Introduction and Specifications

We look at a pair of Intel Z270 motherboards from ECS

For Intel’s Z270 chipset ECS has a pair of motherboard options, with the ATX Z270-LIGHTSABER and mini-ITX Z270H4-I. We have a look at both of these offerings today.

The Z270-LIGHTSABER tries to live up to that name with customizable LED lighting around the board, which is controlled through the system setup. It boasts a 14-phase power delivery and all solid caps, and offers simplified overclocking through the ECS MIB X interface and Intel XMP 1.2 and 1.3 memory support. Additionally the LIGHTSABER offers comprehensive storage options with a PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slot (Intel Optane is supported), U.2 port, and a full complement of SATA III ports. There is also a Killer E2500 NIC, and premium audio with a dedicated TI headphone amp, among the other features.

For its part the Z270H4-I packs many of the same features as its ATX cousin, though this mini-ITX motherboard only provides a 6-phase power design, and does not feature the LED lighting or dedicated headphone amp of the Z270-LIGHTSABER. It does provide the same full PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slot with Intel Optane support, and while the Z270H4-I does not have a Killer NIC it replaces this with a pair including an Intel I-219V and Realtek LAN. The Z270H4-I also supports M.2 wireless cards and includes an optional pair of wireless antennae.

I installed my Core i7-7700K in both motherboards and in addition to some baseline benchmarks I tried out some casual overclocking and will provide general usage impressions with both boards.

We’ll see how both motherboards performed a bit later on, but first a look at specs:


Z270-LIGHTSABER Specifications:

  • Form Factor: ATX 305 x 244 mm
  • CPU: Supports 6th/7th gen Intel Core family/Pentium/Celeron series processors for LGA1151
  • 14 Phase Thermal Design Power
  • ECS Digital Power Design
  • 100% Solid capacitor design
  • Chipset:
    • Intel Z270 Express Chipset
    • Supports Intel Rapid Start technology
    • Supports Intel Smart Response technology
  • Memory:
    • Dual-channel DDR4 Memory architecture
    • Supports DDR4 2400 non-ECC, Un-buffered SDRAM Memory
    • Supports up to 3200+(OC)
    • 4x 288-pin DDR4 DIMM socket
    • Supports up to 64 GB
    • Intel extreme Memory Profile (XMP) 1.3/1.2 Memory Modules
  • Expansion Slots
    • 3x PCI Express x16 Gen 3.0 slot(s)
    • (x8+ x8 + x4)
    • 4x PCI Express X 1 Gen 3.0slot(s)
    • Supports AMD CrossFire Technology
  • Storage:
    • 1x M.2 slot for 2242/2260/2280 PCI-e x4/SATA SSD
      • Supports Intel Optane technology
    • 1x U.2 Port
    • 6x Serial ATAIII 6Gb/s
      • RAID0, RAID1, RAID5, RAID 10 configuration
  • Audio:
    • Realtek ALC1150 8-channel High Definition audio CODEC
    • Onboard TI NE5532AP EAR Phone Amplifier IC
  • LAN: Killer E2500 Gigabit Fast Ethernet Controller
  • USB:
    • Support by Z270 Express Chipset
      • 6x USB 3.0 ports up to 5Gb/s (4 back, 2 onboard), 2 ports with EZ Charger
      • 7x USB 2.0 ports up to 480 Mb/s (4 back, 3 onboard)
    • Support by ASMedia ASM1142 Controler
      • 2x USB 3.1 ports up to 10Gb/s
  • Rear Panel I/O:
    • 1x PS/2 combo connector
    • 1x Audio port (Line-in, 4x Line-out, Mic in)
    • 1x HDMI port
    • 1x Display port
    • 1x Optical S/PDIF Out port
    • 2x USB3.1 ports
    • 4x USB3.0 ports
    • 4x USB2.0 ports
    • 1x Clear_CMOS Button
  • OS Support: Windows 7 32/64-bit, Windows 8.1 64-bit, Windows 10 64-bit

Z270H4-I Specifications:

  • Form Factor: Mini ITX (170 x 170 mm)
  • CPU: Supports 6th/7th gen Intel Core family/Pentium/Celeron series processors for LGA1151
  • 6 Phase Thermal Design Power
  • ECS Digital Power Design
  • 100% Solid capacitor design
  • Chipset: Intel Z270 Express
  • Memory:
    • Dual-channel DDR4 Memory architecture
    • Supports DDR4 2133 non-ECC, Un-buffered SDRAM Memory
    • Supports up to 3200(OC)
    • 2x 288-pin DDR4 DIMM socket
    • Supports up to 32 GB
  • Expansion Slots
    • 1x PCI Express X16 Gen 3.0 slot
    • 1x M.2 slot for WiFi/BT
  • Storage:
    • 1x M.2 slot for 2242/2280 SSD
      • Supports Intel Optane technology
    • 4x Serial ATAIII 6Gb/s
      • RAID0, RAID1, RAID5, RAID 10 configuration
  • Audio: Realtek ALC1150 8-channel High Definition audio CODEC
  • LAN: INTEL I-219V and Realtek DRAGON LAN 8118AS
  • USB (support by Z270 Express Chipset)
    • 7x USB 3.0 ports up to 5Gb/s (5 back, 2 onboard)
    • 3x USB 2.0 ports Up to 480 Mb/s (2 back, 1 onboard)
  • Rear Panel I/O:
    • 1x PS/2 combo connector
    • 1x Audio port (Line-in,4x Line-out, SPDIF out)
    • 2x RJ-45 port
    • 1x HDMI port(s)
    • 1x Display port
    • 1x Coxal S/PDIF Out port (s)
    • 5x USB3.0 port(s)
    • 2x USB2.0 port(s)
  • OS Support: Windows 10 64-bit

  • ECS Z270H4-I: $109.99, Newegg.com
  • ECS Z270-LIGHTSABER: $199 MSRP (no current Amazon/Newegg listings in USA)

Here's a look at the box contents for both of these motherboards, starting with the Z270-LIGHTSABER:

And now the Z270H4-I:

The included accessories are quite basic, though the mini-ITX board includes a pair of Wi-Fi antennae with a metal bracket to attach these to the motherboard.

On the next page we'll take a closer look at the design of both ECS Z270 motherboards.

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