The Bottom Line
Introduction, Specifications, and Pricing
Almost every major motherboard vendor has brought out their A-Game with the Intel Z270 chipset, and ASRock is no exception to this trend.
Today I will look at one of ASRock's more mainstream and affordable mid-range enthusiast products, the Z270 Extreme4. While the Z270 Extreme4's aesthetic design is a departure from the Z170 Extreme4's design, hardware and feature wise, they are very similar. ASRock has made minor tweaks to hardware, such as upgrading their audio section and adding an M.2 slot.
The Z270 Extreme4 has a unique PCB silk screen that plays right into heat sink design. Together with the PCH heat sink, the silkscreen creates a large white "X" that spreads across the motherboard. I assume the "X" is for ASRock's Extreme series of motherboards, indicating that the product is built for enthusiasts.
Apart from these aesthetic improvements to the Extreme4, I will now explore the other major changes the new Z270 Extreme4 brings to the table.
Specifications
Compared to its predecessor, the Z270 Extreme4 has an extra M.2 slot, an M.2 slot for Wi-Fi, and improved audio system, AURA brand RGB header and onboard RGBs, improved connectors, and a new water cooling pump header.
Pricing
The Z270 Extreme4's price is $149.99.
Packaging and Z270 Extreme4 Overview
Packaging and Overview
ASRock's box design has changed a bit, back to a star-filled view of space, and the emphasis on the "Xtreme." Packaging is what we have come to expect from ASRock's mainstream products; your motherboard should arrive unharmed.
The accessory package includes four SATA6Gb/s cables, SLI-HB Bridge, IO panel, M.2 screws, ASRock case badge, driver DVD, and manuals.
ASRock offers five PWM/DC mode fan headers on the motherboard - I have circled them in red and blue. The two red headers support up to 1.5A current and include W_PUMP in their name as they are designed to double as water pump headers. The other headers circled in blue provide 1A current. You can choose between PWM (4-pin) or DC/Voltage (3-pin) fan operation mode in the UEFI or through ASRock's A-Tuning application in Windows.
The motherboard's black and white color theme is a popular one this round, and ASRock has a competitive product in that regard. I like how the PCB silk screen matches up with the PCH heat sink and IO shield's design. You can imagine the white as busses through which motherboard data moves, or just a link between different components, or just take it as what it is, decoration.
ASRock has moved components around so that the white of the motherboard isn't broken by ICs or other PCB components. The rear of the motherboard has a few components; the most notable are two quick switches that were moved to the rear of the PCB so that they wouldn't interfere with the white silkscreen.
The rear IO panel offers four USB 3.0 ports, PS/2 Keyboard/Mouse, WIFI Antenna brackets, VGA(D-SUB), DVI, HDMI, USB 3.1 type-A, USB 3.1 type-C, 1Gbit Intel NIC, and 7.1 audio outputs with S/PDIF TOSLINK.
The PCI-E layout is very simple. The first and second full sized x16 slots operate at x16/x0 or x8/x8, and they are also reinforced by metal brackets to ensure heavy GPUs don't damage the slots. The last x16 slot is wired to the PCH at x4 PCI-E 3.0 and will support an NVMe boot device. There are eight SATA6Gb/s ports, six of from the PCH while two are from a third-party controller.
The motherboard also carries two x4 PCI-E 3.0 M.2 slots that share bandwidth with some of the Intel-based SATA slots, the manual describes scenarios where using an M.2 slot will disable SATA ports.
Two USB 3.0 internal headers are located right below the 24-pin PSU power header. At the bottom of the motherboard, you will find multiple USB 2.0 headers, as well as an RGB LED header. The RGB LED header uses AURA LED technology and is compatible with accessories that advertise AURA compatibility.
The heat sinks and shields are held down by screws and make excellent contact with PCB components.
ASRock Z270 Extreme4 Circuit Analysis
Circuit Analysis
The Z270 Extreme4's bare PCB exposes how it all works.
The motherboard's VRM for the CPU is a 6+4+1+1 phase VRM. The iGPU gets four phases, and the CPU VCore gets six, both doubled from 2+3 phases through doubling of power stage components. The last 1+1 are phases for the VCCSA and VCCIO and don't work off the main PWM controller. The PWM controller is an Intersil ISL95824, which is a 4+2 phase PWM with one integrated driver on the 2 phase rail and two integrated drivers on the 4 phase rail.
ASRock supplements the integrated drivers with two ISL6625A drivers, one for each rail. The 3+2 drivers are each attached to two power stages consisting of NIKOS PK6188 for the high-side and PZ0903 for the low-side. While 6+4 phases might not sound like a lot, it should get the job done since LGA1151's power requirements aren't crazy high.
The memory VRM consists of two phases controlled by an Anpec APW8720B single-phase PWM controller. The two phases are derived by doubling the number of power stage components on the single integrated driver, and the MOSFETs are Advanced Power Electronics Corp. AP4034GYT N-channel power MOSFETs.
The motherboard is much more revealing when you take off the shields and heat sinks.
ASRock Z270 Extreme4 Circuit Analysis Continued
The new audio section uses the new Realtek ALC1220 which offers 120dB SNR and an integrated amplifier for the headphone output. ASRock supplements the audio system with another amplifier for the front panel audio header with a Texas Instruments NE5532 amplifier. Nichicon Gold series electrolytic audio capacitors and PCB division help improve audio performance.
ASRock is sticking with Intel NICs this round; an i219v PHY is used to compliment the integrated MAC in the PCH. ASRock is also using ASMedia's latest USB 3.1 controller, the ASM2142, which offers an x2 PCI-E 3.0 uplink to the PCH for more bandwidth for USB 3.1 ports. There is also an ASMedia ASM1543 USB 3.1 type-C switch and CC logic controller on the back of the motherboard's PCB.
An ASMedia ASM1442K level shifter is used to convert the digital video output from the iGPU into signals that the HDMI and DVI connectors can use. A Realtek RTD2168 provides VGA/D-SUB analog video output, as Intel removed native analog video output from the CPU. I am not completely sure, but the nuvoTon N76E88 near the RGB LED header should be responsible for RGB LED functionality.
An ASMedia ASM1061 is responsible for providing two SATA6Gb/s ports. The ASMedia ASM1074 is a USB 3.0 hub, which takes a single USB 3.0 port from the PCH and outputs four ports for the two internal USB 3.0 headers.
A nuvoTon NCT6791D is the main SuperIO. The motherboard also has two 128Mbit ROMs for redundancy, and a Texas Instruments GD75232 driver and receiver chip for the COM header.
BIOS and Software
BIOS
ASRock's UEFI for the Z270 Extreme4 is perhaps the most setting filled UEFI I have seen thus far. It seems that ASRock decided not to hide a paramount amount of backend UEFI settings, and I don't know what a majority of the settings found in the very deep menus even do.
The good news is that ASRock has left the settings you do need to change at the top levels of the menu system, so the UEFI layout is friendly and easy to use, but if you want to dig deeper you can.
I have only seen a few brands with RGB LED control in the UEFI, and ASRock is one of them. ASRock's fan control is also extensive, and you can use a GUI or just type in settings for individual control over fan headers.
Software
A new addition to ASRock's software suite is the ASRock AURA RGB LED program, which provides RGB control over the motherboard and RGB header. A-Tuning, APP Shop, Live Update, APP Charger, X-Fast LAN, and Restart to UEFI are also a few other programs ASRock has included.
Test System Setup
Steven's Motherboard Test System Specifications
- Motherboard: ASRock Z270 Extreme4
- CPU: Intel Core i7 7700K
- Cooler: Corsair H115i GT - Buy from Amazon
- Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum (2x8GB) 3200MHz
- Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
- Storage - Boot Drive: Samsung 950 Pro 256GB - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
- Storage - SATA6G Drive: Corsair Force LS 240GB - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
- Storage - M.2 Drive: Intel 750 400GB U.2
- Storage - USB Drive: Corsair Voyager GS 64GB - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
- Case: Corsair Obsidian 900D - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
- Power Supply: Corsair HX1000 - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
- OS: Microsoft Windows 10 - Buy from Amazon
- Monitor: ASUS PA328 ProArt 32" 4K - Buy from Amazon
- Keyboard: Corsair K70 LUX - Buy from Amazon
- Mouse: Corsair M65 PRO RGB - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
- Headset: Corsair VOID RGB Wireless - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
- BIOS: 1.26d
The Z270 Extreme4 does a great job with diffusing RGB LEDs. I am very impressed by the way ASRock has implemented them not to offend but rather compliment the rest of the motherboard.
The top shield's RGB LEDs illuminate a tiny strip, and it looks like natural lighting. The PCH heat sink and the Purity Sound logo are lit as well.
Overclocking
Overclocking Results
CPU Overclocking
The CPU was able to reach a 5GHz overclock with 1.3v with XMP enabled. I used Level 2 LLC with 1.3v set, which resulted in a voltage a little over 1.3v, but temperatures didn't result in CPU throttling.
Compatible Memory Overclocking Kits
In this section, I overclock four memory kits only using XMP, if the kit works then the results are below. I welcome memory vendors to send in their kits to be tested on each motherboard.
Corsair Dominator Platinum 3200MHz C16 8GBx2
G.Skill TridentZ 3866MHz C18 8GBx2
GEIL EVO X RGB 3200MHz C16 8GBx2
GEIL EVO FORZA 3200MHz C16 8GBx2
Like all of the other Z270 motherboards I have tested so far, the Z270 Extreme4 can overclock memory up to 3866MHz.
CPU, Memory, and System Benchmarks
CINEBENCH 11.5
wPrime
AIDA64 AES and HASH
AIDA64 FPU
AIDA64 Memory
ScienceMark
HandBrake
3DMark: Fire Strike
3DMark: Cloud Gate
ResidentEvil 6
Unlike most of the other motherboards in the ranks, the Z270 Extreme4's multi-core enhancement did not take all cores to 4.5GHz and break Intel specifications. Instead, all cores went to 4.4GHz.
Overall performance was solid, and you can see that when I equalize all settings the Z270 Extreme4 keeps up with the rest of the motherboards.
Some motherboard reviews put a lot of weight into motherboard CPU, memory, and GPU benchmarks, but for me, CPU, memory, and GPU benchmarks on motherboards should be more about finding anomalies, and I do that at standard settings (4.8G in graphs).
System IO Benchmarks
CrystalDiskMark SATA6G:
CrystalDiskMark M.2:
ixChariot Network Throughput:
The Z270 Extreme4's storage performance is decent but could be a bit better. You can go into the UEFI and change the drive type from HDD to SSD to get better SATA performance for your SSD, but since I test at stock, I can't do that for these results.
Network performance is solid, but that was expected since ASRock is using Intel's NIC.
Audio RMAA 5.5:
I disable all audio features, set the correct bitrates, and then test the audio with a loopback test.
Sound Judgment by Ear: Excellent. ASRock's ALC1220 implementation is great, and scores are in line with what I observed on other boards that use a similar setup. There are five ratings for audio: 1. Problems, 2. Okay, 3. Acceptable, 4. Very good, 5. Excellent
Thermal Imaging and Power Consumption
System power is measured at the wall with an AC power meter.
Note on Thermal Images: In the temperature section, we use our Seek thermal imaging camera to capture the surface temperatures of major components on the board. I look at the VRM and then all other things that light up the screen. If there is something to worry about, then I will state it. Otherwise, I will just show the hotter running parts of the board for fun. Unless some component is over 80-90C, then there isn't anything to worry about.
All systems will act differently, so I will look for commonalities, such as how far from the VRM the heat spreads through the PCB and the difference in temperature between the front side and backside of the PCB. Keep in mind, the majority of the heat from the VRM goes into the PCB as it is a giant soldered on copper heat sink. A larger difference in temperature between the back and front of the PCB points towards a more effective heat sink.
Thermal Testing at Stock Speeds:
The image on the left is always at idle, and the image on the right is at load. During ALL TESTS, fans above the VRM that cool the CPU cooler's (Corsair H110i GT) radiator are turned on to high (12v).
Full frontal.
Up-close of the front of the VRM.
Up-close of the back of the VRM.
Thermal Testing at 4.5GHz Overclocked Speeds:
The image on the left is always at idle, and the image on the right is at load. During ALL TESTS, fans above the VRM that cool the CPU cooler's (Corsair H110i GT) radiator are turned on to high (12v).
Full frontal.
Up-close of the front of the VRM.
Up-close of the back of the VRM.
The Z270 Extreme4 is a three phase VCore VRM doubled to six phases, and while it doesn't offer the same thermal performance as some of the very high-end VRMs, it's enough to get the job done.
There is not too much difference between stock and overclocked temperatures because at stock the VCore is similar to VCore when the CPU is overclocked.
Overall, thermal performance was solid, and I was happy to see phase shedding working well at stock.
Anything under 60C is great, 60-80C is acceptable, and anything above 80C is a bit worrisome (if at stock).
What's Hot, What's Not & Final Thoughts
Here are key points about the ASRock Z270 Extreme4.
What's Hot
Lots of USB and SATA: Many boards that cost more only have six SATA6Gb/s ports while the Z270 Extreme4 has eight. Many motherboards that cost more carry only a few back panel USB 3.0 ports, the Z270 Extreme4 offers four. The Z270 Extreme4 also provides two USB 3.0 internal headers along with three internal USB 2.0 headers, something not all motherboards offer.
New Asthetics: The Z270 Extreme4 has a much different look than ASRock's previous iteration of the motherboard. It's clear that ASRock put a lot of effort into matching the PCB silkscreen with the heat sinks, and while it's not everyone's cup of tea, a few people I have talked to really like the design. I like how ASRock added in their onboard RGB LEDs - the light diffusion is excellent.
AURA RGB LED Header: Many people have already heard of AURA RGB LED headers, as ASUS introduced it last year, and now ASRock's Z270 series motherboards also carry it. The good news here is that all the AURA compatible products are compatible with the ASRock Z270 Extreme4 as well.
Backpanel VGA: VGA isn't dead. In fact, there are still monitors being sold today that use the analog connection, and it's nice to see ASRock add in extra ICs to support the display output.
Purity Sound 4: ASRock's latest iteration of Purity Sound is quite good. While the ALC1220 in itself is an upgrade over the previous ALC1150, it only offers a single amplifier. I was happy to see that ASRock took the initiative to add in an external amplifier to boost front panel audio quality as well. It also scores well in RMAA.
What's Not
VRM is Basic: The Z270 Extreme4's VRM is pretty much the basic VRM you might want to use for overclocking. While temperature never went into the forbidden zone, they could have been better.
Final Thoughts
The Z270 Extreme4 is a mixture of premium features and value. ASRock has balanced its feature set decisively to offer what they deem more important features for their target audience rather than what might be considered wasteful. An example can found in fan header design; the Z270 Extreme4 offers fewer headers with fewer features compared to more expensive motherboards and instead trades the savings for VGA on the rear IO or more SATA ports.
I was surprised to see ASRock supplied two M.2 slots, and I was even more surprised to find out that the bottommost PCH linked x4 slot is actually capable of supporting NVMe boot drives.
The audio was sound (no pun intended), USB 3.1 present, and the PCI-E layout is what most people want. The only thing I can really nitpick on is the VRM, but even that isn't much of an issue unless you are doing extreme overclocking. At this price range, you also don't find many overclocking features, but at under $150, you really can't expect them either.
Overall, the Z270 Extreme4 is one of the most value-packed motherboards at the sub-$200 price point and should be on your list of contenders if you don't want to break the bank.