Skylake-Based Z170 Gaming Mini ITX Motherboard

Nice, so i'm assuming your booting of the SM951?
If so any issues?

The GTX 970mini interesting, I was looking at this card last night.

I know it's early days but what the sound level like?
Just noticed your air cooling when you have time some temperatures would be great.

Nice and interesting build!

Thanks.
 
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went home at lunch and got the windows 10 upgrade installed quickly and then formatted and did a clean 10 install on the 951. No issues booting from it or installing 10. I did not use it for the win 7 install but it did appear on the list of options. During my troubleshooting of the 7 install I tried the 840 Evo after I changed to legacy mode in bios. I think legacy mode was the fix so the 951 probably would have worked but I was just shot gunning different options to get it running.

The 970 is a nice card, with my particular case it probably isn't the best option (blower style is best) but it's small and does have some rear exhaust so I'm hoping it won't bake in there when pushed. Testing needed


Noise is not bad but as mentioned the fan control in bios is nothing special. You get a normal,silent,full speed option and then custom which is just a static percentage you set. On normal during my limited time it's pretty quiet (2 140mm running 600-1000 rpm). I did try silent briefly and that was very quiet but I ramped it back up not knowing how my temps are going to pan out.

Edit:: if anyone wants some benchmark info just let me know what to run for you, I haven't made a new machine in so long I don't even know what's being used anymore.
 
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Temps after about ~30mins of prime95

minitemps.png
 
Many thanks for the temps

They certainly look good to me, the SM951 & the GTX 970 max temp look very good, there has been some reports of the SM951 over heating... but looks good! It's interesting the fan on the GTX 970 only got up to 44% at 74C.

The FT 03 mini it's a solid back for the motherboard? no cut out for access or ventilation to the M.2 slot? I know the FT 03 does not have this as it's what I'm currently using lol
 
576190 said:
Many thanks for the temps

They certainly look good to me, the SM951 & the GTX 970 max temp look very good, there has been some reports of the SM951 over heating... but looks good! It's interesting the fan on the GTX 970 only got up to 44% at 74C.

The FT 03 mini it's a solid back for the motherboard? no cut out for access or ventilation to the M.2 slot? I know the FT 03 does not have this as it's what I'm currently using lol
Click to expand...

It is solid as well, I was thinking about cutting a hole but did not think it would gain me much (only a little vent, screws for the side panel are under the MB so still no easy access) if I do have heat problems I'll try a thermal pad or something to get it in contact with the case so it acts as a bit of a heat sink.

I will see if I can find some drive tests to push the 951 and see how toasty it gets. The high temp on the 970 was after a couple rounds of 3D mark but those are fairly short so I'll try to do some longer stress testing.

On the noise front, once the proc gets into the 60s the cpu fan kicks up to 3000rpm and is pretty loud. I think I might switch to the silent setting and see what noise / temps look like as well. Pretty happy this far for such a cramped case.

Edit:: Ran ATTO 4 times back to back and 69 was as high as it got. Looking at info, throttle doesn't happen until the 80s so I think it will be just fine.
minissdtemp.jpg


Also ran Unigine valley test at 3440x1440 on ultra a few times in a row and the 970 still didn't get over high 70s. (and still only 44% on fan) The GPU temp was what I was most worried about so I think I'm pretty solid at this point.
 
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Who has working Skylake setup? I am interested know temps. I am currectly using Be quiet Dark Tower TF and running my 6700k @ 4400MHz, 1.216V and temps are about 86C. If I drop volts prime95 usually get hardware failure what indicates too low volts.

My setup is

ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming-ITX/aci
7 6700k
Be Quiet! Dark Rock TF
Kingston 16GB (2x8GB) HyperX Fury DDR4 2666 MHz, CL15
EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Superclocked
Silverstone SX500-LG
NCASE M1 v2.0

I'm also using riser with help to put my gpu in case and make more space under psu.

0vRZrhV.png
 
CybKnight said:
What version of prime95 are you running?
Click to expand...

p95v287

Downloaded here: http://www.mersenne.org/download/

I know that my air flow is not so good thats way I am looking more information how those temps are. I think that they are little high but I think that bad air flow is the problem. That 4400 has been very stable. I tested also 45 but temps are then over 91 and I like to keep under 90. When I play temps are about 60 little bit over. One time one core was 67. Packages usually 60-68.
 
You must have seen the post above yours? It is an I5 skylake but you can see the temps and it is on air cooling as well, his full build list is posted a few posts further up.
 
Prime95 newer than 2.66 use AVX instructions, which had a tendency to quickly generate a lot of heat with the latest generations of intel cpus, beyond any regular consumer use.

If you are not going to use your computer for heavy rendering/ calculations/ math simulation, I would recommend using another stress test perhaps, to get more realistic load temperatures to compare. OCCT, prime95 2.66 or Intel XTU perhaps?

From my POV, if the AVX issue still exist with Skylake, then your temps doesn't seem to bad for overclock and aircooling inside a SFF cabinet.
 
Anybody know what advantage the ASRock Z170 Gaming-ITX/ac has over the ASRock Z170M-ITX/ac that warrants an extra $56? I know the Gaming version has USB 3.1 and a Realtek ALC1150, but any other large differences?
 
If you are considering something else ... Don't skip GA-Z170N-WIFI from gigabyte.
Dual Intel gigabit lan
Latest Intel Wlan/BT
M.2 2280
Realtek 1150

Also has USB Type C connector but it's only 3.0 speed.

In EU is 60€ cheaper than Z170 gaming board from ASrock
 
eapleitez said:
Anybody know what advantage the ASRock Z170 Gaming-ITX/ac has over the ASRock Z170M-ITX/ac that warrants an extra $56? I know the Gaming version has USB 3.1 and a Realtek ALC1150, but any other large differences?
Click to expand...

Fewer phases and an uglier heatsink. :D
 
Taking about the GA-Z170N-WIFI which is my board of choice mainly due to it having more or less everything and being colour neutral.

What exactly is the purpose of Dual Intel Gigabyte Lan I mean the dual bit? can you actually use both at once? and if so why would you?
 
Redundancy, multiple (sperated) networks. Perhaps Link Aggregation if you have a supporting managed switch, other devices with multiple NICs and use supported software. Think of powerful NAS systems and you aren't satisfied with 120MB/s.

If you aren't really into networking, it will likely not be of much use.
 
I thought it might be of use e.g. on lan parties because your pc could function as a 1-port switch
 
I have just received my Asrock Z170 Gaming ITX and 2x8 GB of RAM. Unfortunately only 8GB are recognized. I tried switching the banks around but the and now I am not sure what is broken. The manual says nowhere if both banks could be used on their one. These are my observations:
Module 1 in bank A, Module 2 in bank B: system booting with 8GB
Module 1 in bank A: system booting with 8GB
Module 2 in bank A: system does not boot (three beeps)
Module 1 in bank B: system does not boot (three beeps)
Module 2 in bank B: system does not boot (three beeps)

So I think module 2 is broken but it could also be the bank B on the mainboard.

Does anybody know something about allowed memory configurations?


EDIT: Nevermind, everything is working. I was just too stupid to put the RAM correctly into the slots
 
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Lol we have all been their, main thing is it's sorted!

If you have time could you post you build spec thanks.
 
CybKnight said:
Prime95 newer than 2.66 use AVX instructions, which had a tendency to quickly generate a lot of heat with the latest generations of intel cpus, beyond any regular consumer use.

If you are not going to use your computer for heavy rendering/ calculations/ math simulation, I would recommend using another stress test perhaps, to get more realistic load temperatures to compare. OCCT, prime95 2.66 or Intel XTU perhaps?

From my POV, if the AVX issue still exist with Skylake, then your temps doesn't seem to bad for overclock and aircooling inside a SFF cabinet.
Click to expand...

I have tested my setup also via IBT and XTU. IBT temps are little bit lower that Prime95 2.87. XTU show much lower temps under 80c.

When I play temps are about 61-65.

So I think that all are good but air flow with Ncase now is very bad. Maybe I need test will that second fan help someway.

576190 said:
You must have seen the post above yours? It is an I5 skylake but you can see the temps and it is on air cooling as well, his full build list is posted a few posts further up.
Click to expand...

Case is different and I didn't found any information he/she make any overclocking.
 
576190 said:
Lol we have all been their, main thing is it's sorted!

If you have time could you post you build spec thanks.
Click to expand...
core i5 6500
ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming-ITX/ac
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 Windforce 2X 4GB
16GB (2x 8192MB) Crucial CT2K8G4DFD8213
1000GB Samsung 850 Evo
Raijintek Metis Mini-ITX
Cooltek LP53
500 Watt Silverstone Strider Gold

Now waiting for the dan a4.
 
Nick Papagiorgio said:
I have just received my Asrock Z170 Gaming ITX and 2x8 GB of RAM. Unfortunately only 8GB are recognized. I tried switching the banks around but the and now I am not sure what is broken. The manual says nowhere if both banks could be used on their one. These are my observations:
Module 1 in bank A, Module 2 in bank B: system booting with 8GB
Module 1 in bank A: system booting with 8GB
Module 2 in bank A: system does not boot (three beeps)
Module 1 in bank B: system does not boot (three beeps)
Module 2 in bank B: system does not boot (three beeps)

So I think module 2 is broken but it could also be the bank B on the mainboard.

Does anybody know something about allowed memory configurations?


EDIT: Nevermind, everything is working. I was just too stupid to put the RAM correctly into the slots
Click to expand...

If ram stick 1 works in slot A, and ram stick 2 doesn't work in slot A, ram stick 2 is bad. RMA your ram.

edit: just noticed your edit... even though I quoted it (LOL).. still kinda odd your stick 2 didn't work in slot A by itself...
 
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Bumped mine up for a reference. Temps after ~30mins of prime95(v28.5) blend test @4400

Stayed in high 60s low 70s most of the time once the fan ramped up to 3k. Both fans set to "silent" in gigabyte bios.

minitemps4400.jpg
 
Nick Papagiorgio said:
I have just received my Asrock Z170 Gaming ITX and 2x8 GB of RAM. Unfortunately only 8GB are recognized. I tried switching the banks around but the and now I am not sure what is broken. The manual says nowhere if both banks could be used on their one. These are my observations:
Module 1 in bank A, Module 2 in bank B: system booting with 8GB
Module 1 in bank A: system booting with 8GB
Module 2 in bank A: system does not boot (three beeps)
Module 1 in bank B: system does not boot (three beeps)
Module 2 in bank B: system does not boot (three beeps)

So I think module 2 is broken but it could also be the bank B on the mainboard.

Does anybody know something about allowed memory configurations?


EDIT: Nevermind, everything is working. I was just too stupid to put the RAM correctly into the slots
Click to expand...

This board is turning me crazy all fans turning no video no beeps. One time I got the mainboard splash with press F1 to continue then I restarted and never again. I'll try to exchange it since it doesn't even beep without any RAM inside the slots at all! Or is there some weird way of putting the RAM in I don't know about? If it is the CPU It would be even worse :C
 
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freigeist said:
Or is there some weird way of putting the RAM in I don't know about? If it is the CPU It would be even worse :C
Click to expand...

My problem was that there is a movable and a non movable latch on the ram slots. I didn't put it in deep enough on the non-movable side. The installation of the cpu was actually straight forward.

You have connected the small speaker to the mobo, haven't you?
 
Nick Papagiorgio said:
My problem was that there is a movable and a non movable latch on the ram slots. I didn't put it in deep enough on the non-movable side. The installation of the cpu was actually straight forward.

You have connected the small speaker to the mobo, haven't you?
Click to expand...

Yeah I did connect it. I tried to start it with only the 6700K and the mainboard (without RAM) and it didn't have any output nor beep but the fans went on (I guess that means the PSU is okay).

I guess without a second working board I can't know weather the problem is the CPU or the board :/
 
freigeist said:
Yeah I did connect it. I tried to start it with only the 6700K and the mainboard (without RAM) and it didn't have any output nor beep but the fans went on (I guess that means the PSU is okay).

I guess without a second working board I can't know weather the problem is the CPU or the board :/
Click to expand...

Normally the board should error beep if you had a faulty CPU, so I'd say the board is at fault here.
 
Do you mean the slot on the board or the SSD itself ? The SSD itself is easy: at the moment the Samsung SM951 NVMe version (MZVPV512HDGL-00000) is the only NVMe M.2 drive out there if I'm correct, and it's not even meant for retail.

In the near future (in a few weeks), also the Samsung 950 Pro will be offered, which basically is the retail version of the SM951 with 3D V-NAND with 33% higher endurance and generally higher performance.

Motherboard-wise, you'd need to check the online manuals to be sure it supports NVMe.
 
Phuncz said:
Do you mean the slot on the board or the SSD itself ? The SSD itself is easy: at the moment the Samsung SM951 NVMe version (MZVPV512HDGL-00000) is the only NVMe M.2 drive out there if I'm correct, and it's not even meant for retail.

In the near future (in a few weeks), also the Samsung 950 Pro will be offered, which basically is the retail version of the SM951 with 3D V-NAND with 33% higher endurance and generally higher performance.

Motherboard-wise, you'd need to check the online manuals to be sure it supports NVMe.
Click to expand...

I was specifically referring to the Samsung 950 Pro that is coming out and how to determine which motherboards will support it.
 
We don't know yet, it will be available soon and reviews will pop up. But my guess is this will include the NVMe option ROM that was missing from the SM951, allowing it to boot on all boards with an M.2 PCIe x4 socket.
 
Asus have (finally!) put up the site for the Z170i Pro Gaming. No mention on the spec page or in the manual of the PCIe slot dropping down to 8x if an m.2 PCIe device is installed, so we can safely assume the video was simply incorrect, and the Z170i is set up in the same was as all the other ITX Z170 boards.
 
EdZ said:
Asus have (finally!) put up the site for the Z170i Pro Gaming. No mention on the spec page or in the manual of the PCIe slot dropping down to 8x if an m.2 PCIe device is installed, so we can safely assume the video was simply incorrect, and the Z170i is set up in the same was as all the other ITX Z170 boards.
Click to expand...

Anyone knows what wifi card is inside that metal enclosure they are using? It seems mPCIe is on the way out, and M.2 is becoming standard for wifi cards as well. For example, Inte's new 8260 ac comes only as M.2 from what I understand.

I suspect it's a mPCIe card inside that enclosure, which means we can't replace and put M.2 cards in there...
 
Turns out I have bent pins on my brandnew board :C

The guy say he can't take it back but sent it in and said they might replace it out of goodwill.
I have to wait minimum 3 weeks :/ This is horrible I don't know how the heck I bent single
pins with a CPU that doesn't have pins. The only thing I can think of is too much pressure of the heatsink but wouldn't it bent more than 1 or 2 pins...?

I'm crying 200€ down the drain and no computer for at least a month now ;_;

What I am afraid of is that maybe after a few times of reseating the heatsink I bent the pins and the board was broken regardless. That way I'm a big fool for trying so much till the pins bend... Cause the first time I put it in I was extremely careful...
 
Mackan said:
Anyone knows what wifi card is inside that metal enclosure they are using? It seems mPCIe is on the way out, and M.2 is becoming standard for wifi cards as well. For example, Inte's new 8260 ac comes only as M.2 from what I understand.

I suspect it's a mPCIe card inside that enclosure, which means we can't replace and put M.2 cards in there...
Click to expand...
The manual doesn;t list the card, but it does indiacte it is an m.2 card:
xTz5Dr1.png
 
EdZ said:
The manual doesn;t list the card, but it does indiacte it is an m.2 card:
xTz5Dr1.png
Click to expand...

This time around there are some really nice ITX boards. Also if you are from Germany or Austria you get 25€ cashback on Z170i from ASUS and price of the MBO is reasonable to begin with at 155€.

EDIT: M.2 WIFI on that picture could be wrong same as H170 on chipset :p
 
Im a little confused . the gigabyte z170n-wifi has an 2T2R antenna, which can be used for a hotspot. Can this work with PC turned off, as long as I have my LAN hooked up? Wi
 
Prizm4 said:
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Z170I-PRO-GAMING/

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Asus Z170I doesn't have a USB Type C connector. Sheesh, each manufacturer's board is missing a nice feature and none of them have it all.

I think I'll still go with AsRock at this stage.
Click to expand...

Agree, there isn't one which has everything I'm looking for. Seems like it should be straight forward, but they all have trade-offs. I'm thinking AsRock or the Gigabyte Wifi most likely at this point...
 
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