Conclusion
Chief among the improvements is better RGB lighting on the side, strengthened slots, enhanced audio, and faster connectivity.Asus appreciates that it needs to hit hard on Z270 and differentiate its boards from the previous generation because there isn't a whole heap happening on the CPU front from Intel.
The ROG Strix Z270F Gaming, therefore, is one of many new boards that feature new styling and a number of new features.
Chief among the improvements is better RGB lighting on the side, strengthened slots, enhanced audio, and faster connectivity. This means that, unless you can find a bargain, the optimum mainstream desktop combination now is Z270 and a Kaby Lake CPU.
We like the sum of incremental improvements here, and should the Z270F Gaming actually arrive at market with just a small price premium over existing Z170 boards, most notably the Pro/Aura, it will be a safe, solid buy.
RGB ahoy
Slightly faster than Z170
Asus ROG Strix Z270F Gaming
HEXUS.where2buy*
TBC.
HEXUS.right2reply
At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.
*UK-based HEXUS community members are eligible for free delivery and priority customer service through the SCAN.care@HEXUS forum.
Related Reading
5 Asus shares its Intel Z690 motherboard guide
And rivals such as Gigabyte, MSI and EVGA outline their Z690 chipset offerings.
1 Asus ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming Wi-Fi motherboard images leak
Mini-ITX board uses daughterboards to pack in features but maintain its diminutive footprint.
21 Diagrams of 12VHPWR 600W connectors for GPUs spotted
Power connector is part of the PCIe 5.0 standard and rumoured for the RTX 3090 Ti.
