Would like to build a 'EVGA' themed rig sometime.

2x SATAe but no U.2 = waste of PCIe lanes & outdated

Parn2x SATAe but no U.2 = waste of PCIe lanes & outdated

U.2 might be the future, but it hasn't advanced that much in today's MB. As far as I have seen only a handful of MB has a U.2 slot.

PLX is not on so 2xSLI + Physx max .

The Quim ReaperWould like to build a 'EVGA' themed rig sometime.

I also fancy this but EVGA only make Nvidia gfx cards so if Polaris (AMD) is good, it would mess with the theme.

I don't understand why all the motherboard manufacturers keep giving that Killer NIC on gaming boards.

Parn2x SATAe but no U.2 = waste of PCIe lanes & outdated

There are M.2 slots which I think is much better than U.2. It took them a long time to remove the cable from hard disks and make such a tiny slot on the motherboard so that you can assemble your 1TB ssd with only one screw. Why bother? U.2 is not even faster than M.2.

Every time I see an EVGA Classified motherboard a part of me hope it will be dual socket, but it never is. :(

Ah sad this board does not have a PLX PEX Switch like the Z170 Classified 4-Way.

There are 16 PCI express lanes from the CPU used for max. 3 Slots(8,4,4)
So the 2nd graphic card is using only 4 lanes and supported by the SLI brdige?

PE1 – x16, (x8 if PE2 or PE3 is used) lanes from CPU
PE2 – x8, (x4 if PE3 is used) lanes from CPU
PE3 – x4, 4 lanes from CPU
-------------------------
PE4 – x4, 4 lanes from PCH
PE5 – x1, 1 lane from PCH
PE6 – x1, 1 lane from PCH
-------------------------

So no way around to design your own board to get rid of those damned intel cpu delays when sending information from one pci express device to the other.

zednThere are M.2 slots which I think is much better than U.2. It took them a long time to remove the cable from hard disks and make such a tiny slot on the motherboard so that you can assemble your 1TB ssd with only one screw. Why bother? U.2 is not even faster than M.2.

Every other Z170 board comes with M.2, so that doesn't make this EVGA board any better. However U.2 can only be found on a handful of high-end boards and is technically better than SATAe (max 4 PCIe lanes vs 2).

ChaitanyaI don't understand why all the motherboard manufacturers keep giving that Killer NIC on gaming boards.

Because it supposedly "arranges" your incoming/outgoing packages to be optimized for gaming and media. I can't speak from experience as I haven't owned a killer nic so far. But I'd definitely give it a spin if I could.

ParnEvery other Z170 board comes with M.2, so that doesn't make this EVGA board any better. However U.2 can only be found on a handful of high-end boards and is technically better than SATAe (max 4 PCIe lanes vs 2).

And M.2 is gen 3 4x meaning what the other guy says is true. There's no point really in U.2 when we have M.2 with no cables.


For anybody who didn't watch their CES coverage this board is meant to be a cheaper option to the regular Classified by ditching the PLX chips. That is why they aren't present. It would be an utter fail if they price this the same just because it has a Killer NIC though.

Hero Alpha is a better option if you want U.2.

This is a great board but really only see a added M.2 slot and memory that can go to 3600+ which is whatever great if you can afford 3600+ memory prices.

Oh and this is ATX not E-ATX (like the z170 classy) which is nice.

PP MguireAnd M.2 is gen 3 4x meaning what the other guy says is true. There's no point really in U.2 when we have M.2 with no cables.


For anybody who didn't watch their CES coverage this board is meant to be a cheaper option to the regular Classified by ditching the PLX chips. That is why they aren't present. It would be an utter fail if they price this the same just because it has a Killer NIC though.

I was comparing U.2 to SATAe not M.2. BTW U.2 can also be either Gen3 x2 or x4, so M.2 is no better in terms of raw speed. U.2 drives are usually in 2.5" format and cooled better. Also in the future when there are more PCIe lanes available on a single board, it will be a lot easier to have multiple PCIe storages with U.2 as most ATX boards only have space for maybe maximum of 2 M.2 slots.

I'm comparing the two as usability. Most want M.2 for a simple stick solution to get away from cables. If you need more drives it only makes sense to use SATA since more than likely it'll be for storage. As a person who wants fast large drives I prefer M.2 as a standard due to not needing any cables. U.2 in itself IMO is pretty janky with its current implementation. I'll change my stance if they ever replace SATAe ports with U.2 ports on the side of the board.

Woah, wait a minute. The PCB isn't identical to the one shown at CES? The one shown at CES seems to have had extra dedicated rails for very minor voltages, where they moved? or removed for looks?

BeerbamAh sad this board does not have a PLX PEX Switch like the Z170 Classified 4-Way.

There are 16 PCI express lanes from the CPU used for max. 3 Slots(8,4,4)
So the 2nd graphic card is using only 4 lanes and supported by the SLI brdige?

PE1 – x16, (x8 if PE2 or PE3 is used) lanes from CPU
PE2 – x8, (x4 if PE3 is used) lanes from CPU
PE3 – x4, 4 lanes from CPU
-------------------------
PE4 – x4, 4 lanes from PCH
PE5 – x1, 1 lane from PCH
PE6 – x1, 1 lane from PCH
-------------------------

So no way around to design your own board to get rid of those damned intel cpu delays when sending information from one pci express device to the other.

If you are going to run more than 2 GPUs, you should be looking at x99, not Z170

MxPhenom 216If you are going to run more than 2 GPUs, you should be looking at x99, not Z170

I connect a lot of FPGA/s,Asics,GPU's etc. in ever changing combinations and now I need to change it to GEN3 and >= 48lanes/5 devices (4+CPU)

I was only interested in it as it popped up in my search routines that it has a PEX Chip.
Should be corrected by now with most databases.
This week the Supermicro C7Z170-OCE popped up with a low price tag and
PEX, but this time I will just wait 1 week if it's true or not ;)

And yes the 4way is the only usable on the market for me, but at that price point/limited availability (in my case) I would stick to my old school technology.
Till now each Generation got a cheap Mainboard with a good Bios and the relevant stuff is on an extender Board connected the way I need it.
For the new one the only relevant chip (Bios/driver supported) is a PEX.
One Time high costs depending on how much damage is done till the board is stable but it can be used over several Generations of Mainboards.