Introduction

Since the birth of the transistor, the evolution of microchips can be distilled into one word: "miniaturization". The performance desktop has been more resistant to this phenomenon than say, cell phones or laptops, but over the past decade, the small form factor desktop has gained significant traction. Biostar, a leading manufacturer of affordable performance motherboards, has once again stepped into the market with "miniaturization" in mind. The Biostar Racing X470GTN is a new motherboard based on the AMD X470 chipset that aims to be mini in all the right ways, from the Mini-ITX form factor to the MSRP.

The Biostar Racing X470GTN might be small, but Biostar is boasting some impressive features and performance, including a fully fleshed out audio experience with Blu Ray Audio and Hi-fi connectors and isolation, a modern storage interface with a 32 Gb/s M.2 slot, and two USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports, one Type-A and one Type-C, as well as a modern aesthetic with three controllable LED zones; one for the VRM heatsink and two through 5050 RGB headers. Last but not least, there is full overclocking support.

From audio to overclocking, the Biostar Racing X470GTN has all the accouterments of a full ATX board packed neatly into a tiny Mini-ITX PCB. This will be the third motherboard I test using my Ryzen 5 2600X and the second that uses the new AMD X470 chipset. Will this bold little board from Biostar keep up with the full-sized flagship competition?

Specifications