So... It's not very good? Power delivery being overloaded by a "95 watt" CPU is not a good sign. Everyone knows that Intel's TDPs are by and large arbitrary numbers, especially motherboard engineers. Although, I guess, same as you do, that this will not be paired with higher-end CPUs and neither will they be pushed to the limits. Still, a poor effort in my mind, especially for a B-series motherboard.
I'm thinking the 8700k is an outlier CPU in this motherboard under those particular workload conditions would be unusual. It's likely any of the non-K i5 and i3 processors equipped with a retail boxed cooler wouldn't exhibit the same problems when fully loaded. They're far more likely candidates for a motherboard in this price range anyway.
Yeah, it the board should handle the workload better given its rated for a 95W chip, but it doesn't make a lot of sense to cheap out on the motherboard when trying to squeeze everything you can out of a K CPU.
This makes me wonder how well it would do with an 8600 non-k. It's a little silly to get a Z3x0 overclocking chipset for a locked processor, so a B360 like this would have been worth considering.
*To configure 7.1 CH HD Audio, it is required to use an HD front panel audio module and enable the multi-channel audio feature through the audio driver.
The jacks have 2 poles, so you get 4 channels from front panel.
What I found funny about this chip is that it can sound extremely horrible, and also very good. A lot depends on how the manufacturer decided to implement the chip on the board and with what components. Since they usually end up in very cheap boards, not a lot attention is given so most people think they sound bad. Rightfully so, if you hear bad sound, it's probably bad. But then on other boards with the same chip, it can sound really nice.
Now I'm not saying this is a great chip, it's average at best and that's all it ever will be. But how it's implemented on a board, defenitly makes a difference in the end result that you get to hear.
The audio codec kills the board as an option for me. I'm looking to build an i5-8400 replacement for my FT03-mini still running an H87 Xeon V3 board. Basically I'd like NVMe M.2, native USB 3.1, and modern PCIe.
But since ITX boards naturally only have ONE PCIe slot, every other component needs to be future-proof. The ALC 887 IS NOT future-proof. It's a terrible codec by modern standards. The SNR isn't competitive no matter how it is implemented.
The fact it struggled with a 95w CPU isn't all that surprising, but follows the theme of corner-cutting through this boards development. This would be a good board for $50-$60, because it's obviously the worst ITX board you can buy for Coffee Lake. At it's current price it's a no-brainer to just buy the ASUS for $20 more...
Why would you want RGB? Stop with the RGB, the only thing that it makes sense for is a keyboard for typing in the dark, first thing I did with my case fans was disable the lighting.
You know, I actually use motherboard RGB as a power-on LED. The LED on the chassis is too bright, so I disconnected it, turned the motherboard lighting on only when running and voila - the soft glow emanating from the chassis vents indicates the computer is running.
That works around one overly bright light. If you want to do something about collectively excessive lighting, take a look at LightDims. I've put most of a sheet to good use taking back excessive lighting from my computer area. By themselves virtually none of the assorted status lights were excessive; collectively they formed an obnoxiously bright night light. After putting films over almost all of them (a few actually had reasonably low brightness levels and didn't need any dimming) I still have the status lights available when needed; but it's no longer lit up at night like an overly bright night light or two would leave the area; my before illumination levels from all the status lights were at the point I was starting to be able to see colors not just furniture/etc as needed for safe navigation.
I'm no fan of RGB lighting either, but I don't think Joe is advocating for or against RGB in the article. He points out the fact that it isn't present and there are no headers for it in an effort to cover the board's features (or lack thereof) in a complete manner.
Looks like the board works great for gaming - or am I missing something? I would pair it with a non-K cpu and a 1070 ti mini. That would make a great mini gaming rig.
A lack of headroom power-wise could spell problems if the components degrade over time (and they may be more likely to do so if they are already running close to the limit).
It might be more likely than you think given that e.g. AV1 codec is coming out, and this CPU will have to use software decode on such videos because there's no hardware decode block yet. Naturally these make heavy use of AVX/AVX2 instructions (or SS[S]E2/3/4 if those are lacking).
Then again, if you do run into an issue you could just buy a new sub-$100 motherboard at that point.
For a moment, albeit a very brief one, I thought this was a review of a motherboard for AMD Ryzen processors, but of course those reviews are few and far between here on Anandtech. Silly me.
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katsetus - Monday, September 17, 2018 - link
So... It's not very good?Power delivery being overloaded by a "95 watt" CPU is not a good sign. Everyone knows that Intel's TDPs are by and large arbitrary numbers, especially motherboard engineers.
Although, I guess, same as you do, that this will not be paired with higher-end CPUs and neither will they be pushed to the limits. Still, a poor effort in my mind, especially for a B-series motherboard.
PeachNCream - Tuesday, September 18, 2018 - link
I'm thinking the 8700k is an outlier CPU in this motherboard under those particular workload conditions would be unusual. It's likely any of the non-K i5 and i3 processors equipped with a retail boxed cooler wouldn't exhibit the same problems when fully loaded. They're far more likely candidates for a motherboard in this price range anyway.Yeah, it the board should handle the workload better given its rated for a 95W chip, but it doesn't make a lot of sense to cheap out on the motherboard when trying to squeeze everything you can out of a K CPU.
Mr Perfect - Wednesday, September 19, 2018 - link
This makes me wonder how well it would do with an 8600 non-k. It's a little silly to get a Z3x0 overclocking chipset for a locked processor, so a B360 like this would have been worth considering.Yaldabaoth - Monday, September 17, 2018 - link
Page 8: " On the audio side of things, the Realtek ALC887 codec is used and supports 7.1ch surround. "Please educate me. How can this board support that with the audio I/O it provides? Doesn't it need more, or am I that behind the times?
katsetus - Monday, September 17, 2018 - link
*To configure 7.1 CH HD Audio, it is required to use an HD front panel audio module and enable the multi-channel audio feature through the audio driver.The jacks have 2 poles, so you get 4 channels from front panel.
Also a fun fact: ALC887 is now over 10 years old.
Yaldabaoth - Monday, September 17, 2018 - link
Thanks for that insight!kmi187 - Monday, September 17, 2018 - link
What I found funny about this chip is that it can sound extremely horrible, and also very good. A lot depends on how the manufacturer decided to implement the chip on the board and with what components. Since they usually end up in very cheap boards, not a lot attention is given so most people think they sound bad. Rightfully so, if you hear bad sound, it's probably bad. But then on other boards with the same chip, it can sound really nice.Now I'm not saying this is a great chip, it's average at best and that's all it ever will be. But how it's implemented on a board, defenitly makes a difference in the end result that you get to hear.
bigpondsupport - Tuesday, September 18, 2018 - link
For more details http://bigpondsupporthelp.strikingly.com/Samus - Monday, September 17, 2018 - link
The audio codec kills the board as an option for me. I'm looking to build an i5-8400 replacement for my FT03-mini still running an H87 Xeon V3 board. Basically I'd like NVMe M.2, native USB 3.1, and modern PCIe.But since ITX boards naturally only have ONE PCIe slot, every other component needs to be future-proof. The ALC 887 IS NOT future-proof. It's a terrible codec by modern standards. The SNR isn't competitive no matter how it is implemented.
The fact it struggled with a 95w CPU isn't all that surprising, but follows the theme of corner-cutting through this boards development. This would be a good board for $50-$60, because it's obviously the worst ITX board you can buy for Coffee Lake. At it's current price it's a no-brainer to just buy the ASUS for $20 more...
vlado08 - Monday, September 17, 2018 - link
I don't think there is a HDMI 2.0 on this boardHStewart - Monday, September 17, 2018 - link
Look IO Panel on board feature, HDMI 2.0 is stated - assumes that information is correct._Rain - Saturday, September 22, 2018 - link
HDMI is 1.4, but it can output 4K resolution via the DisplayPort 1.2Dionysos1234 - Tuesday, September 18, 2018 - link
Reading the comments is more useful than the reviewRSAUser - Tuesday, September 18, 2018 - link
Why would you want RGB?Stop with the RGB, the only thing that it makes sense for is a keyboard for typing in the dark, first thing I did with my case fans was disable the lighting.
juhatus - Tuesday, September 18, 2018 - link
Amen to RIP RGB. Motherboard belongs to a dark place that no light shines on.katsetus - Tuesday, September 18, 2018 - link
You know, I actually use motherboard RGB as a power-on LED. The LED on the chassis is too bright, so I disconnected it, turned the motherboard lighting on only when running and voila - the soft glow emanating from the chassis vents indicates the computer is running.DanNeely - Tuesday, September 18, 2018 - link
That works around one overly bright light. If you want to do something about collectively excessive lighting, take a look at LightDims. I've put most of a sheet to good use taking back excessive lighting from my computer area. By themselves virtually none of the assorted status lights were excessive; collectively they formed an obnoxiously bright night light. After putting films over almost all of them (a few actually had reasonably low brightness levels and didn't need any dimming) I still have the status lights available when needed; but it's no longer lit up at night like an overly bright night light or two would leave the area; my before illumination levels from all the status lights were at the point I was starting to be able to see colors not just furniture/etc as needed for safe navigation.PeachNCream - Tuesday, September 18, 2018 - link
I'm no fan of RGB lighting either, but I don't think Joe is advocating for or against RGB in the article. He points out the fact that it isn't present and there are no headers for it in an effort to cover the board's features (or lack thereof) in a complete manner.Flappergast - Tuesday, September 18, 2018 - link
Looks like the board works great for gaming - or am I missing something? I would pair it with a non-K cpu and a 1070 ti mini. That would make a great mini gaming rig.GreenReaper - Tuesday, September 18, 2018 - link
A lack of headroom power-wise could spell problems if the components degrade over time (and they may be more likely to do so if they are already running close to the limit).It might be more likely than you think given that e.g. AV1 codec is coming out, and this CPU will have to use software decode on such videos because there's no hardware decode block yet. Naturally these make heavy use of AVX/AVX2 instructions (or SS[S]E2/3/4 if those are lacking).
Then again, if you do run into an issue you could just buy a new sub-$100 motherboard at that point.
Samus - Tuesday, September 18, 2018 - link
The audio codec is kind of a concern for budget gaming as well. If budget is no issue, well, then an external DAC is fine.azrael- - Friday, September 21, 2018 - link
For a moment, albeit a very brief one, I thought this was a review of a motherboard for AMD Ryzen processors, but of course those reviews are few and far between here on Anandtech. Silly me._Rain - Saturday, September 22, 2018 - link
Correcting mistake in the specs: Onboard SATA does not support any kind of RAID