BIOSTAR Racing Z370GT6 LGA1151 Motherboard Review

Intel S1151 by stefan @ 2018-04-22

With the Z370GT6 LGA1151 board for the newest Coffee Lake Intel processors, BIOSTAR ticks the necessary boxes by including decent overclocking capabilities, a refreshed Racing theme and UEFI interface, but also an easy to use Windows utility. The M.2 slots do support Intel Optane Techology and for the secondary slot the manufacturer has also included a cooling heatsink. The board performance is in-line with the other Z370 models we have tested in the past, which have the latest Intel BIOS fixes applied.

Introduction

 

 

At first we would like to thank BIOSTAR for offering their RACING Z370GT6 LGA1151 Motherboard for testing and reviewing.

 

 

 

About BIOSTAR:

 

“In 1980, the IT industry was growing at a phenomenal rate. With wide experience in buying and selling electronic parts as well as researching on future demands for mainboards and add-on cards , the founder of BIOSTAR GROUP, established BIOSTAR MICROTECH INTERNATIONAL CORP in 1986.

 

In the early years, BIOSTAR concentrated on the manufacture of mainboards built for XT form factor. To maintain steady business growth, BIOSTAR managed to keep a large portion of its capital and manpower invested on the design and development of new products, which at the same time has enabled it to stay competitive in the rapid evolution of the computer industry.

 

BIOSTAR has enriched its competence in the design and manufacture of products such as add-on cards, multi-media and system products to develop the market and meet the demands of customers for more integrated solutions. In order to expand its capacity to meet customer demand globally, BIOSTAR was the first to establish a manufacturing facility in China in 1990. In 1998, its sales revenues exceeded US$130 million and it ranked 227th among the top 1000 enterprises in Taiwan. Furthermore, BIOSTAR obtained an ISO 9001 certification in 1999 and became a publicly listed company in the same year. BIOSTAR’s future has limitless possibilities.”

 

Product Features Part I

Splendid RACING Style

 

Golden Generation of RGB

 

Gold RACING Armor

I/O Armor strongly protects I/O interfaces and components from static electricity.

Gold Tattoo R

The classic “R” sign on the heatsink shows the strongest spirit of RACING Series.

Gold PCB Treatment

The 3rd-gen RACING Z370 motherboards ascend to a higher level of luxury and fashion for your gaming world!

RGB Rainbow Lighting Effect

10 flashing modes for RGB lighting effect bring you more customization fun.

 

Advanced VIVID LED DJ

 

LED enthusiasts can create their exclusive RACING system to show strong personal style by new VIVID LED DJ with more customizability and options to control three RGB LED lighting zones independently, including audio area and 5050 LED FUN ZONE with two LED headers. Users can control color, speed and brightness via 10 different flashing modes with ease. The advanced VIVID LED DJ utility boasts more possibilities for users to create unlimited creativity with 5050 LED FUN ZONE, which comes with dual RGB LED header configured to install different LED products.

 

Lighting Control

 

Let's party with BIOSTAR VIVID LED DJ!

 

A.I FAN

 

PC enthusiasts can make sure that their gaming system can maintain its best performance while full-load operation and immersive gaming. According to different cooling needs and usage scenarios, users can control speed modes from Quiet to Full On. The new intuitive and easy-to-use A.I FAN utility smartly allows users to have more customizability of fan modes and automatically detects different temperatures to make fan operate at defined speed for optimal cooling performance. Furthermore, hybrid fan headers with A.I FAN UI support both PWM and DC fans for more cooling options.

 

Intuitive RACING BIOS Utility

 

Advanced VIVID LED DJ and A.I FAN utilities are integrated into the completely new 3rd-gen RACING Series BIOS interface to meet different user needs and usage scenarios. The new BIOS UI boasts much more simply intuitive interface designs and system information bar to show instant computing states clearly. Users can adjust settings without having to load Windows.

 

M.2 Cooling Protection

 

RACING Z370GT6 boasts dual M.2 slots and one gold M.2 heatsink featuring ultra-high cooling efficiency to protect the M.2 connector area and the chipset area from thermal problems and extend the M.2 lifespan for long-term and stable operation.

 

5050 LED FUN ZONE

 

The 5050 LED FUN ZONE comes with two 5050 LED headers to bring more colorful lighting options to DIY lovers. RGB enthusiasts can fully enjoy DIY fun of creating their own systems with uniquely and strongly personal style with LED strip, RGB fan or any kind of LED product to adjust system color scheme by Advanced VIVID LED DJ utility. VIVID LED DJ fun, Vivid LED lighting style!

 

Intel Optane Memory Support

 

BIOSTAR 3rd-gen RACING Series motherboards all support Intel Optane memory technology to refresh the performance of your PC. Intel Optane memory can accelerate traditional storage devices to reduce boot times and improve the overall performance, like a brand-new system. This revolutionary memory technology transforms your old PC to a performance monster without expensive SSD.

 

Super Sound

 

Hi-Fi Ground Zone design for exceptional audio experience

 

Double Hi-Fi

 

Unlike the previous design thinking, once again BIOSTAR first to embed "Double Hi-Fi" AMP IC, in addition to retaining the exclusive Hi-Fi high-quality without change. "Double Hi-Fi" has brand new features with plug-and-play headphone to enjoy the same quality of sound; whether the sound source output set in the front or rear can have both high-quality Hi-Fi sound.

 

Blu-ray Audio

 

Upgrading your Audio performance in the easiest way is choosing BIOSTAR ultimate Motherboard. It does support Blu-ray audio DRM (compatible driver/software) and provide the higher audio output of 24 bit/ 192KHz than the 16 bit/ 48KHz from the normal MB. You will experience the high quality sound effect with pure Blu-Ray Audio.

 

Hi-Fi Power

 

Audio power is an important factor in audio quality. Most AV equipment isolates the power supply for each analog and digital signal to gather high-quality sound reproduction. Equipped with BIOSTAR Hi-Fi Power technology, it will utilize audio components with independent power design for a significant reduction in electronic noise and superb sound quality.

 

Hi-Fi Ground

 

BIOSTAR Hi-Fi Ground ( Golden Line ) is noise-blocking multi-layer PCB design to isolates analog audio signals from digital sources. Unique PCB layout is ideal for exceptional clarity and high fidelity sound.

 

Hi-Fi Sound

 

BIOSTAR Hi-Fi series motherboards have a sampling rate of 192kHz/24-bit which delivers a high quality audio through an analog connection to your home theater system, multi-channel speakers and high-end headphone. You can enjoy real Blu-ray grade high-definition sound that you’ve never experienced before.

 

Hi-Fi AMP

 

The built-in amplifier can drive major high-end headphones with over 100dB loads and offer wide bandwidth, low noise, high slew rate and low distortion audio source from front panel I/O. Gaming enthusiasts can enjoy a fuller range of dynamic sound with crisper details and less distortion.

 

Smart Ear

 

Smart EAR is a windows-based audio utility that allows you to easily adjust system volume. With its user-friendly GUI, you can also increase or decrease impedance setting (Low/High Gain) to optimize your headphone performance. You can easily enjoy high-quality and awesome sound.

 

Hi-Fi Resistor

 

Metal-oxide film resistors are made of metal oxides such as tin oxide. The electric characteristics are greater stability and reliability than regular metal film resistors when operating in an extremely broad working temperature range. This special component is used in applications with high endurance audio demands.

 

Hi-Fi Cap

 

BIOSTAR motherboards come with high quality ‘Non-Polarized Electrolysis Electric audio capacitors’ for each audio channel circuit. The customized audio capacitors deliver low noise, low distortion, and wide bandwidth to achieve the highest sound resolution and sound expansion. The critical component will ensure the most realistic sound effects to gaming enthusiasts.

 

Hi Fi 120dB

 

Embrace exceptional sound quality for the win with 120dB SNR and stylish and efficient EMI shield blocks electromagnetic interference to help provide cleaner audio. It has achieved a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 120dB, yielding almost loss-less audio form rear audio connectors.

 

HDMI 4K2K

 

The new 4K2K resolution enables high-definition image display with four times the resolution of full HD ,4K2K display is faithfully express bright, highly detailed content that fills the entire screen with lifelike images. Connectivity with PCs via a single HDMI cable for displaying 4K2K data.

 

DVI

 

DVI is better than VGA for LCD displays since it is digital while VGA is analog. For LCD displays, the picture is digitized pixel per pixel. Through DVI, the panel gets data for each pixel, so the picture generated in the Graphics device matches the pixels on the panel itself.

 

DX12

 

DirectX 12 introduces the next version of Direct3D, the graphics API at the heart of DirectX. Direct3D is one of the most critical pieces of a game or game engine, and we've redesigned it to be faster and more efficient than ever before. Direct3D 12 enables richer scenes, more objects, and full utilization of modern GPU hardware.

 

ATI CrossFire X™ Technology

 

ATI CrossFireX™ is the ultimate multi-GPU performance gaming platform. With game-dominating power, ATI CrossFireX technology enables two or more discrete graphics processors to work together to improve system performance. It supports up to four ATI Radeon™ HD graphics cards, making it the most scalable gaming platform ever!

 

USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A

 

USB 3.1 Gen 2 is a new standard known as SuperSpeed+, in order to highlight the improvement from USB3.1 Gen 1(SuperSpeed) transmission speed. The new standard doubles data transfer rate from 5Gbps to 10Gbps. It is also backward compatible with existing USB3.0 connectors and all the USB 2.0 devices.

 

PCIe M.2

 

PCIe M.2 32Gb/s is the latest storage interface, it delivers the highest bandwidth and lower latency. It's 3 times faster compared with PCIe M.2 10Gb/s.

 

Product Features Part II

Intel GbE LAN

 

Unlike ordinary LAN solution, Intel® GbE LAN offers fewer CPU resource consumption and more bandwidth stability. Thus, Intel® LAN is the best choice for performance seekers.

 

USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C

 

USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C supports up to 5Gbps data transfer speed. Moreover, it features fool-proof and reversible design more convenient to use.

 

USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A

 

Experience Fastest data transfers at 5 Gbps with USB 3.1 Gen 1--the new latest connectivity standard. Built to connect easily with next-generation components and peripherals, USB 3.1 Gen 1 transfers data 10X faster and backward compatible with previous USB 2.0 components.

 

PCI-E Gen 3.0

 

PCI-E 3.0 is the next evolution of the ubiquitous and general-purpose PCI Express I/O standard. At 8GT/s bit rate, the interconnect performance bandwidth is doubled over PCI-E 2.0, while preserving compatibility with software and mechanical interfaces.

 

SATAIII 6Gbps

 

SATAIII 6Gbps provides a higher bandwidth to retrieve and transfer HD media. With this super speed data transfer, SATAIII allows an incredible data boost which is 2x faster than the SATA 3G.

 

Super Durable Ferrite Choke

 

Super Durable Ferrite Choke brings the benefits of higher current capacity, lower energy loss and better power stability.


Super Durable Solid Caps

 

The best quality solid state capacitors with ultra low ESR design, the Super Durable Solid Caps doubles the lifespan.

 

Moistureproof PCB

 

The popularity of PC usage and working environment is getting deteriorating and moist(rural, coastal, etc.). The PCB will be oxidizing easily by damp or absorbed moisture, and ionic migration or CAF (Conductive Anodic Filament) will be generated. Moisture-proof PCB meets high density and high reliability requirements for moisture proof.

 

Low RdsOn P-Pak MOS

 

Low resistance design can significantly reduce the current out of energy loss.Low temperature, small size, excellent thermal conductivity.

 

100% Solid Caps

 

With armor-plated Biostar Technology, all capacitors are placed with 100% solid capacitors that have a lasting life cycle, durability and stability for crucial components.

 

Dual BIOS

 

Dual BIOS technology offers a backup BIOS chip to take over the failed main BIOS and recover the system automatically without factory repair.

 

I/O Armor

 

The Racing I/O Armor protects the I/O panel and electronic components from static electricity, and the streamlined shape serves as a dust guardian, like the F1 racing car.

 

Super Anti-Surge Protection

 

BIOSTAR exclusive Anti-Surge design provides the best protection of board and extends the product life. Having the latest model of "Transient Voltage Suppressor" on- board can effectively protect the board circuit, reducing the shocks caused by ESD as well as other damages arising from overvoltage transients to enhance system durability.

 

Super LAN Surge Protection

 

Super LAN Surge Protection, providing LAN port with more advanced antistatic protection capabilities by adding an integrated chip to strengthen electrical stability and prevent damage from lightning strikes and electrical surges. SLSP (Super LAN Surge Protection) series motherboard upgrades the existing system protection standards with maximum 4X protection comparing to other board makers.

 

ESD Protection

 

ESD (Electrostatic Discharge) is the major factor to destroy PC by electrical overstress(EOS) condition, ESD occurred by PC users when touch any devices connect to PC, which may result in damage to motherboard or parts .ESD protection is designed to protect the motherboard and equipment from damage by EOS

 

M.2 Cooling Protection

 

M.2 heatsink features ultra-high cooling efficiency for protecting the M.2 SSD from thermal problems, extending the M.2 SSD lifespan for long-term usage and stable operation. To top it off, this cooling design makes the performance of certain M.2 (PCI-e 3.0x4) products most efficient even under high-temperature operating.

 

USB Polyswitch

 

On board dedicated power fuse to help prevent USB port failure. It prevents USB Port overcurrent and safeguard your system and device lifespan.

 

BIOS Virus Protection

 

When enabled, the BIOS will protect the boot sector and partition table by halting the system and flashing a warning message whether there's an attempt to write to these areas.

 

OC / OV / OH Protection

 

All BIOSTAR special circuit design detects overvoltage conditions and prevents voltage surges from spreading in real time. It also actively cuts off the overvoltage supply to protect your system. Over current protection, avoid motherboard from damage when doing overclock or an unusual current import. Over heat protection, avoid motherboard & CPU from burning when exceeding the temperature limitation.

 

Vivid LED DJ

 

New VIVID LED DJ with more customizability and options to control multiple RGB LED lighting zones independently. Users can control color, speed and brightness for different modes at ease. Moreover,have more possibilities for users to create unlimited creativity with 5050 LED FUN ZONE which comes with dual RGB LED products.

 

GT TOUCH

 

GT Touch features exclusive Sport and ECO Mode. Under Sport mode, the system boosts the performance automatically. Under ECO mode, the system optimizes energy consumption. Besides, users could define onboard LED configuration for ECO and Sport Mode respectively via Vivid LED DJ.

 

RACING UEFI BIOS

 

Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) is a brand new framework that provides a revolutionary interface. It is a modern clear and easy-to-use graphical user interface. The UEFI comes with a colorful easy-understand icons leads users into the setup layer directly.

 

Header Zone

 

Users can easily assemble their own computer, a simple-swap data discs and other accessories.

 

5050 LED Fun ZONE

 

The brand-new 5050 LED FUN ZONE comes with two 5050 LED headers to bring more colorful lighting options to DIY lovers. They can fully enjoy the DIY fun of modding their PCs with uniquely personal style and LED strip or any kind of LED product to adjust the color of LED and change system color scheme by VIVID LED DJ application. Vivid LED DJ fun, Vivid LED lighting style!

 

Super Rapid Debug 3

 

Super Rapid Debug 3 posts critical POST code information on a vivid digital LED display.

 

Super Durable Box Header

 

Super Durable Box Header provides solid, secure and durable connections between motherboard and peripheral cables.

 

LN2 Switch

 

With LN2 mode activated the BIOSTAR motherboard is optimization to remedy the cold boot bug during POST at an extremely low temperature and help the system boot successfully.

 

A.I FAN

 

With A.I FAN users can ensure that their gaming PC can maintain its performance while staying cool. According to different cooling needs and usage scenarios, users can control speed modes. Allows users to have more customizability of fan modes and automatically detects different temperatures to make fan operate at defined speed for optimal cooling performance. Furthermore, A.I FAN support both PWM and DC voltage fans for more cooling options.

 

Intel Z370 chipset

 

With the Intel® Z370 chipset and the 8th generation Intel® Core™ processors, you will immediately be at the forefront of the battlefield, fueled by mindblowing power and performance. From content creation to gaming, the Intel Z370 chipset provides you with the power and performance you need.

 

Product Specifications

Packaging, A Closer Look Part I

Another Z370 motherboard has reached our labs, but this time from BIOSTAR; it takes part from the well-known Racing series and does carry the Z370GT6 code name:

 

 

 

On the bottom packaging area, BIOSTAR has included the product features, but also the specifications, which are described straight on a photo of the hardware:

 

 

 

After lifting the top cover, we will get to see the board, which was also wrapped inside an anti-static bag:

 

 

 

Speaking of the hardware bundle, this one is quite light:

 

-the obligatory I/O shield

-four SATA cables

-the installation manual

-the disk with drivers and utilities

 

 

 

 

Inside the manual, we will find the necessary information in order to perform the system installation:

 

 

 

The latest iteration of the Racing boards does come with a new color scheme, with large heatsinks and a shroud positioned in the I/O area:

 

 

 

In the top left corner of the board, we will be able to spot the usual 8-pin ATX power connector:

 

 

 

Nearby, BIOSTAR has included the Intersil ISL85866 4+3 phase PWM controller:

 

 

 

The ASMedia ASM2142 does control the USB 3.1 Type-C port on the I/O:

 

 

 

For protection against voltage spikes on the network, we do see the Super LAN module:

 

 

 

A Closer Look Part II

The Gigabit LAN interface is provided by the i219v Intel controller:

 

 

 

The audio interface is provided by the Realtek ALC 1220 CODEC; the shielding helps to eliminate noise and nearby we can also spot four Nippon Chemicon audio capacitors:

 

 

 

 

On the left side of the PCB we will also spot a row of SMD RGB LEDs:

 

 

 

On the lower PCB area, we can spot plenty of interfaces:

 

-F_AUDIO panel header

-JSPDIFOUT1

-three system fan PWM headers

-two USB 2.0 headers

-two USB 3.1 headers

-the frontal panel header

 

 

 

Z370GT6 is equipped with 3x PCIe 3.0 x1 slots, 2x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots (x8) but also one PCIe 3.0 x16 slot (x4):

 

 

 

The ITE IT8625E SuperIO controller does monitor fan RPMs, voltages and more:

 

 

 

The top PCIE-M2_1 slot does support Type 2242/2260/2280 SSD modules, PCI-E & SATA SSDs, PCIe RAID 0,1 but also Intel Optane Technology:

 

 

 

The secondary PCIE-M2_2 expansion slot does feature passive cooling and does support M.2 Type 2242/2260/2280 SSD modules, PCI-E & SATA SSDs, PCIe RAID 0,1 but also Intel Optane Technology:

 

 

 

The large PCH heatsink does feature the Racing logo:

 

 

 

A Closer Look Part III

Nearby, we will get to see two 64Mbit/8MB BIOS ROMs (for the dual BIOS function); we can move from one to the other via the designated switch:

 

 

 

On the right PCB side, we will spot the CMOS battery, but also the JCMOS reset jumper:

 

 

 

 

Moving on, we’ve got two groups of three SATA ports, which are oriented upwards; these are joined by a 24-pin ATX power header:

 

 

 

Depending on the requirements of our applications, we can switch performance levels between ECO and Sport; these capacitive buttons are placed on the same panel as Reset and Power:

 

 

 

Right in their vicinity, BIOSTAR did place the RGB LED headers, but also a LN2 switch:

 

 

 

The boot-code LED display is also joined by two extra PWM fan headers:

 

 

 

The VRM components are covered by aluminum heatsinks, which go in-line with the Racing theme:

 

 

 

 

The four memory slots allow installation up to 64GB kits; the board does support dual channel DDR4 memory up to 3866 in OC mode:

 

 

 

On the I/O, we can spot the PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard combo port, two USB 3.0 ports, a DVI-D video output, a HDMI 1.4 output, a single USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C port, two USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports, two USB 2.0 ports which are joined by a LAN port, but also the audio jacks:

 

 

 

Here is also a view on the back side of the motherboard:

 

 

 

The UEFI Interface Part I

Since the last generation, BIOSTAR has revised the UEFI interface, which now looks even more pleasing to the eye; we can access the main sections on the top menus, look at the live monitoring statistics on the left side of the screen, but also access Fan and Vivid LED settings by pressing F5 or F6 keys. The Main section does show the current BIOS build details, the installed RAM quantity and running frequency, but from there we can also adjust the date/time as needed:

 

 

 

The Advanced menu comes with additional Sub-menus:

 

 

Trusted Computing menu allows the user to enable/disable support for such devices:

 

 

ACPI Settings menu does show the usual Power Mangement options:

 

 

Hardware Monitor menu does allow us to select a ShutDown Temperature, but from here we will be also able to take a look at the live system temperatures, fan speeds but also voltages:

 

 

The Network Stack menu comes with a single option we can enable or disable:

 

 

If we do have a NVMe SSD installed, its details will be shown in the dedicated menu:

 

 

Same goes for the PCIe SATA Controllers:

 

 

The USB Configuration menu does allow the user to work with custom options involving this bus:

 

 

The UEFI Interface Part II

CPU Configuration menu comes with options to set the number of active CPU cores, enable/disable AES and more:

 

 

The SATA and RST Configuration menu does allow the user to enable/disable the SATA controller, set the operating mode, enable S.M.A.R.T. Self Test but also Hot Plug:

 

 

Moving on, we’ve got the Chipset menu, with some extra sub-sections:

 

 

The Onboard Device menu allows the user to enable/disable the LAN interface:

 

 

From the PCH-IO Configuration menu, we can work with the PCI-Express Configuration, but also enable/disable the onboard audio and ErP Control:

 

 

The System Agent menu does allow us to enable/disable the integrated graphics, set the primary display that should be initialized, set the aperture size, the maximum link speed for the PCI-Express slots and more:

 

 

The Boot menu does come with the usual options we have seen from other manufacturers as well:

 

 

From the Security section, we can set an Admin/User password, but also work with Secure Boot options:

 

 

The UEFI Interface Part III

The O.N.E. section is the area to navigate to, for performing overclocking on both CPU and RAM; here we can adjust the bus clock, CPU ratio, the Ring ratio, the iGP overclocking frequency, we can set the memory XMP profile and more:

 

 

With the memory settings on the default profile, we cannot configure the timings:

 

 

If we do switch to Custom profile, everything unlocks:

 

 

The Voltage configuration area allows the user to work with LLC (very useful when overclocking, to keep the voltages steady), set a VCore overvoltage option, adjust the RAM voltage, PCH and many more:

 

 

The CPU Power Management can be adjusted as well from a dedicated menu; in most configurations, we won’t have to modify any of these values:

 

 

The Memory Insight feature does allow the user to check out the pre-programmed timings for each installed memory module:

 

 

Finally, we do have the Save & Exit menu, from where we can discard, save or reset BIOS defaults; BIOSTAR has also installed some profiles which we can use for storing different BIOS configs:

 

 

Test Setup and Extra Info

Test Setup

 

CPU: Intel I5 8600K Retail

CPU Cooler: Deepcool Captain 240 EX RGB Liquid Cooler

Motherboard: currently tested mobo.

RAM: GEIL PC4 25600 3200MHz CL16 8GBx2 Samsung B-die @ 2133MHz

Video: KFA2 GeForce GTX 1060 6GB OC

Power Supply: Cooler Master 850W

SSD: OCZ Vector 150

Case: Cooler Master ATCS 840

 

Overclocking our retail i5-8600K was not an issue with this board, after we did work a bit with the LLC settings; we did set a 1.220 voltage setting inside the UEFI and the system has proven as fully stable while running Prime95, Small FFTs:

 

 

Here is also the overclocking validation via CPU-Z:

 

 

We did try to run our GEIL PC4 25600 3200MHz CL16 8GBx2 Samsung B-die based kit at XMP and we have managed full stablity in MemTest, without the need of extra tuning:

 

 

Test Results Part I

AIDA64


Memory


CPU Queen


CPU PhotoWorxx


CPU Zlib


CPU AES


CPU Hash


FPU VP8


FPU Julia


FPU Mandel


FPU SinJulia


FP32 Ray-Trace


FP64 Ray-Trace

Test Results Part II

CineBench R11.5

CineBench R15

Blender Ryzen Render

PCMark 7

PCMark 8

 

Test Results Part III

SuperPI XS 32M

X265 Benchmark (HWBOT)

1080P 64-bit Normal

3DMark Vantage

3DMark 11

3DMark 2013

Unigine Valley

Ultra AA Off DX11 1920X1080

Ashes of the Singularity DX12

CPU Focused

 

BIOSTAR Racing Utility

BIOSTAR did refine the GUI of their Windows application for fine-tuning the system performance, but the functionality does remain the same; we have the menus placed on the left side of the interface and we will begin with the System Information. System Info does show details on the clock speeds, motherboard BIOS and currently running profile, the installed processor details, but also memory details:

 

 

 

Smart Ear tab does allow the user to modify the volume of the audio output:

 

 

The GT Touch area does allow the user to switch from one profile to the other; the Eco and Sport profiles can be also accessed from the on-board capacitive buttons:

 

 

Vivid LED DJ function permits selection of the desired RGB header, in order to set custom effects for each:

 

 

A.I. Fan coms with the ability to work with the fan curves per each header:

 

 

The H/W Monitor area will display the current temperatures, but also fan speeds and voltages:

 

 

Overclocking/Voltage modification can be performed from the dedicated menu, without the need to go into the BIOS:

 

 

The last tab does inform us of the software version:

 

 

RMAA Test Results

The results in RMAA do prove that the Racing Z370GT6 board from BIOSTAR does have a good implementation for filtering the noise; the use of the later Realtek ALC1220 is also an added value.

 

GIGABYTE Z170X-Gaming K3 16/44

GIGABYTE Z270X-Ultra Gaming 16/44

MSI X370 Xpower Gaming Titanium 16/44

BIOSTAR RACING X370GT7 16/44

BIOSTAR RACING X370GTN 16/44

ECS Z270H4-I 16/44

ECS Z370-LIGHTSABER 16/44

Gigabyte Z370 AORUS Ultra Gaming 16/44

SuperMicro SUPERO C7Z370-CG-IW 16/44

BIOSTAR Racing Z370GT6 16/44

 

 

 

 

 

GIGABYTE Z170X-Gaming K3 24/96

GIGABYTE Z270X-Ultra Gaming 24/96

MSI X370 Xpower Gaming Titanium 24/96

BIOSTAR RACING X370GT7 24/96

BIOSTAR RACING X370GTN 24/96

ECS Z270H4-I 24/96

ECS Z370-LIGHTSABER 24/96

Gigabyte Z370 AORUS Ultra Gaming 24/96

SuperMicro SUPERO C7Z370-CG-IW 24/96

BIOSTAR Racing Z370GT6 24/96

 

Vivid DJ LED Lighting Exemplification

Conclusive Thoughts

With the Z370GT6 LGA1151 board for the newest Coffee Lake Intel processors, BIOSTAR ticks the necessary boxes by including decent overclocking capabilities, a refreshed Racing theme and UEFI interface, but also an easy to use Windows utility. The M.2 slots do support Intel Optane Techology and for the secondary slot the manufacturer has also included a cooling heatsink. The board performance is in-line with the other Z370 models we have tested in the past, which have the latest Intel BIOS fixes applied.

 

Thanks to the filtering capacitors, the PCB separation and the one of the newest Realtek ALC CODECs, the audio output provides good quality analog signal.

 

If the provided on-board RGB SMD LEDs are not enough, BIOSTAR comes with two extra 5050 LED headers, which can be configured individually via the interface.

 

The connectivity options have been also updated and now we do have no less than two USB 3.1 Gen2 ports, one USB 3.1 Gen1 Type C port, two USB 3.1 Gen1 ports, no less than two USB 3.1 Gen1 headers for the frontal panel but also two regular USB 2.0 headers and two USB 2.0 ports on the I/O.

 

As we have been accustomed before with BIOSTAR, they do provide capable hardware at great prices; the Z370GT6 is no exception since it can be bought online for about 107 Euros.

BIOSTAR Racing Z370GT6 LGA1151 Motherboard is Recommended for:

 

 

We would like to thank BIOSTAR for making this review possible!

 

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