A motherboard tested
SuperMicro C7Z270-CG
The green lantern from SuperMicro for the Kaby Lake processor platform
It is the era of the Z270 schipset, and in this article we cover the SuperMicro C7Z270-CG review. It is advertised as a server grade quality motherboard, but will it deliver in performance, features and aesthetics ?
So, with the 7000 series processor (Kaby Lake) released, it's time for a peek at the motherboards based on Z270. We review the motherboard with a Core i5 7600K processor, that puppy is developed on the 14nm node. The Core i5 series processors are intended to be the more budget friendly offering from Intel, for a more mainstream consumer. For this review we look at the performance of this processor and motherboard in a wide variety of benchmarks and situations. Kaby Lake processors for the desktop platform have been released. Though you'd think it is an all new chip, it is however merely a respin seen from Skylake, meaning both series processors are Socket 1151. This also means that IF you are in the market for a new series 7000 processor, your H170 or Z170 motherboard can be compatible with Kaby Lake after a motherboard BIOS upgrade. The new series Kaby Lake processors are fairly energy efficient, still as powerful as they have been for years. If you are interested in new technologies like Intel Optane, you will however need to upgrade to a Z270 or H270 range motherboard. This new Z270 platform offers supports for Optane SSDs and offers support for slightly faster DDR4 memory.
SuperMicro is outing the C7Z270-CG, their motherboard is targeted at the gamers out there that want to rely on server grade hardware. You will not find hugely expensive Creative labs audio chips or an Intel Thunderbolt controller on this motherboard. No, everything seems and feels normalized when it comes to features.So the motherboard does come with everything you need. You will also notice that the style certainly isn't the most pretty looking one out there, but that I am afraid is a trend for SMC motherboards.
It does come with two M.2 slots, 8-channel audio and USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports, even Type A and C. There is a lot more going on, what we like for example is that this motherboard offers a proper Intel Gigabit LAN connector. Lacking however is WIFI, which we feel is a bit of a miss. Armed with that Z270 chipset this motherboard offers three x16 slots and three 1x PCIe. Everything feels a little bland and too green alright But let's get started with the actual review shall we?
