GAMING GEAR
AWARD
GIGABYTE AORUS
AX370-GAMING K7
RRP: $209.99 | Website: www.gigabyte.com
Test Machine
• AMD Ryzen 1700X ES
• CORSAIR DOMINATOR
PLATINUM SE 3200 C14
• EVGA GTX 980 TI K|NGP|N
Edition (1531/2075)
• CORSAIR Neutron XTi 480GB
• CORSAIR AX1500i
• Windows 10 x64
• (F4d/e)
T
wo high end AM4 boards
from two competing
vendors and each targeting
somewhat of the same buying
public. If you’re expecting
the usual hand wringing and
diplomacy when it comes to
which one, I personally prefer.
You’ll not get it because it’s as
clear as day that the CROSSHAIR
VI Hero is by far the superior
overclocking board. How it fairs
in your gaming machine though
versus the K7 is something else
22 The OverClocker Issue 41 | 2017
entirely.
With that said and out the
way, realize that the AX370-
Gaming K7 is a competent
and capable board. In fact, I
personally have an inclination
towards this motherboard out
of all AM4 entries, but that
has everything to do with its
subjective qualities and the out
the box performance. In fact,
this was among reasons why
the Ryzen 1700X review was
done on this motherboard and
not on the Gaming 5 or any other
one. (There’s no separate 1700X
review, this is it and on the other
board).
So as always, GIGABYTE has a
variety of SKUs which all feature
the same chipset and general
features. Some boards are even
identical in fact and that holds
true for the AX370-Gaming 5
and the K7 as we have here.
The only difference between
these two is the external clock
generator. The most important
thing needed right now to reach
frequencies above 3200MHz for
memory if you’re not using the
new dividers as exposed by the
updated 1.0.0.6 AGESA. Keep
in mind that this may not hold
true by the time you read this as
the updates are continuous and
regular. However, as it stands
you’re definitely going to want a
motherboard with this external
clock generator which actually
makes the Gaming 5 a poorer
choice when compared to the
K7.
All this aside, how does the