A
lthough existing Z170
motherboards will
support Intel’s Kaby
Lake CPUs, the Z270
chipset brings a couple
of new features that make it the
better option if you’re looking to buy
a new mobo right now.
The first is support for 24 PCI-E
lanes, up from 20 on the Z170. This
enables multiple 4-lane PCI-E M.2
SSDs, without impacting graphics
bandwidth at all.
There’s also better support for
new Optane storage technology,
enabling it to act as a cross between
system memory and long term
storage, which is handy.
We’ve reviewed seven new Z270
boards on the following pages.Q&A
How much should I spend?
If you’re not fussed about
overclocking don’t spend
much more than £200.
Already have a great
soundcard and lots of USB
hubs? Drop that to under
£175. Don’t care much about
looks? Head below £150.Is onboard audio worth it?
The pricier options areZ27O Motherboards
Z27O MOTHERBOARDS
Dictionary
Chipset
Controls communication
between the CPU and other
features of a motherboard.PCI-E lanes
The main communication
interface for graphics and
other expansion cards.better, but if you’re really
concerned about audio
quality you should get a
separate soundcard.What about overclocking?
All these motherboards
support overclocking of your
processor and memory. The
flagship Intel Core i7-7700K
processor we’ve tested them
with is relatively easy tooverclock from 4.5GHz to
5GHz, resulting in close
to a 10% performance
boost for around a 20%
increase in power
consumption.