ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming-ITX/AC Motherboard Review
A Closer Look at the ASRock Z170 Gaming-ITX/AC Motherboard Continued
To expose the VRM and the PCH, the heatsinks need to be removed. There are a total of 4 screws that need to be removed in order to pull the heatsink off the motherboard. Thermal tape is used on both the PCH and VRM portions of the heatsinks to help facilitate heat transfer.
With the heatsinks removed, the voltage regulation components and the PCH are visible.
6 Texas Instruments NexFET CSD87350Q5D MOSFETs along the side of the CPU socket and two at the top (6+2 phases). Each phase get it’s own 60A power inductor.
The International Rectifier IR35201 is a dual output multi-phase controller that is configured as 6+2. On the back of the motherboard there are 3 IR3598 drivers. Three drivers are used to drive each of the NexFETs for the CPU with an additional IR3598 driving the two NexFETs for the iGP side.
Memory VRM is handled by a pair of Fairchild Semiconductor FDMC 2200S MSOFETs.
ASMedia ASM1142 is responsible for controlling the USB 3.1 connections on the motherboard and the EltronTech EJ179V is the USB C-Type switch.
Wired networking is provided by the Intel WGI219V network controller.
On the backside of the Z170 Gaming-ITX/AC and near the M.2 slot, is the Nuvoton NCT6791D SuperIO. This chip is used for all temperature monitoring and fan control on the motherboard.
An ASMedia 1442K is responsible for handling the onboard HDMI and is 1.3a compliant. The MegaChips MCDP2800BB is a DisplayPort (DP) to HDMI 2.0 converter. It is capable of taking and upstream signal and convert the signal to HDMI 2.0 compliant.
Onboard audio is provided by a Realtek ACL1150 and is powered by a Texas Instruments N5532 audio amplifier. The audio IC and the amplifier are surrounded by four Nichicon Gold audio capacitors.
