ASUS Intros TUF B360M-Plus Gaming S Motherboard

[btarunr]

ASUS expanded its mid-range TUF Gaming motherboard lineup with a new micro-ATX socket LGA1151 motherboard, the TUF B360M-Plus Gaming S. Built with the characteristic black+yellow color scheme and the polygonal shape, this board takes in 8th generation Core processors. It draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS power connectors, conditioning it for the CPU with a 4+3 phase VRM. The CPU is wired to four DDR4 DIMM slots, and a reinforced PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot. Two other PCI-Express 3.0 x1 slots, and three M.2 PCIe slots make for the rest of the expansion.

Storage connectivity includes two M.2-2280 slots with PCIe gen 3.0 x4 wiring, one of which also has SATA 6 Gbps wiring; and six SATA 6 Gbps ports. The third M.2 slot is 30 mm long, has PCIe 3.0 x1 wiring, and is meant for CNVi WLAN cards. Networking is handled by an Intel i219-V controller driving a GbE interface. The onboard audio solution combines an entry-level Realtek ALC887 codec with 6-channel output, audio-grade capacitors, and ground-layer isolation. USB connectivity includes two USB 3.1 gen 2 (both type-A), four USB 3.1 gen 1 (three type-A, one type-C), two USB 3.1 gen 1 front-panel ports by header; and a number of USB 2.0 ports. The board features an RGB LED ornament at the top-right corner, and a 4-pin RGB LED header, controlled by Aura Sync RGB software. The board is expected to be priced around USD $120.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Caring1]

So what part of this is Gaming?

 

[dj-electric]

So what part of this is Gaming?

The colors, of course...

 

[Mysteoa]

If this is supposed to be a TUF MB, why does it have such anemic VRM cooling?

 

[dj-electric]

If this is supposed to be a TUF MB, why does it have such anemic VRM cooling?

I have bad news for you. Ever since Z170 era TUF was downgraded into a budget branding...
TUFs are basically painted budget boards.

 

[Caring1]

I have bad news for you. Ever since Z170 era TUF was downgraded into a budget branding...
TUFs are basically painted budget boards.

They even cheaped out on the screen printing ink and couldn't complete the word ...STUFFED.

 

[Vayra86]

The Ugliest Fart

 

[Tsukiyomi91]

this isn't a "tough" board... == would rather get PRIME or STRIX lineup & be done with it.

 

[Bones]

The term TUF as it was used previously with the lineup stood for "The Ultimate Force" - Now it just seems to stand for "The Ultimate Fail".

BTW Even the ROG lineup has been watered down to an extent if getting a STRIX/ROG board because that's how the STRIX/ROG line was described - Watered down ROG.
If getting a "True" ROG as in the ROG name and nothing else like STRIX or Prime on it then it's up to the traditional ROG standard, if it has either label/name with it then it's just not the same.

With all the variants they seem to have now I don't know what's up with their lineup ATM and it does seem confusing, almost as if even they aren't sure which way they want to go themselves.

 

[Keullo-e]

I have bad news for you. Ever since Z170 era TUF was downgraded into a budget branding...
TUFs are basically painted budget boards.

Exactly. My old Sabertooth Z87 was from that good TUF era, now they are just branded cheap boards like you said.

I guess that could work with some people, "I remember that my old TUF Sabertooth was good, I guess I'll take a TUF board again" etc.

 

[Readlight]

perfect new board whit fast usb, lan, price. whit that new pentium should be ok.

 

[Apocalypsee]

I have bad news for you. Ever since Z170 era TUF was downgraded into a budget branding...
TUFs are basically painted budget boards.

That is correct. TUF has become a budget board lower than Strix. More flaccid than tough. It is not so bad on Intel since it's not meant for overclocking but on Ryzen just avoid them at all costs. There are better board for the same price.

 

[Vayra86]

That is correct. TUF has become a budget board lower than Strix. More flaccid than tough. It is not so bad on Intel since it's not meant for overclocking but on Ryzen just avoid them at all costs. There are better board for the same price.

You just summed up the vast majority of the Asus M/B line up except for the top end enthusiast boards... and even those are in fact overpriced and surpassed these days.

Its like buying a torn up Levi's jeans and saying its more durable because it says Levi's.

 

[Hood]

This is just part of the big sell-out, Asus is not what they used to be. I don't know how they did it, but they went from being the best motherboard brand, to somehow being worse than Asrock and even MSI. They should have concentrated on premium boards and better customer service, not watered-down quality and volume sales. 4 years ago, when I bought my Z97 Deluxe, they were still the best, but now they're mostly concerned with RGB lights and stylish heat sinks, not performance.

 

[bogami]

TUF was designated for sustainable military quality parts years ago and was competing with ROG components.
Now, we have a new TUF class for a minimum quality, which is not worth $ 50, but only for $ 120.

 

[Blueberries]

TUF was designated for sustainable military quality parts

Spoiler

 

[Apocalypsee]

You just summed up the vast majority of the Asus M/B line up except for the top end enthusiast boards... and even those are in fact overpriced and surpassed these days.

Its like buying a torn up Levi's jeans and saying its more durable because it says Levi's.

Yeah sadly ASUS has reduced their quality considerably except for top boards (Rampage, Crosshair, Maximus Extreme etc.) still IMO their board are extremely overpriced for the competing brand offer similar hardware for less.

I've posted this before, my Maximus VI Hero have 2 DIMM dead because they place memory trace around the hole which places the cooler making them vulnerable to any 3rd party cooler if it fastened too tightly. Compared to AsRock Z87 Extreme4 I have no such issues even with bend pins on the socket.