What Z170 Board do you plan to use?

zaniix said:
I would go with the MSI M9,
I dont like EATX
That fact that the EVGA boards supports 4 way SLI on a Z170 board means they did some bandwidth trickery (PLX Chip) that in the end is good for nobody so that alone is a good reason not to buy it
MSI seems to have better on board sound.
MSI has wireless
The only negative for the MSI board is the Killer NIC which in truth will probably be fine once you get all the drivers loaded.
The MSI also has better fan program ability
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Hey Thanks for your input,sounds like you know alot more than me lol.... looks like i will be going the MSI M9 than... i like how it looks too which is a plus.
 
For me it I picked up the MSI Z170A GAMING M9 ACK. Going to give it shot. My build is just under way as my parts started shipping out last week. I'm not sure how this board is going to be. I like what it offers. Love this feature "Keeping your system cool in the heat of battle, the heatsink includes the option to use watercooling for additional thermal control."

Can't wait for this rig to be done and ready to go. Below is my future rig. The monitor I ordered I have no idea how good it will be until I plug it in and see if it works. I've read some great things about the Crossover monitors. I'm ok with the DVI input.

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: EK Predator 240 Rad ($199)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A GAMING M9 ACKMotherboard ($399.99 @ B&H)
Monitor: Crossover CROSSOVER 27QHD AHIPS LED 27" LG IPS 2560X1440 QHD ($260)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX100 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($159.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($50.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($50.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card ($672.00 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 760T Black ATX Full Tower Case ($169.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 1050W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-B123L/RSBP Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($49.00)
Keyboard: Razer BlackWidow Expert Windows Edition Wired Gaming Keyboard($73.00)
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder Chroma Wired Optical Mouse ($59.99 @ Directron)
Total: Prices vary!
 
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My asus max gene was doa out of the box so I returned it. I've had a good experience with my Asus pro gaming board through. This is in an htpc.

Going to build a gaming rig and I can't decide what to buy. Hero is supposed to have thin PCB so leaning towards something else
 
I'm using the MSI Z170A Krait Gaming motherboard. Good amount of features and none of the stupid red color scheme that "gaming" pc parts are trending with right now.
 
Mezner said:
I'm using the MSI Z170A Krait Gaming motherboard. Good amount of features and none of the stupid red color scheme that "gaming" pc parts are trending with right now.
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Amen. That's why I went with MSIs new Titanium Edition... besides it being a badass board.
 
mls1995 said:
You have the Titanium? How do you like it? It's on my shortlist.
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It's a beautiful looking board and performs admirably. No gimmicky plastic bling. It looks as cool in person as it does in pics. It had the perfect setup of PCI express slots, sata, m.2 and fan headers for me. I prefer the boards that are aimed at overclocking and not "gaming", although the Titanium has a bit of both worlds. I love the multimeter test points because I always overclock with a multimeter when possible. Windows readings are off by a decent amount when reporting CPU voltage. It's really bad with Skylake. The software programs haven't caught up yet.

This board has been rock solid. Recovers well from failed overclock, easy to flash, lots of adjustments, programmable fan curves on all headers. I get a bit of vdroop though, which I'm still trying to figure out. Seems like a software issue and looks to be affecting other boards as well.

Favorite thing about the board is probably the UEFI overclocking and layout. That's more of a preference I guess.
Least favorite thing about the board is probably the Nahimic audio software. No EQ or crossover adjustment at all. But the onboard audio quality itself is good. No noise or hum.
 
Astral Abyss said:
It's a beautiful looking board and performs admirably. No gimmicky plastic bling. It looks as cool in person as it does in pics. It had the perfect setup of PCI express slots, sata, m.2 and fan headers for me. I prefer the boards that are aimed at overclocking and not "gaming", although the Titanium has a bit of both worlds. I love the multimeter test points because I always overclock with a multimeter when possible. Windows readings are off by a decent amount when reporting CPU voltage. It's really bad with Skylake. The software programs haven't caught up yet.

This board has been rock solid. Recovers well from failed overclock, easy to flash, lots of adjustments, programmable fan curves on all headers. I get a bit of vdroop though, which I'm still trying to figure out. Seems like a software issue and looks to be affecting other boards as well.

Favorite thing about the board is probably the UEFI overclocking and layout. That's more of a preference I guess.
Least favorite thing about the board is probably the Nahimic audio software. No EQ or crossover adjustment at all. But the onboard audio quality itself is good. No noise or hum.
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Thanks, I appreciate your feedback
 
Astral Abyss said:
It's a beautiful looking board and performs admirably. No gimmicky plastic bling. It looks as cool in person as it does in pics. It had the perfect setup of PCI express slots, sata, m.2 and fan headers for me. I prefer the boards that are aimed at overclocking and not "gaming", although the Titanium has a bit of both worlds. I love the multimeter test points because I always overclock with a multimeter when possible. Windows readings are off by a decent amount when reporting CPU voltage. It's really bad with Skylake. The software programs haven't caught up yet.

This board has been rock solid. Recovers well from failed overclock, easy to flash, lots of adjustments, programmable fan curves on all headers. I get a bit of vdroop though, which I'm still trying to figure out. Seems like a software issue and looks to be affecting other boards as well.

Favorite thing about the board is probably the UEFI overclocking and layout. That's more of a preference I guess.
Least favorite thing about the board is probably the Nahimic audio software. No EQ or crossover adjustment at all. But the onboard audio quality itself is good. No noise or hum.
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Hey can you check your MSI bios and see if there is an LLC option? Seems like it's missing from other MSI mobos limiting overclocks. Thanks.
 
mls1995 said:
Hey can you check your MSI bios and see if there is an LLC option? Seems like it's missing from other MSI mobos limiting overclocks. Thanks.
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It's there. I'll have to look at what MSI calls it when I get home. I believe it went from 5%-40% and then 100%. It's not listed in the manual for some reason.


EDIT: It's called CPU VDroop Offset Control. There's also another one for GT VDroop.

I'm not sure all the motherboard settings are working correctly. I can set voltage to override mode and it's still automatically boosting my setting of 1.360v up to 1.390 when I'm running stability testing, as if I had it set to adaptive or offset. If I use the VDroop Offset control 40% it will immediately undervolt my 1.360v setting to 1.32v. This doesn't make any sense to me. I have the feeling they screwed up something in the BIOS and it's not adjusting the voltage mode correctly based on my setting choice.
 
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Thanks Astral Abyss, Mls1995.It make LLC function clear on XPOWER. Basically this high level OC option is not what I am familar with. However I would give it a try if I wanna OC higher. It seems that Skylake U have low power with higher clock possibility. Sliver XPOWER really fits my type. Its box is also looks nice to me. Thanks everyone and I really like this sharing.:D
 
I just do a quick research via manual (page 68)..Is that CPU Vdroop Offse Control? Normal5%, Gentla 10%, Light 15%, Mild 20%, Medium 25%, High 30%, Strong 35%, Ultra 40%, Enthusiastic 100%-furitful setting for selection. LLC function really belongs to Pro Users.....;)
 
Astral Abyss said:
It's there. I'll have to look at what MSI calls it when I get home. I believe it went from 5%-40% and then 100%. It's not listed in the manual for some reason.


EDIT: It's called CPU VDroop Offset Control. There's also another one for GT VDroop.

I'm not sure all the motherboard settings are working correctly. I can set voltage to override mode and it's still automatically boosting my setting of 1.360v up to 1.390 when I'm running stability testing, as if I had it set to adaptive or offset. If I use the VDroop Offset control 40% it will immediately undervolt my 1.360v setting to 1.32v. This doesn't make any sense to me. I have the feeling they screwed up something in the BIOS and it's not adjusting the voltage mode correctly based on my setting choice.
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Thanks for the info AA!
 
I have on the way a ASRock Z170 Gaming K6+. Seem to fit all my needs and reviews seemed really great on it.
 
nbuubu said:
I'm probably getting the Gigabyte Z170 Gaming 7 ... I've really been interested in the MSI Xpower Titanium, but it won't fit my Noctua D15 without blocking the top PCIE slot. Same with the Gigabyte G1 and the Gaming 5 ... the top slot is blocked. So the Gaming 7 seems to be the compatibility middle ground.

I like that the Gigabyte has Intel NIC and the Intel Alpine Ridge chip for USB 3.1 ... two things I'd like.
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That's exactly what my thought process. So, here is what I just purchased a week ago:

Gigabyte Gaming 7
Intel 6700K (plan on 4.6 - 4.7ghz OC)
Gskill DD4 3000 x 16gb's
Windows 10 x64
Samsung EVO 850 1tb SSD
Zotac AMP! GTX 970 x2 for SLI
EVGA 1K Platinum PSU
Sony 55" x850C 4K 120hz monitor
 
Damn, I'm trying to decide between the Asus Hero, Asus Z170-A, Gigabyte Gaming 7, or the MSI Gaming M7 for a 6700k.

I know that all of the above boards are likely overkill except for the Z170-A but I don't care about spending a few extra bucks to get a better built board with more options.

After reading about the problems [H] has had with Killer LAN drivers I'm hesitant to go with a board that has that. The gigabyte has creative sound which is pretty sweet but I will likely end up going digital out once I get a 5.1 sound system so I doubt it will make much of a difference.

I will be overclocking but nothing insane. (I doubt I'll delid the chip) Cooling will be with a, H110iGT. I still will be trying to max out the chip with that cooling solution so having a board that can handle the temps key.

For video, I will eventually do Xfire/SLI but I plan on getting either a 290x or GTX970 and in another year or 2 pick up a 2nd one.

I game on a 1080p projector but I like to turn the eyecandy on max. 4k projectors won't be in my price range for a number of years so I don't care about anything more than 1080.

as long as the board supports it I plan on using a samsung sm951 drive on the m.2 slot for the OS and likely use a standard SATA SSD for games. I'll hjave 3TB HDD for media and 1TB HDD for torrents.

going to be spending the big bucks and using a 2x8GB Gskill ripjaws 5 3200 mem

(why does the asus ranger currently carry a price premium over the hero since the hero is the higher end board?)
 
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The one that came with the combo I purchased, the Gigabyte GA-Z170X. :)
 
ManofGod said:
The one that came with the combo I purchased, the Gigabyte GA-Z170X. :)
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How is the Gaming 7 build quality over the Asus Hero? pros/cons? or are they pretty much identical?

From everything I have read Asus auto overclock software is pretty bad ass while the gigabyte overclock software is kinda meh
 
TMCM said:
How is the Gaming 7 build quality over the Asus Hero? pros/cons? or are they pretty much identical?

From everything I have read Asus auto overclock software is pretty bad ass while the gigabyte overclock software is kinda meh
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Overclock should be done in the Bios, manually. All this flashy software might seem cool, but you have no idea what it is doing and it is not going to give you the best results.

I have the Ranger and the ASUS thing severely under clocked my RAM with weird timings and it wasn't stable.

I picked ASUS because they have always been reliable for me and I really like the Fan Expert3 software
 
TMCM said:
How is the Gaming 7 build quality over the Asus Hero? pros/cons? or are they pretty much identical?

From everything I have read Asus auto overclock software is pretty bad ass while the gigabyte overclock software is kinda meh
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I will let you know what I think but not until I not receive everything on Thursday. :)
 
zaniix said:
Overclock should be done in the Bios, manually. All this flashy software might seem cool, but you have no idea what it is doing and it is not going to give you the best results.

I have the Ranger and the ASUS thing severely under clocked my RAM with weird timings and it wasn't stable.

I picked ASUS because they have always been reliable for me and I really like the Fan Expert3 software
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true but from what it sounds like is the autoclock software can give you a good ballpark idea of what the chip is capable of and then you can tweak from there.

The last time I did any crazy overclocking it was well over a decade ago on my old Athlon XP. Didn't have software just bios options. But I like the idea of having auto tune software then I can manually adjust from there
 
TMCM said:
But I like the idea of having auto tune software then I can manually adjust from there
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all the autotunes suck, take 20 minutes and overclock if you are going to be a K processor and a quality board. You only have to change like 2 or 3 settings then start the overclock test and walk away.

it's pretty easy to get a decent overclock. I'm barely literate on the subject and I can do it.
 
FWIW, I originally ordered the Gigabyte Z170 Gaming 7 and it kept crashing on me. Random freezes. Sent it and the 6700K back to Newegg as it was a combo. Since the 6700K was out of stock when they processed the exchange the system automatically refunded me the full amount.

So I had a choice ... stick with the 7, or try something else. Liked the build of the 7, and all the features, but decided to jump up to the Z170 Gaming GT instead. It's mostly the same, only it has a more robust set of power phases and some more premium components in the box (braided SATA cables, etc). Box is much fancier too (my closet is much more impressed).

It's been rock solid since I assembled it last week. Handles my G.Skill 3200 16GB DDR4 ram at XMP settings, only had to tweak the VCCIO and System Agent up to the voltages recommended by ASUS to get it stable. Have been away for work so haven't had a chance to push the overclock much, just set the automatic 4.6 mode and it's not had a single crash or hiccup. Haven't done many stress tests but I did encode a couple movies in Handbrake without issue (which is my usual quick stability test).

Really impressed with the Gigabyte build quality overall. I like that it has Intel Alpine Ridge for Thunderbolt/USB 3.1, and the Creative sound onboard is solid.
 
I was an early adopter so there were limited motherboards on sale.
Asus left no choice but to avoid them as their support is still dreadful and they left me £150 out of pocket on my Sandybridge upgrade almost 5 yrs back.

I ended up getting an MSI Z170A Gaming Pro.
It is an ok board but has very limited overclocking options and lacks LLC.
This caused it to have quite a lot of vdroop and limited my overclock unless I let my idle voltage get too high.
I then found that "none high end" MSI boards dont have LLC so there was no point changing to one of those.

I returned the MSI board (ate the restocking fee) and got the Asrock Z170 Extreme 4+.
This is a great board, tons of tweakage and LLC.
It was cheaper than the MSI board and comes with a PC front USB 3.1 breakout panel to boot!
LLC works great, I got my max overclock and a very low idle voltage.
The Windows clocking software allows live tweaking without any issue. I quickly found the limits while Prime95 (old version) was running.
The POST LED number indicator is great for sorting out teething troubles, it showed my memory isnt quite stable at its rated speed without needing further tests.
Only downside is no PCI slots, everything else is bang on.
 
I'm definitely leaning toward the the Gigabyte Gaming 7. It's a great price point, and has the following

- two full m.2 slots (PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe supported)
- Two NICs, one Intel and one Qualcomm (killer)
- Fantastic onboard audio solution
- Great price point

And, if I'm honest, I really dig the white/red/black look. It's a bit more than the Z170-A, and a lot less than the Z170 Deluxe. I don't see too many boards at this price point ($269 CAD), which is a shame because I'd think most enthusiasts who aren't rich would be looking right around the $250 mark - again, in CAD.

My runner up is the ROG Maximus VIII Hero. A bit more, and you lose an m.2 slot, but it's got that Asus brand reputation. My last few boards have all been Asus, and I've been happy with them. I do keep hearing stories about their horrible customer service though, which is worrisome to me.
 
The Gigabyte Z170 Gaming 7 and Gaming GT are pretty much identical in construction.

The GT has more phases and a better power system, but I'd imagine most people would never even notice. It has a slightly nicer box and braided cables.

Not sure if the problem I had was a faulty CPU or a bad MB in the Gaming 7, but in either case, my new GT is running great. Very impressed with what Gigabyte is offering this gen, from included hardware (+Intel USB/Thunderbold, +LLC, +Creative Sound, +Intel NIC) to just how sturdy both boards feel.

That they both fit the Noctua NH-D15 without problems is a bonus.
 
The Gigabyte Gaming 7 has everything I want and I really like the design so I may go with that but I want to make sure I buy the right one. I have had nothing but good experiences with Gigabyte boards but the Maximus Hero VIII is very tempting.


When I built my 2600K system I didn't really spend that much time thinking about features and future upgrades because I never expected to still be using it four and a half years later. The 6700K will hopefully have a similar lifespan and it deserves something more than a basic motherboard.
 
How's the audio on the extreme 4?

Nenu said:
I returned the MSI board (ate the restocking fee) and got the Asrock Z170 Extreme 4+.
This is a great board, tons of tweakage and LLC.
It was cheaper than the MSI board and comes with a PC front USB 3.1 breakout panel to boot!
LLC works great, I got my max overclock and a very low idle voltage.
The Windows clocking software allows live tweaking without any issue. I quickly found the limits while Prime95 (old version) was running.
The POST LED number indicator is great for sorting out teething troubles, it showed my memory isnt quite stable at its rated speed without needing further tests.
Only downside is no PCI slots, everything else is bang on.
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Havent tried it, sorry.
Its quite a distance which wouldnt give a fair comparison due to cable length, and my DACs very short leads are silver which is another step up.
Its a pita to feed PC analogue to the power amps now.

If my PC wasnt externally water cooled I would move it closer, thats a pita as well.

I have some long copper leads somewhere, I may give it a try over the weekend.
But I have no close equivalent frame of reference now because my new mobo doesnt have PCI, so I cant plug my Auzentech Prelude in.
I'm very spoiled by my current DACs so without a decent reference I would likely be a bit mean in my appraisal.
Doh!
 
///M3 said:
The Gigabyte Gaming 7 has everything I want and I really like the design so I may go with that but I want to make sure I buy the right one. I have had nothing but good experiences with Gigabyte boards but the Maximus Hero VIII is very tempting.


When I built my 2600K system I didn't really spend that much time thinking about features and future upgrades because I never expected to still be using it four and a half years later. The 6700K will hopefully have a similar lifespan and it deserves something more than a basic motherboard.
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That was the EXACT issue when I made the leap. Back on opening day when the 2600K was released, I stood in line outside of my local Microcenter in the snow during a snow storm, freezing my butt off. I was mainly focused on the processor and only gave a small consideration to the motherboard. I was # 3 in line. There were people in line behind me doing the math out loud: "X" amount of 2600's in stock.. "X" amount of different mobo's.. etc.

The doors opened and I bolted straight to the processor section and found my salesman. I was #3 in line and #3 for a processor. They ONLY had 3 in stock! There were a lot of p*ssed off people that day. So, by the time I got my processor, I made my way over to the motherboards. Pretty slim pickings by that point. I ended up just picking an Asus P67 Deluxe. It had "alright / good enough" specs.

This time around when buying my 6700K, I studied ALL of the motherboards out there and based off of what I wanted / needed, there was one clear choice for me.. The Gigabyte Z170 Gaming 7!
 
Nenu said:
I ended up getting an MSI Z170A Gaming Pro.
It is an ok board but has very limited overclocking options and lacks LLC.
This caused it to have quite a lot of vdroop and limited my overclock unless I let my idle voltage get too high.
I then found that "none high end" MSI boards dont have LLC so there was no point changing to one of those.
Click to expand...

I believe MSI's version of LLC is called CPU and CPU GT Vdroop Offset Control.
 
Cr4ckm0nk3y said:
I believe MSI's version of LLC is called CPU and CPU GT Vdroop Offset Control.
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I dont think so, the auto clocking profiles would have lowered vdroop if it was possible.
Vdroop did not lessen under any circumstance and it was quite substantial.

There were no settings that mentioned vdroop.
 
Nenu said:
I dont think so, the auto clocking profiles would have lowered vdroop if it was possible.
Vdroop did not lessen under any circumstance and it was quite substantial.

There were no settings that mentioned vdroop.
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That is MSI's version of LLC.

CPU and CPU GT Vdroop Offset Control is in "Overclocking\DigitALL power."
 
There were NO settings labelled vdroop.
There was nothing called DigitALL power.
 
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