One of GIGABYTE's first B360 series motherboards in the Gaming 3 WIFI. This is our first review of this new chipset, and it offers users a cheaper way into the 8th generation Intel processors. The GIGABYTE B360 Gaming 3 WIFI includes many of the features found in the Z370 version, and even trumps it in one respect with its ultra-fast Intel CNVi Wi-Fi with speeds up to 1.73 Gbps.

AnandTech Intel 300-Series Motherboard and CPU Coverage

• The Intel Core i7-8086K Review: Testing Intel's Anniversary 5.0 GHz Turbo CPU
• The Anandtech Coffee Lake Review: Initial Numbers on the Core i7-8700K and Core i5-8400
• Analyzing Z370 for Intel's 8th Generation Coffee Lake: A Quick Look at 50+ Motherboards
   
• ($397) The ASUS ROG Maximus X Apex Review [LINK]
• ($250) The NZXT N7 Z370 Review [LINK]
• ($191) The SuperO C7Z370-CG-IW Review [LINK]
• ($180) The ASUS Z370-I Gaming Review [LINK]
• ($124) The GIGABYTE H370N WIFI Review [LINK]
• ($120) The GIGABYTE B360 Gaming 3 WIFI Review (this review)

The GIGABYTE B360 Gaming 3 WIFI

When the Z370 chipset came to the market, it was not enough to satisfy all potential buyers. As with every platform, Intel released (although this time several months later) a second wave of cheaper chipsets, allowing buyers to purchase inexpensive motherboards for the latest processors. These motherboards are not always for the enthusiasts, but will allow users to enter the platform at a lower price. To that end, all board partners have several boards in the H370, B350, and H310 chipsets to choose from. 

The GIGABYTE B360 AORUS Gaming 3 WIFI in our hands today offers users that lower-cost of entry along with quite a few features. At $120, about the only thing missing from a base Z370 board the Gaming 3 Wi-Fi is the ability to overclock. The board includes lightning fast Wi-Fi capabilities (to 1.73 Gbps) as well as USB 3.1 (10 Gbps) support integrated into the chipset. Many in this market are simply looking for basic features and a pleasing design aesthetic. While it may not have some of the extended shrouding visuals we see higher up the stack, its clear appearance and brushed aluminum heatsinks with orange accents work well for an overall neat system. There's also some RGB LED lighting around the board.

It takes more than good looks and a solid feature set to entice buyers into purchasing a board, as performance counts even with a locked system. We ran the board through our testing suite to see if the system shines under the hood as well. 

Overall, the performance testing went without a hitch. Despite most Z370 boards implementing some 'beyond stock' performance, often called Multi-Core Enhancement (MCE), the B360 Gaming 3 WIFI was within striking distance of those that did not use MCE. Where the Gaming 3 WIFI really shined was in the power consumption testing. Compared to the other motherboards we have tested, it consumed around 20W less than the others.

Regarding other features, the board comes fully equipped with support for two memory modules per channel with total support up to 64 GB and speeds up to DDR4 2666 (memory overclocking is not possible here). For storage connectivity, we see both of the common options of SATA ports as well as dual M.2 slots. The board has a total of six SATA3 ports and unlike its Z370 brothers, the B360 chipset does not support any kind of RAID. Users will have to add that through add-in cards or external solutions. The dual M.2 slots support both PCIe and SATA drives, though it is worth it to note the second slot (at the bottom of the case) only supports PCIe x2 bandwidth. The board does support AMD Crossfire setups across the PCIe lanes through the chipset, but not NVIDIA SLI due to lane burification limits on the platform. 

For connectivity, the back panel IO gives users a total of four USB 2.0 ports, three USB 3.0 ports (one Type-C), and one USB 3.1 (10 Gbps) port (red Type-A). We can also see the DVI-D and HDMI outputs for video, the Intel Gigabit LAN port, as well as a six-plug audio stack and a legacy PS/2 mouse/keyboard port. Perhaps the only thing missing is a SPDIF output. 

Pricing on the AORUS B360 Gaming 3 WIFI is currently $120 on Newegg.com. The board's direct competition from a price perspective is the ASRock B360 Gaming K4 ($118), ASUS ROG Strix B360-H Gaming ($115), and an MSI B360 Gaming Arctic ($125). Less than $10 separates these boards from each other price wise, with the main differences found in the number of SATA ports, the number of M.2 slots, the number of PCIe x1 slots, and audio/network controllers. GIGABYTE has brought forth a solid board with a lot of features at a reasonable price with which to build a system around.

What Comes with B360

In the past, the cheaper chipsets were usually cut down versions of the main high-end chipset. This is no longer the case. The B360 chipset has native USB 3.1 (10 Gbps) support, unlike Z370, which allows motherboard partners to no longer need third-party USB 3.1 controllers to bring the high-speed connectivity, lowering the overall cost.

Another significant change is in wireless networking. Normally, Intel wireless adapters and their RF elements are on a single module that fits into a standard M.2 E-key slot. These chipsets are the first in the mainstream desktop to use Intel's integrated connectivity (through CNVi technology) for wireless networking. This moves the control functions of the Wi-Fi modules into the chipset. The only thing board partners need to do is add a compatible companion RF front-end module, which is cheaper (but still adds about $15 cost to the final price). The fastest versions of these will allow for speeds up to 1.73 Gbps from the Wireless-AC 9560 CRF module, as found on the Gaming 3 WIFI. This is possible through the Wave 2 features such as 160 MHz channel widths and MU-MIMO. 

On the downsides with B360 is the inability to overclock either the CPU or DRAM, with the memory limited to DDR4-2666. B360 motherboards are also not RAID capable.

GIGABYTE B360 Strategy

GIGABYTE has over a dozen motherboards for the B360 chipset, some of which are currently available at Newegg and Amazon.

GIGABYTE's B360 Motherboard Lineup (4/16)
	AnandTech Review	Amazon	Newegg
B360 Gaming 3 WIFI	this review	$120	$119
B360 Gaming 3		-	-
B360 HD3P		-	-
B360 HD3		$85	-
B360M Gaming 3		-	-
B360M D3H		$100 ^	$79
B360M DS3H		$68	$68
B360M HD3		$85	-
B360M D3V		-	-
B360M D2V		-	-
B360M D3P		-	-
B360M Gaming HD		-	-
B360M H		-	-
B360N Gaming WIFI		-	-
B360N WIFI		-	-

^ Third Party Seller

Information on Intel's Coffee-Lake CPU Desktop Processors

One important piece of information to note: technically these processors use the LGA1151 socket, also used by 6th and 7th Generation processors using the Z170 and Z270 chipsets. But due to several (albeit minor) difference in the pin-layout of these two sets of processors, the 8th Generation Coffee Lake will only work in Z370 boards and are not cross compatible. Back in October 2017, Ian Cutress reviewed a couple of processors (i7-8700K and i7-8400) in the Coffee Lake lineup - details on the rest of the product stack are listed below.

 

The GIGABYTE B360 Gaming 3 WIFI Review

In this review, we have the following pages:

1. Overview
2. Visual Inspection
3. BIOS and Software
4. Board Features
5. System Performance
6. CPU Performance
7. Gaming Performance
8. Conclusions

Visual Inspection

The GIGABYTE B360 Gaming 3 WIFI isn't expected to turn heads on looks at this price point, yet it is also not always expected to be shoved inside a closed case either. To that end, the motherboard uses a dark brown, almost black PCB with brown traces running throughout the board. The now familiar AORUS bird is stenciled in prominently around the audio and PCIe area of the board. The power delivery heatsinks are silver in color with a brushed aluminum finish while the chipset heatsink is a black and silver combo.

At a high level, we see typical features here from the 8-pin power lead and a few fan headers up top, four DRAM slots, and six SATA ports to dual M.2 slots along with a slot for the included Intel CNVi Wi-Fi.  The top M.2 slot uses a fairly beefy cooler to keep the PCIe NVMe M.2 drives cool. All slots are in black with the primary full-length PCIe slot reinforced to help with heavy video cards. There is a plastic cover for the I/O area and in this case, does not extend down over the audio area as we have seen on other boards. 

 

The B360 Gaming 3 WIFI does include RGB LED illumination. The LEDs are located under the PCH heatsink as well as several running along the bottom of the board lighting up the audio separation strip on the bottom left-hand corner. Along with the onboard lighting, there are a couple of RGB LED headers for additional lighting supporting standard 5050 RGB (RGBW) lighting with a power rating of up to 2A. Both the integrated and attached lights are controlled by the RGB Fusion software. 

The board has a total of five 4-pin fan headers able to control the attached air mover through PWM and voltage methods. The two CPU headers and a system fan header are located up top flanking the heatsink on either side, with an additional system fan near the 24-pin ATX 12V connector. The last header (sysfan/pump) is located on the bottom left. There is not a mention if these headers are able to handle over the standard 1A output. All fans are controlled through the BIOS or through Easy Tune and the Smart Fan functionality. Also in view is the first M.2 slot that has the Thermal Guard heatsink on it. 

Looking at the top half of the board with the heatsinks removed, we see seven phases for power delivery for the board. The Intersil 95866 4+3 Multiphase PWM regulator controller manages the power sent to the On-Semiconductor MOSFETs. In this case, the B360 Gaming 3 WIFI uses 4C10N and 4C06N 'FETs to help deliver stable power to the CPU. Power is supplied to the VRMs through a single 8-pin EPS 12V connector. We didn't see any throttling during testing while using an i7-8700K. 

The closer view of the right side of the board shows the six SATA ports on the far left, the PCH heatsink, a Thunderbolt 3 5-pin header,  a USB3.0 header, and a system fan header. Next to the 24-pin ATX 12V have RGB LED connections along with a voltage control jumper for the digital LED headers. 

This picture shows the six SATA ports on the board as well as a view of the dummy boot LEDs. Note the top M.2 connector shares bandwidth with the SATA port 5 and the bottom M.2 connector shares with SATA port 3. When either is used in SATA mode, the corresponding SATA port will be unavailable. Also worth noting is the B360 chipset does not support RAID.

The bottom portion of the board holds is where we can see the Realtek ALC892 audio codec hidden under the EMI shields along with its Chemicon capacitors on the bottom left and the PCIe slots in the middle. The board includes three full-length slots with the top full-length slot being the only one CPU connected. The board does support Crossfire but not SLI due to the second slot only supporting a maximum of x4 mode. This slot also shares bandwidth with the two x1 slots. When these are populated, the second PCIe slot operates at x2 mode. 

AORUS B360 Gaming 3 WIFI CPU PCIe Layout
	16-Lane Single	16-Lane Dual
PCIe 2	@x16	@x16
PCIe 4 (chipset)	x4	@x4
SLI	-	No
Crossfire	-	Yes

 

The back panel IO has a mix of USB 2.0 (4x ports), USB 3.0 (3x ports) and a USB 3.1 Type-A port which should be plenty for most users. As for video outputs, the B360 Gaming 3 WIFI offers DVI-D and HDMI outputs to use the integrated graphics. Last, is a six-plug audio stack, powered from the Realtek ALC892 codec. 

In the Box

GIGABYTE Includes the following:

• Driver Disk / Installation Guide / Manual
• Back I/O Plate
• 2 x SATA cables
• Intel CNVi Wi-Fi module
• Antenna

BIOS

The BIOS used in the GIGABYTE B360 board looks like any other GIGABYTE review we have done here with the black background and red highlights. GIGABYTE provides both an Easy Mode (below) as well as an 'advanced' section where users are able to control a lot of the details on the board itself. Mouse and keyboard movements were fine - I had zero issues working this BIOS, although at the time of testing the Spectre checks said this BIOS does not have the updates. 

On this board, I was greeted by the Easy Mode portion of the BIOS on first boot. Easy Mode tends to be a more informative screen than have many buttons to push and GIGABYTE follows that trend here again. We are able to spot information about the BIOS version, installed CPU and RAM, temperatures and voltages, boot order, storage, as well as Smart Fan 5 accessibility. One is able to control fans, swap boot order, and enable Intel Rapid Storage technology from this screen. Much else will have to be in the 'Classic' version of the BIOS. 

Across the top are several headings each with different functionality contained inside. The M.I.T section above holds all frequency, memory, and voltage settings. Since the B360 chipset cannot overclock, there is a limited amount of active functionality on that front, but plenty of other options for tweaking the system including Memory timings and turbo ratio adjustments. The PC Health Status screen display real-time status of the CPU Vcore and VccSA, DRAM voltage, as well as major rails from the power supply. 

The System section is informational and displays text about the motherboard model, BIOS version/date/ID, as well as the system date and time. The only field one can edit is System Language.

In the BIOS section, it lists a number of options associated with booting such as the number lock state, full-screen logo, boot priorities, and fast boot options. Mouse speed adjustments (while in the BIOS) are found here as well as setting a password for the BIOS. 

The Peripherals heading has several sub-headings underneath controlling the sub-systems on the board. Items like SATA configuration, USB, Network, NVMe, and other items can all be tweaked inside this section. Which display to output first is found here as well as a BIOS version of RGB Fusion to control system lighting. 

Inside the Chipset section is where users are able to enable/disable the Intel CNVi LAN controller (it's in the chipset), the audio controller as well as the integrated GPU on the processor among a couple of other options. 

Inside the power section, we are able to adjust many power related items such as power on by keyboard or mouse, and how the power button is to behave. Setting an alarm to resume is also possible through this section. 

Our last image of the BIOS is a snapshot of the Smart Fan5 section. Here users are able to control fans attached to the motherboard. Options include the preset speed control curves or create custom curves for each. Users are able to interchange fan headers to reflect different thermal sensors at different locations on the motherboard. I was able to control my single Yate Loon 120mm fan without issue through the software. 

Software

Like most any motherboard the AORUS B360 Gaming 3 WIFI includes software stored on a disk designed to improve your experience with the board in general. I have taken a few of these out to discuss below.

The first image is the of the driver disk. The first screen offers users a choice to install the drivers as well as the many applications it includes. Users are able to install the necessary drivers from chipset and Management Engine to the network, audio, and USB drivers. There are also options to install Google Chrome and an included Anti-virus application from this main screen. The rest of the included applications ranging from RAMdisks to USB charging apps, are in the application software section (see gallery). 

The GIGABYTE App Center serves as a central repository, a one-stop location if you will, for any of the GIGABYTE installed applications. It sits in the tray and can be double-clicked to this screen to select the application you would like to use. In this case, we have installed @BIOS, Easy Tune, Game Boost, and RGB Fusion. 

@BIOS is a small footprint Windows-based application to flash the BIOS. It's typically suggested to flash from within the BIOS (Q-Flash), but flashing in windows has seemingly become a bit easier and stable to do so board partners having been adding this in. The application will display information about the flash itself as well as where to update from - either from a file or directly from the GIGABYTE servers. It also allows exporting of BIOS as well. 

GIGABYTE's Easy Tune software is an all-inclusive monitor and editing tool designed to control the system from within Windows. Users are able to switch power modes, overclock (on chipsets which allow it), control power and voltage as well as monitor temperatures and voltages while in windows. 

GIGABYTE's RGB FUsion is the software app used to manipulate the RGB LEDs to your liking. There are several modes to choose from as well as some 'intelligent' modes which are able to sync up with the games, music, or even system temperatures. 

Above we are able to see how the B360 Gaming 3 WIFI has skinned the Realtek audio software. Typically we see it with a white background, but here it has changed and matches the theme of the board with a black/grey background and orange accent colors. 

Board Features

The B360 AORUS Gaming 3 WIFI presents users with an ATX size board that offers users many of the features of the Z370 based chipset, but in its non-overclocking form, and a few extras. The Gaming 3 WIFI includes dual M.2 slots (an x4 and x2), a back panel USB 3.1 Type-A port, as well as the latest Intel CNVi 802.11ac Wi-Fi module which has 802.11ac Wave 2 technology supporting speeds up to 1.73 Gbps. If the included RGB LED illumination isn't enough, there are onboard headers for both regular and digital LED light strips so each LED is addressable for more lighting patterns. Overall the AORUS Gaming 3 WIFI offers users a lot of functionality for the class board it slots into. 

B360 AORUS Gaming 3 WIFI
Warranty Period	3 Years
Product Page	LINK
Price	$120 (Amazon)
Size	ATX
CPU Interface	LGA1151
Chipset	Intel B360
Memory Slots (DDR4)	Two DDR4 Dual Channel Supporting 32GB Up to DDR4 2666
Network Connectivity / Wi-Fi	1 x Intel I219V GbE
Onboard Audio	Realtek ALC892 7.1ch surround
Video Outputs	1 x DVI-D 1 x HDMI (1.4)
PCIe Slots for Graphics (from CPU)	1 x PCIe 3.0
PCIe Slots for Other (from PCH)	N/A
Onboard SATA	6 Ports
Onboard SATA Express	None
Onboard M.2	1 x PCIe 3.0 x4 and SATA modes 1 x PCIe 3.0 x2 and SATA modes
Onboard U.2	None
USB 3.1	1 x Back Panel (Type-A)
USB 3.0	Chipset 1 x Back Panel (Type-C) 2 x Back Panel (Type-A) 2 via Header
USB 2.0	Chipset 4 x Back Panel (Type-A) 2 via Header
Power Connectors	1 x 24-pin ATX 1 x 8-pin CPU
Fan Headers	1 x CPU 1 x Water Cooling CPU 2 x System  1 x System/Water Cooling Pump Header *All fan headers 4-pin Hybrid (PWM and DC)
IO Panel	1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse 1 x DVI-D 1 x HDMI (1.4) 1 x USB 3.1 Type-A port (red) 1 x USB 3.0 Type-C port 2 x USB 3.0 ports 4 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports 1 x RJ-45 6 x Audio jacks

We've also included an image of the block diagram showing the internal workings of the motherboard. 

Test Bed

As per our testing policy, we take a high-end CPU suitable for the motherboard that was released during the socket’s initial launch and equip the system with a suitable amount of memory running at the processor maximum supported frequency. This is also typically run at JEDEC sub timings where possible. It is noted that some users are not keen on this policy, stating that sometimes the maximum supported frequency is quite low, or faster memory is available at a similar price, or that the JEDEC speeds can be prohibitive for performance. While these comments make sense, ultimately very few users apply memory profiles (either XMP or other) as they require interaction with the BIOS, and most users will fall back on JEDEC supported speeds - this includes home users as well as industry who might want to shave off a cent or two from the cost or stay within the margins set by the manufacturer. Where possible, we will extend our testing to include faster memory modules either at the same time as the review or a later date.

Readers of our motherboard review section will have noted the trend in modern motherboards to implement a form of MultiCore Enhancement / Acceleration / Turbo (read our report here) on their motherboards. This does several things, including better benchmark results at stock settings (not entirely needed if overclocking is an end-user goal) at the expense of heat and temperature. It also gives, in essence, an automatic overclock which may be against what the user wants. Our testing methodology is ‘out-of-the-box’, with the latest public BIOS installed and XMP enabled, and thus subject to the whims of this feature. It is ultimately up to the motherboard manufacturer to take this risk – and manufacturers taking risks in the setup is something they do on every product (think C-state settings, USB priority, DPC Latency/monitoring priority, overriding memory sub-timings at JEDEC). Processor speed change is part of that risk, and ultimately if no overclocking is planned, some motherboards will affect how fast that shiny new processor goes and can be an important factor in the system build.

Test Setup
Processor	Intel i7 8700K (6C/12T, 3.7G, 95W)
Motherboard	GIGABYTE B360 AORUS Gaming 3 WIFI (BIOS F4)
Cooling	Corsair H115i
Power Supply	Corsair HX750
Memory	Corsair Vengeance LPX 4x8GB DDR4 2666 CL16 Corsair Vengeance 4x4GB DDR4 3200 CL16 (used in 2x 4/8GB capacity on dual Channel Platform)
Memory Settings	DDR4 2666 CL16-18-18-35 2T
Video Cards	ASUS Strix GTX 980
Hard Drive	Crucial MX300 1TB
Optical Drive	TSST TS-H653G
Case	Open Test Bed
Operating System	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

Many thanks to...

We must thank the following companies for kindly providing hardware for our multiple test beds. Some of this hardware is not in this testbed specifically but is used in other testing.

Thank you to ASUS for providing us with GTX 980 Strix GPUs. At the time of release, the STRIX brand from ASUS was aimed at silent running, or to use the marketing term: '0dB Silent Gaming'. This enables the card to disable the fans when the GPU is dealing with low loads well within temperature specifications. These cards equip the GTX 980 silicon with ASUS' Direct CU II cooler and 10-phase digital VRMs, aimed at high-efficiency conversion. Along with the card, ASUS bundles GPU Tweak software for overclocking and streaming assistance.

The GTX 980 uses NVIDIA's GM204 silicon die, built upon their Maxwell architecture. This die is 5.2 billion transistors for a die size of 298 mm², built on TMSC's 28nm process. A GTX 980 uses the full GM204 core, with 2048 CUDA Cores and 64 ROPs with a 256-bit memory bus to GDDR5. The official power rating for the GTX 980 is 165W.

The ASUS GTX 980 Strix 4GB (or the full name of STRIX-GTX980-DC2OC-4GD5) runs a reasonable overclock over a reference GTX 980 card, with frequencies in the range of 1178-1279 MHz. The memory runs at stock, in this case, 7010 MHz. Video outputs include three DisplayPort connectors, one HDMI 2.0 connector, and a DVI-I.

Further Reading: AnandTech's NVIDIA GTX 980 Review

 

Thank you to Crucial for providing us with MX300 SSDs. Crucial stepped up to the plate as our benchmark list grows larger with newer benchmarks and titles, and the 1TB MX300 units are strong performers. Based on Marvell's 88SS1074 controller and using Micron's 384Gbit 32-layer 3D TLC NAND, these are 7mm high, 2.5-inch drives rated for 92K random read IOPS and 530/510 MB/s sequential read and write speeds.

The 1TB models we are using here support TCG Opal 2.0 and IEEE-1667 (eDrive) encryption and have a 360TB rated endurance with a three-year warranty.

Further Reading: AnandTech's Crucial MX300 (750 GB) Review

 

Thank you to Corsair for providing us with Vengeance LPX DDR4 Memory, HX750 Power Supply, and H115i CPU Cooler. 

Corsair kindly sent a 4x8GB DDR4 2666 set of their Vengeance LPX low profile, high-performance memory for our stock testing. The heatsink is made of pure aluminum to help remove heat from the sticks and has an eight-layer PCB. The heatsink is a low profile design to help fit in spaces where there may not be room for a tall heat spreader; think a SFF case or using a large heatsink. Timings on this specific set come in at 16-18-18-35. The Vengeance LPX line supports XMP 2.0 profiles for easily setting the speed and timings. It also comes with a limited lifetime warranty. 

Powering the test system is Corsair's HX750 Power Supply. This HX750 is a dual mode unit able to switch from a single 12V rail (62.5A/750W) to a five rail CPU (40A max ea.) and is also fully modular. It has a typical selection of connectors, including dual EPS 4+4 pin four PCIe connectors and a whopping 16 SATA power leads, as well as four 4-pin Molex connectors.

The 135mm fluid dynamic bearing fan remains off until it is 40% loaded offering complete silence in light workloads. The HX750 comes with a ten-year warranty. 

In order to cool these CPUs, Corsair sent over its latest and largest AIO in the H115i. This closed-loop system uses a 280mm radiator with 2x140mm SP140L PWM controlled fans. The pump/block combination mounts to all modern CPU sockets. Users are also able to integrate this cooler into the Corsair link software via USB for more control and options. 

System Performance

Not all motherboards are created equal. On the face of it, they should all perform the same and differ only in the functionality they provide - however, this is not the case. The obvious pointers are power consumption, but also the ability for the manufacturer to optimize USB speed, audio quality (based on audio codec), POST time and latency. This can come down to manufacturing process and prowess, so these are tested.

Power Consumption

Power consumption was tested on the system while in a single GPU configuration with a wall meter connected to the Corsair HX 750 power supply. This power supply is Platinum rated. As I am in the US on a 120 V supply, leads to ~87% efficiency > 75W, and 92%+ efficiency at 375W, suitable for both idle and multi-GPU loading. This method of power reading allows us to compare the power management of the UEFI and the board to supply components with power under load, and includes typical PSU losses due to efficiency. These are the real world values that consumers may expect from a typical system (minus the monitor) using this motherboard.

While this method for power measurement may not be ideal, and you feel these numbers are not representative due to the high wattage power supply being used (we use the same PSU to remain consistent over a series of reviews, and the fact that some boards on our test bed get tested with three or four high powered GPUs), the important point to take away is the relationship between the numbers. These boards are all under the same conditions, and thus the differences between them should be easy to spot.

Our Power Consumption tests show the GIGABYTE B360 Gaming 3 Wi-Fi taking at the top of our charts on power use. In both idle states as well as our load testing, it managed to use the least amount of power of the tested systems so far with 37W/41W in the idle testing, and 118W in load testing. The load testing shows a difference of nearly 20W from the first Z370 based board, and 1W less than the H370N WIFI. 

Non-UEFI POST Time

Different motherboards have different POST sequences before an operating system is initialized. A lot of this is dependent on the board itself, and POST boot time is determined by the controllers on board (and the sequence of how those extras are organized). As part of our testing, we look at the POST Boot Time using a stopwatch. This is the time from pressing the ON button on the computer to when Windows 10 starts loading. (We discount Windows loading as it is highly variable given Windows specific features.

POST times on this board also managed to break new records in our testing with a POST time of 18.4 seconds. When we disabled additional controllers and such, that dropped about a half second. Otherwise, its fairly close set of results in the top half with three seconds separating most of the boards. We do have some outliers in the NZXT and SuperO boards taking 30 seconds or more to boot. 

DPC Latency

Deferred Procedure Call latency is a way in which Windows handles interrupt servicing. In order to wait for a processor to acknowledge the request, the system will queue all interrupt requests by priority. Critical interrupts will be handled as soon as possible, whereas lesser priority requests such as audio will be further down the line. If the audio device requires data, it will have to wait until the request is processed before the buffer is filled.

If the device drivers of higher priority components in a system are poorly implemented, this can cause delays in request scheduling and process time. This can lead to an empty audio buffer and characteristic audible pauses, pops and clicks. The DPC latency checker measures how much time is taken processing DPCs from driver invocation. The lower the value will result in better audio transfer at smaller buffer sizes. Results are measured in microseconds. 

Our DPC latency results for the AORUS B360 Gaming 3 WIFI reached 357µs which is the slowest result so far. The rule of thumb here is anything under 300µs should allow for smooth audio, but it does not sneak in under that value. Try as I may, I did not hear any audio drops or losses with this result. 

CPU Performance, Short Form

For our motherboard reviews, we use our short form testing method. These tests usually focus on if a motherboard is using MultiCore Turbo (the feature used to have maximum turbo on at all times, giving a frequency advantage), or if there are slight gains to be had from tweaking the firmware. We leave the BIOS settings at default and memory at JEDEC for the supported frequency of the processor for these tests, making it very easy to see which motherboards have MCT enabled by default.

Rendering - Blender 2.78: link

For a render that has been around for what seems like ages, Blender is still a highly popular tool. We managed to wrap up a standard workload into the February 5 nightly build of Blender and measure the time it takes to render the first frame of the scene. Being one of the bigger open source tools out there, it means both AMD and Intel work actively to help improve the codebase, for better or for worse on their own/each other's microarchitecture.

The H370N WIFI completed the Blender benchmark in 312 seconds. This result is a bit slower than the main grouping by a couple seconds. The range of results spans a range of around 4% from the fastest to slowest with the majority of results hovering around the 306s median. 

Rendering – POV-Ray 3.7: link

The Persistence of Vision Ray Tracer, or POV-Ray, is a freeware package for as the name suggests, ray tracing. It is a pure renderer, rather than modeling software, but the latest beta version contains a handy benchmark for stressing all processing threads on a platform. We have been using this test in motherboard reviews to test memory stability at various CPU speeds to good effect – if it passes the test, the IMC in the CPU is stable for a given CPU speed. As a CPU test, it runs for approximately 1-2 minutes on high-end platforms.

POV-Ray results show the Mini-ITX board hanging with the pack in this thread heavy benchmark. All boards ran the benchmark at the same clock speed of 4.3 GHz. This particular group of results is very tight with around a 1% difference (margin of error) separating the meat of the results. 

Compression – WinRAR 5.4: link

Our WinRAR test from 2013 is updated to the latest version of WinRAR at the start of 2014. We compress a set of 2867 files across 320 folders totaling 1.52 GB in size – 95% of these files are small typical website files, and the rest (90% of the size) are small 30-second 720p videos.

The WinRAR results show our little board completing this test in 44 seconds. This result is slowest we have seen, by almost 10%. All clocks and speeds were the same and we did not see any throttling listed through a sanity check. 

Synthetic – 7-Zip 9.2: link

As an open source compression tool, 7-Zip is a popular tool for making sets of files easier to handle and transfer. The software offers up its own benchmark, to which we report the result.

For encoding in 7-Zip, the B360 Gaming 3 WIFI scored 38574 mixing right in with the rest of the results. 

Point Calculations – 3D Movement Algorithm Test: link

3DPM is a self-penned benchmark, taking basic 3D movement algorithms used in Brownian Motion simulations and testing them for speed. High floating point performance, MHz, and IPC win in the single thread version, whereas the multithread version has to handle the threads and loves more cores. For a brief explanation of the platform agnostic coding behind this benchmark, see my forum post here.

In 3DPM2.1, The B360 reached 1812 Mop/s. This result, the lowest so far, is within the margin of error for results as it is around 1% behind the 2nd place result. The CPUs all ran the same speeds in this test, so again we see a margin of error size differences between our datasets so far. 

Neuron Simulation - DigiCortex v1.20: link

The newest benchmark in our suite is DigiCortex, a simulation of biologically plausible neural network circuits, and simulates activity of neurons and synapses. DigiCortex relies heavily on a mix of DRAM speed and computational throughput, indicating that systems which apply memory profiles properly should benefit and those that play fast and loose with overclocking settings might get some extra speed up. Results are taken during the steady state period in a 32k neuron simulation and represented as a function of the ability to simulate in real time (1.000x equals real-time).

Our DigiCortex results show the B360 offering mixing in seamlessly with the rest of the results. Nothing anomalous here. 

Gaming Performance

AoTS Escalation

Ashes of the Singularity is a Real Time Strategy game developed by Oxide Games and Stardock Entertainment. The original AoTS was released back in March of 2016 while the standalone expansion pack, Escalation, was released in November of 2016 adding more structures, maps, and units. We use this specific benchmark as it relies on both a good GPU as well as on the CPU in order to get the most frames per second. This balance is able to better display any system differences in gaming as opposed to a more GPU heavy title where the CPU and system don't matter quite as much. We use the default "Crazy" in-game settings using the DX11 rendering path in both 1080p and 4K UHD resolutions. The benchmark is run four times and the results averaged then plugged into the graph. 

For the AOTSe results in 1080p, the B360 board ran with an average of 43 FPS. This result places it among its peers within about 1 FPS from most results in a pretty tight group. 4K UHD results placed the board right in the middle of the pack. Nothing is out of place here. 

Rise of the Tomb Raider

Rise of the Tomb Raider is a third-person action-adventure game that features similar gameplay found in 2013's Tomb Raider. Players control Lara Croft through various environments, battling enemies, and completing puzzle platforming sections, while using improvised weapons and gadgets in order to progress through the story.

One of the unique aspects of this benchmark is that it’s actually the average of 3 sub-benchmarks that fly through different environments, which keeps the benchmark from being too weighted towards a GPU’s performance characteristics under any one scene.

The Rise of the Tomb Raider results has the B360 Gaming 3 WIFI producing 36.8 FPS in the 4K UHD testing and 88.1 at 1080p. The 1080p result is a couple of FPS behind the group, like the H370N, similar to how our WinRAR testing was slow. This means that the benchmark is likely affected by a memory issue, which we've only see on on some GIGABYTE boards so far.

Conclusion

For users who are not looking into paying the premium for a K-series unlocked processor, or a Z370 based motherboard, the B360 chipset offers that opportunity to get into the platform at a lower price point. The GIGABYTE B360 Gaming 3 WIFI at $120 presents users with most all the connectivity a user may need while being able to save a few dollars. When buying, think critically about the chances of overclocking in the future or another CPU and/or motherboard will have to be purchased. If never overclocking is the answer, in the end, this chipset can provide a board for your needs. 

Many of the features of the "Z" motherboards carry over here to the B360 Gaming 3 WIFI, with a couple of extra ones as well. The board has the full complement of six SATA ports and also has two M.2 slots (one w/heatsink) that support both PCIe and SATA modules for a fast storage and mass storage needs. There is a 5-pin Thunderbolt header on the board for TB3 support, an audio separation line, and audio caps, as well as a reinforced PCIe slot. If RGB lighting is your thing, we saw the two locations as well as multiple RGB LED (including digital) headers on board for expansion. The board also includes a single USB 3.1 (Type-A) port out back. 

The unique feature, compared to Z370, is the integrated Intel CNVi Wi-Fi on board. These new chipsets (H370, B360, H310, Q370) all have the CNVi Wi-Fi built right into the chipset. This means there are no third party controllers needed. When bundled with a companion CRF module (which has an estimated $15 extra final cost), the device attaches to the M.2 slot between the top and 2nd full-length PCIe slots. The Wi-Fi is 802.11ac supports Wave 2 and runs at 160 Hz which yields a maximum bandwidth of 1.73 Gbps. Most Z370 boards do not support that speed out of their integrated Wi-Fi, and none have it integrated on the chipset. With this comes a higher level of Bluetooth support (Bluetooth 5.0). 

After looking over the board, there really wasn't much to complain about. I have some preferences of what I would like to see, but I am reminded this is a B series board, not intended to carry everything over from the more expensive platform. With that in mind, I still would have liked to see a hinged heatsink on the M.2 module. As it stands now, it is screwed down at the end and at the base is a tab that slips out easily when not screwed down. I would also prefer the SATA ports all oriented in the same direction since it has the real estate, but, then again, this may be my OCD kicking in. There's also the use of the cheaper Realtek ALC892 codec, which is a factor of a cheaper motherboard.

When talking performance, the motherboard performed admirably, but not impressively. Its results were in the range of others, but never leading, except for power consumption, and sometimes going behind, such as in WinRAR or in DPC Latency. 

In the end, the B360 AORUS Gaming 3 WIFI has the vast majority of features many PC users need. Whether it is for gaming or office work and productivity, the board offers users lightning-fast Wi-Fi capabilities, USB 3.1 port, as well as dual M.2 slots for storage purposes. About the only thing it can't do is overclock, which is to be expected on this chipset. 

The board's direct competition from a price perspective is the ASRock B360 Gaming K4 ($118), ASUS ROG Strix B360-H Gaming ($115), and an MSI B360 Gaming Arctic ($125). Less than $10 separates these boards from each other price wise, with the main differences found in SATA port and M.2 socket counts, PCIe x1 slots as well as video outputs and USB support. Obviously, there are design aesthetics that can sway a decision one way or another, but that is about the gist of it. GIGABYTE  has brought forth a solid board with a lot of features at a reasonable price with which to build a system around.

AnandTech Intel 300-Series Motherboard and CPU Coverage

• The Intel Core i7-8086K Review: Testing Intel's Anniversary 5.0 GHz Turbo CPU
• The Anandtech Coffee Lake Review: Initial Numbers on the Core i7-8700K and Core i5-8400
• Analyzing Z370 for Intel's 8th Generation Coffee Lake: A Quick Look at 50+ Motherboards
   
• ($397) The ASUS ROG Maximus X Apex Review [LINK]
• ($250) The NZXT N7 Z370 Review [LINK]
• ($191) The SuperO C7Z370-CG-IW Review [LINK]
• ($180) The ASUS Z370-I Gaming Review [LINK]
• ($124) The GIGABYTE H370N WIFI Review [LINK]
• ($120) The GIGABYTE B360 Gaming 3 WIFI Review (this review)