Product Comparison: ASUS Prime Z370-A II LGA1151 vs MSI Z370-A PRO

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Best Pick

ASUS Prime Z370-A II LGA1151

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MSI Z370-A PRO Gaming Motherboard

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General Specifications

Brand

ASUS

MSI

Model

Prime Z370-A II LGA1151

Z370-A PRO

Origin

China

About the Product

Newcomer in the range, Motherboards ASUS PRIME Z370-A II, Intel Z370 - Socket 1151 will satisfy a lot. Mainly aimed at demanding players, this material will meet your expectations.

Combining quality you can rely on with top performance and clever business solutions are key aspects of the MSI PRO SERIES motherboards. Engineered to gratify even the most demanding professional, these motherboards will fit in any PC. Making your life easier and supporting your business with super stable, reliable and long-lasting top performance.

Key Specs

Form Factor

ATX

Socket

Intel® Socket 1151

Chipset

Intel® Z370 Chipset

Supported Processors

Intel® Socket 1151 9th / 8th Gen Intel® Core™, Pentium® Gold and Celeron® Processors

Pentium® Gold, Celeron® processors for LGA 1151 socket, Intel® Core™ 9th / 8th Gen Intel® Core™

Memory Slot Type

288 pin

What customers say about "Key Specs"

ASUS Prime Z370-A II LGA1151

Good board for 9th gen and small builds decent.
Unlocked overclocking due to Z390 chipset; and more VRMs for high-end CPUs like 9700/9900. Not bad!
All the support needed for direct use with 9th gen Intel processors and backward compatibility for 8th gen out of the box.
Nice compatibility with a lot of processors, its very important!
The sockets make it difficult to add extra HDD, which is problem with the Case (Astect) not the mother board.

MSI Z370-A PRO Gaming Motherboard

In terms of quality MSI really are the best, and this one is proof of my affirmation!
This MSI Z370-A PRO Intel Socket Chipset Motherboard is a decent board for the new graphics cards.
The board itself has some subtle lights that you can see if you have an open case.Has support for the latest chipset and high speed DDR4.
great thing is that all the sockets are in useful places meaning if you don't have a case with good management place, they still look good.
The Cpu Locking tab is slightly more tense then what i have had on previous boards so did get a bit of a scare trying to lock it in place on my new i7.

Size & Weight

Height

12 in.

Width

9.6 in.

Depth

1.5 in.

2 in.

Weight

2.2 lbs.

1.1 lbs.

ASUS Prime Z370-A II LGA1151

MSI Z370-A PRO

ASUS Prime Z370-A II LGA1151

MSI Z370-A PRO

ASUS Prime Z370-A II LGA1151

MSI Z370-A PRO

ASUS Prime Z370-A II LGA1151

MSI Z370-A PRO

Memory

Memory Type

DDR4

Maximum Speed

4000 MHz

Number Of Memory Slots

Max. Memory Supported

64 GB

ASUS Prime Z370-A II LGA1151

MSI Z370-A PRO

ASUS Prime Z370-A II LGA1151

MSI Z370-A PRO

ASUS Prime Z370-A II LGA1151

MSI Z370-A PRO

What customers say about "Memory"

ASUS Prime Z370-A II LGA1151

It works great with 9700K and 3200 DDR4.
Overclocking wise, I am only using the RAM feature and getting 3200Mhz without issues with memory as such.
The automatic overclocking did work in the end and now runs 38% overclocked, with 4 GHZ for memory and CPU. Really not bad!
Optane memory modules accelerate attached storage to reduce boot and load times, so everything feels faster and more responsive. Its really feels, highly recommended!
The BIos does not accept 4 GHZ memory as standard had to run it as overclocked to make it work, which I prefer not to do if I can.

MSI Z370-A PRO Gaming Motherboard

Great Motherboard. 4 DDR4 memory slots, x16 speed pci slots. Works great with i3 8100 and GTX 1060 3gb.
I use this board with the i7-8700 and ddr4 ram and It works great!
4 DDR4 RAM slots, 64GB of memory, hello ultra settings!
Bought it for a new Machine. Supports the newest Intel 8th generation, highest speed DDR4, SLI, bundled wireless card and lots more. Recommended!
The board itself has some subtle lights that you can see if you have an open case.Has support for the latest chipset and high speed DDR4.

Connectivity

PCI-E

2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16, x8/x8, x8/x4+x4*, x8+x4+x4/x0**), 1 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (max at x4 mode), 4 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x1

1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slot (PCI_E1, supports x16 mode), 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slot (PCI_E4, supports x4 mode), 4 x PCIe 3.0 x1 slots

HDMI

USB

1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A,, 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 USB Type-C, 2 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 port(s), 2 x USB 2.0, 2 x USB 3.1 Gen 1(up to 5Gbps) connector(s) support(s) additional 4 USB 3.1 Gen 1 port(s) (19-pin), 2 x USB 2.0 connector(s) support(s) additional 4 USB 2.0 port(s)

8 x USB 3.1 Gen1 (SuperSpeed USB) ports (4 Type-A ports on the back panel, 4 ports available through the internal USB connectors), 6 x USB 2.0 (High-speed USB) ports (2 Type-A ports on the back panel, 4 ports available through the internal USB connectors)

SATA

Other Interfaces

1 x Aura RGB Strip Header, 1 x M.2 Socket 3 with M Key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 storage devices support (SATA mode & X4 PCIE mode), 1 x M.2 Socket 3 with M Key, type 2242/2260/2280 storage devices support (PCIE mode only), 1 x CPU Fan connector(s) (1 x 4 -pin), 1 x CPU OPT Fan connector(s) (1 x 4 -pin), 2 x Chassis Fan connector(s) (2 x 4 -pin), 1 x Thunderbolt header(s), 1 x Front panel audio connector(s) (AAFP), 1 x System panel(s) (Q-Connector) (Chassis intrusion header is inbuilt), 1 x 5-pin EXT_FAN(Extension Fan) connector, 1 x MemOK! button(s), 1 x CPU OV, 1 x Power-on button(s), 1 x Clear CMOS jumper(s), 1 x 14-1 pin TPM connector, 1 x COM port header, 1 x T_Sensor Connector, 1 x AIO PUMP Header, 1 x M.2 Fan Header, 1 x DVI-D, 1 x DisplayPort, 1 x LAN (RJ45) port(s), 1 x Optical S/PDIF out, 5 x Audio jack(s)

1 x RTL8111H Gigabit LAN controller, 1 x 4-pin CPU fan connector, 1 x 4-pin water pump fan connector, 4 x 4-pin system fan connectors, 1 x Front panel audio connector, 2 x Front panel connectors, 1 x TPM module connector, 1 x Chassis Intrusion connector, 1 x Serial port connector, 1 x Parallel port connector, 1 x Thunderbolt Add-on Card Connector, 1 x Clear CMOS jumper, 1 x VGA port, 1 x DVI-D port, 1 x DisplayPort port 1.2, 2 x USB 3.1 Gen1 connectors (supports additional 4 USB 3.1 Gen1 ports), 2 x USB 2.0 connectors (supports additional 4 USB 2.0 ports), PS/2 Combo Port, HD Audio Connectors

What customers say about "Connectivity"

ASUS Prime Z370-A II LGA1151

2x M.2 PCIe/NVMe ports x4 thus you can have 2x SSDs on the board!
3x PWM FAN headers (+CPU) thus pretty good control of modern fans.
A sufficient number of slots for fans, for high-speed processors and memory. Decent board!
HDMI is naturally 1.4 not 2.0 thus at 4k (2160p) you're limited to 30Hz (naturally no HDR either)! So if you wanted a HTPC system you're going to need a dedicated GPU with HDMI 2.0/60Hz
No USB-C port anymore like the old Z170M or Z370M/II for some reason?

MSI Z370-A PRO Gaming Motherboard

Its very well built, easy to fit, comes with some SATA cables, an RGB cable, an SLI bridge, some stickers for labeling your SATA cables and a nice MSI badge.
The sata ports face out sideways which is fantastic as it means they are all usable.
It was lots of really nice ports on the back, Including new type-c and plently of USB ports. aswell as a onboard hdmi for intergrated graphics.
The IO-Shield is lovely and the huge board had a great design where needed and lots of ports.
You have 6 sata ports (more than you realistically need), 2 USB 3.0 Ports, plenty of internal USBs, there are even some RGB plugs on the board, meaning they will not all fight over the internal USBs.

Features

Native Audio

Realtek® S1220A 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC featuring Crystal Sound 3

Realtek® ALC892 Codec

Additional Accessories Included

User's manual, ASUS Q-Shield, 1 x ASUS Fan Holder, 3 x SATA 6Gb/s cable(s), 1 x M.2 Screw Package, 1 x Supporting DVD, 1 x SLI HB BRIDGE(2-WAY-M), 1 x Q-connector(s) (1 in 1)

User's manual, SATA Cable x2

Extras

ASUS 5-Way Optimization, ASUS OptiMem, NextGen connectivity, M.2 heatsink, ASUS Aura Sync technology

Turbo M.2, DDR4 Boost, Audio Boost, MULTI-GPU: With Steel Armor PCI-E slot. Supports AMD Crossfire, EZ Debug LED: Easiest way to troubleshoot, Military Class 5, Guard-Pro: Latest evolution in high quality components for best protection and efficiency, Click BIOS 5: Award-winning BIOS with high resolution scalable font, favorites and search function, VR Ready, Heavy plated heatsinks

What customers say about "Features"

ASUS Prime Z370-A II LGA1151

Asus BIOS is easy to mod say if you wanted to add SLIC or other features but remember you need to extract the capsule.
Additional features such as M.2 and NVME support with USB 3.1 is a nice touch!
It’s got a great colour scheme, everything is easy to locate on the board, i am happy!
Poor RGB software. Don't buy this board for RGB.
The RGB lighting software worked on first install, but then broke.

MSI Z370-A PRO Gaming Motherboard

Great quality board, easy to setup, looks great, feels solid and wont let you down. Highly recommended.
Installation was easy if you've installed motherboards before. It comes with the normal screw for attaching it to the case and securing it.
I'm very pleased with the RGB, the Mystic Light app lets you customise all of the MSI RGB products you may have.
The RGB is awesome. You can have different wave, star, rainbow effects etc. The colours are bright and vibrant.
RGB lighting is nice but for some reason MSI have an awful interface for it.

Power

Power Connectors

1 x 24-pin EATX Power connector(s) 1 x 8-pin ATX 12V Power connector(s)

1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector 1 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector

Warranty / Certifications

Manufacturer Warranty

3 year(s)

1 year(s)

Certifications

CE, FCC

FCC, CE

Other Information