Motherboard ASRock X370 Gaming-ITX/ac and AB350 Gaming-ITX/ac

[MarcParis]

I don't know what you mean lol..

 

[ssj]

This board or the Gigabyte one?

I have read a few times now that the Asrock has bad V-drops (up to 0.09V).
The Gigabyte should have higher quality VRMs implemented, but what about the cooling?
Also GB has LLC to make things even more safe.

There is a difference with the VRMs between the X370 and the B350 version, should the X370 give me more stable voltage?

 

[Ricdeau]

Having owned both the Gigabyte and ASRock boards I can say that the vdroop on the ASRock was about the same as the vdroop on the Gigabyte with LLC on from what I recall. Neither board has great voltage regulation. In that regard I was pretty disappointed by both boards.

 

[ssj]

Damnit, but it cannot be worse than those µATX boards, which are all costing in the lowend price range anyways?

 

[Ricdeau]

It's a toss up for me between the two boards honestly. Each one did somethings better than the other. If I could mash the two together I'd have been more happy with the outcome. I will say that with the ASRock even though it did not have LLC that the voltage was very static once you figure out how much it droops by. The Gigabyte fluctuated a lot more for me even with LLC.

 

[MarcParis]

Thus solution is to go on ATX with Cerberus-X..

 

[meganerid]

correct me if I'm wrong, but the fail count on the UEFI's RAM setting is for the number of tries the board will try to boot before resetting the RAM overclock right?

I want to try to get my 2x16GB 3000mhz corsair sticks to 2666mhz at least but I don't want to have to clear the CMOS in case it doesn't post (they seem a bit hard to reach lol)

 

[arth_d]

correct me if I'm wrong, but the fail count on the UEFI's RAM setting is for the number of tries the board will try to boot before resetting the RAM overclock right?

I want to try to get my 2x16GB 3000mhz corsair sticks to 2666mhz at least but I don't want to have to clear the CMOS in case it doesn't post (they seem a bit hard to reach lol)

I have 32gb of Corsair Vengence LPX running at 2666mhz in the Asrock board. But the ram is only 2666mhz not 3000. But i had no problem with reaching 2666mhz turning on the XMP settings.

 

[InfernoZeus]

Review is done! Read it here: https://smallformfactor.net/reviews...x370-ab350-gaming-itxac-motherboards-reviewed

This review states multiple times that USB 3.1 Gen 2 is supported, but that's not what ASRock told one of the other site staff members:

The board does NOT have USB 3.1 (Gen 2). But the reason is apparently there are very strict limitations on trace length to use the USB 3.1 off the chipset and it wasn't feasible to implement on this board.

Also, ASRock's own spec page also makes no mention of Gen 2:

- 2 x USB 2.0 Ports (Supports ESD Protection)*
- 1 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A Port (Supports ESD Protection)
- 1 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-C Port (Supports ESD Protection)
- 2 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Ports (Supports ESD Protection)

Seems like a odd mistake...

 

[confusis]

Multiple times? it was stated twice, both times in the review spec table. The mistake been fixed now though, as it is indeed Gen1. Thanks for pointing it out - it was missed in editing.

 

[InfernoZeus]

Multiple times? it was stated twice, both times in the review spec table. The mistake been fixed now though, as it is indeed Gen1. Thanks for pointing it out - it was missed in editing.

Sorry, thought it was mentioned in some of the text as well. Think I got excited that it might have been supported

 

[IntoxicatedPuma]

2 is technically multiple

I was interested in Coffee Lake but I feel Intel is just being obnoxious at this point. Think it's time to go for AM4...

 

[lux2]

Have added to the article - ASRock has stated that all new batches of both boards include the better VRM heatsink - the one with the thinner thermal pad. They also ask anyone with the thinner heatsink to contact ASRock support to get the better one, at no cost!

I think they have changed their policy and refused to send the better VRM heatsink.
So, is there any better heatsink out on market can replace it myself? are they the standard size?

 

[confusis]

They aren't a standard size. Later this week I will do some testing with an IR thermometer and see what the actual difference is

 

[Teddy]

They aren't a standard size. Later this week I will do some testing with an IR thermometer and see what the actual difference is

When I contacted them to get the replacement heatsink they sent me these thermal camera images
It would be interesting to see if you can verify their findings.

 

[LukeD]

I also have a board with a thick pad and when i contacted them, they seem reluctant to replace my heatsink.

 

[confusis]

ASRock has contacted me and retracted the heatsink replacement option - which is a shame :/

 

[stree]

I had an ASRock B350 Gaming ITX delivered this morning............ Full fat heatsink onboard. (pun?)

 

[carbonitetoast]

They aren't a standard size. Later this week I will do some testing with an IR thermometer and see what the actual difference is

Any chance you could also test the Gigabyte's VRM temps at the same time so we could compare the two boards in the same situation? I have the Gigabyte and encoding video (or stress testing) gets them VERY hot with a tower cooler (I have since switched CPU coolers).

I think it would be nice to able to compare the two boards given all of the hot VRM temps reported for the Gigabyte.

 

[confusis]

Will be checking the Gigabyte, ASRock and BIOSTAR offerings