Asus z170 deluxe review

Today is the day of the launch of the new family of Intel Skylake processors. For this reason we are pleased to bring you the exclusive of the new Asus Z170 Deluxe motherboard nationwide. The Asus deluxe range is always the highest at the consumer and processional level, incorporating the best and most current connections on the market, along with top-notch overclocking capabilities.

In this analysis you will see all the qualities, performance tests and all its secrets. Here we go!

We thank Asus for trusting the product for its analysis:

Technical characteristics

ASUS Z170 DELUXE FEATURES
CPU	Support for Intel® Core ™ i7 processors in the LGA 1151 socket.
Chipset	Intel® Z170 Express Chipset
Memory	4 x DIMM, Max. 64GB, DDR4 3466 up to 2133 MHz Non-ECC, Un-buffered and XMP 1.3.
Multi-GPU Compatible	3 x PCIe 3.0 / 2.0 x16 1 x PCIe 2.0 x1 Support for 2-Way AMD CrossFire ™ / NVIDIA® SLI ™ Technologies (PCIEX16 and PCIEX8)
Storage	2 x M.2 type 2242/2260/2280/22110 compatible only works with PCIE SSD adapter. Intel® Z170 chipset 1 x SATA Express compatible with 2 x SATA 6.0 Gb / s and 8 x SATA 6Gb / s. Supports nVMe and Hyper Kit U.2. Support with Raid 0, 1, 5, 10 Support Intel® Smart Response Technology and Intel® Rapid Recovery Technology.
USB and ports.	6 x USB 3.1. 5 x USB 3.0. 5 x USB 2.0 / 1.1.
LAN	- Intel® I219V, 1 x Gigabit LAN. - Intel® 1211-AT, 1 x Gigabit LAN.
Rear connections	2 x LAN (RJ45) port (s) 2 x USB 3.1 (teal blue) 4 x USB 3.0 (blue) 4 x USB 2.0 1 x Optical S / PDIF out 5 x Audio jack (s) 1 x USB BIOS Flashback Button (s)
Audio	Realtek® ALC1150 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC
Wifi and Bluetooth connection.	3T3R Dual Band Wifi 802.11 AC with Wi-Fi GO & Engine.
Format.	ATX format; 30.5 cm x 24.4cm
BIOS	128 Mb Flash ROM, UEFI AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI2.7, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.7, ACPI 5.0, Multi-language BIOS, ASUS EZ Flash 2, CrashFree BIOS 3, F11 EZ Tuning Wizard, F6 Qfan Control, F3 My Favorites, Quick Note, Last Modified log, F12 PrintScreen, F3 Shortcut functions and ASUS DRAM SPD.

Asus Z170 Deluxe

The Asus Z170 Deluxe is presented with a robust packaging that ensures maximum protection for all the components it houses inside. We find on the cover in large letters the product model and all the certificates that support it, including compatibility with the Skylake line of Socket 1151 processors. While on the back we have all the most important characteristics and technical specifications.

As usual in the high ranges of motherboards, the box has two dependencies, the first one is the one that keeps the motherboard. While the second where it has all its accessories. The bundle is made up of:

Asus Deluxe Z170 motherboard, back plate, instruction manual and quick guide, CD with drivers, SATA cables, M.2 connector, processor installation kit, nVMe and Asus Hiper M.2 mini connector, SLI bridges.

It is a classic ATX motherboard with dimensions of 30.5cm x 24.4cm, so we do not have to worry about the box since it is compatible with the great repertoire that exists today in online stores. Its new design is almost a copy of the X99 line that Asus presented us last year, thanks to the cover in the area of the output ports and the dissipation of the phases.

The predominant color scheme is white and a matte black PCB. The use of these colors are great when it comes to combining with RAM memory, graphics cards of all kinds of colors that in turn will give us a minimalist touch. In the internal components it has 16 power phases The PWM used is Asus' custom Digi + and DRAM Overcurrent Protection technologies, ESD Guards and high-quality 5K-Hour Solid trainers with a speed more than 250%.

On cooling, it has two large heatsinks both in the area of the power supply phases and the south bridge of the motherboard, thus leaving the most critical chipsets and components cold at all times. As noted the south heatsink comes with customizable LEDs via software which allows us to choose with a large color scale. I would also like to clarify that it has nothing to send to the motherboards of the most enthusiastic X99 platform.

The pins of the socket are gold plated, while we have a total of 4 sockets of DDR4 RAM that allows us to install up to 64GB with frequencies of 3466 Mhz through XMP 1.3 profile and the possibility of overclocking.

The distribution of the PCI Express ports is very good and allows us to install up to 3 graphics cards with Nvidia SLI or AMD CrossfireX technology at x16 with PCI Express 3.0. It also has 4 PCI Express slots at x1.

You could not miss the M.2 connection with a bandwidth of 32Gb / s instead of the classic 10Gb / s improved by the Asus team. Note that the motherboard is compatible with nVMe technology and includes the Hyper Kit U.2 mini kit.

On the power we have a 24-pin ATX connection and the 8-pin EPS. In the lower area of the motherboard we have two internal USB 3.0 heads, control panel, USB 2.0 and fan heads. I would also like to highlight that the sound card incorporates the Realtek ALC1150 chip. While as network cards we have the first with an Intel yI211-V chipset and a second Intel® 1211-AT gigabit.

For lovers of overclocking and testing over the air we have a control panel for shutdown, restart, clear bios, BIOS FlashBack, a debug LED and TPM connection.

As we can witness Asus has chosen to incorporate its Crystal Sound sound card. With encapsulated chip and separate electronic components to minimize noise and interference with other components.

On the storage connections, it incorporates 10 SATA connections at 6Gb / s shared, two of them with the SATA Express connection, which is costing you so much to standardize. Finally, indicating on its rear panel it is made up of:

Optical audio output HDMI + Displaport Wifi antennas 3 × 3.5 x USB 3.1.1 x USB 3.1 Type-C.1 x USB 3.0.1 x USB 2.0.2 x LAN Digital audio output.

Test bench and tests

TESTING BENCH
Processor:	Intel i5-6600k.
Base plate:	Asus z170 Sabertooth
Memory:	4 × 4 16GB DDR4 @ 3200 MHZ G.Skill Ripjaws V
Heatsink	Corsair H100i GTX.
HDD	Samsung 840 EVO 250GB.
Graphic card	Nvidia GTX 780.
Power supply	EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G2

To check the stability of the processor and motherboard, we've overclocked up to 4500mhz with Prime 95 Custom and air cooling. The graphics that we have used is an Nvidia GTX780, without further distractions let's see the results obtained in our tests with a 1920 × 1080 monitor.

i5-6600k overclocked on the Asus Z170 Deluxe

BIOS

Asus sets itself apart from the rest with its stable BIOS and continuous updates. I personally love them and I find it a true wonder. As always, it allows us to save settings, 3-pin fan controller, create profiles for the fans, overclock with the smallest detail and a very friendly interface.

In addition we must take into account an important fact, it is that the plates are already optimized to control the pumps of the customized liquid refrigerations, therefore it is an extra point, since we are not obliged to have a rehobus or an external controller.

software

Among its software we find Asus Boot Setting that allows us to go to the BIOS directly after a restart, configure a quick boot or customize the boot after a blackout in the computer.

The 5-Way application is at the forefront of all motherboard applications where it allows us to overclock, monitor temperatures, adjust fans, customize the LEDs and activate TurboLAN.

Final words and conclusion

The Asus Z170 Deluxe is a high-end ATX format motherboard that allows us to install the new i7-6700k and i5-6600k processors, 64GB of DDR4 memory, up to 3 graphics cards with SLI or CrossFireX technology and a capacity of Incredible overclocking with 16 power phases.

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The cooling system is efficient and keeps both the supply phases and the south chipset very cool. I also highlight its 10 SATA connections, the possibility of connecting a SATA Express hard drive and the M.2 connections.

About the overclocking potential, we have put the i5-6600k very easily in the 4, 500 mhz with a fairly good voltage, taking into account that we have not tuned it, I think we could go up to 4700 mhz if we have a good unit.

In short, if you are looking for an overclockable motherboard, stable bios, excellent sound, the Asus Z170 Deluxe is the best option today.