More ASUS Z170 motherboards available now! (Updated)
More ASUS Z170 motherboards available now!
Updated on September 09, 2015: News of the local availability of Sabertooth Z170 Mark 1
The ASUS Sabertooth Z170 Mark I is available now at S$489. The ATX board was seen in its full glory at ASUS' Intel Z170 motherboard launch event recently. The board boasts of the latest TUF features, which include TUF Thermal Armor and TUF Fortifier technologies. These features allow the board to withstand the weight of heavy CPU coolers and graphics. The other TUF features like TUF ICe, TUF Thermal Radar 2 and TUF Detective 2 are touted for their thermal management capabilities. Besides the TUF features, the discerning user will be pleased to know the board also comes with two USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports (one Type-A, one Type-C). As a cherry atop these key features, the Sabertooth Z170 Mark 1 is backed by a 5-year warranty
ASUS has revealed the local pricing for five more Intel Z170 boards; four of them are from the Signature series, and one that belongs to the Pro Gaming series. We have already seen three Signature boards at the company’s recent launch event. The Z170-Deluxe (S$559) is the top-end ATX board and in a class of its own. In comparison to the rest of the Signature boards, it’s the only one to officially support both NVIDIA Quad SLI and AMD Quad CrossFireX configurations. In addition, it boasts of a pair of Gigabit LAN ports that are provided by Intel Ethernet controllers (Intel I211-AT and I219V). The board is also at the cutting edge of storage options; there’s the bundled Hyper Kit, a M.2 to U.2 adapter that allows U.2-based, 2.5-inch NVMe SSDs to be installed. There’s also a Hyper M.2 x4 add-in card, in the event the board’s M.2 slot is already occupied.
Priced at S$259, the Z170-K doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of the Z170-Deluxe. This ATX motherboard still boasts of high-end features like a M.2 x4 slot, a single SATA Express ports. There’s also a pair of USB 3.1 Type-A ports and a USB Type-C port.
Further whittling down price and features, the Z170-P D3, also an ATX board with a price tag of S$230, doesn’t feature any SATA Express connectors. It still has a M.2 x4 socket but its USB 3.0 ports (Type-A) are common affairs; no USB Type-C nor USB 3.1 ports.
As the only mATX board, the Z170M-Plus isn’t short on features as it has a SATA Express port, M.2 x4 socket, and even a USB Type-C port. According to ASUS, the Signature boards feature ASUS’ proprietary 5X Protection II technology, which appears to be the second iteration of the 5X Protection that was first introduced on a selection of its ASUS 8-series boards. The technology offers overvoltage and overcurrent protection. The board has an SRP of S$249.
Also seen at the recent ASUS Z170 launch event, the Z170 Pro Gaming board is priced (S$329) just outside the range of the current crop of ROG Z170 boards. For now, the cheapest ROG Z170 board is the ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Ranger (S$379). The Z170 Pro Gaming “boasts essential gaming features like Supreme FX and Sonic Radar II, in addition to the GameFirst networking technology and a digital voltage regulation module.” For more information, do visit each product’s page at the ASUS website.