Gigabyte Z370N WiFi
Incredible value for money for power users.
At just $239, this Intel Z370 based board includes all of the features of the ASUS boards, and more, at a significantly cheaper price. Gigabyte has really pulled a rabbit out of the hat with this product, making it our pick of the bunch for mini-ITX boards.
Firstly, there’s the fact that it comes with twin HDMI ports, one of which is 2.0, and a DisplayPort output allowing for full 4K at 60Hz regardless of which connection your display prefers. There’s also two M.2 slots, with one cleverly mounted on the rear of the board, doubling up on your super-speed solid-state drives. Four SATA 3 ports are standard for a board of this size, but twin Ethernet certainly is not. There’s even integrated 802.11ac Wi-Fi, a miracle at this price point.
A single PCIe x 16 physical lane will fit even the fastest graphics card, while the dual memory slots can be overclocked up to 4400MHz. Audio is provided by the industry default, Realtek’s ALC1220 codec, along with the extra bells and whistles such as improved amps and capacitors. There’s an SP/ DIF out, and you can even do 7.1 over the 3.5mm jacks — there are five on the rear, with another two available with an HD front panel audio module. It’s obviously Optane ready, being an Intel product, but with twin M.2 connectors we’d suggest filling these first.
Gigabyte has delivered an outstanding product in this board, with more features than most at an extremely pocket-friendly price. If you want to go for the smallest form factor without missing out on features, this is the board for you.