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Small form factor enthusiasts are about to have a couple more motherboard options open to them as this week, ASUS has launched two new Mini-ITX boards, a Strix X370-I and a B350-I. With these new boards hitting the market, there are finally ROG Mini-ITX options available for those looking to build a mini Ryzen powered system.
Both ROG Strix Mini-ITX boards come with the same feature set as their ATX siblings, so you won’t be losing any functionality by opting for a smaller form factor. Both boards are also ready for liquid cooling, with accessible ports for RGB lighting and a heat shield for an M.2 SSD.
You can check out both boards in the gallery below. Do note that if you are running an adblocker, then the images may not appear correctly for you. Disabling it and refreshing should do the trick.
In previous years, Asus has tackled audio on its mini-ITX boards with a riser card specifically for audio. With these boards, this has been taken a step further, shrinking down the upgraded SupremeFX audio chip to fit onto an M.2 combo card, while still leaving room for you to add M.2 storage. This small PCB is sandwiched between isolated heatsinks for an M.2 drive and the platform chipset, ensuring effective cooling without taking up too much space.
Both the ROG Strix x370-I and B350-I come with a six-phase VRM design to help ensure stable power delivery for those looking to push their Ryzen CPU beyond stock speeds. There are shorter traces for the dual-DIMM RAM slots to improve signalling and enable DDR4 speeds up to 3600MHz. Finally, Asus has also included its 5-way optimisation technology, which allows for ‘one click’ overclocking that will push your CPU higher based on your cooling capabilities.
The ROG Strix X370-I and B350-I Gaming series will be available from the end of October in the UK. The x370-I will be priced at £184.99 while the B350-I will cost £157.99.
KitGuru Says: I’m a big fan of high-end Mini-ITX builds myself. As always, Asus’s motherboards hit an excellent balance between form and function. Are any of you looking to build a Mini-ITX Ryzen system? What do you think of Asus’s new ROG motherboards?
