ASUS Z170 Pro Gaming AURA Motherboard Review

ASUS AURA software is at the heart of the Z170 Pro Gaming AURA's functionality. For the software analysis we paired the motherboard up with the ASUS GTX 1060 STRIX OC since the AURA framework can sync effects across compatible products.

When grouped together you can pick from an extensive list of lighting modes and control the direction of the pattern and its speed.

If you choose to control the motherboard and graphics card separately there are less lighting modes, particularly for the graphics card. You are, however, still afforded the same range of customisation options in terms of direction and speed, where appropriate.

The short video below demonstrates how the graphics card and motherboard work together for the “Flash and Dash” group effect:

The rest of the ASUS key software suite is more familiar, centred around AI Suite III. From within this motherboard control panel software you can adjust voltages and application specific turbo behaviour, set custom fan curves, enable power saving profiles and more.

AI Suite III also supports on-the-fly, real-time, CPU overclocking, load line calibration and voltage adjustments – handy if you don't want to keep rebooting into the UEFI to make changes and then test if they are stable.

ASUS USB 3.1 Boost is also present to enhance USB throughput by using Bulk Only Transfers (Turbo) or UASP on compatible USB 3.0 and 3.1 storage devices. This is ideal for increasing transfer rates, especially when using the Windows 7 OS.

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