ASRock Z170 OC Formula Motherboard Review
ASRock Z170 OC Formula Review
Like most motherboard manufacturers, ASRock has an impressive line-up of new motherboards that support many of the various features of the latest Intel Z170 chipset. ASRock has over 17 Z170 motherboards geared towards different types of users. They sent over their Z170 OC Formula, which as the name implies is designed for overclocking. In fact, one of the worlds top overclockers partnered with ASRock to perfect the Z170 OC Formula, Nick Shih. With Nick’s knowledge of overclocking, the Z170 OC Formula immediately began setting records for overclocking when it made it’s debut at the Intel Developers Forum 2015; actually the ASRock Z170 OC Formula was the only Z170 based motherboard to be featured at the IDF 2015! Let’s take a quick look at a few things that this motherboard has to offer before we get to the technical aspects and taking a look at what ASRock and Nick Shih has put together for us. If you are wanting to get the ASRock Z170 OC Formula motherboard for yourself, you can pick it up now at various online etailers for around $252.99 plus shipping.
As we take a look at the motherboard, a few things to be aware of is that on the ASRock Z170 OC Formula features several extra large aluminum alloy heatsinks designed to pull heat away from the MOSFET and chipset. The 60A Power Chokes utilized on the motherboard should improve the power going to the motherboards components. The capacitors are a combination of 820uF and 100uF 12K Platinum Nichicon’s, which are designed with a longer lifespan, along with providing superior stability. Another quick feature for overclockers that might be overlooked is the Hyper BCLK Engine, this allows for a very fine tune of the clock, letting overclockers squeeze every ounce of speed possible.
Nestled between the four PCIe x16 slots is three Ultra M.2 slots which are capable of up to 32Gb/s bandwidth with the right PCIe M.2 card, or 6Gb/s if you have a SATA based M.2 card. Another option is to utilize ASRocks U.2 kit to connect the latest U.2 PCIe Gen3 x5 SSD’s. The varioud M.2 slots share bandwidth with the onboard SATA and SATA Express ports, so you’ll want to make sure you know how many drives of each you want to utilize. With three M.2 slots, you should be able to set up a very nice M.2 RAID.
The speed of the memory that a motherboard supports is a big part of overclocking and getting the most out of the system. The Z170 OC Formula supports 4x 16GB DDR4 modules, for a total of 64GB of memory. Utilizing the dual channel memory, itll run at 2133MHz prior to enabling overclocking, at which time itll run all the way up to 4400MHz in dual channel mode. If you only want to run one memory module, you can take it up over 4500+MHz! Like most motherboards, itll support the Intel Extreme Memory Profiles (XMP) 2.0.
We have already discussed a large number of features on the Z170 OC Formula, however that is not all that has to offer. We’ll take a closer look at some of the other features while we are looking over the motherboard.
Features and Specifications
- Triple Ultra M.2 32 Gb/s (PCIe Gen3 x4 & SATA3)
- XMP Switch
- USB 3.1 10Gb/s Type-A + C
- Purity Sound 3
- Flexible PCIe Slots
- Nichicon 12K Platinum Caps
| ASRock Z170 OC Formula Specifications | |
| OC Formula Kit | OC Formula Power Kit – 18 Phase CPU Power design + 2 Phase Memory Power design – Digi Power (CPU and Memory) – Dual-Stack MOSFET (DSM) – Multiple Filter Cap (MFC) (Filter different noise by 3 different capacitors: DIP solid cap, POSCAP and MLCC) – Jumbo V OC Formula Connector Kit – Hi-Density Power Connector (8 pin and 4 pin) – 15 Gold Contact (memory sockets and PCIE x16 slots) OC Formula Cooling Kit – 8 Layer PCB – 4 x 2oz copper – Heat Pipe Design OC Formula Monitor Kit – Multi Thermal Sensor |
| Unique Features | ASRock USB 3.1 – ASRock USB 3.1 Type-A Port (10 Gb/s) – ASRock USB 3.1 Type-C Port (10 Gb/s) ASRock Super Alloy – XXL Aluminum Alloy Heatsink – Premium 60A Power Choke – Premium Memory Alloy Choke (Reduces 70% core loss compared to iron powder choke) – Dual-Stack MOSFET (DSM) – Combo Caps – Nichicon 12K Platinum Caps (100% Japan made high quality conductive polymer capacitors) – I/O Armor – Matte Black PCB – High Density Glass Fabric PCB ASRock Ultra M.2 (PCIe Gen3 x4 & SATA3) ASRock Full Spike Protection ASRock Live Update & APP Shop |
| CPU | Supports 6th Generation Intel Core i7/i5/i3/Pentium/Celeron Processors (Socket 1151) Digi Power design 18 Power Phase design Supports Intel Turbo Boost 2.0 Technology Supports Intel K-Series unlocked CPUs Supports ASRock BCLK Full-range Overclocking Supports ASRock Hyper BCLK Engine |
| Chipset | Intel Z170 |
| Memory | Dual Channel DDR4 Memory Technology 4 x DDR4 DIMM Slots Supports DDR4 4500+(OC)*/4400(OC)/4300(OC)/4266(OC)/4200(OC)/4133(OC)/4000(OC)/3866(OC)/ 3800(OC)/3733(OC)/3666(OC)/3600(OC)/3466(OC)/3400(OC)/3333(OC)/3300(OC)/3200(OC)/3000(OC)/ 2933(OC)/2800(OC)/2600(OC)/2400(OC)/2133 non-ECC, un-buffered memory Max. capacity of system memory: 64GB Supports Intel Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) 2.0 15 Gold Contact in DIMM Slots |
| BIOS | 2 x 128Mb AMI UEFI Legal BIOS with multilingual GUI support (1 x Main BIOS and 1 x Backup BIOS) Supports Secure Backup UEFI Technology ACPI 5.0 Compliant wake up events SMBIOS 2.7 Support CPU, GT_CPU, DRAM, VPPM, PCH 1.0V, VCCIO, VCCPLL, VCCSA Voltage Multi-adjustment |
| Graphics | Supports Intel HD Graphics Built-in Visuals : Intel Quick Sync Video with AVC, MVC (S3D) and MPEG-2 Full HW Encode1, Intel InTru 3D, Intel Clear Video HD Technology, Intel Insider, Intel HD Graphics 510/530 Pixel Shader 5.0, DirectX 12 Max. shared memory 1792MB Dual graphics output: Support HDMI and DisplayPort 1.2 ports by independent display controllers Supports HDMI with max. resolution up to 4K x 2K (4096×2160) @ 24Hz / (3840×2160) @ 30Hz Supports DisplayPort 1.2 with max. resolution up to 4K x 2K (4096×2304) @ 60Hz Supports Auto Lip Sync, Deep Color (12bpc), xvYCC and HBR (High Bit Rate Audio) with HDMI Port (Compliant HDMI monitor is required) Supports Accelerated Media Codecs: HEVC, VP8, VP9 Supports HDCP with HDMI and DisplayPort 1.2 Ports Supports Full HD 1080p Blu-ray (BD) playback with HDMI and DisplayPort 1.2 Ports |
| Audio | Supports Intel HD Graphics Built-in Visuals : Intel Quick Sync Video with AVC, MVC (S3D) and MPEG-2 Full HW Encode1, Intel InTru 3D, Intel Clear Video HD Technology, Intel Insider, Intel HD Graphics 510/530 Pixel Shader 5.0, DirectX 12 Max. shared memory 1792MB Dual graphics output: Support HDMI and DisplayPort 1.2 ports by independent display controllers Supports HDMI with max. resolution up to 4K x 2K (4096×2160) @ 24Hz / (3840×2160) @ 30Hz Supports DisplayPort 1.2 with max. resolution up to 4K x 2K (4096×2304) @ 60Hz Supports Auto Lip Sync, Deep Color (12bpc), xvYCC and HBR (High Bit Rate Audio) with HDMI Port (Compliant HDMI monitor is required) Supports Accelerated Media Codecs: HEVC, VP8, VP9 Supports HDCP with HDMI and DisplayPort 1.2 Ports Supports Full HD 1080p Blu-ray (BD) playback with HDMI and DisplayPort 1.2 Ports |
| LAN | Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s Giga PHY Intel I219V Supports Wake-On-LAN Supports Lightning/ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection) Supports Energy Efficient Ethernet 802.3az Supports PXE |
| Slots | 4 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 Slots (PCIE1/PCIE2/PCIE4/PCIE6: single at x16 (PCIE1); dual at x8 (PCIE1) / x8 (PCIE4); triple at x8 (PCIE1) / x4 (PCIE2) / x8 (PCIE4)); quad at x8 (PCIE1) / x4 (PCIE2) / x4 (PCIE4) / x4 (PCIE6))* 1 x PCI Express 3.0 x1 Slot (PCIE3) (Flexible PCIe) 1 x PCI Express 2.0 x1 Slot (PCIE5) 1 x Vertical Half-size Mini-PCI Express Slot Supports AMD Quad CrossFireX, 4-Way CrossFireX, 3-Way CrossFireX and CrossFireX Supports NVIDIA Quad SLI and SLI 15 Gold Contact in VGA PCIe Slot (PCIE1 and PCIE4) |
| Storage | 6 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s Connectors by Intel Z170, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10, Intel Rapid Storage Technology 14 and Intel Smart Response Technology), NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug 4 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s Connectors by ASMedia ASM1061, support NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug 3 x SATA Express 10 Gb/s Connectors* 3 x Ultra M.2 Sockets, support type 2230/2242/2260/2280/22110 M.2 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s module and M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen3 x4 (32 Gb/s) |
| Connector | 1 x COM Port Header 1 x TPM Header 1 x Power LED and Speaker Header 2 x CPU Fan Connectors (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control) 4 x Chassis Fan Connectors (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control) 1 x 24 pin ATX Power Connector 1 x 8 pin 12V Power Connector (Hi-Density Power Connector) 1 x 4 pin 12V Power Connector (Hi-Density Power Connector) 1 x Front Panel Audio Connector 1 x Thunderbolt 2 AIC Connector (5-pin) 1 x Thunderbolt 3 AIC Connector (10-pin)* 2 x USB 2.0 Headers (Support 4 USB 2.0 ports) (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection)) 2 x USB 3.0 Headers (Support 4 USB 3.0 ports) (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection)) 1 x Vertical Type A USB 3.0 1 x Dr. Debug with LED 1 x Power Switch with LED 1 x Reset Switch with LED V-Probe: 1 x 7-set of onboard voltage measurement points laid Rapid OC Buttons: +/- buttons to adjust OC frequency 1 x Menu Button 1 x PCIe ON/OFF Switch 1 x Post Status Checker (PSC) 1 x Slow Mode Switch 1 x LN2 Mode Switch 1 x BIOS Selection Switch 1 x XMP Switch 1 x Direct Key Button |
| Rear Panel I/O | 1 x PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard Port 1 x HDMI Port 1 x DisplayPort 1.2 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port 2 x USB 2.0 Ports (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection)) 1 x USB 3.1 Type-A Port (10 Gb/s) (ASMedia ASM1142) (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection)) 1 x USB 3.1 Type-C Port (10 Gb/s) (ASMedia ASM1142) (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection)) 4 x USB 3.0 Ports (Intel Z170) (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection)) 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED) 1 x Clear CMOS Switch HD Audio Jacks: Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone |
| Accessories | 1 x ASRock Flexible SLI Bridge Connector Cable Quick Installation Guide, Support CD, I/O Shield 4 x SATA Data Cables 1 x WiFi Module Bracket 2 x Screws for WiFi Module 3 x Screws for M.2 Sockets |
| Hardware Monitor | CPU/Chassis temperature sensing CPU/Chassis Fan Tachometer CPU/Chassis Quiet Fan (Auto adjust chassis fan speed by CPU temperature) CPU/Chassis Fan multi-speed control Multi Thermal Sensor Voltage monitoring: +12V, +5V, +3.3V, CPU Vcore, GT_CPU, DRAM, VPPM, PCH 1.0V, VCCIO, VCCSA |
| Form Factor | ATX Form Factor |
| Warranty | 1 Year |
With the technical information out of the way, let’s take a look at the retail packaging of the ASRock Z170 OC Formula motherboard, before taking a close look at it’s layout and running benchmarks.