Skylake-Based Z170 Gaming Mini ITX Motherboard

Paul's Hardware just modded his Asus Z170i Pro Gaming Mobo to get rid of all the red.



It looks so much better.
 
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I dunno. With the side panel off, I can't even hardly see my ITX mobo, packed into the case, with all of the components. With the side panel on, I can't see it, at all. : )
 
Akitio have released a thunderbolt 3 to PCIe box. Been waiting for something like this to finally be available at a reasonable price (I think this will be a shade under $300). Once somewhere like Amazon picks it up I'm going to buy one and can then finally test if the TBT3 works on the GIgabyte board.
Good find, is what is needed, but I don't find the price the least bit reasonable. It's probably a combination of Intel TB license fee and a lower volume product.
It's worth maybe $150-200 tops WITH a power supply. I mean common, think of how much barebones you can get for $300...this is MUCH less chips than
that. It's just a riser card with a tiny power section and a TB interface. IF this sort of thing takes off then is should eventually sell for what I'm saying.

Still looking for some actual testing of the GB z170N on some kinda of actual TB device.
 
q-silver should be Gen 3x2. So half the bandwidth of an M.2 connector.
right, but where do you get a Sata Express -to- m.2 interface. All I've seen is using Sata Express to Raid two SATA drives to use that extra bandwidth vs SATA.
But what about using a PCIe drive in the x2 mode? It's not PCI bus anyway (the way some M.2 connectors are), so I'm kinda confused how you could hook that up and get it
to work that way.
 
eltouristo probably will come down a bit - their TBT2 enclosure is $200 though, so not sure how much it will come down. TBT3 licensing ant certification is probably one of the larger costs for all these devices. Though to put it in perspective the Akitio TBT2 enclosure is an awful lot less expensive than some of the other TBT2 ones around.

I managed to get one of the first batch from Amazon before they went out of stock, and have to say it looks a very well built device. I'm currently away from my PC though so can't test it yet. I'll be able to test it out once I get back in 4 weeks time and then we'll finally know if the GB board works with TBT3 devices.
 
Good find, is what is needed, but I don't find the price the least bit reasonable. It's probably a combination of Intel TB license fee and a lower volume product.
It's worth maybe $150-200 tops WITH a power supply. I mean common, think of how much barebones you can get for $300...this is MUCH less chips than
that. It's just a riser card with a tiny power section and a TB interface. IF this sort of thing takes off then is should eventually sell for what I'm saying.

Still looking for some actual testing of the GB z170N on some kinda of actual TB device.


OK so I bought a StarTech TBT3TBTADAP Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 1/2 adapter to test my GA Z170N Gaming 5, some of you might remember I hacked my BIOS (F4C) to enable Thunderbolt 3 back in December 15 (before GB release F4 and the patch) at that time I didn't have anything to test but the Thunderbolt device showed up in device manager, so now I reverted to the stock F4 and whatever drivers and firmware enablers etc GB have released. I plugged in the StarTech TBT3TBTADAP and I get a "Billboard" device with a yellow exclamation mark in device manager. Tried to plug in my Drobo mini anyway and no difference, nothing shows up in the Thunderbolt manager. Been onto StarTech support and they are not sure if Thunderbolt is working on this board. They suggested I speak to GB tech support, last time I spoke to GB it didn't end well.........

However all that said some people have been reporting the "Billboard" error anyway on other machines with TB3 and the StarTech support guys alluded to TB3 being in a bit of a sorry state at the moment.

So nothing better to offer up at the moment I am afraid!!

I might reload my hacked F4C and see what happens just in case..... as my hacked F4CBIOS had a load more options that the GB F4 one does.

Cheers
brams
 
brams, do you have a copy of the hacked BIOS? Would be handy if the enclosure doesn't work to try out the modified BIOS.
 
brams, do you have a copy of the hacked BIOS? Would be handy if the enclosure doesn't work to try out the modified BIOS.

Sure PM me your email addy. Don't use any of the GB firmware updates designed to enable TB3 on the F4 BIOS I'm not sure what would happen.
 
I might reload my hacked F4C and see what happens just in case..... as my hacked F4CBIOS had a load more options that the GB F4 one does.

Cheers
brams

OK tried the TB3 enabled F4C BIOS and the same thing happened - Billboard Device Error. Should note that on a GB Z170 (a proper TB3 enabled one) over at Tony Mac somebody says they got this same StarTech adapter working under Windows 10 and MacOS X on a Hackintosh.....

This is not looking good. I wonder if the GB Z170 ITX does indeed have no chance of TB3 working.

Need somebody else to try a proper TB3 device and not an adapter.

Cheers
 
hey brams, that's no error on the Z170N Gaming 5. I do have a Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 7 as my running system, using the same Startech TB1/2-TB3 adapter gives me exactly the same message.
Do you have a reference to the hackint0sh link?
 
hey brams, that's no error on the Z170N Gaming 5. I do have a Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 7 as my running system, using the same Startech TB1/2-TB3 adapter gives me exactly the same message.
Do you have a reference to the hackint0sh link?

Ni Notting

THUNDERBOLT 3 SUCCESS!! GA-Z170X-UD5 TH STARTECH "Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt adapter"

[GUIDE] Jerivalu’s Build: Fresh 10.11.5, Z170X-UD5 TH, 6700k, Intel HD 530, Thunderbolt, Dual Boot

tonymacx86's Skylake Thunderbolt 3 Test Build: GA-Z170X-UD5-TH - i5-6600K
 
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Alas no thunderbolt support on the Gaming 5. I've tried the Akitio enclosure, but nothing shows up other than the TI USB C/PD IC which shows that the port is only acting as a USB 3.1 Type C connector and not thunderbolt. Nothing shows up in the Thunderbolt attached devices window.

Shucks.
 
So I've been following this thread for a while to see what can be done for enabling Thunderbolt 3 on the z170n-G5 and thought I'd post up some progress. Gigabyte has been anything but helpful(check out the pic, it doesn't show their responses other than most recent but you can get the idea)

Was waiting to hear back from GB before trying anything to see if they'd be helpful. Now that that's out of the way, I'm going to see if I can get it to work. I have Startech's TB3 to TBI&II adapter. I'm going to try and get it to work using the F4 BIOS, the Thunderbolt firmware update(seems like you need NVM 14 or newer for the Thunderbolt support in Win 10), forcing the integrated GPU on/as primary to try and get the DisplayPort alt mode to work over TB3, and then see if I get around the Billboard error. I'll be testing using a mid-2011 Apple Thunderbolt Display.
 

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So I've been following this thread for a while to see what can be done for enabling Thunderbolt 3 on the z170n-G5 and thought I'd post up some progress. Gigabyte has been anything but helpful(check out the pic, it doesn't show their responses other than most recent but you can get the idea)

Was waiting to hear back from GB before trying anything to see if they'd be helpful. Now that that's out of the way, I'm going to see if I can get it to work. I have Startech's TB3 to TBI&II adapter. I'm going to try and get it to work using the F4 BIOS, the Thunderbolt firmware update(seems like you need NVM 14 or newer for the Thunderbolt support in Win 10), forcing the integrated GPU on/as primary to try and get the DisplayPort alt mode to work over TB3, and then see if I get around the Billboard error. I'll be testing using a mid-2011 Apple Thunderbolt Display.
I was looking at this option and it just appears not to be supported by Gigabyte for whatever reason. It may have the hardware but it appears it doesn't work right or has issues is my best guess why Gigabyte has not pushed this further on that board. I was hoping to use this for a smaller monitor, discrete gpu (a whole other issue) and there is just nothing out there saying it is even possible or anyone actually doing it. You're the first.
 
I'm surprised at how little the MSI Z170i gets mentioned / used. I've been using mine for a long while and recently picked up the Asus Z170i for a second build. During testing of the Asus board, I swapped out the MSI and left all the other hardware identical. The Asus seemed to cause my 6700K to run 10-15C hotter AND HWMonitor showed it using less watts than the MSI. I remounted the block numerous times to no avail. The moment I swapped the MSI Z170i back in, temps were once again 10-15C lower while the CPU used more watts.

As far as I'm concerned, if you can live without a USB C port, this is the best ITX motherboard for Z170. As for the M.2 on the back not supporting 2280, just use a little bit of electrical tape. My 1TB EVO M.2 has been running like a champ. And the port placement is perfect. And it has plentiful USB ports on the back. Oh, and there's a clear CMOS button, too.
 
I have used the Asus board. I do not think it actually runs hotter. The temp censors just seem to be way off.
 
Have any of you guys tried the new F20b BIOS (you can download it from the taiwan page) ? Complete new GUI, new Thunderbolt menu as well...
 
odarnoc still no luck with the Akitio box. I think it is possibly because there is no PD firmware for it - the firmware update tool only does the NVM firmware. I was half tempted to flash the new firmware for one of the other boards just to see what happens, but would rather not break my motherboard if something went wrong.
 
odarnoc still no luck with the Akitio box. I think it is possibly because there is no PD firmware for it - the firmware update tool only does the NVM firmware. I was half tempted to flash the new firmware for one of the other boards just to see what happens, but would rather not break my motherboard if something went wrong.

That's sad to read. :( I guess we'll have to wait till z270. I don't understand why we can't get thunderbolt in mini itx mobos... once and for good. The whole point of mini itx should be to provide expandability options while keeping it small!!!
 
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odarnoc still no luck with the Akitio box. I think it is possibly because there is no PD firmware for it - the firmware update tool only does the NVM firmware. I was half tempted to flash the new firmware for one of the other boards just to see what happens, but would rather not break my motherboard if something went wrong.
I tried to flash the new firmware...but it doesn't allow you to do it, cause it needs some .bin file that we don't have (the firmware includes .bin files for the certified mobos)...
 
odarnoc still no luck with the Akitio box. I think it is possibly because there is no PD firmware for it - the firmware update tool only does the NVM firmware. I was half tempted to flash the new firmware for one of the other boards just to see what happens, but would rather not break my motherboard if something went wrong.

I've read from someone with our mobo who updated to latest BIOS (F20), and now Thunderbolt Options are completely GONE from BIOS Options. Furthermore this version prevents users from downgrading their BIOS.. I guess Gigabyte is never gonna get us Thunderbolt 3....
 
odarnoc I can confirm that. The Force TBT option is still there, but it no longer enables the thunderbolt stuff.

My guess is that they were experimenting with it in the beta BIOS but had no luck getting it working so gave up.

TBH I gave up on it when the beta stuff didn't work.
 
Now that Z270 boards are out, there's finally a mini ITX one that offers Thunderbolt 3. It's ASRock's Z270 Gaming-ITX/ac.

It's a shame that Gigabyte never fully enabled TB3 on the Z170N-Gaming 5. It's been running fine for me for over a year and I was looking forward to TB possibly being added down the line.
 
barsberge Interesting find, gives hope that more TB3 Mini-ITX boards will come out of the woodwork. Having said that the new Gigabyte Z270 Mini-ITX board (GA-Z270N-WIFI) is also out, but once again that one doesn't have thunderbolt 3, just USB type-c. The ASUS one (ROG Strix Z270I Gaming) also has only a type-c, so maybe it's just ASRock that have decided to buck the trend.

Out of curiosity, have you had any issues with the Gaming 5 waking up from sleep? On mine the board seems to lock up every time it wakes up so I have to pull the power completely to get it to boot again. Thinking about it, may be something to do with the F20 bios as I don't recall any issues until I upgraded it.
 
Z170N-Gaming 5 has a new BIOS out - F21. The description for this is "Improves Thunderbolt Capability". Now that got my hopes up.

Having flashed it, the "Force TBT Enable" bios option now works again - the Thunderbolt 3 software once again detects that there is a AR 1577 controller. But as they haven't release the PD firmware, I think we will be in the same situation as before - a computer that thinks it has TBT3, but doesn't detect TBT3 devices. I'll try with my enclosure tomorrow, but not holding out hope.
 
barsberge Interesting find, gives hope that more TB3 Mini-ITX boards will come out of the woodwork. Having said that the new Gigabyte Z270 Mini-ITX board (GA-Z270N-WIFI) is also out, but once again that one doesn't have thunderbolt 3, just USB type-c. The ASUS one (ROG Strix Z270I Gaming) also has only a type-c, so maybe it's just ASRock that have decided to buck the trend.

Out of curiosity, have you had any issues with the Gaming 5 waking up from sleep? On mine the board seems to lock up every time it wakes up so I have to pull the power completely to get it to boot again. Thinking about it, may be something to do with the F20 bios as I don't recall any issues until I upgraded it.
No issue here on Z170N G5 coming out of sleep. Also no issue running pc 3000 ram. Built two systems using this motherboard and both worked at PC 3000.

Went to Bios F21 and have not tested OCing yet with it. The beta bios allowed the I7 6700K to work at 4.6ghz, seems stable, had no issue for over a week other then a noisy system. Noise won and now it is back to stock clocks. Installed Intel P600 SSD, 1TB, PCIe. Reloaded windows and I did not expect to notice differences but it boots up 4-5 seconds faster (maybe due to Win 10 reload) but I also kept the Steam Game files and Steam found the installed content about 3x faster then with the 850 Evo - that was impressive! Other then that not much else changed or what I noticed.
 
Z170N-Gaming 5 has a new BIOS out - F21. The description for this is "Improves Thunderbolt Capability". Now that got my hopes up.

Having flashed it, the "Force TBT Enable" bios option now works again - the Thunderbolt 3 software once again detects that there is a AR 1577 controller. But as they haven't release the PD firmware, I think we will be in the same situation as before - a computer that thinks it has TBT3, but doesn't detect TBT3 devices. I'll try with my enclosure tomorrow, but not holding out hope.
Any luck with Thunderbolt?
 
Budda5150 Nah, nor will there ever be. I'm half tempted to drop it at buy the Asrock Z270 mitx board.
That's what I did.. got rid of my Z170N Gaming 5 which I never really used (because TB supporrt is a must with my peripherals) and bought a brand new Z270 Gaming itx/ac - that way I could sell my "temporary" ATX TB3 mainboard from gigabyte as well.
 
Gave up on the gigabyte board and bought myself an Asrock Z270. Thunderbolt works great. The Ethernet appears to perform better too - download speeds jumped from ~6MB/s to ~12MB/s.
 
With my Asus Z170i Pro Gaming, I noticed that if I disable Wifi within BIOS, it still appears in Windows. When I actually removed the wifi adapter from the motherboard, it doesn't boot up. Small problem but it's worth mentioning since I couldn't figure out why my PC wouldn't boot up for awhile.
 
My Asrock Fatality Z170 Gaming ITX/ac had very flaky bluetooth connection until I replaced the Broadcom card with an Intel card.
 
My Asrock Fatality Z170 Gaming ITX/ac had very flaky bluetooth connection until I replaced the Broadcom card with an Intel card.
I noticed the same with my ASRock Z170 but I removed the Broadcom card, didn't replace it though.
 
I simply decided to dremel a cutout in my Fractal Design Define Nano S to fit a 5mm tall heatsink on my rear mounted M.2 (Asus 270i). Gotta do what you gotta do!
 
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