The ASRock Z270 Supercarrier Motherboard Review: 4-way SLI and 5 Gigabit Ethernet on Kaby Lake
by E. Fylladitakis on September 29, 2017 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- ASRock
- SLI
- Aquantia
- Z270
ASRock Z270 Supercarrier Software
Despite the motherboard’s class and price, ASRock made no effort to develop a software package any more advanced than what comes with their mainstream motherboards. The driver DVD has a very basic automated installer software with five tabs. The first tab lists all of the drivers and software that are compatible with this motherboard, plus Google’s Chrome Browser and Toolbar, even though these have their own tab. There is an “Install all” option that automatically installs everything, without leaving any room for the user to select what should be installed and what not. The “Utilities” tab is practically empty, with only the “Restart to UEFI” software to be found here, a simple shortcut that restarts the PC and automatically enters the BIOS. Manuals and guides can be found under the Information tab and, finally, the company’s contact information is all that can be seen under the Contact tab.
The core software package that accompanies the ASRock Z270 Supercarrier, and practically all of ASRock’s motherboards today, is the ASRock App Shop. This application doubles as a software “shop” and as an updates installer. Extra software packages that can enhance the system’s devices, offer more options, and even some basic games can be downloaded and installed.
ASRock’s A-Tuning utility is the software package that allows for overclocking, fan tuning and monitoring via the OS. In its “OC Tweaker” tab we found many of the settings that are accessible via the BIOS screen, allowing for casual overclockers to experiment with minimal risk, as the settings reset when the system restarts. It is also handy for people who do not want a permanent overclock forced via the BIOS but prefer to boot with stock settings and force an overclock whenever they want or after the OS has booted.
The ASRock XFast LAN technically is the well-known cFos software with ASRock’s skin. This software allows the user to prioritize network traffic according to his/her needs. For example, it can be set to prioritize the traffic of a specific game/application over a downloading/file sharing app or server. This is particularly useful for applications where seamless network traffic can be vital, such as, for example, when there are IP security cameras connected to the computer and they should not be disturbed by the downloading of a large OS update or other files.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
50 Comments
View All Comments
Dr. Swag - Friday, September 29, 2017 - link
You guys are reviewing so many z270 boards all of a sudden, but it feels a bit like a waste with z370 just around the corner, just saying.shabby - Friday, September 29, 2017 - link
Ya it's kinda funny how the z270 I'll suffer eof so quickly... classic intel.shabby - Friday, September 29, 2017 - link
Derp eolddriver - Friday, September 29, 2017 - link
It has 5 gbit lan... cuz the poor platform doesn't have enough lanes to drive more...Timing is understandable, orders from intel hq came to push as much eol products as possible now, because pretty soon they will sell at a significant discount.
saratoga4 - Saturday, September 30, 2017 - link
DMI 3.0 is 32 GBit/s, so 5Gbit ethernet can easily go on the chipset PCIe switch. Which goes to show just how far behind everything else wired ethernet has fallen.Wwhat - Thursday, October 5, 2017 - link
You are right, the tech world really needs to massively go to higher because 1gb internet is all over the place now and they can't go higher because the average consumer would have issues plugging that into existing networking equipment.I suppose they could include a modem with USB-C connector instead of LAN, but you can't assume every USB-C device actually has USB3.0 or higher speeds, sigh.
Plus many want their own router so it would be nice if routers on the market now were a bit forwards looking and did more than 1gbit.
And meanwhile LTE and such reach 1gbit when in fact data prices are such that Joe Average has no use for more than 50mbit or so.
The whole thing seems poorly thought out.
Notmyusualid - Sunday, October 8, 2017 - link
More 'ddriver BS' - 5Gb/s LAN is seen as a cost-effective alternative to 10Gb/s NICs, that are still expensive to buy / implement.There is tons more connectivity from the DMI than is required by all the NICs on this board - as stated by others.
Please seek professional psychological help.
SharpEars - Friday, September 29, 2017 - link
That's right, I want to invest >$200 in a soon to be obsolete motherboard.Gothmoth - Friday, September 29, 2017 - link
you may not but anandtech likes to get all this intel money they spend on PR.Morawka - Friday, September 29, 2017 - link
Hey i just sold my z89 Asus Maximus VI Extreme motherboard on ebay for $300, it's not that far of a stretch. a man needs what a man needs.