Z370 vs h370 vs b360: Intel B360 vs. Z370 Chipset: Finally an 8th-Gen Budget Platform — Mitspielen — Vampire Live in München

Intel B360 vs. Z370 Chipset: Finally an 8th-Gen Budget Platform

Usually when Intel or AMD release a new mainstream CPU family, they do so with a slew of new chipsets. For example, the 7th generation Core series codenamed ‘Kaby Lake’ hit the ground running with 5 supporting chipsets, 3 of which you’re probably quite familiar with. AMD also released Ryzen with 3 desktop chipsets, the A320, B350 and X370.

But when Intel raced out the 8th-gen Core series ‘Coffee Lake’ late last year, they did so with a single chipset, the high-end Z370. This meant up until today, the most affordable Intel 300-series motherboard you could get your hands on cost around $110. Now, some six months later Intel is ready to unleash their more budget friendly chipsets which includes the B360. We also have a few h470 boards on hand, but today we’re focusing on the slightly more affordable B360 boards.

So when compared to the Z370 boards we already have, what’s missing from these cheaper B360 boards?

Well, for starters B360 boards don’t support CPU or memory overclocking, even with an unlocked-K processor. This means auto overclocking features such as Multicore Enhancement don’t exist either.

They also don’t support RAID, offer fewer PCIe lanes to the CPU, less USB ports — though the B360 chipset does introduce native USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports, something the Z370 chipset lacks entirely. Also Z370 boards can support up to three M.2 ports, but the B360 is limited to a single port.

Feature / Capability	Z370	B360
CPU Overclocking	Yes	No
CPU PCIe Lanes	1×16 or 2×8 or 1×8+2×4	1×16
Chipset PCIe Lanes	Up to 24	12
SATA Ports	Up to 6	Up to 6
USB 3.1 Gen2 Ports	0	Up to 4
USB 3.1 Gen 1 Ports	Up to 10	6
Total USB Ports (USB 2. 0 + USB 3.1)	14	12
Intel RST PCIe 3.0 M.2 Storage	3	1
PCI-E RAID 0/1/5 Support	Yes	No
SATA RAID 0/1/5 Support	Yes	No
CPU-attached Intel PCIe Storage	Yes	No

The B360 chipset doesn’t support DDR4 memory overclocking and as such is limited to the maximum frequency supported by the Integrated Memory Controller. This means all Core i5 and Core i7 models can run at up to DDR4-2666, while the Core i3 models are limited to DDR4-2400.

B360 boards do support XMP, but if you use modules with a DDR4-3000 profile as an example, when you load the profile it will load the timings associated with the 3000 spec, but only run at 2666 or 2400 depending on the CPU used.

MSI has kindly provided us with two new B360 motherboards for testing. They say that on their own internal testing they’ve seen no difference in performance between B360 and Z370 motherboards, basing this claim on tests performed with their top-end model, the Gaming Pro Carbon using the Core i7-8700K.

We were interested in testing more affordable models, so we requested the B360 Gaming Plus and the dinky little B360M PRO-VD, which forgoes VRM cooling entirely. Leading up to the release of budget 300-series chipsets, there were concerns that the 6-core parts wouldn’t be able to deliver the same level of performance on these more affordable motherboards when compared to what we were seeing on Z370 models.

MSI is confident this isn’t the case with their premium B360 model, the Gaming Pro Carbon, a $140 motherboard, but what about the more affordable $115 B360 Gaming Plus? Let’s take a look by comparing the Core i7-8700 and Core i5-8400 on this new B360 board against the MSI Z370 Godlike, you know the one that costs $500+.

Benchmarks

First up is a look at memory bandwidth performance and as you can see all test configurations used DDR4-2666 memory, the highest spec supported by the B360 chipset when using a Core i5 or i7 processor. The Z370 board can utilize higher spec memory with these processors, but let’s not worry about that for now. As you can see performance is exactly the same using either the Z370 or B360 board.

Moving on here are the Cinebench R15 multi-threaded scores and starting with the Core i5-8400 we see that it delivers the same score on both boards using the box cooler, also note this CPU is no faster using aftermarket cooling, when testing with an ambient air temperature of 21 degrees.

It’s a different story with the Core i7-8700 though, using the box cooler we see the same performance on both the B360 and Z370 boards. However if we install a tower style air cooler the score is increased by 5% as the i7-8700 goes from an all-core turbo frequency of 4.1 GHz to 4.3 GHz, as thermal throttling is no longer an issue.

This performance uplift was seen on the B360 board, but it’s exactly the same result on the Z370 model as well.

Using the Corona benchmark we see similar performance with both the 8400 and 8700 using either chipset.

It’s the same story when testing with POVray and here we see with a better cooler the render time was reduced by a 2% margin with the Core i7-8700.

More of the same is seen when testing with Blender. so I’m going to wrap up the application testing here and check out a few games.

Gaming Tests

Here we see when playing Battlefield 1 the experience is the same on the B360 board as it is on the Z370. Please note here we are looking a the the 1% low frame time performance, which has been converted to an FPS metric.

Similar results were found when testing with Far Cry 5, the difference between the two motherboards can be chocked up to the margin of error.

Power Consumption

This is an interesting result, the feature rich Z370 Godlike is significantly more power hungry than the B360 Gaming Plus. Total system consumption for the Core i5-8400 was reduced by 25% with the B360 board while the 8700 saw a 13% reduction in consumption. So it seems these cheaper motherboards are going to help improve the performance per watt rating of Intel 6-core CPUs.

So the MSI B360 Gaming Plus had no trouble matching an extreme Z370 motherboard with locked Coffee Lake CPUs. Of course, both boards were intentionally limited to DDR4-2666 memory. The Z370 board will pull away in certain workloads and games when paired with higher frequency memory, that’s a given.

As noted earlier, MSI suggests that the B360 Gaming Plus will retail for $115 and that places around the cheapest Z370 boards on the market. MSI’s own Z370 Gaming Plus costs just $130 and for the price of a cheap meal you do get quite a few extras, not least of which is CPU and memory overclocking.

Going Super Cheap

So ideally B360 shoppers will want to spend less. We might have overachieved here but we convinced MSI to hand over their B360M PRO-VD, which they say will come in at $85, though that is the suggested price and it will likely cost less than that, at least we really hope it will. For that same money you can get the MSI B250M Mortar and that’s a significantly higher quality motherboard, so realistically we’re thinking more like $60 — $70, we’ll have to see where pricing heads over the next few weeks.

What we can tell you is that the B360M PRO-VD is a super basic motherboard and is the most affordable model MSI will be offering in the B360 range. Besides basic chipset features, nothing extra has been added to this tiny Micro ATX board, there’s just two DIMM slots, no VRM cooling of any kind and no HDMI or Displayport connectivity.

There are none of the natively supported USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports, just the six Gen 1 ports along with half a dozen USB 2.0 ports. MSI has included an M.2 port though, which is kind of nice, though we’re not sure how many users seeking an ultra affordable B360 board will be using M.2 storage, but it’s there if needed.

Now the VRM is the most concerning aspect of this board, but before getting too carried away, we do realize there aren’t many, if any of you reading this article who plan to stick a $300 Core i7 processor on a sub-$100 motherboard. The B360M PRO-VD is more of your Core i3-8100 type motherboard, maybe a Core i5-8400, but probably not a Core i7-8700. Still we wanted to see how the 8700 got on so this is where we started.

Loading up Intel XTU software we can already see that the MSI B360 PRO-VD has been downgraded to a 65 watt maximum turbo boost power draw and with maximum short power draw of 82 watts. In comparison, the B360 Gaming Plus was configured for 95 watts and 119 watts. So this 31% downgrade in power delivery is no doubt going to impact the Core i7-8700 though it shouldn’t hurt the Core i5-8400.

Firing up Cinebench R15 the 8700 scored just 1211pts, but ignoring that run and taking the average from four more runs resulted in a score of 1160 pts. Please note we’re using the DeepCool Gammaxx 200T, we know what the deal is with the crappy box cooler, so let’s remove the thermal throttling variable from these results. So that score is 16% down on what we saw with the MSI B360 Gaming Plus.

Adjusting the Turbo Boost parameters in the XTU software to match that of the B360 Gaming Plus we run Cinebench R15 four more times. The B360 PRO-VD now allowed for a score of over 1350 pts and that’s within the ballpark of what we were getting with the Gaming Plus, not quite as good but with just under 2% in it, we’ll call that margin of error.

We could increase the turbo boost settings in the XTU software further, but a long run stress test reveals why that’s only beneficial for short benchmarks. Here we have a complex Blender workload and just 30 seconds in we run into a bit of a hiccup.

Everything looks great for the first 30 seconds, the 8700 holds 4.3 GHz on all 6-cores and we ripping through this workload. Then like that the motherboard winds the 8700 back down to 3.2 GHz for 7 seconds before cranking back up to 4.3 GHz for 8 seconds and then repeating the process.

The reason this is happening is because the motherboards VRM is overheating, or at least reaching the thermal limit, it then backs off the Core i7-8700’s power draw, cools a few degrees over a 7 second period and then ramps power delivery back up until the thermal limit of the VRM is once again reached, which as I just said took about 8 seconds.

Without sticking some kind of heatsink on the MOSFETS, it’s not possible to avoid this throttling issue with the Core i7-8700. MSI isn’t expecting too many people to pair this processor with their cheapest B360 motherboard and even if you do it works without an issue, it’s just slower than a board with ample cooling.

But what about a high-end CPU your more likely to pair with a budget board, something like the Core i5-8400? Without making any alterations to the B360 PRO-VD’s configuration the Core i5-8400 scores 877 pts on its fourth pass which is on par with what we saw from the Z370 Godlike. That’s great, but what about a long run test? Time to fire up Blender again.

With a 65 watt package TDP ceiling the Core i5-8400 left us with room to spare, only peaking at 62 watts briefly now and then. For the entire test which ran for over an hour the 8400 held a constant 3.8 GHz without flinching for a second. The Gammaxx 200T keep the CPU very cool at under 60 degrees and we never saw throttling of any kind.

This means ultra budget boards like the MSI B360 PRO-VD are perfect for use with locked Core i5 processors such as the 8400. While it will work fine with the Core i7-8700, without upgrading the cooling you can expect to receive up to a 20% performance hit. This is based on a single affordable B360 board so far, we’ll update you if needed as more boards come in.

For now it’s safe to conclude that anyone wanting to build a Core i5-8400 rig on a strict budget can do so with something like the MSI B360 PRO-VD, though we strongly suggest you consider something a little more upmarket like the B360 Gaming Plus if you’re serious about your computing.

Shopping Shortcuts:

Intel Core i3-8100 on Amazon, Newegg

Intel Core i5-8400 on Amazon, Newegg

Intel Core i7-8700K on Amazon, Newegg

Intel B360 motherboards on Amazon

Intel Z370 motherboards on Amazon, Newegg

Intel B360 vs.

Z370 Benchmarks & 2666MHz vs. 3200MHz on i5-8400 | GamersNexus

As we remarked back when we reviewed the i5-8400, launched on its lonesome and without low-end motherboard support, the Intel i5-8400 makes most sense when paired with B360 or h470 motherboards. Intel launched the i5-8400 and other non-K CPUs without that low-end chipset support, though, leaving only the Z370 enthusiast board on the frontlines with the locked CPUs.

When it comes to Intel chipset differences, the main point of comparison between B, H, and Z chipsets would be HSIO lanes – or high-speed I/O lanes. HSIO lanes are Intel-assigned per chipset, with each chipset receiving a different count of HSIO lanes. High-speed IO lanes can be assigned somewhat freely by the motherboard manufacturer, and are isolated from the graphics PCIe lanes that each CPU independently possesses. The HSIO lanes are as detailed below for the new 8th Generation Coffee Lake chipsets:

Intel h470 vs. Z370 & B360 Chipset Differences & Comparison

	Z370	h470	B360	h410	Q370
PCIe 3. 0 from CPU	1x 16 2x 8 1x 8 + 2x 4	1x 16	1x 16	1x 16	1x 16 2x 8 1x 8 + 2x 4
HSIO Lanes	30	30	24	14	30
Max Gen Purpose PCIe 3.0	24x 3.0	20x 3.0	12x 3.0	6x 2.0	24x 3.0
Max SATA III	6	6	6	4	6
Max USB3.1 Gen1/Gen2	10, 0	8, 4	6, 4	4, 0	10, 6
Channels / DIMMs per Ch.	2, 2	2, 2	2, 2	2, 1	2, 2
CPU Overclocking	Yes	No	No	No	No
Memory Overclocking	Yes	No	No	No	No
Max Memory Support	4000MHz+	2666MHz	2666MHz	2666MHz	2666MHz
Intel RST PCIe Support	3	2	1		3
Intel RST RAID 0, 1, 5, 10	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
Integrated Wireless-AC CNVi	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Display Ports / Support	3, 3	3, 3	3, 3	3, 3	3, 2

Another point of comparison between Z370, B360, and h470 is memory frequency support, where the B360 and h470 boards become locked at 2666MHz. Z370 could achieve upwards of 4000MHz, depending on board, and can easily drive 3200MHz as a baseline. Our previous testing illustrated that 2666MHz memory on the i5-8400 is just fine, and that at most, the sacrifice of gaming performance tends to sit around ~5-8% (worst case). You’d be better off prioritizing the required spend for 3200MHz + Z370 on a better CPU or better GPU, as those gains will rapidly exceed the mixed and oft-meager framerate improvement of 3200MHz vs. 2666MHz memory.

Ultimately, B360, h470, and Z370 should perform equivalently when tested under identical conditions. Performance differences between Intel chipsets, assuming equal test conditions and single-GPU configurations, should primarily exist when motherboards tune for memory kits differently. A brand new MSI B360 Mortar motherboard would assuredly have worse memory timing tuning than market mainstays, like the Gigabyte Z370 Ultra Gaming or ASUS Z370 Maximus X. It takes time to tune memory, and seemingly small subtiming differences can impact performance to the tune of 5% rather easily – tRFC is a great example of this.

Separately from this content, we also previously benchmarked MCE (Multi-Core Enhancement) performance on different motherboards – check that content here to get up to speed on today’s post.

Test Platforms

Below are the test configurations for each venture:

Components – Intel

Motherboards include: ASUS Maximus X Hero Z370, Gigabyte Z370 Ultra Gaming, and MSI Z370I Gaming Pro carbon

CPU: i7-8700K

Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 3200MHz 16-18-18-36, 2x16GB

PSU: EVGA 750W SuperNova G2

GPU: EVGA GTX 1080 Ti FTW3

Cooler: Kraken X62

Components – AMD

Motherboards: ASUS C6H X370 on 6001 beta BIOS.

CPU: R7 1700 review sample

Memory: GEiL 3200MHz CL16

PSU: NZXT Hale90 V2

GPU: EVGA GTX 1080 Ti FTW3

Cooler: Kraken X62

Cinebench B360 vs.

Z370 Scores – i7-8700K

Starting with Cinebench scores, the MSI B360 Mortar had no MCE options to speak of, so performance testing was simplified: We tested with XMP and with stock settings, and that was it. No other BIOS changes.

This chart compiles a lot of the Cinebench results from our previous MCE testing, which you can find already uploaded to the channel. If any of these numbers confuse you, check the previous video.

The MSI B360 Mortar board posted a score of 1416 with XMP on, or 1407 with complete stock settings. Single-threaded performance was 196 on both settings. Compared to other boards we previously tested, we’re about 10-20 points lower than multi-threaded XMP performance, with single-threaded about the same. As for why that happens, it’s nothing to do with the chipset.

This entirely comes down to the motherboard, not the chipset. It’s out of Intel’s hands, at this point. When we looked closer at the B360M’s lower-level memory timings, we saw a few items were tuned unoptimally for our memory kit. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this. It amounts to board vendors pushing BIOS updates after launch. If you’ve ever scrolled through a list of BIOS updates 6 months to a year post-launch, you’ve likely seen half-a-dozen entries that just list “improved memory support” as their upgrades. That’s where it comes in. tRFC and tREFI are two of the commonly looser timings in boards when a particular kit hasn’t been optimized for.

B360 vs. Z370 Frequencies – i7-8700K

As for frequencies, they’re more or less the same – which is why we can point at memory timings as the primary differentiator in performance. The B360 Mortar averages 4294MHz core frequency with XMP on, which is within reason of the usual 4299MHz. Single-thread frequency was 4464MHz to 4500MHz, which is also within reason. There’s no meaningful frequency deficit, here; the differences, again, derive from memory subtimings and other platform tuning on a new motherboard.

B360 vs. Z370 Blender – i5-8400 (2666MHz vs.

3200MHz)

Moving on to some real testing, our Blender scene rendering results show how little difference there is: with version 2.79 and using the GN Monkey Head test, the 8400 CPU with 3200MHz memory, tested on the Ultra Gaming Z370, completed its render in 42.8 minutes. Dropping to 2666MHz memory on the B360 platform rendered in 43.4 minutes. Dropping to 2666MHz memory on a Z370 platform rendered in 43.2 minutes. These differences are from the change in frequency, not board.

The splash screen test rendered in 35.5 minutes on the 3200MHz 8400 with Z370, 36.2 minutes with B360 at 2666MHz, and 36.1 minutes – well within margin of error – with 2666 on Z370. In other words, the motherboard chipset, when leveling the field with stock settings, has no meaningful impact on performance.

Conclusion: Intel h470 vs. B360, Z370 for Gaming

Once again, the differences will entirely boil-down to that table at the top of this article: Anyone overclocking or opting to actually leverage their K-SKU CPUs should clearly buy Z370. There is no alternative.

Anyone who doesn’t care about these options and intends on using a single-GPU, and won’t need more than 24 HSIO lanes, should consider B360 chipset motherboards. The savings and value of B360 boards can be worthwhile (assuming a non-garbage-tier board) for CPUs akin to the Intel i5-8400.

That’s really all there is to it. It’s as simple as this: Are you overclocking? If yes, buy Z370. If no, it’s sort of irrelevant insofar as outright performance of the CPU. Memory limitations can have some impact, yes, but not typically greater than 5-8%. The required money for Z-series or higher-frequency memory parts exceeds the money required for CPU and GPU upgrades that’d outstrip the memory and platform upgrade.

Editorial, Testing: Steve Burke
Video: Andrew Coleman

Z370 vs h470 vs B360 vs h410 vs Q370 — DSBlog

In early April 2018, Intel officially introduced the new Intel 300 series desktop chipsets designed for 8th generation Intel Core processors. Now you can buy a motherboard without the Intel Z370 logic set, so as not to pay for extra features. First of all, I’m talking about overclocking the processor and memory. Among all the 8th generation Intel Core desktop CPUs, there are only three models with an open multiplier that support overclocking. Therefore, the monopoly of Intel Z370 — the company’s most expensive chipset — looked a little strange. After all, not everyone needs overclocking, but before, users had no choice.

In total, four sets of logic were presented: Intel h470, B360, h410 and Q370. For ordinary users, the first three models are of greater interest. And the Intel Q370 chipset is designed primarily for corporate needs and embedded systems. Also, along with the releases of new chipsets, leading manufacturers of computer hardware presented their solutions. We have already seen some motherboards, for example, ASUS TUF h470-PRO GAMING (Wi-Fi) and ASUS PRIME h470M-PLUS. As for the new chipsets, we’ve summarized their differences in a handy table, and at the same time compared them with the Z370.

It is noteworthy that this time Intel showed the world not just cropped versions of the top chipset, but its new developments, which were not implemented in the Intel Z370. The main advantage of the new chipsets, which I have been waiting for for several years, is the native USB 3.1 support. Now motherboard manufacturers will not have to install third-party controllers, and users will not have to install additional drivers. The second important innovation concerns wireless networks. Intel CNVi technology, which provided the chipset with support for Wi-Fi 802.11ac and Bluetooth 5. However, not everything turned out to be as simple as it might seem at first. Only the digital part of the wireless adapter is placed inside the system logic set. Therefore, for such a network to work, you will need to connect one of the three RF modules to the motherboard using a special M.2 CNVi connector.

Three of these modules are currently available: Intel Wireless-AC 9461, Wireless-AC 9462, and Wireless-AC 9560. They are made in the compact M.2 2230 dimensions, so they do not need much space. The Intel Wireless-AC 9461, Wireless-AC 9462 modules provide data transfer rates up to 433 Mbps, and the top-end Wireless-AC 9560 solution can show speeds up to 1.73 Gbps, and optionally, if the board manufacturer so desires, Intel The Wireless-AC 9560 will also be able to handle LTE modem support. The idea is wonderful, but confusion may appear among users: to connect RF modules, you will need a special M.2 connector, a simple port designed for drives will be useless. Therefore, when choosing a motherboard with Intel CNVi support, you should be careful. It is likely that such modules will find their way into office mini PCs, where size plays a key role, and thanks to the new RF modules, developers of such systems will be able to win additional space. Well, in the case of conventional motherboards, most likely, such modules will be pre-installed at the factory.

Intel Z370

The world has been familiar with the Intel Z370 chipset for a long time, since the release of the first 8th generation Intel Core desktop processors. Like all other Z-named chipsets, the Intel Z370 supports CPU and memory overclocking, and also allows you to parallelize PCIe 3.0 processor lanes to create multiple graphics card configurations. At that time, it was the only set of logic available for motherboards. So if you’re planning on overclocking your CPU, or want to get a multi-GPU system based on the Intel LGA 1151 v2 platform, then the Intel Z370 is your best bet. Of course, it will not have native support for USB 3.1, and it does not have support for Intel CNVi wireless technology, but motherboard manufacturers take care of these problems. On sale you can find many boards with USB 3.1, and several models with Wi-Fi modules. Yet this technology has not yet taken root in the desktop segment.

Intel h470

Judging by its characteristics, the Intel h470 chipset is closest to the top solution, the Z370. It differs from the Z370 in the absence of overclocking capabilities for overclocking the processor and memory. However, the maximum RAM frequency that this chipset can handle is 2666 MHz, which is very good. Yes, and it has a little less PCIe lanes, only 20, not 24, like the Z370 — not such a noticeable difference.

Support for USB 3.1 ports of the first and second generations will not be superfluous. Of course, at the time of this writing, there is almost nothing to connect to such fast ports, but a reserve for the future never hurts. It is worth choosing a board with the h470 chipset when you need a motherboard with a large number of options, and you are not planning to buy a processor with an unlocked multiplier.

Intel B360

The second «coolest» new chipset, Intel B360, is perfect for building a simple home PC that is designed for games or household chores. Judging by its characteristics, it can easily cope with one video card and a large set of drives on which you can store your favorite games or a collection of movies. This chipset is also not capable of overclocking exploits, and they are not required from it.

Intel h410

Intel h410 turned out to be the weakest chipset from the new series. It will prove itself excellently in the simplest office or home PCs, where it is not planned to install a top-end gaming video card. Of course, there will be no problems with connecting a GeForce 1080 Ti or some kind of Titan, because PCIe processor lines are involved here, but you should not expect additional options on motherboards with Intel h410, but this chipset is ideal for embedded solutions. Its future is good office machines, which should pull the necessary set of options and peripherals. Actually, USB connectors are more than enough for this.

Intel Q370

The Intel Q370 logic set was created specifically for workstations and similar PCs. In terms of its technical characteristics, it is very close to the Intel Z370 — these two solutions support 24 PCIe 3.0 lanes, and the ability to split 16 PCIe processor lanes. Motherboards with Intel Q370 chipsets will be an excellent basis for workstations where you need to connect multiple video cards for complex rendering and other calculations. With peripherals, there will also be no problems here: only 14 USB 2.0 ports are supported, and this chipset is not deprived of USB 3.1 support.

Conclusion

New Intel chipsets have given users the most important thing: the ability to choose. Their release put an end to the unlimited (as it once seemed) reign of the Intel Z370 chipset. Now, if you want to build a simple PC with the new 8th generation Intel Core processors, it is not at all necessary to purchase a board with an overclocking (and most expensive) Z370 chipset.

Moreover, the release of new chipsets, and especially their qualitative differences from the Intel Z370, hints that in time we will see a successor to the Z370 for Coffee Lake processors. The new flagship chipset will not interfere with support for USB 3.1 and Intel CNVi wireless technology. And who knows what other trump cards Intel has up its sleeve? Maybe we have not seen all the surprises from the processor giant.