When comparing ASUS Z170-A vs ASRock FATAL1TY Z170 GAMING K4, the Slant community recommends ASUS Z170-A for most people. In the question“What are the best Intel LGA 1151 motherboards for gaming?” ASUS Z170-A is ranked 1st while ASRock FATAL1TY Z170 GAMING K4 is ranked 2nd. The most important reason people chose ASUS Z170-A is:
This board supports USB 3.1 type A and C meaning it is pretty future proof as well as versatile due to all of the options USB C connections allow.
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Pros
Pro Good USB options
This board supports USB 3.1 type A and C meaning it is pretty future proof as well as versatile due to all of the options USB C connections allow.
Pro Good built in sound
The board supports 7.1 digital surround sound with great clarity, which is great for games that support it as it is can be helpful to gameplay when hearing sounds in certain directions.
Pro Easy to optimize the CPU
The board has a built in optimizing tool that will allow for easy overclocking as well as control for power consumption. It will also allow for auto adjusting of the PCs fans as well as set per app settings. While some may want to do all of this manually, for the uninitiated it is quite easy to click a single button to get better performance out of their setup.
Pro Good overclocking controls
The board is able to overclock non K series Intel CPUs, which is helpful for those that want to overclock but do not have a K series chip.
Pro Good built in sound
The board supports 7.1 digital surround sound with great clarity, which is great for games that support it as it is can be helpful to gameplay when hearing sounds in certain directions.
Cons
Con Third party tower coolers may not clear RAM
The RAM slots are pretty close to the CPU, which means if you are using or plan on using a third party tower cooler, it may not install due to the RAM positioning.
Con Mounting issues
The I/O shield on the board tends to be in the way, is quite flimsy and also is to be avoided as it can cut your hands. This makes installing the MOBO troublesome and maybe a bit dangerous.
Con Somewhat flimsy
The board itself feels thin and flimsy which may cause issue when trying to mount as it could break. This also can cause some vibration of the board when using 3rd party coolers.
Con Not a full ATX board
Even though it is described as an ATX board, the size is not as big, which may cause some mounting issues depending on the case being used.