Kabylake HELP

[lordofscribblez]

Hey I am building a new pc and I want to get a kabylake processor but the z170 motherboards are cheaper and I was wondering the downsides of me doing this? thank you <3

[Mohenjo]

Overall, the changes in Z270 are quite minor. The extra PCI-E lanes are nice and while the support for Intel Optane has the potential to be significant for some users we have not yet seen any real-world testing done by 3rd parties to see exactly when it will be useful.

However, one thing to keep in mind is that the launch of a new chipset also gives motherboard manufacturers like Asus, Gigabyte, EVGA, ASRock, and others the chance to make other improvements to their current product line. So while Z270 by itself isn't terribly exciting, we have already noticed some great improvements on actual Z270 motherboards such as increased adoption of Thunderbolt 3 (which hopefully will help resolve the driver and firmware issues Thunderbolt currently has on PC), reinforced PCI-E slots, and multiple M.2 slots. This still is not anything game changing and unlikely to warrant an upgrade from Z170 to Z270 on its own, but Z270 does still provide some small - but welcome - improvements so there is little reason not to use it if you are in the market for a new system.

-Puget systems

[MkaiL]

Downside is that the z170 will probably need a bios update to work with kabylake, for that you will need a 6th gen cpu. 

[toasty6776]

I agree with @Mohenjo but do keep in mind that Z170 motherboards need to get a BIOS update in order to with your shiny new Kaby Lake CPU. That BIOS update requires a Skylake CPU (on most motherboards) to be installed, though, so you may run into some issues unless you have a friend who can lend you his Skylake CPU for you to upgrade your BIOS

[DamanC]

Comparing a Asus Z170-P to a Z270-P the price difference is around 5% but your mileage will vary depending on the model.

 

When comparing Z170 with Z270 there is a small difference in the Z270's favour. Personally,  unless you find a stonking Z170 deal which has the latest BIOS or you have access to a 6th Gen CPU then I would grab a Z270.