Overclock.net banner

GIGABYTE AORUS GA-AX370-Gaming 5 AM4 AMD X370 RGB FUSION SMART FAN 5 HDMI M.2 U.2 USB 3.1 Type-C ATX DDR4 Motherboard

1K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  Horigo 
#1 ·
GIGABYTE AORUS GA-AX370-Gaming 5 AM4 AMD X370 RGB FUSION SMART FAN 5 HDMI M.2 U.2 USB 3.1 Type-C ATX DDR4 Motherboard

Description:
Socket AM4, Supports New Generation AMD Ryzen Processors Dual Channel DDR4, 4 DIMMs 1PCIe 3.0 x16 + 1PCIe 3.0 x8 Slots 2-way CrossFire/SLI support Realtek ALC 1220 2 for Both Front & Rear 120dB SNR HD Audio Dual GbE LAN (Killer E2500+Intel i211AT) RGB FUSION/Smart Fan 5 Sound Blaster X-Fi MB5 USB DAC UP2 Dual Armor Dual BIOS PCIe NVMe Gen3 x4 22110 M.2 U.2 ATX 305x244 (mm).

Details:
DetailValue
BindingPersonal Computers
BrandGigabyte
EAN0889523009116
FeatureSocket AM4, Supports New Generation AMD Ryzen Processors
Dual Channel DDR4, 4 DIMMs
Realtek ALC 1220 *2 for Both Front & Rear 120dB SNR
RGB FUSION with Multi-Zone LED Light Show design
Smart Fan 5 features Multiple Temperature Sensors and Hybrid Fan Headers
LabelGigabyte
ManufacturerGigabyte
ModelGA-AX370-Gaming 5
MPNGA-AX370-Gaming 5
PublisherGigabyte
StudioGigabyte
TitleGIGABYTE AORUS GA-AX370-Gaming 5 AM4 AMD X370 RGB FUSION SMART FAN 5 HDMI M.2 U.2 USB 3.1 Type-C ATX DDR4 Motherboard
UPC889523009116
Warranty3
Item Height3.14 inches
Item Length13.18 inches
Item Width10.62 inches
NumberOfItems1
Package Height3.31 inches
Package Length13.5 inches
Package Weight3.55 pounds
Package Width11.1 inches
PackageQuantity1
PartNumberGA-AX370-Gaming 5
ProductGroupPersonal Computer
ProductTypeNameMOTHERBOARD
UPCList - UPCListElement889523009116
Item Weight3.43 pounds
 

Attachments

See less See more
5
#2 ·
Save your money with another X370 board unless user requires the niche features

review by alphac

PROS

The IR3553 power delivery (it's 6 of them for CPU and each is rated 40A) is decent but it could be stronger given the price tier. 50A or 60A PowIRStages could be used instead.

Has a Post Code debug LED, clear CMOs button , power / reset button

Has more than 2 USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports.

Has thermal sensor headers

Has dual ALC1220 with audio shielding , amp

Has Intel LAN

Dual BIOs

Ability to use PWM or 3 pin DC fans on every header , ample fan headers ---- can be controlled in BIOS along with fan curves

USB DAC UP - marketing speak for ability to increase voltage to USB ports (applicable for VR headsets and such)

F6F BETA BIOS dated May 29th has memory dividers up to 4000MHz , allowing Infinity Fabric to operate faster (I was able to boot at 3333MHz , 16-18-18-38 1.35V on a kit of EVGA DDR4 3200MHz Hynix based RAM but my Windows PE had an error at one point so I reverted back to DDR4-3200MHz)

CONS

IR3553 PowIRStages are held back by VRM heatsinks that have a hole in the middle (obviously they were designed for a heatpipe in the middle). There should have been a better heatsink design with more surface area, even if it did not have a heatpipe on it. (see Gigabyte Z97X Gaming 5) The plastic I/O shield does not help this either.
* VRM temp per hwinfo64 is 65 Celsius in open air (no case) with Ryzen 7 1700X running True Spirit 140 Power @ 700RPM after 4 hours of AIDA64 stability test (it levels out after about one hour)
* VRM temp per hwinfo64 is 60 Celsius in open air (no case) with Ryzen 7 1700X running True Spirit 140 Power @ 850RPM after 1 hour of AIDA64 stability test , ambient temp ~23?C
* VRM temp per hwinfo64 is 73 Celsius in open air (no case) with Ryzen 7 1700X @3.925GHz @ ~ 1.344V dynamic voltage cooled by True Spirit 140 Power @ 1100RPM after 30 minutes of AIDA64 stability test (at 1 hour in it is also this VRM temperature), ambient temp ~27?C

Lack of advanced BIOs options such as p-state overclocking. "Advanced memory timings" consists of CAS latency , tRCDRD , tRCDWR, tRP, and tRAS. "Advanced CPU core settings" consist of CPB (core performance boost), Cool & quiet, SVM mode, global c-state control, downcore control (disabling cores).
--> Where is PWM switching frequency , current limit (even my Z77 board has this), spread spectrum option, , C6 state on/off control , offset voltage overclock

* Update with F6F BETA BIOs (AGESA 1.0.06) added more memory timing features & higher dividers than 3200MHz (i.e. up to 4000MHz) but nothing for CPU p-states
M.2 NVMe slot is located under GPU. Why this was done is baffling.

RGB fusion is not for everyone, it is useless if you have a closed case without a window

No wifi slot

Voltage check points are not a listed feature but the "coupons" are supposedly voltage read points. The voltages for each "coupon" should be labeled in the manual (i.e. coupon 1 = V_??? , coupon 2 = V_????, coupon 3 = ???? , coupon 4= ????).

I would have preferred a Displayport instead of HDMI port but this is a non-issue given that Ryzen has no iGPU and HDMI is more common among "gamers".

VALUE for money
The problem with this board is some features tacked on have little use for people that are not looking inside their case or running a server. These features are likely hiking up the price.
* Dual LAN
* RGB LEDs throughout
* SATA express / U.2 .... hardly anyone uses these

Gigabyte would have a great motherboard in every way if they stripped off the LEDs, upgraded both the VRM components and the heatsink, removed the Killer LAN, increased BIOs options, etc.

OTHER INFO:
Was purchased for $56 after combo deal with Ryzen 7 ; given the alternative boards I'd value this at maybe $160-170. At the $190 they ask it's bit higher than what it ought to be.

Validation in Windows 10 PE on an old monitor: http://valid.x86.fr/k4e9yd

ProsCons
PowIRStages , Post Code LED, clear CMOS button +power/reset button, thermal sensor headers, extensive memory support , Intel LAN , ALC1220no BCLK generator chip , PoWIRStages could be upped to 50A or 60A, RGB fusion is not for everyone , VRM heatsink is garbage , BIOs options need work

Ratings
Overall4
 
#3 ·
Save your money with another X370 board unless user requires the niche features

review by alphac
Half of your cons are very subjective or irrelevant:

- The majority of X370 boards on the market don't have wifi slots, and rightly so as this feature is generally seen on smaller form factor boards, or on those in much higher price brackets.

- The only board in its price range with a heat-pipe connecting both VRM HS is the Taichi; After 8 hours of looping X264 at 1.34v, my highest mosfet temp was 72c, average was 67c. Heat is hardly an issue though the inclusion of the heat-pipe would be nice.

- To the best of my knowledge only the CH6 ($60-7 more expensive) has dedicated voltage readout points

- All of the the LED's can be disabled and the RGB software/functionality serves as both a pro and con depending on who you are; this is highly subjective, not really relevant to rating a board as we have no clue how much more expensive this makes the board compared to the competition.

- Very few boards have recently had secondary memory timings opened up thanks to beta bios featuring AGESA 1.0.0.5

The only real negative thing about this board is the lack of a BCLK generator, which at the current time is relatively useless due to memory limitations. The available Ryzen processors are not limited by VRM's or BCLK functionality in terms of overclocking capability on air for X370 boards; funnily enough several B350 boards actually have issues with VRM temps due to bad cooling, yet you generally recommend them over this board.

Placing an M.2 slot anywhere around the CPU or PCIE slots is, for the sake of thermals, is objectively a bad idea. Ideally placement below the secondary 16/8x pcie slot would be a better location for the majority of users. I believe Gigabyte chose the lesser of two evils by placing the M.2 slot under the primary pcie slot as opposed to in the air-flow dead space above it. I'm not an engineer but I'm sure Gigabyte's engineers spent plenty of time deciding where to place the slot and what factors were most important.

The "Niche Features" statement can really be applied to any motherboard that doesn't have minimal/basic hardware, especially to any performance or enthusiast product. Overall I disagree with your rating, and you don't seem to detail your reasoning behind it. There is nothing wrong with this piece of hardware, and for the sake of pure performance for 99% of users there is very little difference between any of the enthusiast X370 boards outside of "Niche Features".

4/5 (mostly due to bios bugs and lack of features); 4.5/5 if/when they release pstate menus and finish hammering out general platform bugs.
 
Top