Asus Prime X370-PRO AM4 Motherboard Review

Introduction

We’ve been playing around with a few high-end AM4 motherboards recently, including the fantastic ASUS RoG Crosshair VI Hero X370, but not everyone wants to spend well over £200 for a motherboard, nor does everyone need to. The new ASUS PRIME X370-PRO looks set to tick all the right boxes for those who want high-end performance, without too many complications or the added cost that can often come with the flagship boards.

Price around £150, the PRIME promises the best of both worlds, offering a competitive price, yet still supporting all the high-end hardware you would expect from an X370 class motherboard. That means you’ll get support for DDR4 3200 (OC), M.2 storage, lots of SATA 6Gb/s ports, USB 3.1, Crossfire/SLI, high-end audio output, RGB lighting, and overclocking on all Ryzen AM4 processors.

• 5-Way Optimisation: One-click system-wide tuning that now also senses GPU temperatures to ensure cooler gaming
• ASUS Aura Sync – World’s first synced RGB lighting with easy controls to orchestrate Aura Sync-capable hardware
• Refined Audio: Realtek ALC1220 codec provides pristine and powerful audio quality
• ASUS SafeSlot: Patent-pending PCIe with enhanced retention and shearing resistance
• 5X Protection III: Multiple hardware safeguards to protect components from damage by power or electrical surges

PRIME

ASUS Prime is the next evolution of the ASUS motherboard, born of a pedigree that stretches back to 1989. Our team of world-class engineers are passionate about empowering everyone to enjoy the benefits of customisation and tuning, and the driving force behind the development of Prime is to make advanced enthusiast controls easily accessible — maximising performance, stability and compatibility for the very best DIY PC experiences. Simply stated: it’s time for Prime.

Packaging and Accessories

On the front of the box, you’ll see support for the new Ryzen CPUs, SLI and Crossfire, HDMI out (with iGPU equipped CPU), 5-way optimization, and USB 3.1; on and don’t forget RGB!

Around the back, a nice breakdown of all the major features, including the one-click overclocking and cooling profiles.

There’s not a whole lot in the box, but there’s everything you need to get started. There is a user guide, backplate, four SATA cables, M.2 screws, front panel cable block, SLI bridge, and a driver disc.