The ASRock Fatal1ty Z270 Gaming-ITX/ac Motherboard Review
by E. Fylladitakis on September 19, 2017 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- Intel
- ASRock
- Mini ITX
- Z270
- 7700K
- Z270 Gaming ITX/ac
The ASRock Z270 Gaming-ITX/ac Review
Gaming Performance
The issue of FCLK settings might play a big role here. At launch, the default setting for the communication buffer between the CPU and PCIe stack was 800 MHz, even though Intel suggested 1000 MHz, but this was because of firmware limitations from Intel. Since then, there is firmware to enable 1000 MHz, and most motherboard manufacturers have this - but it is unclear if the motherboard will default to 1000 MHz and it might vary from BIOS version to BIOS version. As we test at default settings, our numbers are only ever snapshots in time, but it leads to some interesting differences in discrete GPU performance.
Total War: Attila
The Total War franchise moves on to Attila, another The Creative Assembly development, and is a stand-alone strategy title set in 395AD where the main storyline lets the gamer take control of the leader of the Huns in order to conquer parts of the world. Graphically the game can render hundreds/thousands of units on screen at once, all with their individual actions and can put some of the big cards to task.
For low-end graphics, we test at 720p with performance settings, recording the average frame rate. With mid and high range graphics, we test at 1080p with the quality setting. In both circumstances, unlimited video memory is enabled and the in-game scripted benchmark is used.
GRID: Autosport
No graphics tests are complete without some input from Codemasters and the EGO engine, which means for this round of testing we point towards GRID: Autosport, the next iteration in the GRID and racing genre. As with our previous racing testing, each update to the engine aims to add in effects, reflections, detail, and realism, with Codemasters making ‘authenticity’ a main focal point for this version.
GRID’s benchmark mode is very flexible and, as a result, we created a test race using a shortened version of the Red Bull Ring with twelve cars doing two laps. The car is focus starts last and is quite fast, but usually finishes second or third. For low-end graphics, we test at 1080p medium settings, whereas mid and high-end graphics get the full 1080p maximum. Both the average and minimum frame rates are recorded.
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jjj - Tuesday, September 19, 2017 - link
6 months after launch and AT is yet to review a single Ryzen mobo.nathanddrews - Tuesday, September 19, 2017 - link
You should buy some and send them to AT.sonny73n - Wednesday, September 20, 2017 - link
"You should buy some and send them to AT."Without AT's permission or agreement to do a review? Or are you just being a foul mouth?
Oxford Guy - Monday, September 25, 2017 - link
How about buying Asrock one of its 170 boards so it can fix the BIOS for it with the code Intel gave them in April.But, hey — who needs to worry about random crash bugs from a hyperthreading flaw?
Gavin Bonshor - Tuesday, September 19, 2017 - link
You can expect a wave of them coming very soon :)Ian Cutress - Tuesday, September 19, 2017 - link
We've had zero dedicated motherboard reviewers at AT for most of the year, as I'm spending all my time on CPU testing (or perhaps you'd want me to forgo the CPU tests?). I've been building a team in the interim to take care of MB review duties. Should be in full swing from about this point on.jjj - Tuesday, September 19, 2017 - link
Interesting attitude and misleading statement.You had 4 mobo reviews after the Ryzen launch , staff or no staff and it's statistically significant that none is for a Ryzen mobo. If you add context like interest in the product, value offered, it becomes more than odd.
What's the cause, that's for you to figure out and adjust but that seems unlikely given your attitude. - "or perhaps you'd want me to forgo the CPU tests?)"
In the end, you lose money by not serving the market.
DanNeely - Tuesday, September 19, 2017 - link
All by a single reviewer - who also does all the case, PSU, and keyboard reviews too and thus has limited free time available - and on a single platform. The latter is because as a distributed team Anandtech doesn't have a single office to store all their stuff. Each reviewer needs his/her own set of parts to test with; and for consistency the same parts (particularly the CPU for OCing) need to be the same for everything done on the platform. To avoid spending large amounts on shipping and customs fees that means any part time mobo reviewers are probably only going to have a single platform. E. Fylladitakis is doing Z270. One or more of the newbies is working on Ryzen.There was a tweet a few days ago (don't recall if from Ian or Ryan) about having gotten 5 submissions from the new mobo reviewers that need edited. Since we haven't seen anything except the x399 overview article on the subject from a newish Author (Joe Shields started in July) they're presumably all still being revised to site standards. I'd imagine at least some of the Ryzen mobo reviews you're looking for are coming soon.
Gothmoth - Tuesday, September 19, 2017 - link
since anand is gone it´s spiraling down the drainrealistz - Tuesday, September 19, 2017 - link
Forum is a mess too. It's run by pro-AMD mods.