Analyzing Z370 for Intel's 8th Generation Coffee Lake: A Quick Look at 50+ Motherboards

GIGABYTE Z370XP SLI

The Z370XP SLI is not part of the Gaming line of motherboards from GIGABYTE, but part of its Ultra Durable series. The basic features of the Z370 platform can be found on the board, but fewer bells and whistles are included with one major exception, SLI (as given in the name).

One of the first things one may notice is a lack of RGB LEDs most anywhere on the board. The only places where we can find non-standard LED implementations are for the audio separation line and the XMP LED up the upper right-hand corner. As a drop down from higher up models, the memory slots are not reinforced, but two of the full-length PCIe lanes do have the reinforcement. There is a rear IO shroud present, covering only the back panel area while leaving the audio parts unprotected. The Z370XP SLI matches the Ultra Gaming in phase count, and by having two M.2 slots. In essence, this comes out as a simplified, non-RGB version of the Ultra gaming.

Clearly, the aesthetic has changed on the Z370XP SLI. It has the same black PCB color, however, the AORUS Falcon stenciling is gone and replaced by a bright white, with more prominent markings taking a wide path from the bottom in the audio section, through the PCIe area, socket and DIMMs covering most of the board. The VRM heatsinks and shroud are different, although the same IO shroud has been used from the other mid-range or lower boards in the product stack. The Ultra Gaming uses RGB LEDs under the shroud, while the XP SLI does not. The PCH is also styled a bit differently compared to the other boards in this lineup. 

Like the other Z370 boards, the Z370XP SLI supports a total of 64GB RAM. The PCIe connector configuration is the same as the other boards with three full-length slots and three PCIe 1x slots. The first two full-length CPU connected PCIe slots (x16 or x8/x8) have the steel reinforcement so common on many boards but removes the RGB LEDs we have seen on other implementations in order to keep costs down. There are two RGB LED headers on the board, one of which can perform RGBW. The board supports two-way SLI and three-way Crossfire.

Moving on to storage, the Z370XP SLI has six SATA ports driven by the chipset, and there are two M.2 slots available; one supporting 110mm drives, the other 80mm. Both do not come with heat spreaders. Regarding fan headers, the board has a total of five scattered around the board with all being hybrid headers with the ability to be PWM or voltage controlled. Audio processing is handled by the Realtek ALC1220 codec and has EMI shielding on the IC itself. The network side of things is handled by a single Intel NIC, likely an Intel i219V, with ESD and Surge protection.

USB 3.1 (10 Gbps) is supported by the ASMedia 3142 controller and has a USB Type-C port as well as a Type-A port on the back panel. Six USB 3.1 (5 Gbps) ports are found on the back panel as well, while the remaining four USB 2.0 ports are available through internal USB headers. Display output from the CPUs integrated graphics is handled by a single HDMI port. Rounding out connectivity on the rear IO are two PS/2 ports, the Intel NIC, and the audio stack.