ASRock Fatal1ty Z270 Gaming i7 Motherboard Review

Introduction

ASRock's Fatal1ty Z270 Gaming i7 is part of ASRock's Professional series of motherboards. In fact, it's full name is the Fatal1ty Z270 Professional Gaming i7, but when you search for it on sites like Newegg, it's just called the Fatal1ty Z270 Gaming i7. The Fatal1ty Z270 Gaming i7 is one of ASRock's high-end Z270 motherboards, and it is completely loaded with features. One of those features is very new, and I haven't seen it on any other brand's motherboards; a 5Gbit NIC.

The Fatal1ty Z270 Gaming i7 features one 5Gbit NIC and two 1Gbit NICs. The IEEE 802.3bz-2016 standard was finalized in late 2016 by IEEE and outlined the specification for 2.5Gbit and 5Gbit. One of the benefits of the 5Gbit standard is the ability to use CAT5e cables, making it much cheaper to implement than 10Gbit LAN. As the market starts to adopt the new technology, we should see many routers and switches use the new protocol, and then motherboards like the Z270 Gaming i7 will become even more useful.

Without further delay, let's begin the review.

Specifications

The Fatal1ty Z270 Gaming i7 features AQUANTIA 5Gbit LAN, two Intel 1Gbit ports, Wireless-AC, 10 SATA ports, three M.2 ports, USB 3.1, and RGB LEDs of course.

Pricing

The Fatal1ty Z270 Gaming i7 costs $289.99.