ITX motherboard - Chipset Intel z370

ITX formats Mini-ITX is motherboard with approximate dimensions of 170 mm × 170 mm, developed around 2000. They are commonly used in small-configured computer systems, like as at Figure 3.5.61b. Originally, they were a niche product, designed for fan-less cooling with a low power consumption architecture, which made them useful for home theater PC systems, where fan noise can detract from the cinema experience. Mini-ITX boards primarily appeal to the industrial and embedded PC markets, with the majority sold as bulk components or integrated into a finished system for single-purpose computing applications. This mini motherboard became possible when lithography technology enabled chips with low thermal dissipation, according to description in Chapter of Chip. Better lithography enabled small family of ITX motherboards as at introductory Figure of this paragraph (Nano-ITX : 120 mm × 120 mm, Pico-ITX : 72 mm × 100 mm, Mobile-ITX : 45 mm × 75 mm). But, small motherboard doesn't mean cheap and weak system, according to next picture it can be very powerful.

Figure* 1. GIGABYTE 'Z370N Wi‑Fi' motherboard. ( + / - )

Key Features of this motherboard is HDMI 2.0a 21:9 / HDR, PCIe bifurcation support, Intel USB 3.1 Gen1 with USB Type-C™, Dual Intel GbE LAN with 25KV protection, 2×2 11ac Wireless, Dual M.2, RGB Fusion, Smart Fan 5. Other features are:

Supports 8th generation of Intel® Core™ Processors
Dual Channel Non-ECC Unbuffered DDR4, 2 DIMMs
Intel® Optane™ Memory Ready
Supports PCIe x16 slot bifurcation in 2x8 mode by riser card
Integrated HDMI 2.0 Support
Intel USB 3.1 Gen1 with USB Type-C™
ALC1220 120dB SNR HD Audio with Smart Headphone Amp
Intel® 802.11ac Dual Band 867Mbps wireless supports MU-MIMO and BT4.2
Dual Intel® Gigabit LAN with cFosSpeed Internet Accelerator Software
Ultra Durable™ 25KV ESD and 15KV Surge LAN Protection
Dual Ultra-Fast M.2 with PCIe Gen3 x4 & SATA interface
RGB FUSION with Multi-Zone Digital LED Light Show design, support digital LED & RGB LED strips
Smart Fan 5 features Multiple Temperature Sensors and Hybrid Fan Headers with FAN STOP
Ultra Durable™ Metal Shielding over PCIe Slot
Anti-Sulfur Resistors Design
APP Center Including EasyTune™ and Cloud Station™ Utilities

The GIGABYTE Z370 Platform is the first enthusiast platform that supports Intel’s latest Optane technology. Optane fuels storage performance by acting as a cache drive giving users a significant boost compared to traditional mechanical drives. GIGABYTE is offering a tested and proven platform that ensures proper compatibility with profiles up to 4400 MHz and beyond. All users need to do to attain this performance boost is to ensure that their memory module is XMP capable and that the XMP function is activated and enabled on GIGABYTE motherboard. All components are newest technology achievements. Monster!

Next Figure shows back connectors of motherboard. Almost everything what have 'normal PC'.

Figure 2. Back Connectors of GIGABYTE 'Z370N Wi‑Fi'.

At the first look difference is:

Intel 2x2 802.11ac Wireless - which supports up to 867 Mb/s wireless networks and BLUETOOTH 4.2. The bonded 2.4 GHz / 5 GHz Dual Band and 2T2R antenna expands your coverage.
Dual Intel GbE LAN - with 'cFosSpeed' software, a network traffic management application which helps to improve network latency and maintain low ping times to deliver better responsiveness in crowded LAN environments.
HDMI 2.0 - which is backwards compatible with HDMI 1.4, offers 18 Gb/s of bandwidth – nearly twice that of the previous generation. This unlocks the potential for users to transfer multiple video streams, as well as a native cinematic 21:9 ratio (which most movies are shot in), offering the best visual experience for viewers.

As chipset is Intel z370, only 8th generation of microprocessors is supported, as next table shows.

Chipset Intel® z370 - Socket LGA 1151 v2 (14 nm Lithography - Coffee Lake)
Intel® CPU for motherboard						Model	Z370N Wi‑Fi
Intel® CPU for motherboard						PCB	1.0
CPU Model	CPU Frequency	L3 Cache	GPU Frequency	Step	TDP	BCLK	Since BIOS Ver.
Core i7-8700K	3.70 GHz	12 MB	350 MHz / 1200 MHz	U0	95 W	100	F1
Core i7-8700	3.20 GHz	12 MB	350 MHz / 1200 MHz		65 W
Core i5-8600K	3.60 GHz	9 MB	350 MHz / 1150 MHz		95 W
Core i5-8400	2.80 GHz	9 MB	350 MHz / 1050 MHz		65 W
Core i3-8350K	4.00 GHz	8 MB	350 MHz / 1150 MHz	B0	91 W
Core i3-8100	3.60 GHz	6 MB	350 MHz / 1100 MHz	B0	65 W

Intel had several reasons for introducing the LGA 1151 v2 microprocessor socket of the 8th generation microprocessor with slightly different functions of some pins and therefore the incompatibility of the new microprocessor and chipset with the predecessors. One of them is the ability to work with more multiple cores, because AMD has been overtaken by the above. In addition, some groups of microprocessor transistors are physically increased in order to achieve better performance. The result is a better microprocessor optimization and a higher operating frequency, as well as a physically slightly larger chip (die) of microprocessor. In addition, the chipset fully supports the latest technology of peripherals. It is possible that changes were made to make it less difficulty in the transition to finer process of development that AMD is already using. This is the first time after a long time that AMD 'skipped' the competitor.

As shown in Figure 1. there is lot of connectors at the motherboard, which means must have case where to put other components (power supply, brackets with connectors ...). That case may be small (type BAREBONE), but if consider holes at motherboard it is fully compatible for ATX case. Chipset z370 has features shown at next table.

Essentials of Chipset Intel® z370
Product Collection	Intel® 300 Series Chipsets
Code Name	Products formerly Coffee Lake
Status	Launched
Launch Date	Q4'17
Bus Speed	8 GT/s DMI3
Lithography	22 nm
TDP	6 W
Supports Overclocking	Yes
Supplemental Information
Embedded Options Available	No
Conflict Free	Yes
Memory Specifications
# of DIMMs per channel	2
Graphics Specifications
# of Displays Supported ‡	3
Expansion Options
PCI Support	No
PCI Express Revision	3.0
PCI Express Configurations ‡	x1, x2, x4
Max # of PCI Express Lanes	24
I / O Specifications
# of USB Ports	14
USB Revision	3.0 / 2.0
USB 3.0	Up to 10
USB 2.0	Up to 14
Max # of SATA 6.0 Gb/s Ports	6
RAID Configuration	PCIe* 0, 1, 5 / SATA 0, 1, 5, 10
Integrated LAN	Integrated MAC
Supported Processor PCI-e Port Configurations	1×16 or 2×8 or 1×8+2×4
Package Specifications
Package Size	23 mm × 24 mm
Low Halogen Options Available	See MDDS
Advanced Technologies
Intel® Optane™ Memory Supported ‡	Yes
Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d) ‡	Yes
Intel® vPro™ Technology ‡	No
Intel® ME Firmware Version	No
Intel® HD Audio Technology	Yes
Intel® Rapid Storage Technology	Yes
Intel® Rapid Storage Technology enterprise	No
Intel® Standard Manageability	No
Intel® Stable Image Platform Program (SIPP)	No
Intel® Rapid Storage Technology for PCI Storage	Yes
Intel® Smart Sound Technology	Yes
Intel® Platform Trust Technology (Intel® PTT)	Yes
Security & Reliability
Intel® Trusted Execution Technology ‡	No
Intel® Boot Guard	Yes

Block-schema of the chipset z370 is shown on the animated Figure 3.5.44a for comparison with the predecessor, and here is also here separately compared to its upgraded version z390 in the same 22 nm lithographic process:

Figure* 3. Blok-schema of Chipset Intel z370 / 390. ( + / - )

Overall, most of the changes to the z370 chipset is relatively minor. Obviously the support for the new 'Coffee Lake' CPU is a very big deal, but the odd thing is that for whatever reason Intel decided not to change the physical socket from LGA 1151. This means that you can install a 'Coffee Lake' CPU into a z270 motherboard without the need of a hammer and everything will appear to be correct - only the system will never actually be able to POST (Power On Self Test) and operate correctly, the system would not actually function. The purpose of this incompatibility is not clear for the time being. As opposed to that, the seventh-generation microprocessor supports quite a number of different architectures (Celeron, Pentium ...). Is it the generation shift or is the eight generation of microprocessors and PCH just exclusive?

There are lot of movies about this chipset and motherboard format at 'YouTube', but what impress me is 'Gigabyte GB-BNi7HG6-1060 - Mini-PC Barebone (BRIX)'.

Figure 4. Gigabyte BRIX

Basic features are:

Features Latest Intel® 7th generation Core Processors
Chipset moederbord - HM175
Processor socket - BGA 1440
Processor model - Core i7-7700HQ
Discrete Graphic - GeForce® GTX 1060
Ultra compact PC design at only 2.6L (220 × 110 × 110 mm)
2 × M.2 SSD (2280) slots
2 × SO-DIMM DDR4 slots (2133 MHz)
Intel® IEEE 802.11ac, Dual Band Wi‑Fi & Bluetooth 4.2 NGFF M.2 card
Supports a 2.5" HDD/SSD, 7.0/9.5 mm thick (6 Gbps SATA3)
2 × USB3.1 (1* USB Type-C™)
3 × USB 3.0
2 × Mini DP
2 × HDMI 2.0
Intel Gigabit Lan
Headphone and Microphone jack

Very impressive. Of course, motherboard and other elements are not of some usual ITX standard, but special design of Gigabyte. Very powerful computer (PC?). Power supply and antenna are not shown at the Figure. Those are separate devices.