ASUS TUF Z270 Mark 1 Launch Preview

Motherboard Layout

Motherboard Layout

The TUF Z270 Mark 1 features the tan and camouflage branding common to the ASUS TUF product line with the chipset featuring the ASUS corporate logo. The TUF logo is prominently displayed on the rear panel fan door as well as in the middle of the board. Further, the brand name is emblazoned in between the primary and secondary PCIe x16 slots with a camouflage pattern cut into the overlay along the brand name for a nice effect. The board's layout was well thought out with all space utilized well in both the horizontal and vertical planes, allowing the board to support a multitude of devices as well as giving the user easy access to the integrated ports and headers.

The TUF Fortifier backplate is a solid black metal construction, giving the board rigidity and support as well as protecting the under side components. The TUF logo is stamped into its surface behind the PCIe slots. The board's back surface has a black and grey camouflage pattern that nicely offset's the pure black of the Fortifier plate.

ASUS designed the TUF Z270 Mark 1 with a total of 10-digital power phases, using enhanced power chokes that are capped with metal covers for superior heat dissipation. The CPU VRM circuitry is cooled by two heatsinks above and to the right of the CPU socket, covered by the armor overlay. The overlay contains air flow holes along the sides of the VRM heat sinks to aid in heat dispersal. You may have mounting issues with larger CPU heats with this board, but that is a small price to pay for its over-engineered design.

The board's dual PCIe x4 M.2 slots are located in the lower left corner of the board, one sitting under the third PCIe x1 slot and hidden by an armored panel. The other slot sits vertically in the board's surface, just above the front panel header. ASUS included a vertical bracket that can be bolted to the board's surface for added support and protection of your M.2 device. Both slots support 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 (black) or 2 / 4 (tan). To the lower left of the DIMM slots is a USB 3.0 wiht the MEM OK! button to the lower left of the slots.

The Intel Z270 chipset is covered by a low profile aluminum heat sink with a camouflage adorned overlay featuring the ASUS corporate 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 six PCIe slots – three PCIe x16 slots and three PCIe x1 slots. The PCIe x16 slots can be used in x16, x8 / x8, or x8 / x8 / x4 mode.

The TUF Z270 Mark 1 board contains the following ports integrated into its rear panel: five USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports (blue), two USB 3.1 10Gbps ports – one Type A (teal) and one Type C (black), dual GigE RJ-45 ports – an Intel I219-V NIC and an Intel I211 NIC, a USB BIOS Flashback button, an HDMI output port, a DisplayPort video output port, an S/PDIF digital audio output, and five analogue audio outputs.