Motherboards
One of the most important components of a high performance rig is a quality motherboard. ProClockers has a large library of unbiased motherboard reviews in today's top form factors from the industries top manufacturers. Whether you are looking for ATX motherboard reviews, ITX motherboard reviews, or mini-ATX motherboard reviews, we have you covered.
While many enthusiasts want the latest, greatest, bleeding edge in features, that often extends into unproven territory. If you are willing to take some risks, that’s fine, but many builders want one thing: a build that lasts and never gives them problems. To that end, Gigabytes Ultra Durable line is built with one thing in mind. Lasting Quality. The top of that stack is the Z370XP SLI which we will be taking a look at today. A board built to last, but still covering the bases and looking good doing it might just be what you’ve been looking for.
When Intel announced the 8th generation Core processors last fall, the industry was a bit shocked to see a new platform come out in less than a year after 7th gen Kaby-Lake and Intel 200 series boards. One caveat, 8th generation ONLY works on new 300 series boards. Not that something like that is unprecedented, but we got a full range of new CPUs and exactly ONE chipset to use it on, the flagship Z370. While enthusiasts didn’t mine much, everyone else didn’t see the point of throwing a locked CPU on an expensive platform made for pushing unlocked chips to the breaking point. Nearly six months later, the rest of the 300-series family is finally seeing the light of day. The Mainstream segment of the 300 series is Intel’s H370 chipset, and ASUS is right on time with a brand-new ROG Strix H370-I Gaming to kick it off.
About a year ago ASUS introduced a new angle on the popular ROG Maximus line targeted squarely at the extreme overclocking crowd. With features unheard of to dates such as layout optimized memory with only a single stick per channel, a non-square X-shaped PCB, and condensation detection built right into the mix. It was one of the best boards they released in their Z270 lineup. Now, with the release of the Z370 Apex, what improvements can they make?
You probably know by this point that Intel’s latest Core i9 CPU’s pack a punch. You might even know that the higher core count chips in the series can consume some serious wattage. When you have ten to eighteen cores sucking down 400 to 600 watts or more, all of this power has to flow through your motherboard’s VRM or Voltage regulator module which can create quite a bit of heat. ASRock originally released the Taichi series boards closer to the budget level of the spectrum, but the steampunk inspired aesthetics have captured the hearts of higher-end builders. To keep builders from having to choose between an inspiring design and a high-performance board, ASRock has released the X299 Taichi XE.
Following in the footsteps of eight previous Maximus Formula predecessors dating back a decade to 2008, the Maximus X Formula brings the iconic ROG heritage to Intel’s 8th generation platform. Featuring everything gamers have come to love about Formula from the EKWB powered VRM cooling, ROG Armor, steel backplate, and RGB lighting and mixed it in with the new LiveDash OLED display and the latest in connectivity for the ultimate gaming experience.
If you are familiar with the name Supermicro, you probably spend some time around data centers and servers in general. However, with more than 2 decades of providing 24x7x365 reliability in the enterprise IT world, Supermicro started providing that same server-grade DNA in its SUPERO consumer gaming brand a few years ago to Intel’s 4th and 5th generation Core platforms. Fast forward a few years and SUPERO launches its very first mini-ITX form factor board for the latest Intel 8th Generation Core series processors.
ASUS’s STRIX line of products is one of the most popular choices among gamers for bringing strong gaming oriented features and aesthetics to an affordable mid-range price point. ASUS now brings that along to the big end of the AMD Ryzen ecosystem, known officially as Threadripper, in the form of the ASUS ROG STRIX X399-E Gaming Motherboard.
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