Asus' Republic of Gamers brand has become one of the best-known in gaming PC components, and ROG motherboards tend to be some of the fanciest and most innovative around at the dawn of each new socket generation. The downside, if there is one, is that ROG boards tend to go for a pretty penny. You want the best, you gotta pony up.

Not every PC builder can spare the scratch for a full-on ROG Maximus IX Formula or similar board, so Asus has recently broadened the availability of entry visas for the Republic of Gamers with the Strix family of motherboards. These boards might not offer as much RGB LED lighting, "thermal armor," or exotic port and cooling options as their highest-end cousins, but they bottle up some of that ROG magic for the critical $200-and-under price brackets. On the bench today, we have Asus' top-end ROG Strix board: the Z270E Gaming. At $199.99, the Z270E Gaming slots in right under the $200 mark that we consider the threshold for diminishing returns with mainstream motherboards.