ASRock Z170 OC Formula Intel LGA 1151 Motherboard Review

The technical data …

Manufacturer ASRock
Name Z170 OC Formula
Type / Chipset Intel LGA 1151 CPU / Intel Z170 chipset
Dimensions ++ 10 mm (35 mm radius) around the socket to the next capacitor or other mainboard parts – for further information see Fit for Fan. The space to the next bigger heatsink is approx. 35 mm (45 mm radius). The overall size of this ATX motherboard is 305 x 244 mm.
Slots +++++ PCIe 3.0: 4×16, PCIe 3.0: 1×1, 1x Mini PCIe, 4x DDR4-800 – DDR4-2133, DDR4-4000+ OC, max 64GB RAM
Connectors +++++ 10x SATA3, 3x SATA Express 10 Gb/s (shared), 3x Ultra M.2 32 Gb/s, 1x serial (optional), 1x PS/2, 1x Thunderbolt 2 AIC, 1x Thunderbolt 3 AIC, 1x 10/100/1000 Mbps base-T Ethernet (1x Intel I219V PHY), 1x USB 3.1 Type-A, 1x USB 3.1 Type-C, 8+1x USB 3.0 (4x of them internal, slot bracket for additional ports is not included), 6x USB 2.0 (internal, slot bracket for additional ports is not included), 8-Channel Realtek ALC 1150 onboard 7.1 sound with 5x 3.5 mm connectors (1x optical S/PDIF out, 1x int. Aux, ext. Line, ext. MIC, ext. Out front, ext. Rear out, ext. Center/Subwoofer) 1x DisplayPort 1.2, 1x HDMI and 6x Fan (6x 4Pin).
VCore +++++ In the VCore BIOS of 0.900 volts up to 2.000 volts or offset
Multiplier ++++ In the BIOS from 8x to 120x (maximum multi depending on the CPU)
BCLK ++++ In the BIOS by 75 – 600 MHz
VIO/VDD +++++ DRAM Voltage (DDR4 Voltage) 1.000 to 2.300V, Boot DRAM Voltage 1.000 to 2.300V, DRAM Activating Power Supply 2.400 to 2.800 Volt, PCH +1.0 Voltage (Chipset) 0.900 to 1.500 Volt, PCH PLL Voltage 0.875 to 1.820 Volt, VCCIO Voltage 0.850 to 1.585 Volt, VCC PLL Voltage 1.100 to 3.400 Volt, VCCSA Voltage (System Agent Voltage) 0.950 to 1.685 Volt, Boot CPU PLL Voltage 0.910 to 2.210 Volt, Eventual CPU PLL Voltage 0.910 to 2.210 Volt, CPU Internal PLL Voltage 0.900 to 1.845 Volt, Primary Plane Current Limit, Short Duration Power Limit, Long Duration Power Maintained, System Agent Current Limit, CPU Amplitude 1.5V/ns to 4.5V/ns, CPU Amplitude 700mV to 1000mV, and CPU Load Line Calibration 1 to 5.
Performance* ++++ Benchmark values comparison with different graphics cards and benchmark tools.

SiSoftware Sandra 2013 benchmark values with Intel Core i5-6600K processor
SiSoftware Sandra 2013 arithmetic processor performance in Windows 7: 95.9 GOPS
SiSoftware Sandra 2013 multimedia processor performance in Windows 7: 336.57 MPixel/s

3DMark benchmark values with Intel Core i5-6600K processor.
1x MSI Radeon R9 280 Twin Frozr gaming 3 GB PCIe 3.0 graphics card:
3DMark test in Windows 7: Fire Strike Fire Strike 6507, Cloud Gate 19287, Ice Storm 176612
1x onBoard Intel HD Graphics 530:
3DMark Test in Windows 7: Fire Strike 1009, Cloud Gate 8182, Ice Storm 71597

3DMark06 benchmark values with Intel Core i5-6600K processor.
1x MSI Radeon R9 280 Twin Frozr gaming 3 GB PCIe 3.0 graphics card:
3DMark06 on Windows 7: 33062 3DMarks
1x onBoard Intel HD Graphics 530:
3DMark06 in Windows 7: 12875 3DMarks

Manual and Labeling +++ Well placed, complete motherboard description and good manual with a lot of tips about topics like CPU installation, memory installation, video card installation, Dr. Debug error codes, etc.. The manual comes in different languages. In addition a separated Software Setup Guide with UEFI settings is contained.

ASRock Z170 OC Formula Layout, Design and Features …