Asus TUF Z270 Mark 1 Motherboard Review

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
Staff member
Joined
May 18, 1997
Messages
55,532
The team at PC Gameware UK have a review posted of new TUF Z270 Mark 1 from ASUS. I have always been a big fan of the TUF series of motherboards and this one looks to be no different. And, if you ever need a blunt weapon, these things are built like a brick...house with the 10KG backplate. You can check out all the pretty pictures and specs at ASUS' site here.


Now while the Asus TUF Z270 Mark 1 shares many similarities with the recently tested ROG 270E Gaming, this board albeit more expensive I think is the better option. As simply put this TUF board is like no other I’ve seen and as soon as you get the board out of that anti-static bag you’ll know what I mean. It’s just so well made and it’s better to look at than every other TUF board I’ve seen.
 
still havent figured out why all z270 boards only have 8 sata ports.. i need minimum of 10
 
I was looking at the Mark 2 version on Newegg yesterday. It has a metric crapload of USB ports (I need 5 right now) on the back like this one and is only $150, a much more palatable price range for me.
 
still havent figured out why all z270 boards only have 8 sata ports.. i need minimum of 10

It's possible they expect / are pushing you to go for the socket 2011 solutions for server and server-like setups.
 
This is one of the best looking boards I ever seen I have a Z170 the PCB is camo underneath on the Z270 Mark 1.
 
So why would someone buy this board? Is it the component protection?
 
5 year warranty, reinforced board, longer life caps, looks etc. Spec wise it doesn't have much over a Z170 E or F except what I mentioned. A hero will likely be a better choice for most people but to me it just looks bad ass and I'd install a 40mm fan so the thermal armor would actually be useful.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TAP
like this
So why would someone buy this board? Is it the component protection?

I have the Z170 Mark 1, and it's awesome. It's built like a tank, and it's the most stable motherboard I've used. Mine came with a pair of the ~40mm fans to circulate air under the Armor, I don't know why this board doesn't seem to. Only drawback to mine is that the AISuite3 software didn't include the overclocking functionality that non-TUF boards got(auto-overclocking in the bios is still available, however). Looks like that's changed with the Z270's, though. And the fan control is even better than on other Asus boards. The TUF series is definitely my go-to for the forseeable future.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TAP
like this
So why would someone buy this board? Is it the component protection?
That's what excites me about it. I want quality and stability. Not enough of that on the consumer end IMO. And a 5 year warranty, that's fantastic.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TAP
like this
If I were to build an overclocking rig, should this be on my short list? Just curious if it has the same oc'ing potential as other boards.
 
The ONLY thing I'd like to see Asus start including with their TUF and ROG MoBos is an actual hardware audio processor, a la Creative Sound Core3D like Gigabyte uses on their upper-end MoBos.

I have a Z77 Gene, and while the Creative software emulator for the onboard RealTek codec works pretty well with almost everything, it is a PITA to have to manually add a unique profile for each and every program into the Alchemy software just to get EAX...and that's if Alchemy will even accept it as a profile. Then hope that the program itself detects the presence of the emulated Sound Blaster properly so it can be enabled as the default sound device and use EAX effects.

C'mon, Asus: you have the clout and sales volume to do this while adding zero to little end-user cost to these particular MoBo lineups.
 
Awesome looking board with great features. I really do not like to spend that much on a board then again this look will fit exactly into a new box I want to start. Ah man must wait for a price drop. Thanks for the solid review
 
$250 for what you are getting seems reasonable to me but then a mobo and chip for me is a 4-6 year lifespan, sometimes more so I don't mind spending a bit more for a nice stable board. My Z87 board has more things on it than I'd ever use but has been rock solid for years and will eventually go into another build when I upgrade. I may not even upgrade to Kaby lake or Zen I may wait until 2018/2019. My OC' 4670k still seems to be handling games I play just fine.
 
Back
Top