A Closer Look & Layout Analysis
The motherboard itself is very simple. The heat sinks are well designed, small and clean-cut; subliminally this adds more focus to the Ultra Durable focus. While I find that the Red and black theme has been played out, I quite like this; it’s extremely subtle.
Looking closer at the CPU socket, we can see that the chokes and capacitors are fairly close. This might become an issue with some CPU coolers if they have a larger fitting plate, but most of the current range of LGA 115x CPU coolers will fit with no issues what so ever.
This motherboard, much like the rest of the Z170 range, has taken advantage of the huge expansion options available through the PCi lanes. This board only features a single high speed M.2 Port which can accommodate a max length of 80mm.
The price point of this board is on the cheaper end of the Z170 market, so I/O options are more limited due to more focus on the SLI nature of the board. From left to right there are 2x USB 2.0 ports, 1x PS/2 port, 1x VGA, 1x DVi, 1x USB 3.1 Type C, 1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 3.1 Type A, 1x HDMI, 1x Gigabit LAN, 2x USB 3.0 and 6x Audio jacks.
Moving along the IO side of the board, we are taken to the audio section. The AMP UP! audio feature is reminiscent of other recent AMP UP! featured motherboards with a simple cover.
Along the bottom of the board, we find a smaller array of the usual headers including UDB 2.0, Thunderbolt header, TPM and LPT headers.
Moving over, a large proportion of the board is taken up by the block of headers, but there is room for a fan header, front panel headers and a clear CMOS jumper nestled just behind the front panel block.
Moving up the other side of the motherboard, we can see a good arrangement of SATA connections including 6x SATA 6 Gb/s and 3x SATA Express ports.
Opposite the I/O ports, we find 2x US 3.0 header, 24-pin power connector, more fan headers and the DDR4 slots.
The top of the board is plain and simple with 2 fan headers, a few capacitors and the 8 pin power connector.
