Power Consumption

We measure CPU power consumption since one of our first tasks is to truly verify system stability. I isolate the power coming through the 8-pin ATX connector using an in-line meter that provides voltage and current readings, and total wattage passed through. While this may not prove to isolate the CPU power draw in all instances, it does serve as a good indicator of board efficiency and effective VRM design. Total system power consumption is no longer reported as this figure can change depending on what VGA is installed. The sole board-only power measurements possible without physically modifying a motherboard are those taken via the 8-pin CPU connector, making it the only figure of value worth reporting. I use wPrime with eight threads selected in its options since it provides a consistently high workload throughout the full length of the test and runs long enough for the VRM and CPU to produce a fair bit of heat. Most average workloads will draw far less than that, although distributed computing applications are quite similar. This is not supposed to test stability since I use several other applications to do so, but merely serves to provide repeatable power draw numbers anyone can replicate. The meter used is an off-the-shelf Zalman unit that has been on the market for some time. In my test environment, it provides results similar to a FLUKE 337 clamp meter.


Power Consumption results were quite good on the ASUS Z170-DELUXE, especially given the number of provided phases. Idle power drawn was a minor 3 W, while load was fairly decent as well, and overclocked power consumption was pretty decent too, with adequate power-saving measures still active even though there was a much higher clock in place.

Fan Control

*Actual fan minimum dependent on installed fan


There are seven fan headers on the ASUS Z170-DELUXE. All seven are 4-pin based. Control for more fan headers is possible via an add-on card, also not included in the box. There was one with ASUS' past X99 DELUXE, so users with the X99 board might use the card with this board.


For those of us who use AIO water coolers, two CPU fan headers are nice since many AIO coolers come with two fans, or we'll set them up with two. ASUS has offered such on nearly all their board products for quite some time now. New this time around is a dedicated plug for your AIO's water pump, with separate controls available in the BIOS or via software.


Speaking of software, the manual fan-control options within the OS are pretty good, with both dynamic and static fan settings available.


However, it's best to run ASUS' Fan Tuning option to get the most out of the provided controls and your fans because it tests each fan's stop and start points and sets minimums and maximums based on those tests. Even fans of the same model can vary slightly, and this method eliminates any such differences.


Once the software is done testing, it'll displays the results and options as shown above. I tested with two fans installed, one on the CPU cooler and one blowing fresh air toward the VGA, so you could see the options the CPU port has over other ports.


The same fan controls are available from within the BIOS, including manual settings and Fan Tuning.


Even the tuning results are similar, with the tested settings applied to each fan's lists of options, which, in this instance, prove pretty darn extensive. If you were wondering about whether you need a separate fan controller when using this board, the quick and easy answer is no, provided you are using 6 fans or less!