What Z170 Board do you plan to use?

Just forced myself to click the Proceed to Checkout button after filling and emptying my shopping cart over and over again.

I wanted to get something inexpensive enough to keep my total upgrade within reason, while still being OC friendly, having at least 6 SATA connectors, and 1 PCI slot in case I had an old card that I needed. I also wanted 2 PCI-E x1 slots that would not be blocked by a double-wide GPU, a problem with my current system.

I looked at the Gigabyte HD3 for $115, but lots of DOA boards in the owner reviews. I looked at the MSI PC-MATE for $119, and almost bought it, but it wasn't designed for enthusiasts so I worried about BIOS friendliness and general robustness of the design.

The ASUS Z170-A was an obvious choice, but quite a bit more than I wanted to spend. Then I dug into the ASUS Z170-K. Almost $30 cheaper than the -A, but why? What was it missing? Turns out, only SLI support. I always go single GPU, so that made no bones to me. With a CPU combo discount, it was only going to cost me $10 more than the MSI.

So I went ASUS Z170-K in the hopes that it really is "just as good as the Z170-A." I will update with results when I have it.
 
Just forced myself to click the Proceed to Checkout button after filling and emptying my shopping cart over and over again.

I wanted to get something inexpensive enough to keep my total upgrade within reason, while still being OC friendly, having at least 6 SATA connectors, and 1 PCI slot in case I had an old card that I needed. I also wanted 2 PCI-E x1 slots that would not be blocked by a double-wide GPU, a problem with my current system.

I looked at the Gigabyte HD3 for $115, but lots of DOA boards in the owner reviews. I looked at the MSI PC-MATE for $119, and almost bought it, but it wasn't designed for enthusiasts so I worried about BIOS friendliness and general robustness of the design.

The ASUS Z170-A was an obvious choice, but quite a bit more than I wanted to spend. Then I dug into the ASUS Z170-K. Almost $30 cheaper than the -A, but why? What was it missing? Turns out, only SLI support. I always go single GPU, so that made no bones to me. With a CPU combo discount, it was only going to cost me $10 more than the MSI.

So I went ASUS Z170-K in the hopes that it really is "just as good as the Z170-A." I will update with results when I have it.

Looks like you may a pretty good choice for the price. Also, although I am happy with the more expensive Gigabytes GA-170 Gaming 7, the shroud on the back of the board prevents me from installing both fans on my Noctua NH-D15. (Define R3 case is to narrow.) Have fun.
 
Plan on using the ASUS Z170-A myself, after I get a replacement board... One that came in last week had an issue with the DIMM slots and is in the process of an RMA. Dammit.
 
Okay, pardon the rant, but I've gotta get it off my chest somewhere.

After sticking with my AsRock Penryn 1600 board and Q9550 for 5 or 6 years, I finally decided to make the leap. Got an Asus Z170-K, an i5-6600K, a CM 212 Evo, and 8 GB of Patriot DDR4. I had filled and cleared my shopping cart so many times before deciding to pull the trigger. I was nervous and didn't watch all the details as closely on the last time.

CPU, mobo, and HSF are free shipping by UPS and packaged together. RAM is $3.99 shipping and FedEx. Well, okay, FedEx Ground is usually faster than UPS Ground.

Online tracking always seems to lag behind the actual shipment by quite a bit. Tuesday morning I find out the UPS bundle will be delivered by end of day Wednesday. I have a day of comp time I've been needing to use before my employer gets huffy about it. So I take Wednesday off.

By the end of day Tuesday, I finally get tracking info on the RAM other than origin scan. It claims estimated delivery by Friday. Nah, they're bluffing--FedEx is always AT LEAST as fast as UPS. Hmmm, what's FedEx Smart Post? Never heard of that before...

I'm in Springfield, MO, and UPS usually routes here overnight through Lenexa,KS. Sure enough, this morning UPS tracking said my package transferred through Lenexa at 3 am, arrived in Springfield at 6, and is out for delivery. W00T!

FedEx said RAM got to Kansas City overnight. I knew it! It will get here too, just watch! I can build on my special day off!

3 PM, UPS arrrives. W00t! FedEx still says KC. ???

6 PM, FedEx says Earth City, MO. What??? Google Earth City. A suburb of St. Louis...WHAT?!?!?! Guys, I'm down here--why did you send it from one state line to the other?

9:30 PM, RAM has left Earth City and arrived at.... Kansas City... !@#$%^&!!!!!

SmartPost my shiny hiney :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
 
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Hmmm, what's FedEx Smart Post? Never heard of that before...

SmartPost my shiny hiney

Fedex Smartpost, aka: Fedex snail. Takes forever to get there. They don't handle the last mile delivery, they hand it off to the post office to do that. UPS Surepost does the same thing. Slow as dirt but cheap to send.
 
You need another comp day. ;)

(Comp=computer? Just explain it that way to your boss.)
 
I'm really digging the ROG Hero 8. Maybe I hit the silicone lottery but just doing the 1 click EZ OC I got my chip at 5.1ghz to boot into windows. With XMP enabled and some fine tuning for lower power I have my i7 at XMP3000 and 4.8Hhz w/adaptive set at 1.35v
 
I'm thinking Asrock Z170 Extreme4 with a 6600K.

Great combo, I mentioned my experience in post #71.
My memory not running at full speed has been fixed with a BIOS update so be sure to get BIOS v1.5 (or later).
I can even overclock the memory a little now.
 
I was planning to buy a "ASUS Maximus VIII Hero" but the leak of Intel’s “Alpine Ridge” chip is driving me to the "Gigabyte GA-Z170X-UD5 TH".
 
Set up my Asus Z170-K this weekend. I was floundering in ignorance and need to go back to tweak things once I understand the options better, but so far it has been pain-free (at least on the hardware side). I had to manually select my boot drive at startup to get it to find it for some reason even though it was set in the boot order list, but once I did that, it loaded into Windows 10, auto-installed drivers, and I was off to the races.


NOTE: WARNING! Upgrading your motherboard de-activates your Windows 10 Upgrade install. If you haven't done the free upgrade yet, WAIT until after you do the motherboard/CPU upgrade. I now have to revert to Windows 7, reactivate Windows 7, then redo the Windows 10 upgrade. It will involve a fresh install of Windows 7/backing up my files/hoping I can find any apps I want to reinstall when I'm done.


I set my turbo max speed to 4.5 GHz, didn't even up the vcore, and it runs just fine. Easy peasy. Running an i5 6600.


My new CM212 Evo cooler may have conflicted with my RAM space-wise, but the default RAM config in the manual for the Z170-K for two DIMMS is to put them in slots 2 and 4, so it wasn't a problem.


Note: The Z170-K doesn't support SLI (Crossfire only), so keep that in mind. I use NVidia, but I don't do multi.


My boot drive was an OCZ Vertex3 (SATA 3) and I was running on a SATA 2-only mobo. Whether it's the faster components in general or the bump from SATA-2 to SATA-3 I can't say, but booting and general desktop operations are very snappy, almost as big a jump as from HD to SSD.
 
I got the Gigabyte Gaming7 and so far so good.

I have the same mobo.. I can report that NO issues running 6700K at 4.8ghz. Get's a bit toasty after a few hours of running CPU stressing under a Promlimatech Megahalems after 6 hours of testing. Hit a high of 76c on one of the cores.. the other three cores hit a high of 75c and 74c respectively. My two GTX 970's in SLI runs great and can't wait til next year when Samsung releases the 1TB version of their M.2 drive. OMG, I am very pleased with this Gigabyte Gaming 7 ATX mobo!
 
Hey Guys, I have hard moments in deciding which one to choose: I am considering ASUS Z170 Gaming Pro or ASrock Extreme4. For ASUS I saw like 5 complaints about issues with BIOS, resetting itself and/or PCI-Express causing GPU driver crashes, with ASRock I heard that it COULD have worse quality of components than Extreme6 and higher (power section nearby CPU socket looks different and radiators are smaller).
Maybe another proposition? I am reading lots of stuff for last 1.5 month. The price of two mentioned is my maximum I can give. I'll be using it will i7-6700K w/ DDR4-3000 memories. For me important is to have Dual BIOS and DEBUG LCD( both funcitonalities doesn't exist in ASUS making it worse) and having Realtek ALC1150 with amplifier of good quality, because saving money for good DAC + Headphones will take me minimum 6 months and I cannot stay with my PCI sound card I have now. Also I don't want Gigabyte, I hate their products, had 6 o them and always they caused a lot of troubles. Never again.
Z170-A could be okay, but sound chip totally dismisses this board.
What do you think, what could be good?
 
Save for an audio system you can keep no matter what.
That means you never need worry about audio features on a motherboard again, makes it simpler and cheaper when upgrading PC and you always have the audio quality you want.

As far as mobo goes, I dont want for anything more than my ASRock Extreme 4+, its a great clocker and is well featured.
I too use an aftermarket DAC with it for 5.1 and stereo.
I specifically avoid Asus because their support sucks chronically.
 
Okay, I told it in wrong way - I am going to buy cool DAC with more awesome headphones, but first I need to save for them. Now I am using my Xonar PCI (not pci-e) Sound Card and I cannot use it with Z170 Board that's why until I will save for this set I want to have something what sound nicely on my ears with Sennheissers HD666.

What do you think about the quality of power section in comparison with more expensive versions? I know that there is less virtual-lanes, but anything else makes the price so high for 6 and 7?
 
Ah that is a sod having a PCI sound card.
I can no longer do any testing with my Auzentech Prelude because of that.
I had to make a choice between overclocking ability + decent bios + features + price vs PCI slot.
PCI slot lost.
I was fortunate to already have better audio kit.

The highest end expensive boards may net you another 100MHz overclock with the same cooler but imo they are so overpriced its not worth it unless you have OCD or are competing.
They are about 3x the price of the Extreme 4+.
And from what I am seeing only one of them gives a bit extra.

If you must go for a higher end board get one with a Sabre DAC, they are the only onboard audio solutions I would entertain.
I recommend getting a mobo you want for your PC and save for the audio. Get what you really want, not something that costs more as a make do.

Avoid MSI mid and low range boards, they dont have LLC so you need higher VCore for your overclock.
I had to return my first Z170 board because of that.
 
MSI Z170 Gaming Pro

Looking for Skylake + mini ITX + Wifi and solid VRMs for my Osmi build.
 
MSI Z170 Gaming Pro

Looking for Skylake + mini ITX + Wifi and solid VRMs for my Osmi build.

Why did you mention that board, its not mini ITX?

That is the very board I returned because it doesnt have LLC.
Its also got a horrible BIOS.
I got the ASrock Extreme 4+ for less, its a world better.
 
Why did you mention that board, its not mini ITX?

That is the very board I returned because it doesnt have LLC.
Its also got a horrible BIOS.
I got the ASrock Extreme 4+ for less, its a world better.

There's a mini ITX:
http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=13-130-880

I can't comment on the Bios as I was about to buy it. I'll take a closer look, thanks for the heads up. Asus Impact is a board I've used and really liked.
 
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I went with the Asus z170i Pro Gaming as my 1st m-ITX build. I have been buying top of the line motherboards going back to the AMD-k6, and finally realised that I was spending ALOT of money on features I never used, and now that I'm older, even less likely to. The Rampage 3 Extreme was probably the biggest example. I LOVED what that board did for me, how it looked, it's stability... but I only ever installed one video card at a time, and nothing else, everything else was USB. So, I decided that this time, I would get exactly what I would realistically need. The fact that all of the m-ITX boards in the generation have such a good mix of features made it difficult, but the ASUS won out for me based on my prior experiences.
So far, it has been great, and I have not encountered any of the issues that are being reported with it's big brother. Now I just need to get a size appropriate case, it's sitting in the Silverstone TJ-09 that used to hold the afformentioned ASUS R3E :eek:
 
I went with the Asus z170i Pro Gaming as my 1st m-ITX build. I have been buying top of the line motherboards going back to the AMD-k6, and finally realised that I was spending ALOT of money on features I never used, and now that I'm older, even less likely to. The Rampage 3 Extreme was probably the biggest example. I LOVED what that board did for me, how it looked, it's stability... but I only ever installed one video card at a time, and nothing else, everything else was USB. So, I decided that this time, I would get exactly what I would realistically need. The fact that all of the m-ITX boards in the generation have such a good mix of features made it difficult, but the ASUS won out for me based on my prior experiences.
So far, it has been great, and I have not encountered any of the issues that are being reported with it's big brother. Now I just need to get a size appropriate case, it's sitting in the Silverstone TJ-09 that used to hold the afformentioned ASUS R3E :eek:

What RAM are you using? Are you also using the XMP profile?
 
I bought an ASUS Maximus VIII Hero.

I was going to get the Asus Z170-a but they didn't have any stock at the local store, so I started looking at the VIII Hero. It's a small thing but there are a couple extra USB 2.0 rear panel ports which is important to me since I am pretty much maxing out the number of available ports on this board... I have a USB 3.0 hub too but still need some devices plugged directly for compatibility/power requirements.

One really awesome feature that I didn't realize until after I had my rig built is that the board can control fan speed of both PWM fans (4 wire) and via DC voltage (3 wire fans). It works great for controlling my case fans! Now I don't need the silly fan controller and I don't have to babysit my temps and turn dials for the perfect temps. Yea, I could have bought a fancier fan controller but now it's handled by the mobo, that makes me happy.

My old board would only work with PWM fans for fan speed adjustment.

Also I like the aesthetics of the board to be honest. While they probably don't serve any real purpose the plastic over the IO panels looks like through the case window and I appreciate the look.

There is a lot of hype in the literature about the on board audio but I just recently bought a Creative ZXR, so I promptly disabled it but some people might appreciate it and make this board worth looking at. It supposedly has a headphone amp with a de-pop relay which isn't something I've seen with on board sound before. I'm betting it's a cut above standard on board audio solutions for those who don't have a Sound Blaster ZXR or similar sound card.

The other thing of interest is the various lights on the board. There is the Q LED so you can see the post status, there are qLEDs and even an HDD activity LED right on the board. They have a colour changeable LED on the chipset heat-sink too. It's subtle though, not gaudy or over bright (at least by default, I haven't fiddled with the colour changing).

The board seems equipped with decent overclocking features and should be able to overclock decently, maybe not the absolute best of the best but I think at have the Price of the Asus Z170 Deluxe, I can handle a little trade off. I don't need all of the extra features like WIFI etc. on that Deluxe board personally.

I love Asus Q connector! Man, it's been a feature with Asus boards for years but I love it. Makes front panel connections a snap.

Other than that, always a fan of Asus boards I've had in the past and reviews of similar boards have been favorable, so I figured it was worth the risk. Honestly, it's a nice board and I have no problem recommending it.
 
Asus Maximus VIII Hero

It was a tough choice a lot of great boards in that price range.
 
What RAM are you using? Are you also using the XMP profile?

I have a single stick of HyperX Savage (8GB) rated at 2666 CL13, was planning to get it's twin this weekend and noone has them as singles. Even Kingston is saying it will be the 16th at the earliest for allocation, let alone other less expensive, sites getting them. But yes, was running it in XPM and had 0 issues. Nowi I have a mild OC (@4.3Ghz) just for giggles while I'm piecing the rest together and still no issues.
I have a pair of 8GB G.Skill Trident Z (3200 CL16) due in a couple days, decided to give them a try since others were having luck with them. Plus, they match the colors of my board nicely. Will use the single stick of HyperX as a test stick, since I don't have any spare DDR4 laying around yet. Win-Win:D
 
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The Gigabyte Z170x-UD5 looks very tempting from the price versus/features standpoint.

Found an outfit that has it on sale for less than $170, plus free shipping/no tax to California.

Feeling so tempted to pull the trigger, but I'm still a bit concerned about buying a Rev 1.0 board from any brand. I've never been an early adopter when it comes to mobos to make sure they've worked out all the kinks.

Out of cursoity, how long does it usually take for the major mobo vendors to release revision 1.x or revision 2.x? With the Z170 chipset being so new, how long before any bugs might be worked out on a hardware level (obviously a good vendor will update BIOS/drivers providing they don't leave customers in the lurch)?
 
These are my current choices.

I've been looking at these 4 boards

GIGABYTE GA-Z170X-UD5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128838

ASUS ROG MAXIMUS VIII HERO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132565

GIGABYTE G1 Gaming GA-Z170X-Gaming 7
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128835

ASRock Z170 Extreme7+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157627

Now I'm just trying to figure out which one I want to use for my 6700k Skylake build. Anyone point me to some reviews?
 
These are my current choices.

I've been looking at these 4 boards

GIGABYTE GA-Z170X-UD5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128838

ASUS ROG MAXIMUS VIII HERO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132565

GIGABYTE G1 Gaming GA-Z170X-Gaming 7
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128835

ASRock Z170 Extreme7+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157627

Now I'm just trying to figure out which one I want to use for my 6700k Skylake build. Anyone point me to some reviews?

This may be of some help:

http://www.techspot.com/review/1073-intel-z170-motherboard-roundup/

Also this:

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/7326/gigabyte-z170x-ud5-intel-z170-motherboard-review/index.html
 
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