The Biostar X470GTN Motherboard Review: AM4 ITX Revisited
by Gavin Bonshor on October 24, 2018 10:00 AM ESTBoard Features
As might be expected with a mini-ITX form factored motherboard, the size limitations clearly hinder the number of controllers and circuitry which can be implemented. That hasn’t stopped Biostar doing the best they can though with limited spacing. The X470GTN targets the lower end of an already crowded budget-focused AM4 motherboard market, and the inclusion of mid-range controllers such as the Realtek ALC892 HD audio codec and Realtek networking helps balancing competitiveness with cost effectivenes.
The Biostar X470GTN looks very suitable on paper for a small form factor based gaming system either usingthe multi-core power of the Ryzen desktop processors with a single graphics card, as well as being equally apt for use with one of the great value amalgamated Ryzen and Vega APUs such as the Ryzen 5 2400G ($169) or Ryzen 3 2200G ($99) due to the inclusion of a HDMI 1.4 and DVI-D output.
| Biostar X470GTN Mini-ITX Motherboard | |||
| Warranty Period | 3 Years | ||
| Product Page | Link | ||
| Price | $130 | ||
| Size | Mini-ITX | ||
| CPU Interface | AM4 | ||
| Chipset | AMD X470 | ||
| Memory Slots (DDR4) | Two DDR4 Supporting 32 GB Dual Channel Up to DDR4-3200+ |
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| Video Outputs | 1 x HDMI 1.4 1 x DVI-D |
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| Network Connectivity | Realtek RTL8118AS Gigabit | ||
| Onboard Audio | Realtek ALC892 | ||
| PCIe Slots for Graphics (from CPU) | 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 | ||
| PCIe Slots for Other (from PCH) | N/A | ||
| Onboard SATA | Four, RAID 0/1/10 | ||
| Onboard M.2 | 1 x PCIe 3.0 x4/SATA | ||
| USB 3.1 (10 Gbps) | 1 x Type-A Rear Panel 1 x Type-C Rear Panel |
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| USB 3.0 (5 Gbps) | 4 x Type-A Rear Panel 1 x Header (two ports) |
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| USB 2.0 | 1 x Header (two ports) | ||
| Power Connectors | 1 x 24-pin ATX 1 x 4pin CPU |
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| Fan Headers | 1 x CPU (4-pin) 1 x System (4-pin) |
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| IO Panel | 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A 4 x USB 3.0 Type-A 1 x Network RJ45 (Realtek) 1 x HDMI 1.4 1 x DVI-D 1 x Combo PS/2 5 x 3.5mm Audio Jacks (Realtek) 1 x S/PDIF Output (Realtek) |
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The addition of two USB 3.1 Gen2 ports due to a single Type-A and Type-C port further enhances Biostar intent to offer users with a decent quality but more importantly, a highly affordable route onto the X470 chipset. The question could be asked why Biostar went with the X470 chipset over the B450 chipset as there are no specific X470 features that this board would benefit from over B450 due to the mini-ITX form factor, but from a marketing point of view, X470 comes across as a higher end chipset and from this aspect, it would make a lot of sense. As already mentioned numerous times in this review, the X470GTN and the X370GTN are totally identical in terms of specifications and componentry used.
Test Bed
As per our testing policy, we take a high-end CPU suitable for the motherboard that was released during the socket’s initial launch, and equip the system with a suitable amount of memory running at the processor maximum supported frequency. This is also typically run at JEDEC subtimings where possible. It is noted that some users are not keen on this policy, stating that sometimes the maximum supported frequency is quite low, or faster memory is available at a similar price, or that the JEDEC speeds can be prohibitive for performance. While these comments make sense, ultimately very few users apply memory profiles (either XMP or other) as they require interaction with the BIOS, and most users will fall back on JEDEC supported speeds - this includes home users as well as industry who might want to shave off a cent or two from the cost or stay within the margins set by the manufacturer. Where possible, we will extend out testing to include faster memory modules either at the same time as the review or a later date.
| Test Setup | |||
| Processor | AMD Ryzen 7 1700, 65W, $300, 8 Cores, 16 Threads, 3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo) |
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| Motherboard | Biostar X470GTN (Bios X47AK807) | ||
| Cooling | Thermaltake Floe Riing RGB 360 | ||
| Power Supply | Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 1200W Gold PSU | ||
| Memory | 2x16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-2400 | ||
| Video Card | ASUS GTX 980 STRIX (1178/1279 Boost) | ||
| Hard Drive | Crucial MX300 1TB | ||
| Case | Open Test Bed | ||
| Operating System | Windows 10 Pro | ||
Readers of our motherboard review section will have noted the trend in modern motherboards to implement a form of MultiCore Enhancement / Acceleration / Turbo (read our report here) on their motherboards. This does several things, including better benchmark results at stock settings (not entirely needed if overclocking is an end-user goal) at the expense of heat and temperature. It also gives, in essence, an automatic overclock which may be against what the user wants. Our testing methodology is ‘out-of-the-box’, with the latest public BIOS installed and XMP enabled, and thus subject to the whims of this feature. It is ultimately up to the motherboard manufacturer to take this risk – and manufacturers taking risks in the setup is something they do on every product (think C-state settings, USB priority, DPC Latency / monitoring priority, overriding memory sub-timings at JEDEC). Processor speed change is part of that risk, and ultimately if no overclocking is planned, some motherboards will affect how fast that shiny new processor goes and can be an important factor in the system build.
| Hardware Providers for CPU and Motherbaord Reviews | |||
| Sapphire RX 460 Nitro | MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X OC | Crucial MX200 + MX500 SSDs |
Corsair AX860i + AX1200i PSUs |
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| G.Skill RipjawsV, SniperX, FlareX |
Crucial Ballistix DDR4 |
Silverstone Coolers |
Silverstone Fans |
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18 Comments
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Stuka87 - Wednesday, October 24, 2018 - link
Just about every motherboard out offers a fast boot mode. My 4 year old desktop goes from power button being pushed to windows login screen in 6 seconds. My new laptop is pretty similar, and thats with Dell's bloated UEFI.lightningz71 - Wednesday, October 24, 2018 - link
Please, on ITX boards, can you conduct testing with a RYZEN 2400G? These are great boards for doing reasonable cost home entertainment and SFF builds with, and that's a solid use case for the 2400G. Testing the SOC VRMs for their comparive ability to support iGPU overclocks on those APUs would be invaluable.jeremyshaw - Wednesday, October 24, 2018 - link
Raven Ridge unified the CPU and GPU voltage rail.gavbon - Wednesday, October 24, 2018 - link
I can see where you are coming from, but our AM4 test bench is designed to test the motherboards on an even playing field with the same hardware. While users might consider the X470GTN as perfect for the 2400G, even I think it's suited, not every board has video outputs to test.jensend - Thursday, October 25, 2018 - link
No DisplayPort = instant disqualification. There's no excuse for this any more.Review sites should just send mobos that don't include DP back to the manufacturer or toss them in the trash bin. Send the message that it's not acceptable in 2018.
Many ITX builds would benefit hugely from inexpensive and low-TDP graphics. Raven Ridge provides reasonable graphics power especially if used with adaptive sync. Cheap FreeSync monitors are plentiful but generally can only do FreeSync over DP not the FreeSync-over-HDMI proprietary hack. DisplayPort is royalty-free.
A motherboard without displayport messes seriously with AMD's value propositions in the SFF space. Boards with DP should not be this scarce a full dozen years after DP's introduction.
PC Crazy - Thursday, October 25, 2018 - link
Awesome review. To be honest, it doesn't need some extra special features which would pump up the price. As you wrote, this is a solid board for a nice price that can do a good OC and people with tighter budget can create a small but brilliant gaming machine. In any case, thanks for the review. Just what I needed if someone asked me for an AM4 miniITX build and what board to choose.artifex - Monday, October 29, 2018 - link
"The question could be asked why Biostar went with the X470 chipset over the B450 chipset as there are no specific X470 features that this board would benefit from over B450 due to the mini-ITX form factor, but from a marketing point of view, X470 comes across as a higher end chipset and from this aspect, it would make a lot of sense."And that's the real question for me, not how it's better than the x370 version. Your B450 roundup says the ASRock B450 Gaming-ITX/ac and ASUS ROG Strix B450-I Gaming each have a better audio codec (Realtek ALC1220), better NIC (Intel 1211AT), and Wi-Fi with bluetooth. The ASRock supports 3466+ speeds as opposed to this board's 3200+, has HDMI 2.0 and DP 1.2 as opposed to HDMI 1.4 and a DVI-D port, and the same number of SATA ports, the same number/style of 10 Gbps USB 3.1 slots. From the ASRock article it looks like this board does offer twice the 5Gbps USB 3.0 ports on the back panel, and 2 USB 2.0s on the back panel where the ASRock just has headers for the USB 2.0. The ASRock also has an 8-pin CPU power connector, not 4, and an extra system fan header. And you show it for the same MSRP of $130. The ASUS ROG I don't see a separate article for, but the roundup mentions an AIO connector and a bunch of blinky lights I don't care about and is probably way more expensive, but still: what makes this 470 board better than those two B450 ITX boards? Some extra USB ports on the back and DPC latency?
Brane2 - Tuesday, October 30, 2018 - link
Another "meh" model.When will finally someone present ITX board utilizing graphic output to the maximum ?
AM4 APUs have 4 graphic channel outputs.
Gimme an ITX board with 3 or better yet 4 DP outputs and I'll imediately purchase couple.
Funny enough, even FM2+ socket boards have had models with better video output options....
Now that we have VERY decent APU with all that RAM bandwidth, 4 CPU kickass cores, 11 GPU cores and L3 cache, and above all with Ryzen 2 at the doors, and NO ITX board that would be able to give all that hardware to show all its potential...