Price/Where to Buy
US: $209 – BIOSTAR RACING X370GT7 on Newegg
PH: TBA
BIOSTAR continues its tear into mainstream glory as it releases a series of AMD AM4 motherboards designed for AMD Ryzen processors and upcoming AM4 APUs. BIOSTAR has been on a streak since the inception of their RACING series motherboards which is an evolution of their high-end product line and in this release, we’ll be seeing BIOSTAR put its RACING series pedigree into the AMD side of things. Today we have the BIOSTAR RACING X370GT7, the top-of-the-line AM4 motherboard for BIOSTAR.
Read on!
Features
- Support AMD Ryzen CPU / APU
- AMD X370 single chip architecture
- Support 4-DIMM DDR4-3200(OC)/ 2933(OC)/ 2667/ 2400 up to 64G maximum capacity
- BIOSTAR Double Hi-Fi Technology inside
- Lightning Charger Technology
- Digital Power+ Technology
- Realtek Dragon LAN
- Support USB 3.1 Gen2 Type C
- Support M.2(32Gb/s)
- Support HDMI 4K@60Hz(HDMI 2.0) resolution
Closer Look
BIOSTAR has retained its RACING series packaging the same all throughout its years of existence. By now, the RACING series packaging is a bit more mature and BIOSTAR has stuck with the design we see above for the RACING X370GT7.
Included in the package is a bundle which comprises of the manual, an installation disc, SATA cables, an I/O shield and as a special bonus, a BIOSTAR VividLED fan.
The BIOSTAR RACING X370GT7 maintains the signature racing-inspired theme that the series is named after: checkered flag PCB prints with carbon-fibre treatments on the heatsink and shrouds. Its a relatively light motherboard given the slimmer heatsinks despite the rather generous VRM section which comprises of some excellent componentries.
The BIOSTAR RACING X370GT7 supports up to DDR4-3200 memory via OC in 64GB capacity. The upper right half of the motherboard is also where the onboard controls are. One cool thing about how BIOSTAR’s implementation of their onboard controls is that they are touch controls. Nothing really special but they add a certain cool factor to the board. The onboard controls allow preset profiles Eco and Sport which basically serve as power-saving and performance modes. There’s also a a LN2 switch for extreme overclocking purposes.
The board features three x16 length PCIe slot and three x1 slots. There is a single M.2 slot covered with the M.2 cooling shroud from BIOSTAR donning the carbon fibre theme. A debug error display is on the lower right just below the SATA ports.
The board uses an ALC1220 sound chip which is quite common this generation of motherboards. Its reinforced by BIOSTAR’s Hi-Fi technology.
Performance Testing
Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 1800X
Motherboard: BIOSTAR RACING X370GT7
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-3000
Storage: WD Blue 1TB SSD
GPU: ZOTAC GTX 1080 AMP!
PSU: Seasonic P1000
Display: ViewSonic VX2475Smhl-4K
Note: Due to compatibility issues, the BIOSTAR RACING X370GT7 and BIOSTAR RACING B350GT5 running DDR4-2133 only.
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wpDataChart with provided ID not found! wpDataChart with provided ID not found!Temperature and Power Consumption
We check to see how motherboard makers tune their default BIOS settings and see how it impacts temperatures and power consumption. The system is left to idle for 30 minutes before readings are taken and load data is taken 30 minutes while AIDA64 stress test is running. Power readings are taken for the entire system from the socket. Power draw for the entire system is captured for this test via an outlet wattmeter and temperatures via the brand software and confirmed with AIDA64 and Intel Extreme Tuning.
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We’ll leave this here for reference and comparison only of the stock BIOS settings for voltages and such of the motherboards we have. As of this moment, brands are still refining their BIOS so we’ll save any final say once we feel they have matured their settings.
Conclusion
We’ll start off by saying that even with BIOSTAR having memory issues with our Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-3000 sticks not working at their rated speed, the motherboard in itself does serve as an excellent platform regardless of that teething issue. BIOSTAR can correct the situation with a BIOS update and improve compatibility thus also improving performance. As it is, it may be a turn-off for many enthusiasts but given the price range of this motherboard, it can serve as a great jump-off point for those looking to have an AMD Ryzen build on the cheap while still keeping everything under a reasonable price bracket.
That said, the BIOSTAR RACING X370GT7 shows how far BIOSTAR has come since a few years ago with excellent components on the board showing how they’re slowly injecting better components and parts on their motherboard to improve overall quality and performance. Feature-wise, the motherboard relies solely on the connectivity offering of the X370 chipset but delivers all the necessities well with multi-GPU support, M.2 slot, USB3.1 present on the board for all connectivity possibilities.
BIOSTAR continues to impress and the RACING X370GT7 is a great example of where the company’s strength lies: balanced products that offer great value for money with a bit of extra at no premium charge.
If you’re looking for an AMD Ryzen motherboard but want to keep it around $200 but don’t want to risk losing some connectivity with a B350 board, the BIOSTAR RACING X370GT7 delivers a solid platform at an attractive price range with no bloat. The racing theme may be hit or miss for some but with the subdued colors of the board sticking to black and grey and minimal RGB, there’s nothing that really screams gaudy in this board. Simply well-built.
BIOSTAR backs the RACING X370GT7 with a 3-year warranty. We give it our B2G Silver Award!
