ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming K4 Review

Placed at the low-end, our attention turns to ASRock’s Fatal1ty Gaming line for a look at the K4 motherboard which features the Intel Z170 chipset.

Product on Review: Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming K4
Manufacturer & Sponsor: ASRock
Street Price: £115 GBP / $145 USD

In recent years ASRock have stepped up to the table with some impressive hardware across the Intel and AMD platforms. Their black and gold styling generated both interest and intrigue – paving the way for attention to detail upon motherboard aesthetics. But today we’ll be stepping away from the enthusiast segment and looking at a low-end solution which sits inside the Fata1lty gaming line.

Today, we’ll be looking at the ASRock Fata1lty Z170 Gaming K4. This motherboard is a low-tier offering which has been has been designed to offer basic features for those on a tighter budget.

About ASRock

ASRock Inc. is established in 2002, specialized in the field of motherboards. ASRock strives to build up its own brand. With the 3C design concept, “Creativity, Consideration, Cost-effectiveness”, the company explores the limit of motherboards manufacturing while paying attention on the eco issue at the same time, developing products with the consideration of eco-friendly concept.

ASRock has been growing fast and become world third largest motherboard brand with headquarter in Taipei, Taiwan and branches in Europe and the USA. The young and vibrant company targets from mainstream to enthusiast MB segments for different kinds of users, owning reputation around the world market with its reliability and proficiency.

Technical Specifications

General
– 15μ Gold Contact in DIMM Slots
VGA Card
– 15μ Gold Contact in VGA PCIe Slot (PCIE2)
– PCIe Power Connector
Internet
– Killer™ E2400 LAN
Cooling
– XXL Aluminum Alloy Heatsink
Audio
– Purity Sound™ 3
Unique Feature
ASRock Super Alloy
– XXL Aluminum Alloy Heatsink
– 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
– 10 Power Phase design
– Supports Intel® Turbo Boost 2.0 Technology
– Supports Intel® K-Series unlocked CPUs
– Supports ASRock BCLK Full-range Overclocking
Chipset
– Intel® Z170
Memory
– Dual Channel DDR4 Memory Technology
– 4 x DDR4 DIMM Slots
– Supports DDR4 3866+(OC)*/3600(OC)/3200(OC)/2933(OC)/2800(OC)/2400(OC)/2133 non-ECC, un-buffered memory*
– Max. capacity of system memory: 64GB*
– Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) 2.0
– 15μ Gold Contact in DIMM Slots

*Due to the operating system limitation, the actual memory size may be less than 4GB for the reservation for system usage under Windows® 32-bit OS. For Windows® 64-bit OS with 64-bit CPU, there is no such limitation.
Please refer to Memory Support List on ASRock’s website for more information.
3866+(OC) memory frequency can only be achieved when a single memory module is installed (Single channel memory).
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 DVI-D and HDMI ports by independent display controllers
– Supports HDMI with max. resolution up to 4K x 2K (4096×2160) @ 24Hz / (3840×2160) @ 30Hz
– Supports DVI-D with max. resolution up to 1920×1200 @ 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 DVI-D and HDMI Ports
– Supports Full HD 1080p Blu-ray (BD) playback with DVI-D and HDMI Ports

*Intel® HD Graphics Built-in Visuals and the VGA outputs can be supported only with processors which are GPU integrated.

**Due to chipset limitation, the Blu-ray playback of Intel® HD Graphics is only supported under Windows® 8 / 8 64-bit / 7 / 7 64-bit.

***Intel® InTru™ 3D is only supported under Windows® 8 / 8 64-bit / 7 / 7 64-bit.
Audio
– 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC1150 Audio Codec)
– Premium Blu-ray Audio support
– Supports Surge Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection)
– Supports Purity Sound™ 3
– Nichicon Fine Gold Series Audio Caps
– 115dB SNR DAC with differential amplifier
– TI® NE5532 Premium Headset Amplifier (Supports up to 600 ohm headsets)
– Pure Power-In
– Direct Drive Technology
– PCB isolate shielding
– Supports DTS Connect
LAN
– PCIE x1 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s
– Killer™ E2400 Series
– Supports Wake-On-LAN
– Supports Lightning/ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection)
– Supports Energy Efficient Ethernet 802.3az
– Supports PXE
Slots
– 2 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 Slots (PCIE2: x16 mode; PCIE4: x4 mode)*
– 3 x PCI Express 3.0 x1 Slots (Flexible PCIe)
– Supports AMD Quad CrossFireX™ and CrossFireX™
– 15μ Gold Contact in VGA PCIe Slot (PCIE2)

*Supports NVMe SSD as boot disks
Storage
– 6 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s Connectors, 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
– 2 x SATA Express 10 Gb/s Connectors*
– 1 x Ultra M.2 Socket, supports 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)**

*If M2_1 is occupied by a SATA-type M.2 device, SATA3_0 and the SATA function of SATA3_2_3 and SATA3_4_5 will be disabled.
Support to be announced

**Supports ASRock U.2 Kit
Supports NVMe SSD as boot disks
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
– 1 x PCIe Power Connector
– 1 x Front Panel Audio Connector
– 2 x USB 2.0 Headers (Support 4 USB 2.0 ports) (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection))
– 1 x USB 3.0 Header (Supports 2 USB 3.0 ports) (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection))
Rear Panel I/O
– 1 x PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard Port
– 1 x DVI-D Port
– 1 x HDMI Port
– 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port
– 1 x USB 2.0 Port (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection))
– 1 x Fatal1ty Mouse Port (USB 2.0) (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection))
– 5 x USB 3.0 Type-A Ports (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection))
– 1 x USB 3.0 Type-C Port (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection))
– 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED)
– HD Audio Jacks: Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone
Software and BIOS
– ASRock F-Stream
– ASRock Disk Health Report
– ASRock USB Key
– ASRock Key Master
– ASRock APP Charger
– ASRock XFast RAM
– ASRock Fast Boot (Fast Boot, Restart to UEFI)*
UEFI
– ASRock EZ Mode
– ASRock Full HD UEFI
– ASRock My Favorites in UEFI
– ASRock Instant Flash
– ASRock Internet Flash
– ASRock Crashless BIOS
– ASRock OMG (Online Management Guard)
– ASRock UEFI System Browser
– ASRock UEFI Tech Service
– ASRock Dehumidifier
– ASRock Easy RAID Installer
– ASRock Easy Driver Installer

*These utilities can be downloaded from ASRock Live Update & APP Shop.
Support CD – Drivers, Utilities, AntiVirus Software (Trial Version), Google Chrome Browser and Toolbar, XSplit, Killer Network Manager
Accessories
– Quick Installation Guide, Support CD, I/O Shield
– 4 x SATA Data Cables
– 1 x Screw for M.2 Socket
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
– Voltage monitoring: +12V, +5V, +3.3V, CPU Vcore, GT_CPU, DRAM, VPPM, PCH 1.0V, VCCIO, VCCSA
Form Factor
– ATX Form Factor
OS
– Microsoft® Windows® 10 64-bit / 8.1 64-bit / 7 32-bit / 7 64-bit

Packaging & Bundle

The K4 motherboard arrives in a standard motherboard box which is adorned in the Fatal1ty logo/theme. As expected the front lists some of the fundamental standards/technologies which are involved with this board, while over on the reverse there is more detail surrounding the key features.

Inside the box ASRock has concealed the motherboard in an anti-static bag and accompanying the board are a selection of accessories including:

– Quick Installation Guide
– Support CD
– I/O Shield
– 4 x SATA Data Cables
– 1 x Screw for M.2 Socket

Unveiling K4, we are met by quite a lively motherboard. Compared to the previous generation (Z97), very little has changed from an aesthetics standpoint. ASRock are using almost identical heatsinks and features have been placed in similar locations. On the colour spectrum the heatsinks are an orangey-red tone – the overall look feels dated, falling behind compared to other motherboards in the Z170 arena. Since this is a gaming oriented motherboard we expect it to be slightly more attractive.

Although ASRock state that K4 conforms to ATX specifications, the actual size is somewhat slimmer at: 21.5cm X 30.48cm – as such the mounting holes down the right hand-side of the motherboard may not line up with the motherboard tray inside the computer chassis.

Closer Look

K4 is designed to work with Intel’s 6th Generation of processors – Skylake. We therefore have a new socket; LGA1151 but we also have cooling mounting holes for LGA115X so if you have a cooler that has been used on another socket such as LGA1150/55 then it will work fine here too. Around this socket there are dual CPU fan headers on either side of the memory slots for cooling solutions which have twin cooling fans.

ASRock are using a 10-phase digital power design for K4 with Nichicon 12K Platinum CAPs. Other motherboard generally have 10K CAPs – so in essence this means extended durability. Sitting over the MOSFETs are two large, independent heatsinks which are not joined.

Directly next to the socket there are a total of four memory slots which require DDR4 memory. These slots are ready for dual-channel DDR4 and Intel XMP – supporting up to DDR4 3866+(OC) and 64GB.

Next to the 24-pin ATX power connector there is a single USB 3.0 header and two SATA 3 (6GB/s) ports.

Looking at the bottom edge of the motherboard we have two SATA Express connection ports which also double-up to offer four SATA 3 (6GB/s) ports, meaning there are a total of six SATA ports on K4. Unfortunately these ports are top-facing rather than angled – meaning cable management could be difficult to arrange.

Above this is a large rectangular heatsink covering the Intel Z170 chip.

Moving over to the PCI Express slots there are:

– Three PCI Express 3.0 x1 slots
– Two PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots

The uppermost x16 operates at 16x while the lower slot operates at 4x. Adding in more than one graphics card will mean that overall bandwidth will drop to the lowest speed. So, if you’re planning to use just a single graphics card its best to use the top slot.

ASRock has added in a Molex connection at the top to add in some additional auxiliary power. In between the X16 slots there is an M.2 ultra-slot (capable of up to 32GB/s). Drives which are type 2230/2242/2260/2280/22110 are all compatible.

K4 comes with Purity Sound 3 which comprises of a number of audio-based features including:

– Nichicon Gold CAPs
– 115dB SNR DAC w/ Differential Amplifier
– TI NE5532 Premium Headset Amplifier
– Pure Power-In
– Direct Drive Technology
– PCB Isolate Shielding

All of the audio components are covered by a stylish fascia which sits over the rear IO ports too.

Finally, we arrive at the Rear IO section of K4. This area has an assortment of ports to make use of which include:

– 1 x PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard Port
– 1 x DVI-D Port
– 1 x HDMI Port
– 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port
– 1 x USB 2.0 Port (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection))
– 1 x Fatal1ty Mouse Port (USB 2.0) (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection))
– 5 x USB 3.0 Type-A Ports (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection))
– 1 x USB 3.0 Type-C Port (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection))
– 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port

Intel Z170 Features

Intel’s initial release schedule for Skylake was planned well in advance, long before Microsoft officially announced the launch date of Windows 10. Most of August was set aside for conferences and seminars including the Intel Developers Forum in San Francisco, all with the aim of taking the wraps off and going deep into the technology within this new CPU architecture. Unfortunately bringing forward the release date of ‘K-series’ SKUs has meant that they’re unable to furnish detailed technical info to reviewers and members of the press, and won’t be releasing this information until IDF. The following is information which has been released thus far.

Developed under the codename Sunrise Point, Intel’s 100-series chipset is designed to operate hand-in-hand with an Intel ‘Skylake’ 6th Generation core processor. It utilises an LGA 1151 socket, underscoring the fact that neither CPU nor motherboard are backwards compatible with any of the previous generation hardware. As a result Sunrise Point is free to add additional features not present in x90-series and earlier chipsets.

Memory and Overclocking

Most notably from a consumer perspective Sunrise Point is the first Intel mainstream computing platform to be compatible with DDR4, and most Z170 and H170 designs are indeed likely to feature this memory technology rather than continue with DDR3L (a memory spec which Skylake CPUs can also handle). Default support is at DDR4-2133, however speeds above this are possible if a Z170 motherboard and K-Series CPU are used in tandem. One year on from the release of Haswell-E DDR4 pricing is quickly becoming more bearable, and so whilst it’s an additional expense to swallow compared with Haswell/Z97 it may not be quite the price premium you expect.

With Skylake Intel are, for the first time in many generations of Core architectures, once again re-enabling fine grade overclocking of memory at the Base Clock (BCLK) level. The PCI subsystem clock is now independent of BCLK, allowing for robust overclocking support which dispenses with coarse ratios in favour of a MHz by MHz stepping to far higher levels. Pre-launch testing by board partners have ascertained that stable BCLK’s of up to 400MHz are possible (with a stepping down of CPU multiplier), a far cry from even last year’s Haswell Refresh.

It should be noted that overclocking support has also been improved through greater control over individual CPU voltage inputs. Haswell made use of a Fully Integrated Voltage Regulator on the CPU itself; in essence, the motherboard supplied one input voltage and the FIVR divided this into individual on-board component inputs. With Skylake/Z170 the motherboard chipset controls each of these voltages individually, allowing direct adjustment for greater stability where necessary. This could theoretically be a great boon to enthusiast overclockers eager to get every last smidgen of performance out of a system.

Chipset and PCH Features

As we noted in our review of the two launched Skylake CPUs, up to 16 PCI-Express 3.0 lanes exist as a direct low-latency connection between CPU and 3rd party hardware such as graphics cards. These can operate in a 1×16 lane, 2×8 lane or 1×8 lane and 2×4 lane setup for multi-GPU configurations depending on the hardware implementation chosen by the board partners, but aren’t sufficient alone to support additional hardware options such as PCI-Express storage. The Platform Controller Hub therefore provides additional PCI-Express lanes to peripheral controllers.

In contrast to Intel’s 9-series motherboards Sunrise Point can supply up to an additional 20 PCI-Express 3.0 lanes, potentially resulting in double the bandwidth compared with the 20 PCIe 2.0 lanes of the previous generation. These new lanes augment the chipset storage options, most notably in respect to PCIe storage with many designs now featuring multiple next-generation storage options rather than a singular M.2 or SATA-Express port. Whilst not the low-latency connection you require for effective graphics processing, they will be more than suitable for new high-speed storage options including RAID for PCI-Express thanks to an upgraded DMI connection between PCH and CPU.

Further augmenting the platform’s storage capabilities is the adoption of new Intel Rapid Storage Technology protocols allowing PCI-Express storage to be used as caching drives for slower media. Potentially still a niche technology, the stark benefits of next-generation SSDs over mechanical drives as well as future SSDs could be just the breakthrough Intel RST needs to capture mainstream adoption.

In an additional change from the 9-series motherboards support has been added for up to 10 native USB 3.0 ports and 14 USB 2.0 ports, with a maximum of 16 ports in some combination thereof. It should be noted that so far as we can tell USB 3.1 isn’t actually native to the Sunrise Point chipset. Implementation is up to motherboard vendors through 3rd party controllers, and it’s to their credit that many have adopted the new high-speed standard without any fuss. For some both USB 3.1 Type-A and Type-C connectors are available, with Type-C the most common otherwise.

Those who make use of on-board CPU graphics can now enjoy support for up to three digital display outputs, or make use of the Intel 530 Graphics capabilities in tandem with discrete graphics. Microsoft Windows 10 (via DirectX 12) includes new options which allow disparate graphics hardware to be used in tandem, making best use of processing power where possible. Even without this, the transcoding capabilities of Intel QuickSync make it a tempting proposition for fast and efficient h.265 encoding and decoding, even if your discrete graphics hardware is formidable.

With unchanged support for six conventional SATA III storage ports, Intel 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet, Intel Audio options and comprehensive UEFI BIOS options, Sunrise Point (and by extension all Z170 motherboards) are choc-full of features. That’s not to say that there aren’t some omissions – lack of native USB 3.1 support being the most obvious, whilst native U.2 connectors are a premium feature supplied by board partners – but as a whole the platform is a significant step forward overall.

Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming K4 BIOS Tour

Below is a video tour showing the interface of the Gaming K4 BIOS and the options which are available. ASRock’s GUI is easy to navigate and options are in easy to reach places.

Test Setup & Methodology

Test Setup

CPU Intel Core i7-6700K
Cooling Corsair H100i GTX
Motherboard ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming K4
Memory 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 3200MHz
Graphics XFX R7970 Black Edition
Storage OCZ Vector 180
PSU Corsair HX1050 80 Plus Gold Certified PSU

Benchmarks

Cinebench R15 – CPU/OpenGL Score
x264 HD 4.0 – 1st and 2nd pass encoding
SiSoftware SANDRA 2014 – CPU & Memory benchmarks
AIDA64 – CPU benchmarks
PCMark 8 – Home Suite
3DMark FireStrike – DX11 3D Benchmark
Games – Tomb Raider, THIEF

Other Software

Temperature Analysis: Real Temp
Stress Testing Software: AIDA64 Stability Test
CPU Specification Monitoring: CPU-Z

Overclocking

Overclocking with Skylake is now fully flexible since we can adjust many variables including BCLK and ratio/multiplier.

Sadly, we were unable to establish any overclock (manual or pre-defined) due to some sort of bug/glitch within the BIOS. We installed the latest K4 BIOS but regardless of numerous attempts and a variety of setting alterations.

Benchmarks: Power Consumption

It’s interesting to note the power consumption across all motherboards. Although they are using the Z170 chipset, energy results can fluctuate between manufacturers due to the features and specifications that are integrated. First of all, for the idle tests the system is cold booted into Windows and no additional applications are executed – the watts are noted on the external energy monitor we use and then the system is loaded with 3DMark FireStrike – watts are again monitored for the duration of the test and the highest rated wattage result is then noted down. Below are the results of this energy test.

Benchmarks: X264 HD

Simply put, this test measures how fast your machine can encode a short, DVD quality MPEG-2 video clip into a high-quality x264 video clip. What’s x264, you ask? It’s more or less the next-generation Xvid/DivX codec. I think it’s ideal for a benchmark because the application (x264.exe) reports fairly accurate compression results (in frames per second) for each pass of the video encoding process, and it uses multi-core processors very efficiently.

Benchmarks: AIDA64

AIDA64 Product Page

This simple integer benchmark focuses on the branch prediction capabilities and the misprediction penalties of the CPU. It finds the solutions for the classic “Queens problem” on a 10 by 10 sized chessboard. At the same clock speed theoretically the processor with the shorter pipeline and smaller misprediction penalties will attain higher benchmark scores. For example — with HyperThreading disabled — the Intel Northwood core processors get higher scores than the Intel Prescott core based ones due to the 20-step vs 31-step long pipeline. CPU Queen test uses integer MMX, SSE2 and SSSE3 optimizations.

Benchmarks: Cinebench R15

CINEBENCH is a real-world cross platform test suite that evaluates your computer’s performance capabilities. CINEBENCH is based on MAXON’s award-winning animation software CINEMA 4D, which is used extensively by studios and production houses worldwide for 3D content creation. MAXON software has been used in blockbuster movies such as Iron Man 3, Oblivion, Life of Pi or Prometheus and many more.

Benchmarks: SiSoftware SANDRA

SANDRA isn’t always a benchmark that is included in hardware reviews but I believe it shouldn’t be ignored. SANDRA provides a vigorous package that tests your system in a rather large array of benchmarks. There are many aspects of benchmark that can be executed. We will be considering – CPU and memory tests.

Benchmarks: 3DMark

3DMark FireStrike Product Page

Fire Strike is our new showcase DirectX 11 benchmark designed for high-performance gaming PCs. It is our most ambitious and technical benchmark ever, featuring real-time graphics rendered with detail and complexity far beyond what is found in other benchmarks and games today. Fire Strike will only be available in the Windows editions of 3DMark initially.

Benchmarks: PCMark 8

PCMark 8 combines performance benchmarking with battery life measurement and includes tests based on popular Adobe and Microsoft applications. Whether you are looking for long battery life, or maximum power, PCMark 8 will help you find the devices that offer the perfect combination of efficiency and performance for your needs. It’s the complete PC performance benchmark for home and business.

Benchmarks: Tomb Raider & THIEF

It’s important for us to perform a number of game benchmarks as well as the synthetic tests because gamers will want to know if there are any significant benefits. So here we have two popular and recent gaming titles which feature a dedicated benchmark tool within them to display results.

Conclusion

The ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming K4 is our first look at Intel Z170 from ASRock’s standpoint. This motherboard joins ASRock’s gaming lineup and can be regarded as a lower-tier offering.

ASRock has made very few alterations to the styling between Z97 and Z170 and while this may not be a terrible thing, we feel the overall look is a bit outdated and lacks the finesse we’ve seen from their main lineup of motherboards. Visual appearance is always a subjective element for any product review, what do you think of the styling? Let us know in the comments below.

Placing the K4 into the testing arena by putting the board through our benchmark suite highlighted some good stock performance figures. Unfortunately, trying to apply a manual overclock to our 6700K proved impossible – we even tried updating the BIOS to the latest and still had issues nudging the clock speed up.

ASRock has done a good job in supplying multiple storage options from SATA, SATA Express and M.2. standards. SATA Express and M.2 aren’t regarded as standard just yet but it’s nice to know there this motherboard has these options future-proofed.

K4 has some great onboard audio components which should make a dedicated soundcard redundant. Throughout, ASRock are also using 12K CAPs and high density glass fabric PCB to present a durable solution.

Priced at £115 GBP / $145 the K4 is at the lower-end of the Z170 spectrum. This board is pitched as an affordable offering and since this new platform lends itself to requiring a new CPU and memory, keeping the costs down is usually a sensible route to take.

The Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming K4 is a cost-effective route to Intel Z170. This board features some interesting and useful features but ASRock need to iron out some compatibility issues in their BIOS.

Pros
+ Great audio solution
+ Matt black PCB
+ Quality components
+ Affordable

Cons
– No USB 3.1 front panel header
– Top facing SATA ports
– Problematic overclocking