Skylake-Based Z170 Gaming Mini ITX Motherboard

Reading that forum I'm not too confident flashing my mobo. I'll wait for a stable (and then some)
 
I can understand using the Alpine Ridge to drive the USB 3.1, or to provide HDMI 2, but I still haven't understood why a Thunderbolt port is so important?
 
jwsg said:
I can understand using the Alpine Ridge to drive the USB 3.1, or to provide HDMI 2, but I still haven't understood why a Thunderbolt port is so important?
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It provides an external PCIe connection, which allows for interesting designs like modular computers (e.g. a subminiature ITX case with only a motherboard and PcioPSU, that can link to an external case with larger PSU and GPU), or high speed links to an external storage array (as ITX is typically not so great a fit with internal storage capacity)
 
Ugh I can't decide between the ASRock Z170 ITX or the new ASUS Z170i Pro gaming. I can pick up the ASRock up at Microcenter today. I'd have to wait for the ASUS to become available somewhere. The motherboard is the last thing I need for my new PC.

I've been a long time ASUS fan. I always seem to go for their motherboards. ASRock seems sketchy: their site looks terrible, their documentation is in broken English. The specs look really good though.... maybe too good. Perhaps they put all their money into the quality of the motherboard?

Has anyone been using the ASRock ITX? Has it been a good experience for you so far? Or, if you could do it over again... would you have just waited for someone else to come out with something better.
 
The Asrock is the closest to "ideal" for the itx offerings in Z170. I have personally found them all disappointing and ended up going mATX this gen.

Many would argue Asrock have become market leaders over the past couple of generations with their innovative and quality designs. I had the Asrock X99M Fatal1ty Killer/3.1 for a brief time and the UEFI is polished to the point of being nearly identical to Asus - my Asrock server board, E3C226D2I, has also served me well.

I personally find their site simple and easy to navigate - Asus' site is often times rather slow and they have added a lot of marketing based pages I don't care that lead nowhere (source).

Note - that mATX board I mentioned going with above was in fact an Asus one, so don't think I am trying to dissuade you from waiting - but I do believe you'd likely be pleased if you did go with Asrock.
 
Pacwageo said:
Ugh I can't decide between the ASRock Z170 ITX or the new ASUS Z170i Pro gaming. I can pick up the ASRock up at Microcenter today. I'd have to wait for the ASUS to become available somewhere. The motherboard is the last thing I need for my new PC.

I've been a long time ASUS fan. I always seem to go for their motherboards. ASRock seems sketchy: their site looks terrible, their documentation is in broken English. The specs look really good though.... maybe too good. Perhaps they put all their money into the quality of the motherboard?

Has anyone been using the ASRock ITX? Has it been a good experience for you so far? Or, if you could do it over again... would you have just waited for someone else to come out with something better.
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Look at it this way: ASRock spends the money where it needs to be. They don't pay a huge team of graphics designers and marketing specialists, they pay their engineers. Their site is basic, but consistent and gives you the information you need, not buzzwords and shiny pictures.
In the beginning (10 years ago) their boards were cheap and of low quality, but that changed a lot over time and there's no reason not to trust their brand anymore.

Vittra is completely right, ASRock is THE innovator in board design right now, the X99E-ITX/ac is the perfect example.
 
iFreilicht said:
Look at it this way: ASRock spends the money where it needs to be. They don't pay a huge team of graphics designers and marketing specialists, they pay their engineers. Their site is basic, but consistent and gives you the information you need, not buzzwords and shiny pictures.
In the beginning (10 years ago) their boards were cheap and of low quality, but that changed a lot over time and there's no reason not to trust their brand anymore.

Vittra is completely right, ASRock is THE innovator in board design right now, the X99E-ITX/ac is the perfect example.
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Can't say I see anything innovative with their Z170 ITX board. Rather crappy board layout with that wifi module routed all over the board, which is still mPCIe when it should have been M.2.

Nothing against ASRock, I like them. But I am rather unimpressed with all the motherboard manufacturers at the moment.
 
Mackan said:
Can't say I see anything innovative with their Z170 ITX board. Rather crappy board layout with that wifi module routed all over the board, which is still mPCIe when it should have been M.2.

Nothing against ASRock, I like them. But I am rather unimpressed with all the motherboard manufacturers at the moment.
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I personally like that the WiFi module is mPCIe because I wouldn't want to buy a new one as I use it very rarely. Also it seems like the faster modes (where M.2 would actually make a difference) will only be widely adopted in a few years anyway, so why bother now?
Also the positions of the antenna connectors means that there's no interference with the rest of the I/O, so it opens up a few interesting options there.

Of course, this board is far from perfect just like all the others, it seems absolutely mental that they wouldn't have a 7.1 audio output on this board, there's so much space in the I/O left!

I hope we'll see a Rev. B to quite a few boards this generation.
 
Pacwageo said:
Ugh I can't decide between the ASRock Z170 ITX or the new ASUS Z170i Pro gaming. I can pick up the ASRock up at Microcenter today. I'd have to wait for the ASUS to become available somewhere. The motherboard is the last thing I need for my new PC.

I've been a long time ASUS fan. I always seem to go for their motherboards. ASRock seems sketchy: their site looks terrible, their documentation is in broken English. The specs look really good though.... maybe too good. Perhaps they put all their money into the quality of the motherboard?

Has anyone been using the ASRock ITX? Has it been a good experience for you so far? Or, if you could do it over again... would you have just waited for someone else to come out with something better.
Click to expand...

I've been stalking the Asus Z170I Pro Gaming since its release a few weeks ago. It's listed as in stock at SuperBiiz, though I don't know if it's actually in their warehouse and ready to ship or if they've simply preloaded their inventory system.

My M1 is working its way through the shipping process, so I'm looking to purchase a board within the next few days.

Unfortunately for me there really isn't a perfect ITX board.

* Asus Maximus VIII: has WiFi, USB type C, but expensive.
* MSI Z170I: nice WiFi antenna, but no type C and only one fan header.
* ASRock Fatal1ty: includes type C, two fan headers, looks great on paper.
* Asus Z170I Pro Gaming: no USB type C, least expensive of the bunch. Not very good looking, but M1 isn't windowed.
* EVGA Stinger: no WiFi!

The MSI would be my top pick if it only had a second fan header. I know I can use a Y splitter or connect the fans directly to the PSU, but I was (unrealistically) hoping to have it all. So like you trying to decide between the Asus Z170I Pro Gaming and the ASRock.
 
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MrApathy said:
I've been stalking the Asus Z170I Pro Gaming since its release a few weeks ago. It's listed as in stock at SuperBiiz, though I don't know if it's actually in their warehouse and ready to ship or if they've simply preloaded their inventory system.

My M1 is working its way through the shipping process, so I'm looking to purchase a board within the next few days.

Unfortunately for me there really isn't a perfect ITX board.

* Asus Maximus VIII: has WiFi, USB type C, but expensive.
* MSI Z170I: nice WiFi antenna, but no type C and only one fan header.
* ASRock Fatal1ty: includes type C, two fan headers, looks great on paper.
* Asus Z170I Pro Gaming: no USB type C, least expensive of the bunch. Not very good looking, but M1 isn't windowed.
* EVGA Stinger: no WiFi!

The MSI would be my top pick if it only had a second fan header. I know I can use a Y splitter or connect the fans directly to the PSU, but I was (unrealistically) hoping to have it all. So like you trying to decide between the Asus Z170I Pro Gaming and the ASRock.
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Msi m.2 slot isn't 2280, and imho the asrock is much uglier than the asus. My m1 has been sitting for months waiting for the asus board
 
iFreilicht said:
I personally like that the WiFi module is mPCIe because I wouldn't want to buy a new one as I use it very rarely. Also it seems like the faster modes (where M.2 would actually make a difference) will only be widely adopted in a few years anyway, so why bother now?
Also the positions of the antenna connectors means that there's no interference with the rest of the I/O, so it opens up a few interesting options there.

Of course, this board is far from perfect just like all the others, it seems absolutely mental that they wouldn't have a 7.1 audio output on this board, there's so much space in the I/O left!

I hope we'll see a Rev. B to quite a few boards this generation.
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I think I read that Intel's new 8260 ac module comes as M.2 only. My impression is that the transition to M.2 format happens right now, with several other manufacturers also using it (MSI, Asus, EVGA).
 
I got the Asrock Z170 Gaming-ITX/AC and my only gripe at the moment is that the wifi port area is only attached at one end and made of thin metal. So it feels really flimsy.
 
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Mackan said:
I think I read that Intel's new 8260 ac module comes as M.2 only. My impression is that the transition to M.2 format happens right now, with several other manufacturers also using it (MSI, Asus, EVGA).
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I wasn't talking about cards, those will come fast as the notebook market drives the development in that area, but about routers and access points. I only have a crappy router from my cable provider (doesn't even have an external antenna) and I know loads of other people that do, so why invest in a new WiFi module? Doesn't make much sense to me. Some people like to be on edge with those things, and it sucks that they can't get a good board for M.2 WiFi cards, but I'm glad that ASRock offers a fallback option there.
 
I would prefer the ASRock board used m.2 for WiFi rather than mPCIe for futureproofing (though MU-MIMO AC is about the only potential WiFi feature 'missing', along with BT v4.2), but that's the only black mark against it so far.
 
EdZ said:
I would prefer the ASRock board used m.2 for WiFi rather than mPCIe for futureproofing (though MU-MIMO AC is about the only potential WiFi feature 'missing', along with BT v4.2), but that's the only black mark against it so far.
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And no 7.1 Audio output including --no SPDIF--. Not sure how much it matters really, but still something to consider.

EDIT: Wrong, it does have SPDIF.
 
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iFreilicht said:
And no 7.1 Audio output including no SPDIF. Not sure how much it matters really, but still something to consider.
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Optical SPDIF and HDMI for audio should be more than sufficient. You can combine rear and front audio ports on the Asrock for 7.1 analogue, but does anyone really use that?
 
I decided to bite on the ASRock ITX Fatal1ty... seems like a good board. I put a dry a run of my computer together... it's an i5 6600k, 750ti, and 16gb corsair vengeance LPX memory.

Everytime i start the pc from a cold boot the fans and lights come on for a split second and then the whole PC turns off... then, after about 3 seconds, it turns on again automatically and stays on. I'm starting to think it might be an incompatibility issues with my memory. I may try to flash the BIOS. I'm hoping it's not a bad capacitor...

Anyone else have this problem?
 
Pacwageo said:
I decided to bite on the ASRock ITX Fatal1ty... seems like a good board. I put a dry a run of my computer together... it's an i5 6600k, 750ti, and 16gb corsair vengeance LPX memory.

Everytime i start the pc from a cold boot the fans and lights come on for a split second and then the whole PC turns off... then, after about 3 seconds, it turns on again automatically and stays on. I'm starting to think it might be an incompatibility issues with my memory. I may try to flash the BIOS. I'm hoping it's not a bad capacitor...

Anyone else have this problem?
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The first 2 bios revisions for the Asrock board have to do with ram compatibility.
 
What do you think the chances are of these ITX boards supporting the Samsung 950 Pro M.2 out of the box?

I'm looking at getting the Gigabyte Z170N WiFi. The compatibility list shows it's fine with the Samsung 951, but doesn't mention the 950 Pro yet, likely because it's so new.
 
makar1 said:
Optical SPDIF and HDMI for audio should be more than sufficient. You can combine rear and front audio ports on the Asrock for 7.1 analogue, but does anyone really use that?
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Whoops, my bad, didn't notice the SPDIF port above the HDMI and DisplayPort, so yes, that is absolutely sufficient.

I'm pretty sure nobody has ever even thought of doing that, it sounds like a horrible idea.
 
Prizm4 said:
What do you think the chances are of these ITX boards supporting the Samsung 950 Pro M.2 out of the box?

I'm looking at getting the Gigabyte Z170N WiFi. The compatibility list shows it's fine with the Samsung 951, but doesn't mention the 950 Pro yet, likely because it's so new.
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Assuming its the NVMe 951 and the spec for the iTX mentions boot support then hopefully we're good to go on any of the boards with the 950.
 
Looks like the BIOS update did the trick. No more false starts. Works every time now. This board is shaping up to be quite nice.
 
Prizm4 said:
What do you think the chances are of these ITX boards supporting the Samsung 950 Pro M.2 out of the box?

I'm looking at getting the Gigabyte Z170N WiFi. The compatibility list shows it's fine with the Samsung 951, but doesn't mention the 950 Pro yet, likely because it's so new.
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It looks promising since in contrast to the XP941 and SM951, the 950 Pro is a retail product. So I expect the boot firmware to be present allowing it to be booted on any board supporting PCIe and NVMe M.2 SSDs.

Compatibility will probably be confirmed by users before the manufacturers do, expect it to be released before November.
 
I have the gigabyte z100n WiFi, and bought the nh-c14
But I don't seem to have the ability to set the speed of the fans(3 pin)
They are running at max speed all the time
I'm using the ultra low noise adapter witch helps a bit. But I would like to have my fans of if my pc is idle.

Any advice?:(

Also speedfan dousent see the fans but hw monitor sees it as FANIN0
 
Could you guys please explain the whole M2 vs U2 issue? My plan was to use Asus ROG Maximus mini-itx z170 and a Samsung 950 Pro NVMe. It's not clear to me if this is a problem or possible with this board?
 
ctrlbrk said:
Could you guys please explain the whole M2 vs U2 issue? My plan was to use Asus ROG Maximus mini-itx z170 and a Samsung 950 Pro NVMe. It's not clear to me if this is a problem or possible with this board?
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M2 and U2 are vastly different connectors. U.2 is a replacement for SATA of sorts that will allow 2.5" SSDs to get much higher performance, while M.2 is a replacement for mPCIe and mSATA and is designed for components mounted on the board directly.

That means the Maximus VIII Impact doesn't have any support for board-mounted drives at all. None. There's currently no way of mounting the drive you want to use on this board, you'd have to use an off-board adapter.
 
berendsp said:
I have the gigabyte z100n WiFi, and bought the nh-c14
But I don't seem to have the ability to set the speed of the fans(3 pin)
They are running at max speed all the time
I'm using the ultra low noise adapter witch helps a bit. But I would like to have my fans of if my pc is idle.

Any advice?:(

Also speedfan dousent see the fans but hw monitor sees it as FANIN0
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Gigabyte has the worst fan control of all motherboard makers, which has been pointed out many times. I believe there is an option of "Quiet" in the UEFI, which behaves arbitrarily based on your fan. But I assume you have already tried out the stoneage options they have?
 
jb1 said:
Yeah hopefully! I wonder why they haven't done this for the mITX board yet given that the Thunderbolt 3 chip is on board?
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Because the boards are all different, they probably want to do it on the high-tier boards first, as those boards are sold to the customers with the most money.

The more interesting question perhaps would by why they didn't put it on their boards initially? Maybe there was some software problem they couldn't fix, maybe intel wasn't able to certify their boards in time?

I'm fairly certain that this will be rolled out to the mITX board as well, it has the same controller chip after all.
 
Perhaps the same will happen on the Maximus Impact VIII - as currently no 4k/60 output
 
I just ordered the ASRock Z170 Gaming-ITX/ac. I had been holding off until today as I had seen several rumors taht the Asus z179i Gaming Pro would be hopefully available sometime this week, but I've decided that I'm not going to wait any longer. Feature-wise, they seem close, and to be honest, the desire or the Asus was mostly aesthetics, as I think it looks a lttle bit better. There are a couple boards taht looked better still, but there seemed to be too many compromises.
 
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