, but it cannot dynamically release the allocated memory. So you best use it only if you have a lot of spare memory.

Next Page > Our Verdict & Award, Reading Suggestions

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Our Verdict & Award

ASUS has decades of experience designing and building excellent motherboards, and that is evident in the ROG Strix Z370-F Gaming (Price Check). It melds the key overclocking features ASUS is well-known for, with the bling factor that gamers and modders love so much.

Hardware enthusiasts will like the enhanced CPU overclocking features that include a base clock frequency of up to 432 MHz, and the combination of a digital VRM design and the ASUS TurboV processing unit. Impressively, the ASUS OptiMem design allows the possibility of overclocking the DDR4 memory modules to 4000 MHz, with all four slots populated!

The ROG Strix Z370-F Gaming (Price Check) also comes with support for a variety of cooling options. You can use an air cooler with dual fans, or an AIO water cooler. ASUS even provides an optional fan holder in case you want to try liquid nitrogen cooling!

Gamers and modders, on the other hand, will love the inclusion of the ASUS Aura Sync technology, with two RGB headers as well as an addressable LED header. Let’s not forget the support for 3D printed parts. That gives them a lot more flexibility in modding and adding bling to their system.

Audiophiles will also appreciate the ASUS SupremeFX audio technology. Not only does it improve the signal-to-noise ratio on both input and output, it has dual headphone amplifiers that can drive a wide variety of headphones with its impedance range of 32 to 600 ohms.

The inclusion of two M.2 sockets is nice, but do note that using them may disable up to three SATA ports. That’s not a big deal if you only intend to run two SSDs and a hard disk drive or two. Also limited are the back USB ports – there are only six of them on the rear I/O panel, and two are USB 2.0.

There are also no onboard Power and Reset buttons, or a debugging LED display. Of course, these enthusiast-grade features are only useful to those who intend to use this motherboard without a PC case. It’s just odd because the motherboard seems to be targeted at those who want to use LN2 cooling…

That oddity aside, the Z370-F Gaming (Price Check) is a solid Intel Z370 motherboard that offers a nice blend of overclocking and modding features that will really appeal to gamers who enjoy overclocking and/or modding. It is also affordably priced at US$ 194.99.

For those reasons, we think the ASUS ROG Strix Z370-F Gaming (Price Check) deserves our Reviewer’s Choice Award. Great job, ASUS!

Don’t forget to check out the other ASUS Z370 motherboards in The 11 New ASUS Z370 Motherboards Revealed!

Reading Suggestions

Here are other Intel Coffee Lake-related articles you should read!

• Everything You Need To Know About The Intel Coffee Lake CPUs!
• The 11 New ASUS Z370 Motherboards Revealed!
• The Intel Core i7-8700K Hexa-Core Processor Review
• Thank The Ryzen Effect For Better Intel Processors!
• The 8th Gen Intel Core Desktop CPU Tech Report

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