Boasting socket LGA 1151, B360-F Gaming is designed to work with Intel’s 8th Generation Processors aka Coffee Lake. Covering the VRMs there are two large gunmetal heatsinks and we see full implementation of Digi+. This board utilises a 10+2 digital phase design and there are black solid CAPs used throughout. Up on the top-edge of the motherboard there is a single 8-pin connector for CPU power.
There are a total of six fan headers on B360-F Gaming, with two CPU fan headers near the top of the board and a dedicated AIO_PUMP header near the top PCI Express slot (for use with liquid coolers like the Corsair Hydro Series).
Memory support arrives in the form of dual-channel DDR4 with four DIMM slots – up to 64GB and DDR4 2666/2400/2133MHz.
Immediately next to the memory slots we also have a Q-LED panel which helps to identify problem areas on bootup. There are LEDs for CPU, DRAM, VGA and BOOT.
Next to the 24-pin ATX we get a single USB 3.1 Gen1 header.
Moving along we have the SATA storage which consists of six SATA 6GB/s ports – rather than being stacked, each port is independent.
Behind this storage we have a large heatsink which sits over the B360 chip and bears the STRIX identifier. ROG has also made use of their 3D mounts on this board and we can see them around this lower region. For those with a 3D printer, ROG-specific objects can be mounted to the motherboard, allowing users to customise their system.
In the PCI Express section there is a lot going on – B360-F Gaming supplies us with the follow expansion slots:
2x PCI Express x16 Gen3 (16/4 modes)
4x PCI Express x1
The upper x16 slot also arrives with ASUS ‘SafeSlot’ – metal reinforcement and a wider overall slot allows the graphics card to stablise and is supported.
In between these slots there are two M.2 Type M slots for 2242/2280. The upper slot incorporates a gunmetal ROG cover with thermal strip and is PCI Express 3.0 x2 ready with support for NVMe. The reason we state “cover” rather than heatsink, is that this piece of metal is just a thin piece of steel without any thins and is therefore unlikely to act as a heatsink.
The lower M.2 slot is PCI Express 3.0 x4 ready and unlike the upper slot, supports Intel Optane memory.
Along the bottom of B360-F Gaming we also get a single RGB header (white) for use with RGB lighting strips within your chassis – this makes use of ASUS Aura software.
In the bottom left of the motherboard we have the audio components which are based on SupremeFX S1220A (A modified version of Realtec 1220). Premium Nichicon audio CAPs, dual OP amps, and electromagnetic shielding are also included – of which we’ve experienced on previous STRIX motherboards. This audio solution is one of the strongest you’ll find among vendors.
Usually the rear IO shield on the motherboard is something which is included within the accessories bundle but ROG has pre-mounted the IO shield in a bid to make it easier to install the board inside the chassis and we have to say, it is helpful. On this back panel we get the following connectivity:
1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse combo port(s)
1 x DVI-D
1 x DisplayPort
1 x HDMI
1 x Gigabit LAN (via Intel i219-V controller)
1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 (black)USB Type-CTM,
2 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 (red)Type-A
4 x USB 2.0
1 x Optical S/PDIF out
5 x Audio jack(s)
We’ve seen a few partners include USB 2.0 ports on the back panel of B360 motherboards and this is something we’d prefer to see replaced with USB 3.0 – though we do get a decent selection of ports to choose from.
