ASUS Z270E STRIX Gaming Review
Category : Z270
Published by Luca Rocchi on 05.01.17
With the Z270E STRIX Gaming, ASUS has a well equipped motherboard in its portfolio, which comes with a bunch of interesting features. There are for example two M.2 Gen 3 x4 slots and a USB 3.1 internal connector. Apart from that ASUS refined the design of their STRIX Gaming series motherbards, removing all the orange accents that we've seen on X99 STRIX Gaming products. 
With their STRIX Gaming models ASUS have motherboards in their portfolio, which, price-wise, sit in between their ROG and their Prime series. Therefore all the STRIX Gaming boards will cost something between 200 and 300 Euro and that is not particularly cheap. Nevertheless there is quite a bunch of features relevant to gamers on these boards. Today we're going to have a look at the Z270E STRIX Gaming, which comes with RGB lighting and features that you can find on ROG's motherboards like ROG SupremeFX audio solution and ROG software, yet in the case of the power design cheaper components are being used.
Specs and Delivery
| Chipset | Intel Z270 |
| Memory | Dual Channel DDR4, 4 x DIMM, Max. 64 GB DDR4, 3866 (O.C.) / 3600 (O.C) / 3466 (O.C.) / 3333 (O.C.) / 3300 (O.C.) / 3200 (O.C.) / 3000 (O.C.) / 2800 (O.C.) / 2666 (O.C.) / 2400 / 2133 Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory |
| Multi-GPU |
|
| Slots |
|
| Sound | SupremeFX Impact Audio 8-Channel High
Definition Audio
|
| Storage |
|
| Network |
|
| Internal Connectors |
|
| Extrenal Connectors |
|
| Forfactor | ATX (30.5cm x 24.4cm) |
| BIOS | Bios (128 Mb flash ROM, UEFI AMI BIOS) |
- User's manual
- I/O Shield
- 4 x SATA 6Gb/s cable(s)
- 1 x M.2 Screw Package
- 1 x Pack of cable tie
- 1 x CPU installation tool
- 1 x Supporting DVD
- 1 x HB-SLI bridge
- 1 x 12 in 1 Cable Label (s)
- 1 x 3D printing mount package
Features
Digi+ |
Since quite some time ASUS has been equipping its boards with digital power designs. Using the right software it is not only possible to adjust voltages while being in Windows on can now also control impedances. Furthermore this board features high quality 10K black metallic capacitor which guarantee a long lifespan. |  |
ASUS Fan Xpert 4 |
ASUS Fan Xpert 4 provides customizable settings for fans that have been attached directly to the onboard fan headers. With the Fan Auto Tuning feature, ASUS Fan Xpert 4 automatically detects and tweaks all fan speeds and in the end reduces unwanted noise. |
 |
EPU |
EPU automatically detects the current system load and moderates power usage. It offers a system-wide energy optimization and is able to reduce fan noise. |  |
AURA RGB Lightning |
Aura is an ASUS software tool to control the onboard RGB lighting. It allows you to select any color which is in the RGB spectrum and therefore enables users to individualize the looks of their motherboards. |  |
SupremeFX |
With SupremeFX you get ASUS's interpretation of high quality onboard audio. Supporting up to eight channels, the SupremeFX solution received shielding from other onboard components. Apart from that there are high quality Nichicon capacitors offering as clear as possible audio. |  |
USB 3.1 Connector |
The STRIX Z270E Gaming not only equipped with Type-A and Type-C connector at the rear I/O panel but with also a front USB 3.1 connector. This port is placed close the 24-pin connector and offers up to 10Gbps transfer speed. According to ASUS, case vendors like Lian Li and In Win will soon release new models, which make use of this new header. |
 |
Layout
With the Z270E STRIX Gaming ASUS decided to go for a design that's based on a matte black PCB and aluminum heatsinks, which received silver and black sheet metal covers. Apart from that there is the RGB lighting, which ASUS calls Aura. It allows you to make the board shine in your preferred color. The layout itself is well thought and since ASUS is always taking Intel's reference specifications regarding socket clearance into account, there is enough space to install large aircoolers. The fact that there are SATA connectors which have been angled by 90 degrees allows an easy installation of oversized graphics cards.
The
ASUS Z270E STRIX Gaming comes with a
digital 8+2+1 phase power design. The CPU is backed up by eight phases, the iGPU can rely on two phases and the memory receives stable current supply from
one
phase. In general the power design on this board is adequate for the job at hand. It's even good for aircooled and water cooled overclocking, but we would not recommend this board for extreme overclocking. For that purpose ASUS has more suitable boards in its portfolio. Comparing the power design to the higher-end models from the ROG line-up it becomes clear that ASUS has been saving a buck every here and there. Especially in the case of the inductors ASUS chose cheaper ones.
This board has been equipped with a total of four DIMM-slots. Officially supported is everything up to DDR4 3866 (O.C.). There is engough space between the DIMM-slots and the CPU socket which means that you wont encounter compatibility problems with big coolers even when you choose to install RAM with big heatspreaders. Also supported are Xtreme Memory Profiles (XMP) in version 2.0.
On the
Z270E STRIX Gaming the southbridge is being cooled by a
passive cooling block. A closer look at the VRM area shows
there are two more individual heatsinks without heatpipe. The overall build quality of the blocks is good, which makes for product that feels very nice, when you're holding it in your hands.
Connectors and I/O
ASUS equipped the Z270E STRIX Gaming with six angled SATA ports. All of them offer 6Gbps bandwidth. There aren't any SATA Express ports but we find two M.2 slots which have been wired using four PCIe Gen 3.0 lanes each. Unfortunately there are no practical onboard power- and reset-buttons and there is also no debug LED on this board. What's standard since quite a few generations is the MemOK button, which has proven useful quite a few times. ASUS decided to place a PCIe x1 slot right below the I/O panel. After that one there is a PCIe x16 Gen 3 slot. This means that it's well possible to remove a graphics card even if a large CPU heatsink has been installed.
There is a total of six fan headers on the Z270E STRIX Gaming which is more than enough, to provide a well equipped high-end or workstation with fresh air. The fan header are located close to the CPU as well as spread over the board. Other than that it's a good thing that all of them feature four pins, which allows for rpm regulation in BIOS as well as under Windows.
Looking at the external connectors directly at the back-panel ASUS equipped the Z270E STRIX Gaming with two USB 3.1 ports, whereas there is one Type-C connector, four USB 3.0 and one PS/2 port, one Intel Gigabit Ethernet port, as well as an optical out and an analogue audio panel. Furthermore there is also an HDMI, a DisplayPort and a DVI connector.
BIOS
The most recent version of ASUS’s UEFI BIOS presents itself with an attractive design, and especially the new interface which called EzMode, where we can not only monitor system information, CPU and motherboard temperature, CPU voltage and DRAM status but also set system and CPU fans as well as directly change the boot priority and tune the system to different profiles, is leaving a good impression. If you wish to go back to the good old times, where you were racing through the menus hammering up and down arrows as well as the enter key ridiculously fast, you just have to press F7 and there you go. Since this motherboard features a very solid power design it is suitable for gaming and high overclocking. The BIOS features all the usual ASUS options, which allow for altering virtually anything when it comes to overclocking. Overall, there is certainly no lack of options in this BIOS.
Test setup
Hardware |
|
| Motherboard |
|
| Processor | Intel Core i7-6700K @ 4.0 GHz |
| Memory | 8 GB (2x4) G.Skill Ares DDR4-2133 CL15-15-15-2T 350 |
| Graphic card | ASUS GeForce GTX 980 |
| Driver | ForceWare 353.62 |
| Hard disk | Intel 335 Series SSD 120 GB |
| Power supply | Seasonic Platinum Fanless 520W |
Preview / Gallery
3DMark
3DMark 11
3D Mark Vantage
PC Mark 08
SiSoft Sandra 1
SiSoft Sandra 2
UC Bench
Super Pi 1M - 32M
wPrime 1024M Multicore
Cinebench R15
Tomb Raider
Metro Last Light
Sleeping Dogs
Power Consumption
Performance Rating
Price comparison
| Model |
Geizhals.eu |
| ASRock Z170 Extreme7+ | |
| ASUS Maximus VIII Extreme | |
| ASUS Maximus VIII Extreme Assembly | |
| ASUS Maximus VIII Gene | |
| ASUS Maximus VIII Hero | |
| ASUS Maximus VIII Impact | |
| ASUS Maximus VIII Ranger | |
| ASUS Z170 Deluxe |
|
| ASUS Z170 Pro Gaming Aura | |
| ASUS Z170 Pro Gaming | |
| ASUS Z170-A |
|
| ASUS Z270E STRIX Gaming | |
| EVGA Z170 Classified K | |
| Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming G1 | |
| Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Ultra Gaming | |
| Gigabyte X170-Extreme ECC | |
| MSI Z170 Gaming M7 | |
| MSI Z170A Xpower Gaming Titanium Edition | |
| MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC | |
| Supermicro C7Z170-OCE | |
| Supermicro C7Z170-SQ |
Conclusion
| General | + | - | |
| A closer look at the motherboard lineup from ASUS reveals that the Z270E STRIX Gaming is a mid range model, regarding their gaming branded products. Of course it comes with some really neat features, like for example ASUS's SupremeFX audio solution, Aura RGB Lightning and two M.2 slots. Nevertheless at a price of 252 Euro, this board is quite costly for what you get. Sure the Z270E STRIX Gaming is a good motherboard but in this price range a little more could be expected, especially since other vendors sell equally equipped boards a lower price points. We're pretty curious to see what's going to happen to the price a few months after the launch. | -
Design - Layout - Price |
||
| Layout | + | - | |
| The layout of the ASUS Z270E STRIX Gaming has been well thought - as expected. Once more practical are the angled SATA connectors but there are no power- and reset-buttons and also a debug LED is missing in order to keep the cost down. Apart from that we like the placement of the PCI-Express x16 slots. There is a total of three full sized PCI Express slots and four PCIe x1 slots. Two of the three full-size PCIe slots receive metal reinforcements and these slots are two slots apart. This means that there is plenty of space for graphics card in multi GPU setups to breathe. | -
Angled SATA
connectors - Space around the CPU socket - Placement of PCIe slots |
- No power/reset button and no debug LED | |
| Performance | + | - | |
| Calculating the average of all 3D benchmarks results we ran, we see that this board scores 3rd. When taking the average of all 2D results, this board comes in 4th out of 22 boards tested. On another note, we had at energy efficiency where this board scores 17th. |
|
- Power Consumption | |
| Overclocking / BIOS | + | - | |
| The UEFI BIOS gets a black background and there are a few additional red and white design elements. Meanwhile it's almost normal that a BIOS is complete, offering countless features. If you're looking for overclocking options you'll find a great many of them and they are equally practical for novices and extreme overclockers. We always love the pre-defined profiles, which make overclocking quite a bit more efficient. Boosting our CPU to 5.0 GHz was absolutely no problem at all. | - Sheer amount of
options - Design |
||
| Recommendation | + | - | |
| The Z270E STRIX Gaming is a well equipped Z270 motherboard. This board is also quick accourding to our 2D and 3D benchmarks we're running. At the moment this is the first Intel Z270 motherboard that we have in our charts and comparing to models based on the Intel's Z170 chipset it's definitely quick. We chose to use an Intel Core i7-6700K processor to be able to compare the performance with other models we've reviewed previously reviewed. This motherboard offers a good reasonable feature set yet the price of 252 Euro excluding shipping costs is pretty steep. | - Price | ||
| System von MIFCOM | |||
| Should you be looking for an individually configurable system, which can be equipped with this motherboard, then we recommend you the Gaming Mini-PC Core i7-7700K from MIFCOM. | |||
| Rating | |||
| We give the ASUS Z270E STRIX Gaming excellent 4 out of 5 stars. | |||
