The ASUS Z170-P D3 ATX Motherboard features a Z170 chipset and an LGA1151 socket to support Intel's 6th-genertation Skylake processors. This socket can handle an Intel Core i7, Core i5, Core i3, Pentium, or Celeron processor. With an Intel processor with integrated graphics installed, this motherboard delivers smooth and detailed visuals to your monitors through its DVI and HDMI ports. It also provides an M.2 slot that has a data bandwidth of 32 Gb/s.
The Z170-P D3 motherboard comes with four DDR3/DDR3L DIMM slots that can support up to 64MB of RAM. When more graphics power is needed, this ATX motherboard is outfitted with two PCI Express x16 slots for supporting dedicated graphics cards in an AMD CrossFireX configuration. In addition, there are two PCIe 3.0 x1 and two PCI slots. To complete the multimedia experience, this motherboard comes built with Realtek ALC887 that offers immersive sounds through the three audio jacks. It also has a total of four SATA III 6 Gb/s ports, four USB 3.0 ports, and two USB 2.0 ports as well as one PS/2 keyboard port, one PS/2 mouse port, and one Realtek 8111GR Gigabit LAN jack.
Hardware Safeguards
ASUS has designed this motherboard with 5X Protection II that employs reliable components and an efficient circuit design as well as exacting standards to provide long-term durability and all-round protection.
LANGuard
ASUS LANGuard is a hardware-level network protection that utilizes signal-coupling technology along with anti-EMI surface-mounted capacitors to help ensure a more reliable connection and better throughput. Additionally, electrostatically-guarded and surge-protected components provide greater tolerance to static electricity and greater protection against surges.
Overvoltage Protection
This motherboard comes with an exclusive circuit design along with built-in voltage regulators to protect your chipset, connectivity ports, and audio codecs from damage caused by unexpected voltages from unstable power supplies.
DRAM Overcurrent Protection
Onboard resettable fuses prevent over-current and short-circuit damage. This protection extends beyond the I/O ports to the DRAM to safeguard the lifespan of your system and connected devices.
DIGI+ VRM
ASUS DIGI+ VRM intelligently delivers power to the processor based on real-time demands, thereby reducing energy waste and improving system stability.
Stainless-Steel Back I/O
The corrosion-resistant stainless steel back I/O panels have been bonded with chromium oxide to ensure a lifespan that's three times longer than ordinary panels.
ESD Guards
ASUS employs an active protective circuit design that guards your system against electrostatic interference and damage. ASUS offers ESD Guards that are rated for up to +/- 10kV for air discharge and +/-6kV for contact discharge. These ESD Guards help protect the USB, VGA, keyboard, and mouse connectors as well as the LAN port.
UEFI BIOS
The BIOS offers a mouse-controlled graphical interface along with EZ and Advanced Modes so you can find your way quickly and easily.
EZ Mode
Advanced Mode
- EZ Flash 3 - lets you update the BIOS via the Internet and from within the BIOS
- S.M.A.R.T - checks your device's Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology logs to gauge reliability and even determine if they're about to fail
- EZ Tuning Wizard - OC and RAID - allow you to select your hardware and apply different scenarios to tune system performance, or streamline your RAID configuration
- My Favorites - provides a list that contains your preferred tuning options and tools
EZ Mode
- Intuitive Graphical Fan Control: Adjusts the spin speed for each fan by dragging a curve with the mouse
- EZ XMP Settings: Improve DRAM performance
- SATA Information: Each SATA port has details displayed, so you can easily recognize devices
- Fast Clock Adjustment: Change the time and date in EZ Mode using the mouse
Advanced Mode
- GPU Port: Automatically detect selected ASUS graphics cards to view detailed information
- Secure Erase: Restores your SSDs to the day you first received them
- Last Modified Log: Track last change and save preferred profiles onto a USB drive
- SATA Port Renaming: Rename the SATA ports for easy identification
M.2 Slot
With x4 PCI Express 3.0/2.0 bandwidth, M.2 supports up to 32 Gb/s data-transfer speeds. It is suitable for use as an operating system or application drive connection, making your whole PC work that much faster.
USB 3.0 Connection
This motherboard features USB 3.0 headers that support up to four USB 3.0 ports on the front panel of your chassis. USB 3.0 is plug-and-play compatible and transfers data up to 10 times faster than USB 2.0.
Gaming Audio
ASUS has provided audio shielding on this motherboard to help ensure analog/digital separation and reduce multi-lateral interference. The left and right audio tracks are separated so both channels can deliver consistent and equal quality. Furthermore, Japanese audio capacitors provide warm, natural, and immersive sound with clarity and fidelity. Additionally, the audio path is illuminated with an LED.
Component-Free Areas
The areas around the case-mounting holes are free of components to help minimize the risk of damage and short circuits caused by contact.
Q-Slot
The PCI slots feature large-winged clips so you can easily remove your PCI express cards.
Fan Xpert 2+
With onboard thermal sensors and hardware-level 4-pin/3-pin PWM/DC mode detection, Fan Xpert 2+ makes sure every fan achieves a better balance of cooling performance and low noise.
- Auto-Tuning Mode: Scans and detects all fan characteristics for single-click customization
- Extreme Quiet Mode: Reduces the CPU fan speed to below the default minimum, for quiet operation and power savings during light loads
- RPM Fixed Mode: Lowers noise levels to near-0dB silence, allowing to you fix the fan's speed
Additional Features
- Push Notice - instantly sends an alert to your table or smartphone when your PC's status changes. It can also send a webpage or memo to your mobile device
- Media Streamer - streams the content on your PC or online storage to your connected devices
- AI Suite 3 - is an all-in-one app that consolidates all ASUS features, allowing you to supervise overclocking, energy consumptions, fan speeds, voltages, and more
- Mobo Connect - allows you to share the PC's keyboard and mouse with your smart device or streams audio playback from a smart device to a PC. It even charges your mobile devices
- PC Cleaner - cleans up unused, unwanted files and programs that take up space on your storage drives so you can work faster and startup quicker
Intel Z170 Express Chipset
The Intel Z170 Express features a single-chipset design that supports 6th-generation Intel LGA1151 Core i7, Core i5, Core i3, Pentium, and Celeron processors. It provides improved performance by utilizing serial point-to-point links, allowing increased bandwidth and stability. It also supports integrated-graphics (iGPU) functions, so you'll enjoy Intel's integrated graphics performance. This motherboard has four USB 3.0 ports and two internal USB 3.0 connectors, which support four additional USB 3.0 ports. It features four SATA III 6 Gb/s ports, four two-channel DDR3L DIMM slots, and four PCI Express 3.0 slots as well as a 32 Gb/s M.2 interface for faster data retrieval.