Product Showcase
The Gigabyte Aorus Z370 Gaming K3 motherboard is to be considered the mainstream solution in that Z370 series motherboard range that sits under the 150 USD range. Gigabyte packed it with features like DDR4 XMP support up to 4000 MHz, dual PCIe Gen3 x4 M.2, Realtek ALC 1220 audio and an Intel Gbe LAN. The Gigabyte Aorus Z370 Gaming K7 is built using their Ultra Durable standard, assuring high reliability and proper components.
The motherboard includes all of the standardized Z370 enhancements like the ability for two full x4 PCIe Gen 3 M.2 SSD slots (RAID compatible) and will support SLI and Crossfire. You'll also spot a variety of USB3.1 Type-A & Type-C Gen2 ports. Quick note, the four red blocks behind the audio capacitors are actually WIMA film capacitors, these are high-end grade Polypropylene Capacitors, and thus implemented (despite that color) with good reason.
The I/O panel of the Gaming 7 reveals six 3.0 ports with one type-c connector. Intel does not have native USB 3.1 Gen 2 support from the processor hence Gigabyte makes use of external 3rd party controllers like the ASMedia 3142. The motherboard features two PCIe x16 Gen 3.0 expansion slots and four x1 slots.
A Realtek ALC1220 audio codec is the source for audio which will utilise enhanced quality capacitors following the AMP-UP logic that Gigabyte offers on most motherboards these days. AMP-UP Audio now offers ESS SABRE with a DAC that adopts the concept of a high-end audiophile sound system design into a micro-system within the motherboard. The board gets one 10/100/1000 Ethernet controller from Intel, unfortunately there is no WIFI and/or 5/10 GBit/s Ethernet implemented. There is a single PS/2 combo port that can be used for either a keyboard or mouse.
The board is powered by one 8-pin ATX power header to the processor. A small detail, the PCI-Express slots are metal protected reinforced.
You will hopefully agree with me that once powered up the aesthetics change quite a bit. The board has four DIMM slots. Coffee Lake is limited to dual-channel. This board supports up-to DDR4 4000 MHz memory (overclocked), you may install up-to 64 GB of it.
