Adding the value oriented Intel B360 Express chipset some six months after the unveiling of Intel Coffee Lake is rather puzzling – especially given the fact that certain component market prices have inflated recently.
However, adding this new chipset to the lineup will be welcome news for those not needing every conceivable feature that Z370 brings to the table and let’s be honest, for many users the average motherboard and its feature list is probably overkill.
In the GIGABYTE B360 AORUS Gaming 3 WiFi we have a decidedly impressive motherboard which will pair up nicely with a non-K variant of the Core i7, Core i5, Core i3. All of the essentials are covered whether we’re looking at SATA storage, dual M.2, PCI Express 3.0 or USB 3.1. Although, one attribute we did expect to see omitted or even less of, was USB 2.0 which comes in the form of four ports on the rear IO panel. By now, even on lower-end boards we expect to see USB 2.0 phased out in favour of USB 3.0/3.1.
As far as the visual appearance goes, Gaming 3 ticks all of the boxes. It brings a level of aggressive styling which gamers tend to desire without being too gaudy. There is also the option to modify the integrated lighting via the BIOS and add in RGB strips to your computer chassis via the two onboard 12v RGB headers.
Overclocking is obviously ruled out for this chipset classification (being reserved for the Z series), so we aren’t able to analyse how well this motherboard tackles a modification to the performance in that regard. However, we were impressed to see solid performance by Gaming 3, when compared to a Z370 motherboard using the same CPU.
At the moment we have no indication of pricing on the Gaming 3 WiFi but expect it to sit at around £100 GBP, $100 USD, $100 AUD. GIGABYTE offer a 2 year warranty with this board.
Looking to save some cash but still want all the features that come with an Intel 8th Generation Processor? The Gaming 3 WiFi is a great option and is worthy of the short list.
Pros
+ Pleasing to the eye
+ Offers 802.11ac WiFi functionality
+ Offers great performance
+ Features twin M.2 slots
+ Good audio solution
+ Feature-packed BIOS
Cons
- No USB 3.1 header
- Still using USB 2.0 ports
+ Pleasing to the eye
+ Offers 802.11ac WiFi functionality
+ Offers great performance
+ Features twin M.2 slots
+ Good audio solution
+ Feature-packed BIOS
Cons
- No USB 3.1 header
- Still using USB 2.0 ports
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