ASUS Strix Z270E Gaming Launch Preview

Motherboard Layout

Motherboard Layout

The Strix Z270E Gaming features the all black branding common to the ASUS Strix product line with the chipset featuring the ROG brand logo. The VRM and chipset heat sinks are brushed dark aluminum, providing a nice contrast with the patterned black surface of the motherboard. ASUS breaks up the base black of the PCB with a series of densedly packed diagonal lines running across the boards free surface areas. The pattern provides a further contract with the heat sinks and black plastics covers used on the chipset and rear panel assembly. The board's layout was well thought out with more than enough room provided between all components for easy user access.

ASUS designed the Strix Z270E Gaming with a total of 10-digital power phases, which provide more than enough power for anything the board should encountered. ASUS cools the CPU VRM circuitry with two large heat sinks, one above and one to the right of the CPU socket. The upper heat sink is branded with the Strix logo cut into its top surface. The socket itself is clear of obstructions, making for an easy CPU cooler mount.

The board is designed with a total of two PCIe x4 M.2 slots, one to the left of the CPU socket and below the primary PCIe x1 slot, and the other underneath the fourth PCIe x1 slot. The M.2 slot by the CPU supports M.2 cards up to 80mm in length, while the other supports cards up to 110mm in length.

The board supports up to four DIMM slots with Dual Channel memory mode active with modules in slots 1 / 3 or 2 / 4. To the lower left of the DIMM slots is a USB 3.1 front panel header for connecting with optional devices requiring a high speed interface. To the lower left of the slots is one of the onboard RGB 12V headers. The other is located along the lower outside edge of the tertiary PCIe x16 slot.

The Intel Z270 chipset is covered by a low profile dark brushed aluminum heat sink with a white plastic overlay featuring the ROG brand logo. In addition to the two PCIe x4 M.2 slots, the board was designed with six SATA III ports in a block just below the chipset heat sink.

The board contains a total of seven PCIe slots – three PCIe x16 slots and four PCIe x1 slots. The PCIe x16 slots can be used in x16, x8 / x8, or x8 / x8 / x4 mode.

With this board, ASUS integrated support for connecting one or more RGB LED strip to the board using the RGB 12V headers located to the along the outside mid-point of the tertiary PCIe x16 slot as well as to the lower right of the DIMM slots. Connecting an RGB LED strip to the RGB 12V header synchronizes the LED strip color and activity with that of the motherboard's integrated LEDs in the audio PCB separator line. In the screencap, an RGB cable is connected to the RGB 12V header.

New to the Strix Z270 board line, ASUS integrates mount points for custom designed 3D printed panels and accessories. The mount points are along the upper edge of the board, just below the audio PCB illuminated divider line.

The Strix Z270E Gaming board contains the following ports integrated into its rear panel: a PS/2 hybrid keyboard / mouse port, four USB 3.0 ports (blue), two USB 3.1 10Gbps ports – one Type A (red) and one Type C (black), one GigE RJ-45 port – an Intel I219-V NIC, two 802.11AC antennae ports, an HDMI output port, a DisplayPort video output port, a DVI-D video output port, an S/PDIF digital audio output, and five analogue audio outputs.