ASUS Strix Z270E and Z270F Review & Comparison

Strix Z270E Gaming Up Close

There is no question that the first thing which strikes you when you take the Strix E out of the box is the thickness of the heatsinks. For a mid-range motherboard there certainly haven’t been any corners cut on the quality of the components. Probably the second thing you spot has to be the tightness of the 8pin CPU power input. Only the slender fingered need apply. The CPU area is the opposite of the power input though. Plenty of room if you’re the type of person who wants to get into the dark world of sub-zero cooling. Like many of the Z270s (perhaps even all of them) the E has two M.2 sockets for those of you who want to take advantage of the blistering transfer rates that modern SSDs can provide. Speaking of blistering transfer rates the E has a front panel USB 3.1 connector. We can’t think of a case that yet provides front panel USB 3.1 so it is good to know that with the Strix you’ll be fairly futureproofed.

There are plenty of fan headers on the Z270E, many of which double up as AIO headers. Given that well over 50% of people have AIO CPU coolers that’s a real benefit, but further good things are to be found if you have switched out your GPU cooler for one of the AIO 3rd party options. In fact the only thing that remotely hints at the fact the Strix isn’t topping the ASUS range is the IO section with only five USB ports – six if you include the Type-C connector.