MSI Z370 Godlike Gaming review - Introduction

MSI Z370 Godlike Gaming Motherboard
Enthusiast Class All The Way

We review the all new MSI Z370 Godlike Gaming motherboard, we'll pair it up with the new six-core Core i7 8700K. MSI went wild and crazy with this one as it has all standard stuff, and then some. That means three KillerNIC based Ethernet jacks which you can pair, but also a AC WIFI wireless solutions has been implemented. On the board you may house three M2 SSDs, but added is an extra M2 Xpander board that allows you to install two more on the add-in card. That's right, that an option of five M2 SSDs. Next to that the Godlike has improved looks, a somewhat new layout, reinforced DDR4 and four reinforced x16 PCIe slots.

Yeah we test the new Coffee Lake platform. Coffee Lake are the new 8^th generation desktop processors from Intel, including the new mainstream six-core part. A product line that is the direct answer and effect from what AMD has been pursuing aggressively in the desktop processor channel. With this first "mainstream" step from intel they will offer 6-core processors. These will need to be paired with a new motherboard chipset and thus motherboard, the Z370 based ranges. 

With the introduction of Ryzen and more recently the announcement of Threadripper processors the processor market and channel has been turned up-side down, and Intel is slowly waking up from it's S3 deep-sleep state finally realizing that they cannot keep serving just quad-core processors in mainstream, as they have been doing for subsequent years now. AMD gave Intel a serious awakening call and as such they needed to step up, significantly. Intel’s primary processor business has been releasing and refreshing quad-core processors for many years combined with high-margin spicy priced E type (e.g. Broadwell-E / Haswell-E / Skylake-X) processor release every now and then. You can't really blame Intel either as there simply was no competition - hence they had no rush and have been relaxed all the way for years now. Intel did anticipate Zen (or Ryzen), but the AMD consumer aimed Threadripper 16-core and Naples server segment 32-core made Intel step up its game a notch as they shifted into a higher gear ever since Ryzen was released. Over the summer Skylake-X processors have been announced with limited releases and availability for the highest core count procs. Skylake-X however is available in good quantities at for the 10-cores ans 12-core parts, but these start ay 999 Euros for the 10-core version. There is a Intel Core i7-7800X hexa-core available at the sub-400 Euro ranger though, but it needs to be tied towards an X299 motherboard, but these start at 350 euros. Ergo, AMD is outflanking Intel in any and every product segment price wise. This now changes with the Coffee Lake generation of processors that have up-to six-cores alongside more affordable Z370 motherboards.

In this review we look at the MSI Z370 Godlike Gaming. The board as stated is positioned in a more enthusiast region and does look awesome with its triple Ethernet jacks (there's a reason for the three), three on-PCB M2 slots and well, more stuff like that really. Have a peek and then let's head onwards into the review my man.