ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming K4 Review – Bang For Buck Overclocking Motherboard

Whether you’re upgrading your current rig or building a new one, Intel’s new 6th Generation Skylake processors will likely be part of the conversation. (Unless you’re solid Team Red.) This new generation of chips will require entirely an new motherboard and that means going back to canvassing for an affordable, overclocking-capable one. Enter ASRock’s new Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming K4 – a board designed for mainstream gaming use with all the required components for overclocking and performance, plus a few bonuses and future proofing thrown in. Priced at about US$ 180 / PHP 8,200, (PCX / BermorZone) is the ASRock comeback real? Check out in our video review above and read up on more specs below!

ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming K4 – Est. US$ 180 / PHP 8,200

• ASRock Super Alloy
• Gaming Armor – Memory / VGA Card / Cooling / Internet / Audio
• Supports 6th Generation Intel® Core™ Processors (Socket 1151)
•  Digi Power, 10 Power Phase Design
• Supports DDR4 3866+(OC)mhz memory modules
•  2 PCIe 3.0 x16, 3 PCIe 3.0 x1
•  AMD Quad CrossFireX™ and CrossFireX™
• Graphics Output Options: DVI-D, HDMI
•  7.1 CH HD Audio (Realtek ALC1150 Audio Codec), Supports Purity Sound™ 3 & DTS Connect
•  Killer™ E2400 Gigabit LAN
•  2 SATA Express, 6 SATA3, 1 Ultra M.2 (PCIe Gen3 x4 & SATA3)
•  8 USB 3.0 (5 Type-A + 1 Type-C, 2 Front)
•  Supports Full Spike Protection, ASRock Live Update & APP Shop, F-Stream, Key Master, XSplit

Test Build

• Case: NZXT S340
• PSU: Seasonic G-650 650W
• Processor: Intel Core i7 6700 + Stock Cooler
• Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming K4
• GPU: Palit GeForce GTX 760 JetStream 2GB
• RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 2400mhz 2x8GB
• Storage: Samsung 850 Evo 250GB SSD
• OS: Windows 10 Home 64-Bit

Benchmarks:

• 3DMark Fire Strike: 6,222
• Cinebench R15: 124.17 fps (OpenGL) / 812cb (CPU)
• League of Legends Max Settings 1080p: 162 fps (Min) / 220 fps (Ave)
• DotA 2 Max Settings 1080p: 116 fps (Min) / 119 fps (Ave)

Pros:

• Killer LAN and 7.1 Surround Sound
• Doesn’t sacrifice performance
•  Easy Overclocking
•  Lots of USB 3.0 Ports + m.2 support
• High quality materials & parts
•  AMD Crossfire support

Cons:

• No WiFi, Bluetooth, LED lights, board buttons / displays
• No GeForce SLI support

ASRock’s Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming K4 overall is an attractive, affordable Skylake overclockable board with extra features like Killer LAN and 7.1 Surround Sound. It’s only main issue is the lack of SLI support but if that doesn’t bother you the Fatal1ty Gaming K4 is a great board and we’re giving it our Highly Recommended award.