Features and Motherboard Layout
Features
Courtesy of ECS
- Windows 10 Workable support
- 3-Way multi-graphics solution
- 12 Phase Power Design
- Supports Intel® K Series unlock CPU
- Applied 100% Solid capacitor design to maximize component reliability
- ECS Durathon Technology ensure the stability, reliability and performance of system.
- ESD Protection prevents computers from electrostatic discharge damage to enhance its durability and lifespan
- ECS EZ charger provides a fast way to charge your smart devices, even if the PC is off
- Supports GUI UEFI for tweaking BIOS in Graphical interface within a multi language environment
- ECS MIB X – A friendly interface for overclocking, especially for gamer
- Supports HDMI 2.0 Technology ( resolution up to 3840 x 2160 pixels )
- Microsoft Windows 8.1 Certified
- Intel® 14nm 6th generation Multi-Core CPU support
- Supports DirectX® 12 to enhance graphical performance
- Supports AMD CrossFire™ to expand your system’s graphics capabilities.
- Supports Intel® HD Graphics
- Supports Display Port 1.2 Technology
- ECS Intelligent EZ Utility : eBLU, eDLU, eSF
Motherboard Layout
The Z170-Claymore motherboard features an enthusiast-friendly aestetic with a flat black PCB, black plastic ports and slots, and black heat sinks. The heat sinks are adorned with gold high lights with the chipset heat sink sporting ECS' L337 Gaming logo. The board layout was well thought out with more than enough room around all components.
The back of the board contains nothing other than the normal board trace lines and solder points. This remains true in the area directly behind the CPU socket, which is fully clear of any constricting components.
The Z170-Claymore has the following ports integrated into it's rear panel: PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports, four USB 2.0 ports, four USB 3.0 ports (blue colored), two USB 3.1 Type A ports (teal colored), an RJ-45 Realtek GigE NIC port, an HDMI video port, a DisplayPort video port, and six analogue audio ports.
The Z170-Claymore motherboard has a total of five device ports – five PCI-Express x16 slots. For the integrated PCI-Express x16 slots, the board supports full x16 bandwidth with a single card, x8 bandwidth with cards in the primary and tertiary slots, and x4 bandwidth provided to slots 2, 4, and 5. The CMOS battery is located in between the lower parts of the secondary and tertiary PCIe X16 slots.
In between the primary and secondary PCIe x16 slots is the integrated PCIe x2 M.2 slot. The M.2 slot supports a PCIe-style M.2 SSD up to 80mm in length.
The audio components are located just above the PCIe x16 slots, contained on an isolated PCB to cut down on distortion and crosstalk between the audio components and other board-integrated components. The front panel audio header is located just above PCI x16 slot 3.
In the upper left corner of the board are the Trusted Module port header, the S/PDIF output header, the Along the lower left of PCIe x16 slot 2 are the integrated M.2 SSD port, the speaker header, the clear CMOS jumper, the chassis intrusion header, and the case speaker header (BZ).
Along the lower outside portion of PCIe x16 slot 5 are a system fan header and a USB 2.0 header.
In the lower left corner of the board are a USB 2.0 header, the front panel header, a 2-digit diagnostic display, the power and reset buttons, a removable BIOS chip, the chassis intrusion header, and the CMOS clear jumper. The headers above the CMOS clear jumper and above the removable BIOS chip are debug headers used for factory board validation. The diagnostic display can be used to troubleshoot board initialization issues by cross-referencing the code with the table provided at the back of the motherboard manual.
The Intel Z170 Express chipset cooler is a black colored, low profile aluminum heat sink just below the PCIe X16 slots. The heat sink features the ECS L337 Gaming logo.
ECS integrated a total of four on-board SATA 6 Gb/s ports and one SATA Express 10 Gb/s ports into the port block located just under the chipset cooler, making for a total of six SATA 6 Gb/s ports if the SATA-Express ports are used individually. All ports are controlled by the Intel Z170 chipset and have no use restrictions, no matter what other devices are plugged into the board (including M.2 SSDs and PCIe-based cards).
The board's four integrated DDR4 memory slots are located just below the CPU socket in the lower right quadrant of the board. Dual Channel memory mode is enabled by seating memory modules in slots 1 and 3 or slots 2 and 4 with slots 2 and 4 being the primary slot set. The board supports up to 64GB of memory running at a maximum speed of 3200MHz. Note that memory speeds above 2133MHz are considered overclocked speeds and are outside of the official Intel stock memory speed specifications. Just below the memory slots are the USB 3.0 header, the 4-pin CPU fan header, a 4-pin system fan headers, and the 24-pin ATX power connector.
To the upper right of the DIMM slots are the secondary CPU fan header and an unlabeled debug header used for factory board testing.
The CPU socket area is clear of obstructions with heat sinks cooling the CPU VRM chips above and to the right of the socket. ECS chose to power the CPU with an impressive 12-phase digital power circuitry to ensure stability under all operation conditions.
To the upper left of the CPU socket is a 4-pin system fan header.
The 8-pin ATX12V power connector is located to the upper right of the CPU socket.
These all black connector
These all black connector mainboards are so sad and inefficient. There should be a color scheme to distinguish each slot at first sight.
Anyone who has close to any
Anyone who has close to any idea of how to build a system can distinguish each slot at first sight.
Don’t be so arrogant! Even
Don’t be so arrogant! Even with a good vision you can’t clearly distinguish black PCI-E from black PCI slot or the wiring of each memory channel slot.
That’s all subjective.
This
That’s all subjective.
This board is clearly aimed to be an enthusiast motherboard not meant to break the bank. So a color coordinate/scheme just adds to the cost.
It can add cost or reduce the
It can add cost or reduce the margin included in the $159.99 price which is for my POV far from being ‘cheap’.
You’re referring to the
You’re referring to the non-existent PCI slots in this case, right? Seeing as there are only PCI-E slots on that board, it makes no difference.
As for the memory, if you’re not sure on the channels, look at the manual..?
I love the look of this board.
I hate that boards have too many colours on them as it screws up a good colour scheme.
I’m pretty sure you looked
I’m pretty sure you looked more than once to check the presence of PCI slots and the majority of users don’t look at manuals.
It seems you are more interested in marketing promotion for a mainboard that almost nobody will look at in a closed case than an handy color scheme to identify clearly the board design.
All PCI-e slots are the same
All PCI-e slots are the same in this board. What should they differentiate?
As I stated before, PCI Slots
As I stated before, PCI Slots aren’t supported by modern chip sets anyways, would be especially hard pressed to even see it on an enthusiast board.
Great review Morry!
Nice to
Great review Morry!
Nice to see a review on something other than Asus/MSI.
It sucks that large air coolers like the noctua will interfered with the primary PCIe slot.
>…integrated DVI and HDMI
>…integrated DVI and HDMI video port…< DP and HDMI?? Also how far have ECS come; what is their reliability like these days?
Fixed, thanks for pointing
Fixed, thanks for pointing that out.
As far as quality, ECS seems to have tried to focus more lately on a single good product for a line rather than the shattershot approach they (and other manufacturers) have done in the past….
All my experience with ECS
All my experience with ECS has been negitive. I have a z97 Machine now and it has been nothing but problems even after hair pulling RMA’s. Turns out their board couldn’t handle the weight of 212 evo over the long term, and the board will just die eventually because of it.
I’m going to wait and see if their new products have improved, but I doubt it.
Yea, premature death has been
Yea, premature death has been the recurring theme with ECS since the late 90s or early 2000s. Things may have changed but it’ll take a lot to win back my trust.
Seriously!!! This story has
Seriously!!! This story has been up for this long and no one has made the “What side of this Claymore do you face towards the enemy?” joke.
Im losing faith in the internet.
Most here haven’t heard of a
Most here haven’t heard of a Claymore mine, but I remember setting them up with tripwires…Airborne All The Way
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck nope.
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck nope.
what is the point of PCI-E
what is the point of PCI-E number 4 ? you you keep stacking double slot cards in there that slot is usless.
Can be used with peripheral
Can be used with peripheral (read x1, x2, or x4 type card) if you are not using slot 3 or using a cooler or waterblock that doesn't take up more than 1 slot of space…
Indeed! But it’s sad the
Indeed! But it’s sad the board lacks at least one PCI slot for a good old PCI sound controller.
PCI-E sound card are overpriced and in 2016 we should have an efficient digital sound interface instead instead of the current analogic interface or the expensive S/PDIF hardware.
Intel thinks the next audio interface should be digital, great but I’m afraid USB wouldn’t be an efficient audio interface. We need a dedicated audio interface like DVI (stream oriented transmission) whereas DP (packet oriented transmission) should be better a interface for display but the DVI compatibility makes harder to move forward.
Haven’t seen a PCI slot in
Haven’t seen a PCI slot in ages, especially on any recent chipsets (they’re not supported by any recent of intel ICHs as far as I know).
Sorry, correction…they’re
Sorry, correction…they’re called Platform Controller Hubs now.
Just a question of some
Just a question of some poorly chosen words, specifically about ECS taking ‘out all the stops’ in the second paragraph:
What is the keying of the M.2 port? (manual looks like it’s M) How does an NVMe M.2 drive, or a U.2 Drive with an adapter work with this port (Not M Keyed or not PCIe x4, means that there is a stop, so the hyperbole is already identified.)
No Type-C connector on the back IO panel would be a stop.
I won’t go further on the nit-picks on the examples of stops beyond this. Looks like a good board with some solidly compelling features. ECS has a nearly fully modern MB here with 12 phase power delivery should make this great of CPU OCers.
Now, just for kicks, and because I wanted to find out what the M.2 connector was keyed as, I started looking through the manual.
The chapter that it has specifically for Crossfire is pretty dated now. References to Catalyst Control Center, Crossfire bridges, and images depicting ATI Radeon graphics cards.
‘Twas a nostalgic moment.