EVGA revealed the specs on the new Z270 motherboards set to launch in just a few days.
EVGA’s Z270 flagship is the Z270 Classified K. All three of EVGA’s Z270 motherboards can overclock but the Classified K should overclock best. That’s because it features superior passive cooling hardware to keep the chipset and VRMs from overheating, which often is a key factor when overclocking.
EVGA also bestowed the Z270 Classified K with a Creative Core3D quad-core audio processor. This should reduce the CPU load while playing audio and increase audio quality when compared to the Realtek ALC1150 codec utilized on the Z170 Classified K. The company also added five additional power phases to the Z270 Classified K, which should help to avoid thermal throttling issues while overclocking.
Unfortunately, the Z270 Classified K doesn’t improve over its predecessor in all areas. The boards are extremely similar in many aspects, but the Z170 Classified K is superior when it comes to multi-GPU configurations, as it can support quad-SLI. The Z270 Classified K is limited to just 2-way SLI.
EVGA didn’t make a Z170 FTW-K motherboard, so the new Z270 FTW-K is best compared to the Z170 FTW. There are some notable improvements here, as the Z270 FTW-K features two M.2 Key-M and it has an improved power regulation system. It also gains a USB 3.1 Type-C port, which is becoming increasingly common.
The Z270 Stinger also improves on its predecessor, as it gains a USB 3.1 Type-C port and an M.2 Key M slot. These improvements are accompanied by an increase in the number of power phases, which should help improve overclocking results.
RAM speeds are up across the line by 400MHz on these boards as well. Overall, with the exception of the reduced SLI support on the Z270 Classified K board, EVGA’s Z270 motherboards feature mild improvements to their predecessors. There aren’t any extraordinary improvements, but then again this is mostly a generational update for the existing LGA1151 platform.
These boards should be released on January 5. No word on pricing at this time.
| EVGA 200-Series Motherboards | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Model/Spec | Z270 Classified K | Z270 FTW-K | Z270 Stinger |
| Form Factor | E-ATX | ATX | Mini-ITX |
| Memory Support | 4 x DDR4 DIMMs Up To 3600MHz | 4 x DDR4 DIMMsUp To 3600MHz | 2 x DDR4 DIMMs Up To 3600 MHz |
| Power Phases | 13 | 11 | 6 |
| PCI/PCI-E | 3 x PCI-E x13 x PCI-E x 16 | PCI-E x1PCI-E x43 x PCI-E X16 | PCI-E x16 |
| Networking | Intel i219v Gigabit LANKiller E2500 Gigabit LAN | Intel i219 Gigabit LANKiller E2400 Gigabit LAN | Intel i219 Gigabit LANDual-Band Wi-Fi + Bluetooth |
| Audio | Creative Core3D Quad-Core Audio Processor | Realtek ALC 1150 | Realtek ALC 1150 |
| Ports | 8 x SATA-III (4 From Z270 PCH, 4 From Marvell 9235 Controller)2 x M.2 Key MM.2 Key EU.2USB Type-C | 6 x SATA-III2 x M.2 Key MM.2Key EU.2USB Type-C | 4 x SATA-IIIM.2 Key MM.2 Key EU.2USB Type-CType-A |
