ASRock H370M-ITX/ac Motherboard Review

7-Zip

7-Zip is an open source Windows utility for manipulating archives. We measure the Total Rating performance using the built-in benchmark tool. The test stresses all CPU cores to 100% and shows an affinity for memory bandwidth.

Cinebench R15

Cinebench is an application which renders a photorealistic 3D scene to benchmark a computer’s rendering performance, on one CPU core, all CPU cores or using the GPU. We run the test using the all core CPU mode.

Sandra Processor Arithmetic

SiSoft Sandra 2017 is a multi-function utility program that supports remote analysis, benchmarking and diagnostic features for PCs, servers, mobile devices and networks. We run the application’s processor arithmetic test to gauge the CPU performance on each tested motherboard.

CPU performance with the i7-8700K is less than all other Intel 8th Generation motherboards KitGuru has previously tested. The reason, which we touched on in the UEFI exploration, is that ASRock applies power limits to the CPU in order to minimise load on the CPU VRM which correspondingly affects the Turbo frequency.

The CPU tops out at 3.9GHz on an all-core load whereas, with all other motherboards tested, this happened at 4.3GHz. The reduced frequency shows later on in the power consumption results. ASRock explained to us that this is a deliberate decision as the H370M-ITX/ac is an “entry level” motherboard which is not designed to run a Core i7-8700K at a 4.3GHz turbo frequency for an extended period of time.

It is possible to force the i7-8700K to run at a 4.3GHz Turbo speed by altering the UEFI settings that control the power limit but ASRock advised us that this is not recommended due to thermal reasons. ASRock sees this motherboard as a more fitting pair for something like an i5-8600 which makes sense given the price point of the motherboard.

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