Product Description ASUS MOTHERBOARD Z170-A One click overclock and cooling, done! Get performance, efficiency, digital power, fan control and even networking and audio tuning tailored for you 5-Way Optimization at your disposal it takes just one click to tune complex settings — for instant, highly-controllable performance boosts! Our exclusive technology dynamically optimizes essential aspects of your system based on real-time use, so you get superb CPU performance, everyday energy savings, ultra-stable digital power, cool and quiet fans and even networking and audio settings that are tailored for the apps that you are using. In short, 5-Way Optimization ensures that your PC is perfect for gaming, entertainment, productivity or just about anything else! Games run swiftly and smoothly with high performance, prioritized bandwidth and vivid sound. Fans stay whisper-quiet for everyday computing, and ensure extreme cooling efficiency when gaming. Stutter is eliminated for smooth-running apps, even under heavy loading. Energy waste is reduced so you’ll save money. Overclock CPU Testing configuration: Intel LGA1151 i7 6700K | Z170-A | DDR4 G.Skill 3400C16 | ENERMAX 1050W | Corsair H100i | Intel SSD 80G| Win 8.1 CPU performance boost All-round energy efficiency Advanced fan controls Precise Digital Power Control Game faster, rank higher CPU performance boost TPU Unleash your PC’s full performance with a simple two-phase onboard switch or the ASUS AI Suite 3 utility! The TurboV Processing Unit (TPU) offers precise voltage control and advanced monitoring for the CPU and the graphics card, enabling great freedom to adjust CPU frequencies and ratios for optimized performance and to exploit the potential out of your graphics card*. *Please see the graphics card QVL OC Design- ASUS PRO Clock technology A dedicated base-clock (BCLK) generator designed for 6th-generation Intel® processors that allows overclocked base clock frequencies up to or beyond 400MHz*. This custom solution works in tandem with the ASUS TurboV Processing Unit (TPU), to enhance voltage and base-clock overclocking control — providing an exciting new way to boost performance to extreme heights. Advantages of ASUS Pro Clock Reduced boot up time Lower jitter under extreme conditions for higher overclocks Increased stability under heavy overclocking *BCLK overclocking range will vary according to CPU capabilities, cooling, motherboard support and tuning options. Ranges up to 650MHz are possible under select conditions. Testing configuration: Intel LGA1151 i7 6700K | Z170-A | DDR4 G.Skill 3400C16 | ENERMAX 1050W | Corsair H100i | Intel SSD 80G| Win 8.1 DDR4 overclocking strength in numbers Second-generation ASUS T-Topology enables DDR4 memory overclocking to reach new heights: over DDR4-3400MHz with all memory slots populated. Featuring a customized trace layout for reduced crosstalk and coupling noise, our second-generation T-Topology ensures time-aligned signal transfer for improved memory stability and compatibility. Native M.2/NVMe PCIe RAID support for lightning fast storage speeds! Not satisfied with single storage device read/write speeds? Then join the fast lane and build a RAID 0 array using two PCIe storage drives to enjoy data transfers at lightning speed! Ultrafast Transfer Speed Fast storage speed with SATA Express Current SSDs devour up to 550MB/s bandwidth, which is close to saturation point for SATA 6Gbit/s connections. Backwardly compatible with up to two SATA drives, SATA Express is the next-generation connectivity standard — and ensures that you and your system won’t get left behind. Speed up with onboard M.2 up to 32Gbit/s With x4 PCI Express 3.0/2.0 bandwidth, M.2 supports up to 32Gbit/s data-transfer speeds. It is the perfect choice for an operating system or application drive, making your whole PC or professional apps work as fast as possible. Ultimate-speed 10Gbit/s with USB 3.1 onboard With one USB 3.1 Type-A port and one reversible USB 3.1 Type-C for the very fastest USB connections, you’ll experience data-transfer speeds of up to 10Gbit/s — or twice as fast USB 3.0. USB 3.1 is completely backward-compatible with your existing USB devices, and you’ll be all set for USB 3.1’s breakneck speeds. And ASUS-exclusive USB 3.1 Boost technology automatically accelerates USB 3.1 performance even further! Media-acclaimed UEFI BIOS The smoothest, slickest mouse-controlled graphical BIOS has been improved to make it even more appealing. Whether you’re a PC novice or a seasoned overclocker, the EZ and Advanced Modes help you find your way, quickly and easily. EZ Flash 3 Update the latest BIOS via the internet, and from within the BIOS. S.M.A.R.T Check up your storages devices’ Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T) logs to gauge reliability, and even determine if they’re about to fail. EZ Tuning Wizard– OC and RAID Select your hardware and apply different scenarios to tune system performance, or streamline your RAID configuration for faster data retrieval and backups! My Favorites Quickly find tuning options and add preferred tools to the list. EZ Mode Intuitive Graphical Fan Control:Fine-tune individual fans simply by dragging a curve with the mouse. EZ XMP:Improve your DRAM performance with a click. SATA Information:View SATA port details for easy device recognition. Fast Clock Adjustment:Use mouse controls to change the time and date. Advanced Mode GPU POST:Automatically detect selected ASUS graphics cards to view detailed information. Secure Erase:Restore your SSDs to factory-fresh condition. Last Modified Log:Track last change and save preferred profiles onto a USB drive. SATA Port Renaming:Rename SATA ports for easy identification. Game with Confidence Flawless audio that makes you part of the game Crystal Sound 3 Clean Power Power pre-regulator Reduces power-input noise to ensure consistent performance. Noise Isolation Audio shielding Ensures precision analog/digital separation and greatly reduced multi-lateral interference. Separate layer for left and right tracks Ensures both channels deliver consistent, equal quality. EMI protection Prevents electrical noise to preserve audio quality. Audio Enjoyment Premium Japanese-made audio capacitors Provides warm, natural, and immersive sound with exceptional clarity and fidelity. De-pop circuit Reduces start-up popping noise to all audio outputs. Audio amplifier Produces the highest-quality sound for headphone and speakers. Intel Ethernet More throughput, less CPU usage and great gaming experiences Z170-A features the very latest Intel® Ethernet for faster, smoother gaming — always. Intel’s LAN has the serious double advantage of reducing CPU overhead and offering exceptionally high TCP and UDP throughput. This significantly reduces the processor’s workload, so there’s more power for your game and your gameplay! Turbo LAN Network-optimization software for customizable packet prioritization Turbo LAN with cFosSpeed traffic-shaping technology adds even more lag-reducing support and intuitive user interface. It allows you to lower lag with no expert knowledge – by up to 1.45X! If you’re a tweaker, use Advanced Mode for hardcore controls. Real-time speed monitor Grouping your own favorite list Set priority to speed up for your application LANGuard Pumped-up throughput. 2.5X higher surge tolerance. ASUS LANGuard is hardware-level networking protection that employs signal-coupling technology and premium anti-EMI surface-mounted capacitors ensuring a more reliable connection and better throughput, plus electrostatically-guarded and surge-protected components for greater tolerance to static electricity and improved protection against surges. Seamless Entertainment Total control anytime, anywhere with Wi-Fi GO! Wi-Fi GO! gives you complete control of your PC — even when you’re away from home. Access your forgotten files at home, and work on your PC from almost anywhere. Plus, it takes just one click to manage all your public clouds or sync files across your PC and devices! Cloud GO! Gather your ASUS WebStorage, Dropbox® , Google Drive™, and OneDrive® accounts in one place and even back up to PC at the same time. Remote Desktop Easily access and control your PC, anytime and anywhere! File Transfer Sync files between your PCs and smart devices with just a click! Remote Keyboard & Mouse Control media playback from your sofa! Your digital PC hub for sharing and home theater Media Streamer Enjoy your PC’s multimedia content —anywhere! Pipe music from your PC or cloud storage, including ASUS WebStorage, Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive while sipping coffee in a café, or sit back with friends and stream a favorite movie to a smart TV. With ASUS Media Streamer, your entertainment goes wherever you go. Watch your smart device content on the big screen HyStream With HyStream you’ll enjoy the ease and freedom of streaming HD content from your supported* Apple iOS smartphone or tablet straight to your HDTV!* Contact your device vendor for support information. All-in-one control between your PC and smart device Mobo Connect Work with your PC and smart device at the same time through a single keyboard-and-mouse set. A simple hot key lets you switch between your PC and smart device quickly. It even charges your mobile device at the same time. Extreme Stability Surge-ProtectedNetworking OvervoltageProtection StablePower Supply OvercurrentProtection Stainless-SteelBack I/O Industry-leading 5X Protection II employs the finest components, excellent circuit design, and exacting standards to guarantee quality and long-term durability of your motherboard with all-round protection. For you, that means exceptional protection and stability for your build — the result of decades of engineering experience from the world’s leading motherboard brand. Learn more Easy PC DIY You will love DIY! We understand how you use your PC. From assembly, system setting and monitoring, and to firmware and hardware updates — we’re all about making your life easier. That’s why we never stop developing new and exciting DIY opportunities to make PC DIY easy, fun and free from hassle! MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE Intel CPU and chipset features Intel® Z170 Express Chipset Intel® Z170 Express is a single-chipset design that supports 6th-generation Intel LGA1151 Core™ i7/Core i5/Core i3/Pentium®/Celeron® processors. It provides improved performance by utilizing serial point-to-point links, allowing increased bandwidth and stability. Additionally, Z170 provides a maximum of ten USB 3.0 ports, six SATA 6Gbit/s ports, 32Gbit/s M.2 and PCIe 3.0 lane speed support for faster data retrieval. Intel Z170 Express also supports integrated-graphics (iGPU) functions, so you’ll enjoy the very latest Intel integrated graphics performance. Ready for 6th-generation Intel LGA1151 Core i7/Core i5/Core i3/Pentium/Celeron processors This motherboard supports 6th-generation Intel Core i7/i5/i3/Pentium/Celeron processors in the LGA1151 package, with graphics, memory and PCI Express controllers integrated to support onboard graphics output with dedicated chipsets, two-channel (4-DIMM) DDR4 memory and 16 PCI Express 3.0/2.0 lanes for great graphics performance.