GIGABYTE AORUS GA-AX370-Gaming 5 Review

👤by Tony Le Bourne Comments 📅19-03-17
Conclusion

GIGABYTE have provided enthusiasts and gamers with one hell of a motherboard to support the latest CPUs from AMD. Those in the AMD camp have been stuck with the 990FX motherboards for so long that contemporary motherboards almost look beautifully alien. What's with all the metal and shiny lighting. The AORUS AX370-Gaming 5 picks up two swords by doubling up on many of its features, including the BIOS, audio codecs, and network options. There are a host of advanced control features ranging from performance related sensors, to aesthetic customisations all tied together by GIGABYTES APP Center software. There are some discrepancies noted in the performances between the PRIME X370 and the AX370-Gaming 5, and the truth is, these differences in performance are likely due to BIOS updates since the time of testing and there has been 2 BIOS updates for the Gaming 5 since initial testing, with the most recent being a few days ago (at time of writing).



GIGABYTE make no mistake in providing people with the full X370 experience, including a selection of all the cutting edge storage connectivity. This includes: M.2, NVMe U.2, and SATA Express. So users can find comfort in knowing that this motherboard will support the latest and fastest storage solutions available.

Overclocking with AMD Ryzen is a rather simple affair, more so due to the fact that the baseclock is locked on the AX370-Gaming 5 board. This doesn't appear to be too much of a problem however due to the x0.25 steps allowing for fine tuning of the CPU core frequency. We were able to boot in with the 1800X at 4.15GHz, however due to the high voltage required to run stable, we would only recommend this for those with capable coolers, or those that are watercooling (custom loops, not AIO). We did get a comfortable 4.05GHz stable on reasonable cooling/temperatures, meaning that this board is very capable of delivering competent headroom for the enthusiasts looking to get the most performance out of their system.

Of All the features the AX370-Gaming 5 motherboard offers, it lacks a front panel 3.1 Gen 2 header. I think many people would be happy to have an additional pair of USB 3.1 Gen 1 (OMG can we go back to just saying USB 3.0) on the rear IO, moving a pair of USB 3.1 Gen 2 to the front, this would give better chassis compatibility, as well as removing that huge cluster of pins which are renowned for being remarkably fragile.

Overall, the Aorus AX370-Gaming 5 is a highly competitive, feature rich board that matches, or even exceeds the feature set of similarly priced Intel boards (only the super high end Z270 motherboards feature SATA Express AND NVMe U.2), fitting in nicely as an upper mid/premium X370 motherboard. The host of internal expansions make the AX370-Gaming 5 a perfect match the Gamer, the Power User, and the watercooler, yet comes in a little cheaper than alternative similarly specced motherboards.

The AORUS AX370-Gaming 5 motherboard shows what the full unadulterated X370 experience is all about. There is an abundance of connectivity and storage options, custom lighting effects, and a near endless list of GIGABYTE exclusive technologies. If there is anything else you can think of that will make a motherboard better, GIGABYTE has added two of them.

Pros
+ Attractive design
+ Customisable RGB LED lighting (can be controlled via mobile app)
+ Excellent performance
+ 8x 4pin hybrid fan headers (including 2x 24W support)
+ Features SATA Express, M.2, and NVMe U.2
+ 10x USB 3.1 ports (including 4x 3.1 Gen 2)
+ Dual ALC 1220 supported by premium Creative technologies
+ Dual Network (Killer E2500 + Intel)
+ DualBIOS
+ Dual Armor DIMM and PCIe Metal Shielding
+ Onboard buttons/controls/indicators
+ Capable overclocker
+ Features onboard pins for an additional RGBW LED strip
+ HDMI 1.4b, (meaning that this is a top tier motherboard that will support the use of an A-Series APU)

Cons
- No front panel USB 3.1 Gen 2 connector
- M.2/U.2 share PCIe lanes (meaning only one can be used at a time)
- Locked Base clock

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