A week ago Gigabyte unveiled its initial range of Intel Z370 motherboards, built to support the imminent arrival of Intel 8th generation processors to the market. It fired an initial salvo of eight boards with upgraded digital power design and more, as befit premium enthusiast / gamer designs. In the last few hours we have seen Gigabyte arch-rivals Asus and MSI provide details of their initial Z370 motherboard lineups.
Asus
Asus has prepared an initial roster of 15 motherboards featuring the Z370 chipset to cover "a range of priorities, budgets, and form factors". You will find three sub-ranges from Asus; Republic of Gamers branded (gaming) Maximus and Strix boards, Prime enthusiast and all-round boards, and TUF Gaming entry level and first time builder designs.
With such a great number and variety of new motherboards with Z370 chipsets, Asus has usefully published a guide to help you decide which one might be best for you. It has motherboard sizes spanning from EATX to Mini-ITX.
Asus reminds us that the Coffee Lake chips pack in more Intel cores than ever for consumers and its motherboards all "add a splash of cold brew" to keep things ticking along smoothly. With overclocking being relatively easy (if you buy a 'K' chip), the Asus 5-Way Optimization or OC Tuner intelligence will be welcome. Furthermore, all motherboards have a dedicated header for an all-in-one liquid cooler or stand-alone pump. ROG and Strix boards add separate headers for monitoring the coolant flow and temperature inside custom loops and the Fan Xpert 4 package. Last but not least you have support for faster memory and storage.
We don't have availability and pricing info from Asus but this info is expected shortly.
MSI
MSI has 13 new Intel Z370 motherboards divided between four key target markets. The range spans enthusiast gaming, performance gaming, arsenal gaming, and the pro series. From the info available at the time of writing, these motherboards come in sizes spanning ATX, to MicroATX ('M' suffix), to Mini-ITX ('I' suffix).
The pinnacle of MSI Z370 range is the Z370 Godlike Gaming. MSI details this flagship board and highlights its: 18-phase DrMOS PWM design, Military Class V components, 3x Killer E2500 LAN connectors and a Killer 1535 Wi-Fi AC adapter, ALC1220 Hi-Fi audio processors, ESS AUDIO DAC with dedicated ESS Amplifier, WIMA audio capacitors, and 6.35mm headphone out, plus Nahimic 2+ technology, a PCI-E M.2 Xpander-Z included in the box for up to 5x Turbo M.2 cards, and Mystic Light RGB LED lighting capabilities.
Overall, like Asus, MSI claims to have a new Z370 motherboard for everyone - mostly for enthusiast and gamers but with a trio of Pro boards specifically designed for content creators and designers.
MSI's Z370 motherboards news release didn't provide pricing or availability details.
