Conclusion
EVGA, to its credit, doesn't go for a me-too approach through blatant mimicry...EVGA comes back into the Z370 fold by releasing a trio of enthusiast-orientated boards that take much of the philosophy present on the firm's graphics cards.
The Z370 Micro ATX, costing £180, has a tough task because it's naturally competing against big-name competition whose primary expertise rests with producing boards based on Intel's chipset. EVGA, to its credit, doesn't go for a me-too approach through blatant mimicry. Rather, this model has a few interesting features not found elsewhere.
We'd like the minimalist look, sensible cutouts for rotated ports that offer a simple means for an attractive build, the handy dual-purpose debug LED, various onboard buttons and three-year warranty. Being even handed, EVGA, in our opinion, needs to include USB 3.1 Gen 2, tinker with the BIOS and add in basic outputs for folks running just the IGP in a small system.
We feel this board speaks to current EVGA graphics card owners who want to keep a consistent theme throughout their PC. As such, different from most, it'll occupy a niche part of the market.
Minimalist looks
Rotated ports
Basic BIOS
No IGP outputs
HEXUS.where2buy*
The EVGA Z370 Micro ATX motherboard is available to purchase from Scan Computers.*
HEXUS.right2reply
At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.
*UK-based HEXUS community members are eligible for free delivery and priority customer service through the SCAN.care@HEXUS forum.
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HEXUS Forums :: 12 Comments
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scaryjim
£180
2 RAM slots
:O_o1:
Agreed - this is one of the most pointless motherboards I have seen in years. Its not even a mini-ITX one,so what is the point of an oversized motherboard with only two RAM slots costing £180?? Who the heck at EVGA did the focus group testing for this product?? :O_o1::stupid::clapping:
Edit!!
I had a look around at memory prices - 32GB of 3466MHZ DDR4 in a quad channel pack,is cheaper than 32GB of 3333MHZ in a dual channel pack!
Also as being a SFF PC fan,there is another problem here. With this motherboard you will find it costlier longterm to increase the amount of memory. If you start with 8GB or 16GB now,you can add another 8GB or 16GB later on if prices drop at some point. With this board,if you want 16GB or 32GB,you will need to ditch the existing kit and lose money on it.
Whereas with a mini-ITX system if you choose the case carefully,you can get a reasonably small system and at least put up with the lower amount of expansion options.
This board OTH is full mATX,ie,not the smaller mATX format one you get so there is no size advantage over another mATX board. If it was the reduced form factor mATX size,it might actually have made more sense.
Those are the reduced size mATX boards,ie,around 17CM long,but 24CM wide.
Second Edit!!
Is that the 8 pin EPS connector at the bottom?? In most smaller mATX cases,the motherboard will be quite close to the PSU bay,or at the very top.
That is the Coolermaster Q300L which was in a Hexus news article today.
If the PSU is at the very top,the EPS cable needs to be very long!!
