ASRock Gives AMD Ryzen Mini-ITX Treatment, Launches X370 Gaming ITX/ac
by Anton Shilov on May 31, 2017 1:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- AMD
- ASRock
- Mini ITX
- Trade Shows
- AM4
- Ryzen
- X370
- Computex 2017
ASRock has introduced a miniature motherboard for AMD Ryzen microprocessors, one of a few such motherboards in the industry. Despite being very small, the X370 Gaming ITX/ac offers everything that a fairly powerful gaming system might require and its price is not too high.
The ASRock X370 Gaming ITX/ac is based on the AMD X370 chipset and supports all currently available processors in the AM4 form-factor, including A-series APUs as well as all Ryzen CPUs. The motherboard has a digital eight-phase VRM for the CPU designed to guarantee clean power supply (stability, overclocking potential, etc.). According to ASRock, the mainboard can handle DDR4-3200+ memory (assuming that particular modules work well with AMD Ryzen processors). The new platform has two DIMM slots in total.
Like many other motherboards in the Mini-ITX form-factor, the X370 Gaming ITX/ac has one PCIe 3.0 x16 slot, one M.2 slot for PCIe 3.0 x4 or SATA SSDs, as well as four SATA ports. Meanwhile in a light bit of irony, the mainboard uses GbE and 802.11ac Wi-Fi controllers from Intel. As for other I/O, everything seems to be pretty standard here: the motherboard has two HDMI outputs, five USB 2.0 ports, six USB 3.0 headers (including one Type-C) as well as a 7.1-channel audio powered by Realtek ALC1220 codec with Creative’s Sound Blaster Cinema 3 enhancing software.
| ASRock's Mini-ITX Motherboard for AMD Ryzen | ||
| X370 Gaming ITX/ac | ||
| CPU Support | CPUs in AM4 form-factor AMD Ryzen and AMD A-series APUs |
|
| Graphics | PCIe 3.0 x16, or integrated in case of APUs | |
| Chipset | AMD X370 | |
| Memory | Two DDR4 DIMM slots | |
| Ethernet | 2 × Intel GbE controllers | |
| Display Outputs | 2 × HDMI for APUs | |
| Storage | 4 × SATA 6 Gbps 1 × M.2 (PCIe 3.0 x4 or SATA) |
|
| Audio | Realtek ALC1220 7.1 channel audio Creative’s Sound Blaster Cinema 3 enhancing software |
|
| USB | 5 × USB 3.0 Type-A 1 × USB 3.0 Type-C 5 × USB 2.0 |
|
| Other I/O | 802.11ac Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 4.2 | |
| Form-Factor | Mini-ITX | |
| MSRP | $150 ~ $160 | |
At present, the ASRock X370 Gaming ITX/ac has only one direct rival, the Biostar Racing X370GTN introduced earlier this year. The Racing X370GTN does not have Wi-Fi support, but it has two USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) headers, including one Type-C. Meanwhile, the X370 Gaming ITX/ac seems to have a more advanced VRM for those looking forward overclocking capabilities.
The ASRock X370 Gaming ITX/ac will be available in the coming weeks for $150 – $160, according to the manufacturer. Keep in mind that since there are only two AMD X370-based Mini-ITX motherboards announced so far and small form-factor systems are gaining traction, demand for the X370 Gaming ITX/ac will be very high. That said, don't be surprised if there's some overpricing from select retailers.
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Source: ASRock
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Solidstate89 - Wednesday, May 31, 2017 - link
Finally, something other than Biostar.barleyguy - Wednesday, May 31, 2017 - link
Agreed. I already bought the Biostar. I would have chosen this instead all things being equal. It's $50 more expensive than the Biostar though, so it would have been a toss up.X370 is rather pointless in Mini ITX. B350 or X300 would make more sense. Biostar theoretically makes a B350 Mini ITX board, but I've never seen it available.
I'm hoping Gigabyte or Asus jumps onboard at some point.
nissefar - Wednesday, May 31, 2017 - link
Margins are lower on b350/x300 boards though, they can't justify them being as expensive to consumers. The lack of competition in the sff boards market means that it makes the most sense to bling them out as much as possible. And it works because sff fans also tend to be enthusiasts with a high willingness to pay.barleyguy - Wednesday, May 31, 2017 - link
Definitely true. SFF builders tend to think "How small, quiet, and high performance can I make this?" rather than "How cheap of a computer can I build?"On the other hand, if I'm paying extra money with no benefit (or features I won't use), I'll choose the cheaper option.
Also, on the $50 price difference from the Biostar, I noticed that this comes with AC Wireless, and the Biostar doesn't. An equivalent AC wireless dongle is about $30, so that justifies part of the price difference.
nissefar - Thursday, June 1, 2017 - link
In one of my ITX builds I have a H81 chipset board, as those could overclock. It really has all the features I need (perhaps except for pcie 3.0). I was hoping cheap boards like that would appear for Ryzen.meacupla - Wednesday, May 31, 2017 - link
Looking at the differences between X370 and X300X370 supports CF/SLI, has more USB3.0 ports, 6x SATA + 1x NVMe x2 ports. (or 4x SATA + 1x NVMe x4) and 8x PCIe lanes from chipset.
X300 supports 4x USB3.0 ports, 2x SATA + 1x NVMe x2 port. (or 0x SATA + 1x NVMe x4) and 4x PCIe lanes from chipset.
It looks like ASRock makes use of most of those extra features in this board.
Samus - Thursday, June 1, 2017 - link
I think Asrock hit this one out of the park, it's seemingly perfect on paper and absolutely worth $150.The fear from Asus is they will screw it up putting a killer NIC or some bs on it, when this one keeps things relatively simple (and Intel based)
agjwilson - Wednesday, May 31, 2017 - link
About bleeding time... Demand will be high... Searches for pre orders.agjwilson - Wednesday, May 31, 2017 - link
When you order before reading the specs... *_* crunch timequagga - Wednesday, May 31, 2017 - link
Right now the chart says "2 × Intel GbE controllers" but looking at that photo ...