ASRock Z170 Gaming K6+ Review

ASRock Z170 Gaming K6+
Skylake motherboard galore 

As Intel launches 14nm Skylake procs we review Intel Series 100 motherboards. In this review we cover the ASRock Z170 Gaming K6. These new puppies come with a cool design, USB 3.1 and some very nifty features. Next to that it also is a very energy friendly platform. These motherboards can be paired with Intel's "K" series Skylake processors. We'll quickly dive into the two most important ones. Skylake Core i5-6600K and Core i7 6700K processors for the desktop platform have been released. We test both processors, yet have separate reviews on each of these processors. A new chip, a new package meaning both of them are Socket 1151. The new series Skylake processors are energy efficient, quite powerful and this need to be paired with a new motherboards series. For you guys that means the Z170 and h170 range. In this review we test the Core i5 6600K. An unlocked Skylake processor that has four cores and slim a 91W TDP,that is lower compared to Haswell with its 95W TDP, obviously thanks to the new and smaller 14nm fabrication process. The quad core CPU has 8 MB L3 cache, and an integrated memory controller that supports both DDR4 and DDR3 memory. The Z170 and H170 series motherboards will all be offered with DDR4 though. For the gaming community two processors are the most important.

• Core i7 6700K
  Four CPU cores with Hyper-Threading, 4.0GHz frequency, 4.20GHz maximum Turbo Boost frequency, 8MB last-level cache, dual-channel DDR3/DDR4 memory controller with 1600MHz or 2133MHz support, Intel HD Graphics 530-series integrated graphics core, LGA1151 packaging
   
• Core i5 6600K
  Four cores, 3.50GHz frequency, 3.90GHz maximum Turbo Boost frequency, 6MB last-level cache, dual-channel DDR3/DDR4 memory controller with 1600MHz or 2133MHz support, Intel HD Graphics 530-series integrated graphics core, LGA1151 packaging;

Skylake is the code-name used by Intel for the 14nm processor micro architecture under development and is the successor to the Broadwell architecture.

Right, now back to the motherboard. As stated in this review we will have a look at the ASRock Z170 Gaming K6+, a very nice looking motherboard with a bucket-load of features I must say. ASRock really placed a focus on design with a matte black PCB and subtle red accents. Then they started adding features like a Killer E2400 gigabit Ethernet jack, 10 Gbps USB 3.1, they added extra care on the audio circuitry with their Purity Sound 3 enhancements. And then even more extras like DDR4 memory support up-to a whopping 3600 MHz, their M.2. solution is 32 Gbps allowing for the fastest speeds.

But my man, have a peek at what we review today and then head on-wards into the review.