There isn’t anything functionally extra special, but it’s a joy to use and the “My Favourites” is especially handy.
Test Setup
We have retried our trusty PNY GTX 770 and promoted the MSI GTX 970 GAMING Twin Frozr V to our baseline test bench card. The GTX 970 is still a relevant card, many use it and it’s one of our favourites. We have also moved away from RAID and base lined our test rig with the Crucial BX100 500Gb SSD. Most users will only have one SSD in their system, so this is a better reflection of what any one individual may expect to see.
- Operating System – Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
- Processor: Intel i7-6700K
- Graphics: MSI GTX 970 GAMING Twin Frozr V
- Memory: 16Gb Crucial Ballistix Sport LT DDR4 @2666Mhz
- Drives: Crucial BX100 500Gb SSD
- Cooler: NZXT Kraken X61 AIO CPU Cooler
- PSU: Corsair HX1000i
All synthetic tests are carried out three times with the best result taken. All gaming tests are carried out three times with the best results taken. All game tests, multi player or otherwise, are carried out three times with the best average taken. If the game is an online multi player, a ping constantly under 40ms is required before a test is valid.
Synthetic Tests
- PCMark 08 Professional
- 3DMark Professional
- AIDA64 Engineer
- CrystalDiskMark
- IOMeter
Real World Tests
- Battlefield 4
- Crysis 3
The Intel i7-6700K is an excellent CPU for the Z170 Chipset and we paired it with 16Gb Crucial Ballistix Sport LT DDR4 @ 2666Mhz to match our X99 test system.
We have included the results from the ASRock Z170 Extreme4 and the excellent little EVGA Z170 Stinger. Both are initial Z170 Chipset releases, and all components are matched for all tests, on with the results!
Asus Z170M Plus mATX Motherboard Review
Package - 7.5
Performance - 8.5
Price - 8
Consumer Experience - 8
8
It's hard to see why Asus would call this a flagship micro-ATX motherboard, it just doesn't have the prestige or the package. We would have also thought that a flagship motherboard would have both SLi and CrossFireX support. So we are not sure on the whole flagship front, but we do like this little gem a lot. It doesn't throw any heavyweight punches, or come with amazing accessories, it's just arrives ready to go and performs really well.
