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BIOSTAR RACING X370GTN AM4 Motherboard Review

Motherboards/AMD AM4 by stefan @ 2017-08-19

With the X370GTN, BIOSTAR has succeeded to offer plenty of goodies, in a compact ITX format; due to a smaller VRM, the manufacturer does recommend CPUs with a maximum TDP of 95W, but if we do use it with a 65W SKU, we do also have some overclocking headroom. In our tests with the Ryzen 3 1300X, we have succeeded to achieve the same results as with the high-end Crosshair Hero VI from ASUS, by just setting up the multiplier and the voltage inside the UEFI interface, which is really easy to use.

Packaging, A Closer Look Part I

Another BIOSTAR motherboard has recently reached our labs, and it’s built on the compact Mini ITX form factor, in order to also accommodate smaller systems. Despite the small size, it packs the fully-fledged X370 PCH, can accommodate up to two DDR4 RAM modules with speeds up to 3200MHz (OC), has four SATA3 connectors with RAID 0,1, 10 support, a M.2 slot on the back of the motherboard for connecting additional storage and more! The product is shipped inside a cardboard enclosure which does feature the RACING theme we have seen before with other SKUs; we will also learn of a limited offer regarding World of Tanks on the top area of the box:

Some of the product features are described on the bottom box area, along with a photo with explanations regarding the main board features:

After lifting the top cover, we will get to see that the motherboard is secured inside an additional cardboard layer, but is also wrapped inside a semi-transparent plastic bag:

As a bundle, we are getting the usual I/O shield, but also four SATA cables:

Regarding the documentation, we are receiving a leaflet, one disk which does contain the user manual in electronic format, drivers and utilities but also a multi-language User’s Manual:

The previously mentioned leaflet does contain instructions on how to use the Vivid LED DJ feature, but also Hi-Fi Audio and Smart Ear:

From the manual, we can lean on how to perform the installation quickly in order to have the system up and running in no-time!

Compared to the other AM4 motherboards we have tested so far, this one is really tiny, measuring 17x17cm; despite its size, the manufacturer succeeded to include all the essentials and as an extra, we do also have the VRM cooling system RGB-lighting enabled:

The motherboard does come with a seven-phase VRM, controlled by an Intersil ISL95712, while the MOSFETs are NIKOS PK612DZ; as with any other Ryzen motherboard, we have different numbers of phases allocated for the CPU and SOC -> X370GTN does have four phases for the CPU and three for the SOC:

In the top left corner, we will be able to find a 4-pin 12V power header:

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