ASUS Prime Z270-A Motherboard Review

By Steven Kean

Storage Performance

All storage testing is done using the latest version of CrystalDiskMark. We will format the specific device prior to executing the test, and will reboot the test system between each test. Testing the SATA connection, we will use the SanDisk Ultra II 480GB SSD, with a rated speed of up to 550MB/s Sequential Read, and up to 500MB/s Sequential Write. The M.2 interface will be tested with the HyperX Predator 240GB drive, with it’s rated speed o up to 1400MB/s Sequential Read, and 600MB/s Sequential Write. Finall, the USB 3.1 connection will be done using an external USB 3.0 hard drive dock, and the SanDisk Ultra II SSD.

SATA 6Gb/s

ASUS Prime Z270-A
ASUS Prime Z270-A CrystalDiskMark SATA

M.2

ASUS Prime Z270-A
ASUS Prime Z270-A CrystalDiskMark M.2

USB 3.1 Gen 1

ASUS Prime Z270-A
ASUS Prime Z270-A USB 3.1 Gen 1

Storage Performance Results: Overall, the storage performance tests were right as we would expect. The one surprise was the M.2 performance, throughout the Z170 motherboard testing, the Kingston HyperX Predator M.2 drive was consistently in the low 1300MB/s range. The Prime Z270-A blew past that and took it to 1461MB/s Sequential Read! Considering that the specifications on the Predator M.2 is for 1400MB/s, the 1461MB/s score is impressive.