Published: June 16, 2017 | Source: ASUS | Author: Tom Logan

ASUS ROG Strix X370-F Gaming Review

Conclusion

With an incredibly tight schedule right now we knew there absolutely no way we would be able to dedicate 2 full days of testing to the Strix until after the madness of the next impending launch. So with ‘other samples’ running late we got the Strix into our RGB – Ryzen Gaming Build and set about looking at the points that would be top of everyone’s list.

1: Memory Compatibility. The influx of AMD’s AGESA updates have had a brilliant effect on memory compatibility and speeds you can consider a possibility now. The Strix was able to XMP every kit we have at our disposal including a fair few 3200 kits, and even a 3466 kit! We also, for the first time ever managed to get 3600mhz running although this one did need manually setting up and fine tuning. At launch all the AMD boards were hit and miss and although we would still advise you all to study the QVL list for supported memory kits would would now say we are almost at a point that it feels like its ‘normal’ rather than a live Beta test.

2: Overclocking. The 8+2 phase power on the board really helps get the best from the 8core CPU’s without them feeling like they on running on the edge of overheating or delivering dirty power. 4.1GHz was found easily and out 3466MHz XMP was also enabled with this clock in play. The BIOS all feels very ROG with plenty of options and all feels very similar (then again we seem to use this BIOS a lot) if you have an Asus board now and are looking to upgrade you’ll feel at home.

3: Styling. The understated grey design of the board will please many and our only niggle is there is only any kind of lighting above the MOSFET heatsink near the rear IO. You do have an RGB header at the top and the bottom of the board to be able to add in addition lighting options but we would have loved to have seen some kind of lighting at very least under the chipset heatsink. The Z270 Strix boards felt under lit too so we wish they had paid a bit more attention back then. If RGB is your thing then you owe it to yourself to get some of the Gskill RGB memory, it looks amazing and if you watch the video below you’ll probably find your wallet launching itself at the screen!

All in all our afternoon with the Strix-F has actually left us wishing we had more time but the fact that it hasn’t fought us in any way and really did make our lives easy to get all of the memory tested and overclocked quickly just goes to show how great this board really is. Price wise its going to be around the Â£180 mark if you look around so it sits really well in-between the Prime boards and the (current) flagship Crosshair VI Hero. We had a chat in the office and we all agreed with the features plus the zero hassle performance and easy overclocking that the Asus ROG Strix-F was thoroughly deserving of the OC3D Enthusiast Award.