Skylake-Based Z170 Gaming Mini ITX Motherboard

Pretty much the only thing we can do is to wait for reviews.
 
Was waiting to see the Z170i-Pro Gaming from Asus, and finally it showed up. Looks rather okay with a subdued red and mostly black... except that incredibly cheesy "gamer" logo/text on the chipset heatsink. Maybe it can be removed.

Worse though, it was said it might not be available in all regions. Yes, hi Murphy, I know you already made sure it will never see the light here.

vipz said:
Pretty much the only thing we can do is to wait for reviews.
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Agree. Need clearer info on these boards. If only Gigabyte could provide good fan control in the BIOS this time.

Hanakuso said:
My Impact has been rock solid and the daughterboards haven't given me any issue yet. Using Wifi and M.2 everyday.

I went with Asus for Z87, Asrock for Z97, and I was thinking of going Asrock again for Z170 since it looks very similar to there previous offerings (Z87 & Z97). Only thing that is making me wait it out is that Skylake removed the FIVR this round so the VRMs on the motherboard might play a bigger role in OC abilities. Any ideas?
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You plan to use red DDR4 memory sticks? I think Asrock has a bit problematic color theme, mixing white in there.
 
I wonder the GIGABYTE Z170N-Gaming 5's audio is like, or if it has an M.2 port... Looks solid.
 
jamesgalb said:
I wonder the GIGABYTE Z170N-Gaming 5's audio is like, or if it has an M.2 port... Looks solid.
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It looks like it's got an M.2 port on the bottom possibly and has Thunderbolt 3 support via Alpine Ridge (the USB-type C port)
 
Dear Microcenter,

Please get the ASRock Gaming ITX/ac board in-stock and the 6700K so that you can have my money.

<throws money at monitor>

Take my money!
 
jb1 said:
It looks like it's got an M.2 port on the bottom possibly and has Thunderbolt 3 support via Alpine Ridge (the USB-type C port)
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Well they have gold plated audio outputs with atleast 5 jacks, so I am assuming good audio...

M.2 + Realtek 1150 + Thunderbolt3/USB3.1 + Wifi w/ Bluetooth

Best ITX board ever?
 
Lovely line-up. Interesting to see ASrock go for mSATA instead of M.2 on a Z170 board, but it's awesome to see that mITX finally gets (seemingly) high quality audio and C-Type connectors.
 
Uh I thought I did read that the asrock gaming board will have a M.2 PCIe Gen3 slot at the back?
 
I really like ITX from from Gigabyte. Z170N hits all the key points. 1150 audio, intel NIC (x2), 4x PCIE3 m.2, only thing that might be a weak point is that specs have no mention of USB3.1
I'm sure that it won't have Alpine Ridge controler but Asmedia ASM1142 would have been nice :)
 
danij3l said:
I really like ITX from from Gigabyte. Z170N hits all the key points. 1150 audio, intel NIC (x2), 4x PCIE3 m.2, only thing that might be a weak point is that specs have no mention of USB3.1
I'm sure that it won't have Alpine Ridge controler but Asmedia ASM1142 would have been nice :)
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I think the Z170N Gaming 5 actually does have the Alpine Ridge controller. The Z170N-wifi does not.
 
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I just checked the manual for the AsRock Z170M-ITX/ac - it only has a single combined mPCIe/mSATA slot in the front.
 
jb1 said:
I think the Z170N Gaming 5 actually does have the Alpine Ridge controller. The Z170N-wifi does not.
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Skipping Gaming 5 because of Killer NIC. I would rather have 2 Intel NICs than USB 3.1 :)
 
Also, it looks like the Asrock ITX is not using the alpine ridge controller
 
Yet again they use a Broadcom/AzureWave card. I and some others have had issues with these. I immediately got an Intel 7260-AC card the moment I found out the VII Impact board also has a Broadcom card. I don't know if it's hardware or software, but it was never stable for me. I also don't like brands that don't distribute their own drivers and make you download them off of the (board's) manufacturer's website. Which almost always means "some updates after launch, maybe one after a year".
 
vipz said:
I just checked the manual for the AsRock Z170M-ITX/ac - it only has a single combined mPCIe/mSATA slot in the front.
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That's wrong. On page 7, it shows the mPCI on the topside (MPCIE1) and on page 8, it shows (M2_1) on the backside. Page 26 lists all the details of the M.2. slot, which devices they tested with, ect. BTW, it supports 2280 size.

ftp://66.226.78.21/manual/Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming-ITXac.pdf
 
This is the first time AsRock has launched two ITX boards for the same Z chipset. I can see why people get confused. I don't care for the branding but for differentiation it might be best to refer it as the Fatality board or the Gaming board. If I were to get it it would be in sprite of such branding :p

I got the AXP-140 when this system was still in an SG05. The RAM and CPU were carried over from an older MATX build. That combination of the AXP-140, SG05, non-LP RAM, and a 10" GPU sure was killer when it came time to put the build together.

BTW, does it not bother you that your mSATA SSD is only running at SATA2 speed?
 
Welp that's a surprise. I don't think the Z97M-ITX/ac has ever registered on my radar. A quick search in the forum only shows a single person that has posted about it.
 
And even though almost all the boards have up to 6-7 photos. None is of the backside so you can tell what m.2 you'll fit there.
 
I wish the Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming-ITX/ac would become available already, it's preventing me from scratching the itch to buy an I7-6700K :(
 
Hi All

Just had a look for Gigabyte Z170N-WiFi and it's pretty much listed everywhere now just not in stock... slightly of more concern it is not listed on Gigabytes own site anywhere that I could find.

Wish they would give some idea as to when we can expect these boards...
 
Most boards will probably pop up the coming weeks. The Impact VIII within 1-2 months. Then you have to wait for reviews as well...
 
well it's going to be the Gigabyte unless its a disaster, it's pretty colour neutral so that works for me... and it seems to have everything else more or less.
 
Gigabyte has the worst fan control in the BIOS. You can only set one slope value there for the fan curve. That's enough reason for me, unfortunately, to look elsewhere.
 
Well I'm running a Gigabyte PXP67-M Pro uATX never had an issue with fan control...

The new Gigabyte Z170N-WiFi is ITX Just exactly how many PWM & other fans do you need to control? My 2 rad fans 120mm will be off CPU fan header, the only additional fan 80mm will be on the rear probably running at 75% or may also be PWM from fan header as well.

Fan Bios setting not really an issue for just 1 additional fan it's ITX and you never know Gigabyte may have actually got it right for a change!

Anyway here's hoping there are some decent boards out soon!
 
Any more news on this front? I have been doing last 24 hour searches for z170 itx but pretty much still asrock and evga results. Asus does have a couple of build videos using the pro gaming though and it does look pretty good. I am not really a huge fan after having issues with multiple boards from them though (10 years ago at this point) Really just waiting for final specs on the gigabyte and MSI offerings and release dates. I really just want an m.2 slot that will take the Samsung 951 and Intel networking components wired and wireless. Have everything figured out other than the MB at this point.
 
Lol yep completely agree with you about the M.2 & the 951

Just waiting on the motherboards... unfortunately there seems to be no news hmm, so we are still waiting. Watch out for the Evga it's M.2 E? only for wifi , nice looking board but at a price.
 
i didn't expect mITX boards to come out so long after the CPU was release. What are these companies waiting for?

I like Gigabyte and ASRock so I'm likely to go with them again. I want usb 3.1, 4x PCIE3 m.2, 1150 audio and solid NIC and wireless.

Anyone that can deliver this will get a lot of sales.
 
silk186 said:
i didn't expect mITX boards to come out so long after the CPU was release. What are these companies waiting for?

I like Gigabyte and ASRock so I'm likely to go with them again. I want usb 3.1, 4x PCIE3 m.2, 1150 audio and solid NIC and wireless.

Anyone that can deliver this will get a lot of sales.
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well, only MBO that fits this criteria is ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming-ITX/ac
Only that one has USB 3.1 (ASMedia ASM1142)
 
576190 said:
Lol yep completely agree with you about the M.2 & the 951

Just waiting on the motherboards... unfortunately there seems to be no news hmm, so we are still waiting. Watch out for the Evga it's M.2 E? only for wifi , nice looking board but at a price.
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Yea the EVGA board is reallllly lacking in new features. Think I'd go z97 before picking that one for z170

silk186 said:
i didn't expect mITX boards to come out so long after the CPU was release. What are these companies waiting for?

I like Gigabyte and ASRock so I'm likely to go with them again. I want usb 3.1, 4x PCIE3 m.2, 1150 audio and solid NIC and wireless.

Anyone that can deliver this will get a lot of sales.
Click to expand...

Agree on the 3.1 and 1150 in addition. The ASRock is looking like a good option, the Broadcom wireless is a bit of a downer but not a deal breaker.
 
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