The Board - A Closer Look

ECS equipped the Z170-LIGHTSABER with a 6-layer PCB, which is similar to other boards we've looked at recently.


There are several places on the ECS Z170-LIGHTSABER with buttons. The top-right of the board has power and reset switches and a triple-digit LED display that can display different things, cycled through by pressing other near-by button. The LEDs near the display show the data.


There are also buttons on the board's lower edge, one for an automatic overclock, one to enter the BIOS automatically, and one to flash the BIOS. There's also another button by the BIOS chips that allows you to back the BIOS on one chip up to the other.


The audio design implements a Realtek ALC1150 with a fairly decent line of isolation present to help the CODEC perform well.


The headphone OPAMP resides in a socket and is replaceable should you so desire. The default OPAMP is a TI NE5532AP. The PCH cooler is small, but seems to do a fairly decent job, staying cool with a decent load while testing with a single VGA.


CPU VRM control takes place through an Intersil controller that pushes the 14 phases quite efficiently. The large coolers help with that by keeping all the MOSFET bits nice and cool.


I found two external ASMedia controllers on the ECS Z170-LIGHTSABER; one for the additional SATA ports (the ASMedia ASM1061) and the other for USB connectivity on the rear I/O panel.


LAN support is provided by a Killer E2400 NIC.