Asus Prime Z270-P Review and Step-by-Step Installation Tutorial

| February 3, 2018 | Mining Hardware, Motherboard, Motherboards, Reviews, Tutorials | 15 Comments

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Recently, I’ve got my hands on several Asus Prime Z270-P motherboards. I’ve build a couple of rigs with those and decided to share with you guys how I did it.

Let’s start by taking a close look at the board first.

The Asus Prime Z270-P is an entry level MoBo with LGA1151 socket chipset that supports 7th and 6th gen Intel CPUs. It is affordable and well-made, which makes it a great mining MoBo.

Compared to other models of the Z270 family, the Z270-P features one of the best money per supported GPU ratio. It can handle up to 8 GPUs, which is arguably the best amount of GPUs per rig to begin with.

I’m using a Dual-Core Intel Celeron G3930 with the mobo and I’m quite satisfied with it. The CPU can be purchased for $ 65 USD on Newegg and is probably the cheapest option for this motherboard.

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Recommended CPU: Intel Celeron G3930

Recommended RAM: DDR4 4GB 2133mhz

Asus Prime Z270-P Specs

List of mining-related specs:

  • 4 x DIMM, up to 64GB DDR4 Memory, up to 3866(OC) MHz
  • Works with AMD CrossfireX
  • Two M.2 Socket 3 M Key Slots, support either SATA or X4 PCIE mode
  • 1 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16 mode), 1 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (max at x4 mode) and 4 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x1 that make the MoBo support up to 7 GPUs
  • 8 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 port(s) (4 at back panel, blue, Type-A, 4 at mid-board)

Security and durability:

  • ASUS 5X Protection III that includes ASUS SafeSlot Core (fortified PCIe slots), LANGuard, Overvoltage Protection, Stainless steel back I/O with 3X corrosion-resistance and ASUS DIGI+ VRM

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There are also features that add to the resale value, such as LED-illuminated audio trace path, audio shielding with their own dedicated audio PCB and premium Japanese audio capacitors.

ASUS Prime Z270-P Unboxing 2ASUS Prime Z270-P Unboxing 2
ASUS Prime Z270-P Unboxing 3ASUS Prime Z270-P Unboxing 3

Overall, the Asus Prime Z270-P is a board that works great for a mining rig, which is why I will now show you how to assemble your own rig using this MoBo:

Building a Rig with the Asus Prime Z270-P

Mining Setup and Configuration

1 Flash Windows 10 on USB driver UEFI

  • Download Rufus https://rufus.akeo.ie/ and run it
  • Follow their instruction to flash Windows 10 with GPT partition for UEFI
2 Windows 10 UEFI installation

  • Shut down the rig
  • Unplug all GPUs from motherboard
  • Unplug Ethernet cable (internet cable)
  • Plug in display cable to motherboard
  • Power up the rig and go to BIOS settings
  • Press F7 to enable advanced settings, go to Advanced\System Agen (SA) Configuration\Graphics Configuration and set “Primary Display” to CPU Graphics
  • Proceed with windows installation
ASUS Prime Z270-P no GPU pluggedASUS Prime Z270-P no GPU plugged
ASUS Prime Z270-P Primary Display CPU GraphicsASUS Prime Z270-P Primary Display CPU Graphics
3 Windows 10 Mining tweaks and Driver installation

  • Once windows is fully installed DO NOT plug in the internet cable
  • From your personal computer download Windows 10 mining rig tweaks reg file and disable automatic updates, sharing, antivirus, firewall, cortana etc and what ever you feel like :), note that you wont need to disable every feature.
  • Install the drivers. If you don’t have an external DVD rom, you will have to manually download the drivers and install the following drivers: Chipset, LAN, On-Board VGA Drivers
  • Once drivers are installed shut down the rig, plugin one GPU and power up
  • Install Nvidia/AMD drivers, restart the rig then go to device manager and check display adapters, there you should have on-board video card and one gpu
ASUS Prime Z270-P Windows 10 mining rig tweaksASUS Prime Z270-P Windows 10 mining rig tweaks
ASUS Prime Z270-P Driver installationASUS Prime Z270-P Driver installation
ASUS Prime Z270-P Driver installation finishedASUS Prime Z270-P Driver installation finished
ASUS Prime Z270-P Onboard GPU and PCIe GPUASUS Prime Z270-P Onboard GPU and PCIe GPU
4 BIOS Update

  • Go to “Tool” and select “ASUS EZ Flash 3 Utility“
  • The fastest way is to do it “via Internet“
  • Then choose “DHCP“
  • It will now check for latest BIOS version, click ok and then wait for the download to complete
  • Once downloaded proceed with the installation
  • Wait for the confirmation and you are done
ASUS Prime Z270-P BIOS Update ASUS EZ Flash 3 UtilityASUS Prime Z270-P BIOS Update ASUS EZ Flash 3 Utility
ASUS Prime Z270-P BIOS Update ASUS EZ Flash 3 Utility via internetASUS Prime Z270-P BIOS Update ASUS EZ Flash 3 Utility via internet
ASUS Prime Z270-P BIOS Update ASUS EZ Flash 3 Utility DHCPASUS Prime Z270-P BIOS Update ASUS EZ Flash 3 Utility DHCP
ASUS Prime Z270-P BIOS Update ASUS EZ Flash 3 Utility BIOS Version CheckASUS Prime Z270-P BIOS Update ASUS EZ Flash 3 Utility BIOS Version Check
ASUS Prime Z270-P BIOS Update ASUS EZ Flash 3 Utility Download ConfirmationASUS Prime Z270-P BIOS Update ASUS EZ Flash 3 Utility Download Confirmation
ASUS Prime Z270-P BIOS Update ASUS EZ Flash 3 Utility BIOS InstallASUS Prime Z270-P BIOS Update ASUS EZ Flash 3 Utility BIOS Install
5 Bios modifications to run 6x – 8x GPUs

  • Go to BIOS Advanced\System Agent (SA) Configuration and enable Above 4G Decoding
  • Advanced\System Agent (SA) Configuration\DMI/OPI Configuration, set DMI Max Link Speed to Gen2
  • Advanced\System Agent (SA) Configuration\PEG Port Configuration, set PCIEX16_1 Link Speed to Gen2
  • Advanced\PCH Configuration\PCI Express Configuration, set PCIe Speed to Gen2
  • Advanced\Onboard Devices Configuration, set M.2_1 Configuration to PCIE
  • Advanced\APM Configuration, set Restore AC Power Loss to Last State
  • Save changes & Reset
ASUS Prime Z270-P Above 4G DecodingASUS Prime Z270-P Above 4G Decoding
ASUS Prime Z270-P DMI Max Link SpeedASUS Prime Z270-P DMI Max Link Speed
ASUS Prime Z270-P PCIEX16_1 Link SpeedASUS Prime Z270-P PCIEX16_1 Link Speed
ASUS Prime Z270-P PCIe SpeedASUS Prime Z270-P PCIe Speed
ASUS Prime Z270-P M.2 ConfigurationASUS Prime Z270-P M.2 Configuration
ASUS Prime Z270-P Restore AC Power LossASUS Prime Z270-P Restore AC Power Loss
ASUS Prime Z270-P Save ChangesASUS Prime Z270-P Save Changes
ASUS Prime Z270-P BIOS Settings Saving ConfirmationASUS Prime Z270-P BIOS Settings Saving Confirmation
6 Connecting the GPUs

  • Shut down the rig, connect the second GPU and power it up
  • Check in device manager if the new video card is discovered
  • Shut down the rig again and connect the 3rd GPU
  • Repeat until you have all the GPUs connected and discovered by the system, i recommend to connect the gpus one by one to avoid any conflicts
MSI Z370 SLI Plus Mining Motherboard 6 GPUsMSI Z370 SLI Plus Mining Motherboard 6 GPUs
MSI Z370 SLI Plus Mining Motherboard 8 GPUsMSI Z370 SLI Plus Mining Motherboard 8 GPUs
MSI Z370 SLI Plus Mining Motherboard M.2 to PCIe adaptorsMSI Z370 SLI Plus Mining Motherboard M.2 to PCIe adaptors
ASUS Prime Z270-P Connecting the GPUsASUS Prime Z270-P Connecting the GPUs

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In Conclusion

The Asus Prime Z270-P is a decent MoBo for a 6-8 GPU mining rig. Asus is one of my favorite brands because they always manage to keep the balance between price, quality and additional features. I hope you’ve found this tutorial useful.

Thank you for reading. As always, your comments, suggestions and questions are welcome.

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