ECS LEET Z170-Lightsaber Review: A Cut Above

Test System and Testing Procedures

Item	Name
Processor	Intel Core i7-6700K (ES)
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-D15
Power Supply	Corsair HX850W 80 Plus Gold PSU
Memory	Kingston HyperX Fury DDR4 2x8GB @ 2666MHz CL15, Patriot Memory Viper Elite @ 3200 CL16
Storage	Silicon Power S80 240GB SSD (OS), OCZ Vertex 4 256GB SSD (Test), Vantec NexStar USB 3.0 (Ext. Enclosure), Patriot Memory Hellfire M.2 NVME 480GB SSD (Test)
Graphics	Integrated CPU Graphics, Gigabyte GTx 960 Windforce 3x OC
Drivers	Intel 10.1.1.7 (Z170), Intel 10.0.2.1 (Z97), NVIDIA 353.62 WHQL (Discrete)
Router	Cisco E3200 stock firmware with 2x 6ft Cat5E cables for network testing
Motherboard(s)	ECS Z170-Lightsaber (4/13/16), MSI Z170A MPOWER Gaming Titanium (BIOS 1.10), Gigabyte Z170X-Designare (BIOS F2), Gigabyte Z170X-Ultra Gaming (BIOS F4)
Operating System	Windows 10 Enterprise*

Latest working BIOS, updates and drivers were used at the time of the review. Each test was conducted at least three times for accuracy with the exception of PCMark 8 which already does three sets per benchmark run. *All performance benchmarks in this review and all reviews going forward will be using the Windows 10 operating system.

System Benchmarks

Aida64 Engineer 5.30
SiSoft Sandra Lite 2015 SP2b
CineBench R15
PCMark 8 v2.4.304
WinRAR 5.01
x.264 FHD 1.0.1
x.265 0.1.4

Subsystem Testing

CrystalDiskMark 5.0.2 for Storage tests
LatencyMon for DPC monitoring
Rightmark Audio Analyzer 6.4.1
Passmark Performance Test 8.0 – Network Speed Benchmark

Gaming Benchmarks

3DMark Firestrike (Default)
Unigine Heaven 4.0 (Max Settings, 1920 x 1080)
Bioshock Infinite (Lowest Settings @ 640 x 480, Max Settings @ 1920 x 1080)

Motherboard Specifications:

CPU	Supports 6th gen Intel^® Core™ family/ Pentium / Celeron series processors for LGA 1151 socket 14 Phase Thermal Design Power 100% Solid capacitor design Intel^® K Series Unlock CPU Support ECS Digital Power Design
CHIPSET	Intel^® Z170 Express Chipset Supports Intel^® Rapid Start technology Supports Intel^® Smart Response technology
GRAPHICS	Supports DirectX^® 12
MEMORY	Dual-channel DDR4 Memory architecture Supports DDR4 2133 non-ECC, Un-buffered SDRAM Memory Supports up to 3200+(OC) 4 X 288-pin DDR4 DIMM socket Support up to 64 GB* Intel^® extreme Memory Profile (XMP) 1.3/1.2 Memory Modules
EXPANSION SLOT	3 X PCI Express X16 Gen 3.0 slot(s) (x8+ x8 + x4) 4 X PCI Express X 1 Gen 3.0slot(s) Supports AMD CrossFire™ Technology 1 X M.2 slot for SSD For 2242/2260/2280 SSD
Storage	6 X Serial ATAIII 6Gb/s 1 X SATA Express Compatible with 2 X Serial ATAIII 6Gb/s port(s) RAID0, RAID1,RAID5, RAID 10 configuration
Audio	8-Channel HD audio CODEC Realtek ALC1150 8-channel High Definition audio CODEC Onboard TI NE5532AP EAR Phone Amplifier IC
LAN	Killer E2400 Gigabit Fast Ethernet Controller Wake-On-LAN
USB	Support by Z170 Express Chipset 6 X USB3.0 port(s) up to 5Gb/s 8 X USB2.0 port(s) Up to 480 Mb/s Support by ASMedia ASM1142 Controller 2 X USB3.1 port(s) up to 10Gb/s
REAR PANEL I/O	1 X PS/2 combo connector 1 X Audio port (Line-in,4x Line-out, Mic in) 1 X HDMI port(s) 1 X Display port 1 X Optical S/PDIF Out port(s) 2 X USB3.1 port(s) 6 X USB3.0 port(s) 4 X USB2.0 port(s) 1 X Clear_CMOS Button
CONNECTORS & HEADERS	1 X 24-pin ATX Power Supply connector 1 X 8-pin ATX 12V Power Connector 2 X 4-pin CPU_FAN connector 2 X 4-pin SYS_FAN connector 1 X Power on button 1 X Reset button 1 X Front Panel switch/LED header 1 X Front panel audio header 1 X Speaker header 1 X USB 3.0 header Support additional 2 USB ports 2 X USB 2.0 header Support additional 4 USB ports 8 X SATA III 6Gb/s connector(s) 1 X CLR_CMOS header 1 X 7S-LED Display 1 X Chassis intrusion header 1 X 80P Switch button 1 X Quick OC button 1 X BIOS set button 1 X ROM Backup button 1 X BIOS Update button
SYSTEM BIOS	AMI BIOS with 64 MB SPI Flash ROM Supports M.I.B X Utility ACPI & DMI F7 hot key for boot up devices option Over-Clocking Graphic OC Support Dual Display Support ECS EZ BIOS Support GUI UEFI BIOS Plug and Play, STR (S3) / STD (S4) , Hardware monitor, Multi Boot Multi-Language BIOS Dual BIOS * Adjustable CPU Voltage * Memory Voltage Adjustable * Support CPU over-clocking function: Adjustable CPU Clock Multiplier
FORM FACTOR	ATX Form Factor 305mm x 244mm
OS Support	Windows 7 32-bit Windows 7 64-bit Windows 8.1 64-bit Windows 10 64-bit
Certifications	CE/FCC Certification WHCK Certification
Bundled Software	ECS Intelligent EZ Utility : eBLU, eDLU, eSF Free Bundle: CyberLink Media Suite

*For official specifications and promotional information, visit: http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Product/Product_SPEC.aspx?DetailID=1669&CategoryID=1&DetailName=Feature&MenuID=228&LanID=0

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