- Back to homepage
- Related articles
  Related articles

BIOSTAR GAMING Z170X Motherboard Review

Motherboards/Intel S1151 by stefan @ 2015-09-24

The Gaming Z170X motherboard from Biostar was built on the strong foundation Z97X had and features plenty of expansion possibilities, including the new USB 3.1 Type-C port, no less than three M.2 slots, two which are hidden under the plastic shroud and one visible, plenty of SATA-Express and SATA ports, three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots for enabling tri-Crossfire support, the Realtek ALC898 8-channel CODEC, dual-LAN (Intel and Killer NIC) and more. We also have a set of touch-sensitive buttons which include BCLK and multiplier modifier on-the-fly, 8-phase VRM for the CPU and DDR4 memory support up to 4000MHz in UEFI.

Packaging, A Closer Look Part I

The Gaming Z170X motherboard from BIOSTAR is following the same design lines for the packaging as the Gaming Z97X we have reviewed before which translates in a dark theme with some of the supported technologies logos on the top cover:

On the back side of the box, the manufacturer has described the main product components in more detail, along with some of the features:

The inside contents are structured on multiple layers:

As documentation, we will receive the User’s Manual, instructions in order to install the Gaming Commander box, but also a leaflet with some words regarding 3D Hi-Fi feature and Smart Ear 3D Utility:

The manual describes with text and drawings each necessary step in order to perform the installation (given we already have the necessary extra components):

As a bundle, we will receive the I/O shield, four SATA cables, the installation USB Flash Drive, necessary screws for mounting the Gaming Commander and, of course, the Gaming Commander box:

In order to aid with the software installation process, the USB flash drive contains all utilities we need which can be installed thanks to an automated process:

Since the Gaming Commander BIOSTAR logo was not too visible last time, the manufacturer has now chromed it; all other interfaces remain the same like the diagnostic LEDs on the left side, Volume Up/Down buttons, the XLouder feature On/Off button, one Mute button, the Line-Out and MIC-In jacks, one MIX On/Off button but also a large CPU temperature indicator which changes color depending on the current status:

On the back side of the box we will be able to spot the connection wires which are linked to the internal headers:

All information and graphics contained in Madshrimps are sole property of the Madshrimps crew and may not be reproduced or copied in any manner without written permission from us.