Asrock Z170A-X1 User Manual

Version 1.0

Published October 2015

Copyright©2015 ASRock INC. All rights reser ved.

Copyright Notice:

No part of this documentation may be reproduced, transcribed, transmitted, or
translated in any language, in any form or by any means, except duplication of
documentation by the purchaser for backup purpose, without written consent of
ASRock Inc.

Products and corporate names appearing in this documentation may or may not
be registered trademarks or copyrights of their respective companies, and are used
only for identication or explanation and to the owners’ benet, without intent to

infringe.

Disclaimer:

Specications and information contained in this documentation are furnished for
informational use only and subject to change without notice, and should not be
constructed as a commitment by ASRock. ASRock assumes no responsibility for
any errors or omissions that may appear in this documentation.

With respect to the contents of this documentation, ASRock does not provide
warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to
the implied warranties or conditions of merchantability or tness for a particular
purpose.

In no event shall ASRock, its directors, ocers, employees, or agents be liable for
any indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages (including damages for
loss of prots, loss of business, loss of data, interruption of business and the like),
even if ASRock has been advised of the possibility of such damages arising from any
defect or error in the documentation or product.

is device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following
two conditions:
(1) this device may not cause harmful interference, and
(2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that

may cause undesired operation.

CALIFORNIA, USA ONLY

e Lithium battery adopted on this motherboard contains Perchlorate, a toxic substance
controlled in Perchlorate Best Management Practices (BMP) regulations passed by the
California Legislature. When you discard the Lithium battery in California, USA, please
follow the related regulations in advance.
“Perchlorate Material-special handling may apply, see ww w.dtsc.ca.gov/hazardouswaste/
perchlorate”

ASRock Website: http://www.asrock.com

Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction 1

1.1 Package Contents 1

1.2 Specications 2

1.3 Motherboard Layout 6

1.4 I/O Panel 8

Chapter 2 Installation 10

2.1 Installing the CPU 11

2.2 Installing the CPU Fan and Heatsink 14

2.3 Installing Memory Modules (DIMM) 15

2.4 Expansion Slots (PCI Express Slots) 17

2.5 Jumpers Setup 18

2.6 Onboard Headers and Connectors 19

2.7 CrossFireXTM and Quad CrossFireXTM Operation Guide 23

2.7.1 Installing Two CrossFireXTM-Ready Graphics Cards 23

2.7.2 Driver Installation and Setup 25

Chapter 3 Software and Utilities Operation 26

3.1 Installing Drivers 26

3.2 A-Tuning 27

3.3 ASRock Live Update & APP Shop 31

3.3.1 UI Overview 31

3.3.2 Apps 32

3.3.3 BIOS & Drivers 35

3.3.4 Setting 36

3.4 Creating Windows® 7 Installation Disk with USB 3.0 Drivers
Packed 37

Chapter 4 UEFI SETUP UTILITY 41

4.1 Intro d uc tion 41

4.2 EZ Mode 42

4.3 Advanced Mode 43

4.3.1 UEFI Menu Bar 43

4.3.2 Navigation Keys 44

4.4 Main Screen 45

4.5 OC Tweaker Screen 46

4.6 Advanced Screen 55

4.6.1 CPU Conguration 56

4.6.2 Chipset Conguration 58

4.6.3 Storage Conguration 60

4.6.4 ACPI Conguration 61

4.6.5 USB Conguration 63

4.6.6 Trusted Computing 64

4.7 Tools 65

4.8 Hardware Health Event Monitoring Screen 68

4.9 Security Screen 70

4.10 Boot Screen 71

4.11 Exit Screen 74

Chapter 1 Introduction

ank you for purchasing ASRock Z170A-X1 motherboard, a reliable motherboard

produced under ASRock ’s consistently stringent quality control. It delivers excellent

performance with robust design conforming to ASRock ’s commitment to quality

and endurance.

In this documentation, Chapter 1 and 2 contains the introduction of the

motherboard and step-by-step installation guides. Chapter 3 contains the operation

guide of the soware and utilities. Chapter 4 contains the conguration guide of

the BIOS setup.

Becau se the motherboard specications and the BIOS soware might be updated, the
content of this documentation will be subject to change without notice. In case any modi­cations of this documentation occur, the updated version will be available on ASRock’s
website w ithout further notice. If you require technical support related to this mother­board, please visit our website for specic information about the model you are using. You
may nd the l atest VGA cards and CPU suppor t list on ASRock’s website a s well. ASRock
website http://www.asrock.com.

Z170A-X1

1.1 Package Contents

ASRock Z170A-X1 Motherboard (ATX Form Factor)

•

ASRock Z170A-X1 Quick Insta llation Guide

•

ASRock Z170A-X1 Support CD

•

2 x Serial ATA (SATA) Data Cables (Optional)

•

1 x I/O Panel Shield

•

English

1.2 Specications

Platform

CPU

Chipset

Memory

•

•

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•

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•

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* 3466+(OC) memory frequency can only be achieved when a

single memory module is installed (Single channel memory).

* Please refer to Memory Support List on ASRock's website for

more information. (http://www.asrock.com/)

•

•

•

ATX Form Factor

Solid Capacitor design

Supports 6th Generation Intel® CoreTM i7/i5/i3/Pentium®/

Celeron® Processors (Socket 1151)

5 Power Phase design

Supports Intel® Turbo Boost 2.0 Technology

Supports Intel® K-Series unlocked CPUs

Supports ASRock BCLK Full-range Overclocking

Intel® Z170

Dual Channel DDR4 Memory Technology

4 x DDR4 DIMM Slots

Supports DDR4 3466+(OC)*/3200(OC)/2933(OC)/2800(OC)

/2400(OC)/2133 non-ECC, un-buered memory

Supports ECC UDIMM memory modules (operate in non-

ECC mode)

Max. capacity of system memory: 64GB

Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Prole (XMP) 2.0

15μ Gold Contact in DIMM Slots

2 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 Slots (PCIE2: x16 mode; PCIE4: x4

Expansion
Slot

English

Graphics

2 3

•

mode)*

* Supports NVMe SSD as boot disks

3 x PCI Express 3.0 x1 Slots (Flexible PCIe)

•

Supports AMD Quad CrossFireXTM and CrossFireXTM

•

Intel® HD Graphics Built-in Visua ls and the VGA outputs

•

can be supported only with processors which are GPU

integrated.

Supports Intel® HD Graphics Built-in Visuals : Intel® Quick

•

Sync Video with AVC, MVC (S3D) and MPEG-2 Full

HW Encode1, Intel® InTruTM 3D, Intel® Clear Video HD

Technology, Intel® InsiderTM, Intel® HD Graphics 510/530

Audio

LAN

Pixel Shader 5.0, DirectX 12

•

Supports DVI-D with ma x. resolution up to 1920x1200 @

•

60Hz

Supports Accelerated Media Codecs: HEVC, VP8, VP9

•

Supports HDCP with DVI-D Port

•

Supports Full HD 1080p Blu-ray (BD) playback with DVI-D

•

Port

7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC892

•

Audio Codec)

* To congure 7.1 CH HD Audio, it is required to use an HD

front panel audio module and enable the multi-channel audio

feature through the audio driver.

Premium Blu-ray Audio support

•

Supports Surge Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection)

•

ELNA Audio Caps

•

Gigabit LAN 10/100/10 00 Mb/s

•

Giga PHY Intel® I219V

•

Supports Wake-On-LAN

•

Supports Lightning/ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike

•

Protection)

Supports Energy Ecient Ethernet 802.3az

•

Supports PXE

•

Z170A-X1

Rear Panel
I/O

Storage

1 x PS/2 Mouse Port

•

1 x PS/2 Keyboard Port

•

1 x DVI-D Port

•

6 x USB 3.0 Ports (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full

•

Spike Protection))

1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED

•

LED)

HD Audio Jacks: Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone

•

6 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s Connectors, support RAID (RAID 0,

•

RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10, Intel Rapid Storage Technology

14 and Intel Smart Response Technology), NCQ, AHCI and

Hot Plug

English

Connector

BIOS
Feature

Hardware
Monitor

1 x TPM Header

•

1 x Power LED and Speaker Header

•

1 x CPU Fan Connector (4-pin)

•

2 x Chassis Fan Connectors (4-pin)

•

1 x 24 pin ATX Power Connector

•

1 x 8 pin 12V Power Connector

•

1 x Front Panel Audio Connector

•

2 x USB 2.0 Headers (Support 4 USB 2.0 ports) (Supports

•

ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection))

1 x USB 3.0 Header (Supports 2 USB 3.0 ports) (Supports

•

ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection))

AMI UEFI Legal BIOS with multilingual GUI support

•

ACPI 5.0 Compliant wake up events

•

SMBIOS 2.7 Support

•

CPU, GT_CPU, DRAM, VPPM, PCH 1.0V, VCCIO, VCCSA

•

Voltage Multi-adjustment

CPU/Chassis temperature sensing

•

CPU/Chassis Fan Tachometer

•

CPU/Chassis Quiet Fan (Auto adjust chassis fan speed by

•

CPU temperature)

CPU/Chassis Fan multi-speed control

•

Voltage monitoring: +12V, +5V, +3.3V, CPU Vcore

•

Microso® Windows® 10 64-bit / 8.1 64-bit / 7 32-bit / 7 64-

•

bit

* To install Windows® 7 OS, a modied installation disk with

xHCI drivers packed into the ISO le is required. Please refer to

page 37 for more detailed instructions.

* For the updated Windows® 10 driver, please visit ASRock ’s

website for details: http://ww w.asrock.com

FCC, CE, WHQL

•

ErP/EuP Ready (ErP/EuP ready power supply is required)

•

English

OS

Certica­tions

4 5

* For detailed product information, please visit our website: http://www.asrock .com

Please realiz e that the re is a certain r isk involved with o verclocking, including adjusting
the setting in the BIOS, applying Untied Overclocking Technolog y, or using third-party
overclocking to ols. O verclocking may aect your system’s stability, or even c ause damage to
the components and devices of your system. It should be don e at your ow n risk and expense.
We are not responsibl e for possible damage caused by overclo cking.

Z170A-X1

English

Intel

Z170

DDR 4_A2 (6 4 bit, 28 8-pin m odule )

DDR 4_A1 (6 4 bit, 28 8-pin m odule )

DDR 4_B2 (6 4 bit, 28 8-pin m odule )

DDR 4_B1 (6 4 bit, 28 8-pin m odule )

ATX12V1

ATXP WR 1

PCIE2

Top:
RJ-45

USB 3.0
T: USB0
B: USB1

PCIE4

HDLED RESET

PLED PWRBTN

PANEL1

1

USB4_5

1

1

SPK_PLED1

1

HD_AUDIO1

PCIE1

CPU_FAN1

RoHS

5

7

8
9
10
11

12

21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13

1

2

4

3

Z170A-X1

CMOS

Battery

CLRMOS1

1

PCIE3

USB3_4_5

1

CHA_FAN1

CHA_FAN2

SATA3_2SATA3_4 SATA3_0

SATA3_3SATA3_5 SATA3_1

USB2_3

1

1

TPMS1

PCIE5

Front USB 3.0

PCI Express 3.0

BIOS

USB 3.0
T: USB0
B: USB1

USB 3.0
T: USB2
B: USB3

DVI 1

Top:

LINE IN

Cente r:

FRONT

Botto m:

MIC IN

PS2

Keyb oard

PS2

Mous e

6

LAN

AUDIO
CODEC

1.3 Motherboard Layout

English

6 7

No. Description

1 ATX 12V Power Connector (ATX12V1)

2 CPU Fan Connector (CPU_FAN1)

3 2 x 288-pin DDR4 DIMM Slots (DDR4_A1, DDR4_B1)

4 2 x 288-pin DDR4 DIMM Slots (DDR4_A2, DDR4_B2)

5 ATX Power Connector (ATXPWR1)

6 USB 3.0 Header (USB3_4_5)

7 Chassis Fan Connector (CHA_FAN1)

8 Clear CMOS Jumper (CLRMOS1)

9 SATA3 Connector (SATA3_2)

10 Chassis Fan Connector (CHA_FAN2)

11 Power LED and Speaker Header (SPK_PLED1)

12 SATA3 Connector (SATA3_0)

13 System Panel Header (PANEL1)

14 SATA3 Connector (SATA3_1)

15 SATA3 Connector (SATA3_3)

16 SATA3 Connector (SATA3_5)

17 SATA 3 C onnector (SATA3_4)

18 USB 2.0 Header (USB2_3)

19 USB 2.0 Header (USB4_5)

20 TPM Header (TPMS1)

21 Front Panel Audio Header (HD_AUDIO1)

Z170A-X1

English

1.4 I/O Panel

1

10

2

6789

No. Description No. Description

1 PS/2 Mouse Port 6 USB 3.0 Ports (USB_01)

2 LAN RJ-45 Port* 7 USB 3.0 Ports (USB3_23)

3 Line In (Light Blue) 8 USB 3.0 Ports (USB3_01)

4 Front Speaker (Lime)** 9 DVI-D Port

5 Microphone (Pink) 10 PS/2 Keyboard Port

* ere are two LEDs on the LAN port. Please refer to the table below for the LAN port LED indications.

ACT/LINK LED

SPEED LED

3

4

5

LAN Por t

Activity / Link LED Speed LED

Status Description Status Description

O No Link O 10Mbps connection
Blinking Data Activity Orange 100Mbps connection
On Link Green 1Gbps connection

English

8 9

** To congure 7.1 CH HD Audio, it i s required to use an HD front panel audio module and enable the multi­channel audio feature through the audio driver.

Please set Speaker Conguration to “7.1 Speaker”in the Realtek HD Audio Manager.

Z170A-X1

Function of the Audio Ports in 7.1-channel Conguration:

Port Function

Light Blue (Rear panel) Rear Speaker Out
Lime (Rear panel) Front Speaker Out
Pink (Rear panel) Central /Subwoofer Speaker Out
Lime (Front panel) Side Speaker Out

English

Chapter 2 Installation

is is an ATX form factor motherboard. Before you install the motherboard, study

the conguration of your chassis to ensure that the motherboard ts into it.

Pre-installation Precautions

Take note of the following precautions before you install motherboard components

or change any motherboard settings.

Make sure to unplug the power cord before installing or removing the motherboard

•

components. Failure to do so may cause physical injuries and damages to motherboard

components.

In order to avoid damage from static electricity to the motherboard’s components,

•

NEVER place your motherboard directly on a carpet. Also remember to use a grounded

wrist strap or touch a safety grounded object before you handle the components.

Hold components by the edges and do not touch the ICs.

•

Whenever you uninstall any components, place them on a grounded anti-static pad or

•

in the bag that comes with the components.

When placing screws to secure the motherboard to the chassis, please do not over-

•

tighten the screws! Doing so may damage the motherboard.

English

10 11

2.1 Installing the CPU

1. Before you insert the 1151-Pin CPU into the socket, please check if the P nP cap is on the
socket, if the CPU surface is unclean, or if there are any bent pins in the sock et. Do not
force to in sert the CPU into the socket if above situation is found . Otherwise, the CPU
will be seriously damaged.

2. Unplug all power c ables before in stalling the CPU.

1

Z170A-X1

A

B

2

English

3

4

5

English

12 13

Please save and replace the cover if the processor i s removed. e cover must be placed if
you wish to return the motherboard for aer service.

Z170A-X1

English

2.2 Installing the CPU Fan and Heatsink

1 2

FAN

CPU_

English

14 15

2.3 Installing Memory Modules (DIMM)

is motherboard provides four 288-pin DDR4 (Double Data Rate 4) DIMM slots,

and supports Dual Channel Memory Technology.

1. For dual channel cong uration , you always need to in stall identical (the same b rand,

speed , size and chip-type) DDR4 DIMM pairs.

2. It is unable to activate Dual Channel Memor y Te chnology with only one or three memory
module installed.

3. It is not allowed to install a DDR, DDR2 or DDR3 memory module into a DDR4 sl ot;
otherwise , this motherboard and DIM M may be damaged.

Dual Channel Memory Conguration

Priority DDR4_A1 DDR4_A2 DDR4_B1 DDR4_B2

1 Populated Populated
2 Populated Populated
3 Populated Populated Populated Populated

Z170A-X1

e DIMM only ts in one correct orie ntation. It will cause permanent dam age to the
motherboard and the DIMM if you force the DIMM into the slot at incorrect orientation.

English

1

2

3

English

16 17

2.4 Expansion Slots (PCI Express Slots)

ere are 5 PCI Express slots on the motherboard.

Before installing an ex pansion card, please make sure that the power supply is switched o
or the power cord is unplug ged. Pl ease re ad the documentation of the expansion card and
make necessary hardware settings for the card before you start the installation.

PCIe slots:

PCIE1 (PCIe 3.0 x1 slot) is used for PCI Express x1 lane width cards.

PCIE2 (PCIe 3.0 x16 slot) is used for PCI Express x16 lane width graphics cards.

PCIE3 (PCIe 3.0 x1 slot) is used for PCI Express x1 lane width cards.

PCIE4 (PCIe 3.0 x16 slot) is used for PCI Express x4 lane width graphics cards.

PCIE5 (PCIe 3.0 x1 slot) is used for PCI Express x1 lane width cards.

PCIe Slot Congurations

PCIE2 PCIE4

Z170A-X1

Single Graphics Card x16 N/A

Two Graphics Cards in

CrossFireXTM Mode

For a better thermal environment, please connect a chassis fan to the motherboard’s chassis
fan connector (CHA _FAN1 or CH A_FAN2) when using multiple graphics card s.

x16 x4

English

2.5 Jumpers Setup

e illustration shows how jumpers are setup. When the jumper cap is placed on

the pins, the jumper is “Short”. If no jumper cap is placed on the pins, the jumper

is “Open”. e illustration shows a 3-pin jumper whose pin1 and pin2 are “Short”

when a jumper cap is placed on these 2 pins.

Clear CMOS Jumper

(CLRMO S1)

(see p.6, No. 8)

CLRMOS1 allows you to clear the data in CMOS. To clear and reset the system

parameters to default setup, please turn o the computer and unplug the power

cord from the power supply. Aer waiting for 15 seconds, use a jumper cap to

short pin2 and pin3 on CLRMOS1 for 5 seconds. However, please do not clear the

CMOS right aer you update the BIOS. If you need to clear the CMOS when you

just nish updating the BIOS, you must boot up the system rst, and then shut it

down before you do the clear-CMOS action. Please be noted that the password,

date, time, and user default prole will be cleared only if the CMOS battery is

removed.

Clear CMOSDefault

English

18 19

2.6 Onboard Headers and Connectors

1

Onboard headers and connectors are NOT jump ers. Do NOT place jumper caps over these
heade rs and connectors. Placing jumper caps over the headers and connectors will cause
permanent damage to the motherboard.

Z170A-X1

System Panel Header

(9-pi n PANEL1)

(see p.6, No. 13)

PWRBTN (Power Switch):

Connec t to the power switch on the ch assi s front panel. You may congure the way to tur n
o your system using the power switch.

RESET (Reset Switch):
Connec t to the reset switch on the chassi s front panel. Press the reset sw itch to restart the
computer if the computer f reezes and fails to per form a normal restar t.

PLED (Syste m Power LED):
Connec t to the power status indicator on the chas sis front panel. e LED i s on when the
system is operating. e LED keeps blinking when the system is in S1/S3 sleep state. e
LED is o when the system is in S4 slee p state or powered o (S5).

HDLED (Ha rd Drive Activity LED):
Connec t to the hard drive ac tivity LED on the chassis front panel. e LED is on when the
hard drive is reading or wr iting data.

e front panel de sign may dier by chassis. A front panel module mainly consists of powe r
switch, reset switch , power LED, hard dr ive activity LED, speaker and etc. When connect­ing your ch assi s front panel module to thi s header, make sure the wire a ssignments and the
pin assignments are matched correctly.

PLED+

PLED-

HDLED-

HDLED+

PWRBTN#

GND

RESET#

GND

GND

Connect the power

switch, reset switch and

system status indicator on

the chassis to this header

according to the pin

assignments below. Note

the positive and negative

pins before connecting

the cables.

English

Power LED and Speaker

1

+5V

DUMMY

PLED+

PLED+

PLED-

DUMMY

SPEAKER

DUMMY

GND

GND

P+

P-

USB_PWR

P+

P-

USB_PWR

1

1

ID

IntA_P_D+

Header

(7-pin SPK_PLED1)

(see p.6, No. 11)

Please connect the

chassis power LED and

the chassis speaker to this

header.

Serial ATA3 Connectors

(SATA3_0:

see p.6, No. 12)

(SATA3_1:

see p.6, No. 14)

(SATA3_ 2:

see p.6, No. 9)

(SATA3_ 3:

see p.6, No. 15)

SATA3_2SATA3_4

SATA3_3SATA3_5

SATA3_0

SATA3_1

ese six SATA3

connectors support SATA

data cables for internal

storage devices with up

to 6.0 Gb/s data transfer

rate. To minimize the

boot time, use Intel® Z170

SATA ports (SATA3_0)

for your bootable devices.

(SATA3_4:

see p.6, No. 17)

(SATA3_ 5:

see p.6, No. 16)

USB 2.0 Headers

(9-pin USB2_3)

(see p.6, No. 18)

(9-pin USB4_5)

ere are two headers

on this motherboard.

Each USB 2.0 header can

support two ports.

(see p.6, No. 19)

USB 3.0 Header

(19-pin USB3_4_ 5)

(see p.6, No. 6)

English

20 21

IntA_P_D-

GND

IntA_P_D-

IntA_P_D+

IntA_P_SSTX+

IntA_P_SSTX-

GND

IntA_P_SSTX-

IntA_P_SSTX+

GND

IntA_P_SSRX+

IntA_P_SSRX-

Vbus

IntA_P_SSRX-

IntA_P_SSRX+

GND

Besides si x USB 3.0 ports

on the I/O panel, there

is one header on this

motherboard. Each USB

3.0 header can support

two ports.

Vbus