Overclocking and Conclusion

Overclocking

To give a feel for the overclocking performance potential of the Strix Z270E Gaming motherboard, we attempted to push it to known CPU-supported performance parameters with minimal tweaking. At the stock base clock speed of 100Mhz, we pushed the CPU to 5.1GHz with a 4.8GHz ring bus and 3866MHz memory speeds. This was done at a 1.34V CPU voltage and a 1.35V memory voltage with all other values left at default settings. However, the board refused to stabilize at any memory settings about 3867MHz, even though the modules are rated for and have run at 4000MHz on other boards. The highest base clock speed the board would run at was 167MHz, equating to a 5.0GHz CPU speed, 4.8GHz ring bus, and 3672MHz memory speeds. All overclocking sessions remained stable for over 4hrs. System stability was tested running the AIDA64 stability test in conjunction with EVGA's OC Scanner X graphical benchmark running at 1280×1024 resolution and 8x MSAA in stress test mode. Note that 16GB (2 x 8GB) of Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-2666 and 8GB (2 x 4GB) of Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4-4000 memory modules were used for the overclocking tests.

100MHz Base Clock Stats with 5.1GHZ CPU speed

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167MHz Base Clock Stats with 5.0GHZ CPU speed

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Note that this is is meant only as a quick preview of the board's performance potential. With more time to tweak the settings to a greater extent, pushing to a higher base clock and ring bus speed may have been achievable, in addition to an overnight stability run without issue.

Pricing

As of March 27, the ASUS Strix Z270E Gaming motherboard was available at Amazon.com for $209.21 with Free shipping. The board was also available from Newegg.com for $189.99 and from B&H for $189.99.

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Conclusion

ASUS continues to differentiate its product lines, expanding their Strix gaming product line with the Strix Z270E Gaming motherboard. The board combines a killer aesthetic with a rich feature set to make for a compelling product. Take into account its performance, and you have a solid product. One of the nicer additions was the support for dual external RGB LED strips, something not many boards has currently. The board performed very well across the board at stock speeds. Its overclocking performance was very good as well with a single caveat – its inability to boot with memory over 3866MHz. However, that issue is most likely fixable via a BIOS update. All in all, a good board with a solid feature set.

Strengths

  • Stock performance
  • Overclocking performance
  • Board aesthetics, layout, and design
  • UEFI BIOS design and usability
  • Storage offerings – dual M.2 ports and SATA ports
  • Surface mounted USB 3.1 Type A port
  • Multiple (2) integrated RGB 12V headers, offering support for multiple RGB LED strips
  • Configurable RGB LEDs using Aura Windows app
  • Support for custom 3D printed panels and accessories with provided mount points
  • Rear panel cover

Weaknesses

  • CMOS battery placement
  • Lack of UEFI RGB LED configuration
  • Unable to boot board with memory over 3866MHz speed
  • Lack of SATA-Express or U.2 device ports

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