MSI Z370 Godlike Gaming review - Product Showcase

The MSI Z370 Godlike Gaming motherboard is a more high-end to enthusiast class segmented solution in that Z370 series motherboard range. MSI still packs it with features like DDR4 XMP support Up to 4,133MHz, Triple PCIe Gen3 x4 M.2 and two extra via an add-in card, triple KillerNIC Gbe LAN as well as AC WIFI and Bluetooth and well, everything you can expect from a performance motherboard really.

The motherboard includes all of the standardized Z370 enhancements like the ability for three x4 PCIe Gen 3 M2 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.

The board comes with four x16 slots, however:

• There is just one full x16 slot (CPU lanes) with one graphics occupied. 
• The second slot is x4 (four chipset links)
• The third slot can run x8, but if in use slot one will also revert to x8
• The 4th (lowest) slot  draws 4x chipset lanes. 

In the above photo you can see the M2 Expansion card as well as a USB extended, sleeved SATA cables (nice!), a high-bandwidth SLI bridge and also you receive a free RGB LED strip you can connect to the motherboard RGB header.

 
The I/O panel of the Godlike gaming shows eight 3.1 ports with one type-c connector. Intel does not have native USB 3.1 Gen 2 support from the processor hence the mobo makes use of external 3^rd party controllers like ASMedia 3142. A Realtek ALC1220 audio codec is the source for audio which will be complemented by an ESS E9018 DAC as headphone audio processor. The board reveals three 10/100/1000 Ethernet jacks, Killernic. The most left one is meant for WAN activity, the two others for LAN and teaming. So you can pair and bond them together.

There also new added functionality with the KillerNICs, as this board features new Killer xTend technology which in simple wording allows the jacks to be used as a network switch and a Wi-Fi extender. Rivet (the guys behind KillerNIC) see that gamers have a network switch next to their computer and they think it adds unnecessary cabling and clutter when it can be integrated into a motherboard. We tend to think that you will not have your energy slurping PC on 24/7 ergo, that feature is a bit useless really. Killer xTend it also features network prioritisation and a nice easy to use interface to tweak priorities. Honestly what I really would have liked MSI see doing here is implement a 5G or 10G Ethernet jack as the KillerNIC stuff is really nice, but just not offering a substantial enough difference. It's still remains to be a Gigabit jack in its purest form. 

There also is WIFI (dual-band AC from Killer) implemented. There is a single PS/2 combo port that can be used for either a keyboard or mouse. MSI left out any display connectors, which you could argue or agree with, but with these board not using a dedicated graphics card would be like cursing in a Church right?

 
The board is powered by one 8-pin and an additional 4-pin ATX power header to the processor. See the metal protected PCI-Express x16 slots? The DIMM slots now also have steel reinforcement. For the PCIe slots it is great if you use heavy graphics cards. The board has four DIMM slots. Coffee Lake is limited towards dual-channel. This board supports up-to DDR4 4,133 MHz memory (overclocked), you may install up-to 64 GB of it. 

Once powered up the aesthetics change quite a bit as MSI implements that Mystic Light RGB system.You can customize anything in any color and animation, use a static color and simply turn it all off if you dislike it, with the RGB Fusion App including customizable multiple zones.