Monday, October 3rd 2016
ASRock Unveils the Z170M-PIO2 Motherboard with Parallel Expansion Slot
ASRock unveiled the Z170M-PIO2, a micro-ATX socket LGA1151 motherboard with a unique angled PCI-Express gen 3.0 x16 slot that lets you install a graphics card parallel to the plane of the motherboard. It takes away the need for PCIe riser cables in certain PIO form-factor compliant SFF chassis. The PIO form-factor is an emerging standard of compact SFF cases that you mount along the VESA wall-mount bolts of your display. Technically, the board conforms to the uDTX form-factor, but is compatible with micro-ATX and PIO form-factors.
Its star-attraction aside, the Z170-PIO2, as its name suggests, is based on the overclocking-ready Z170 Express chipset. It supports up to 32 GB of dual-channel DDR4 memory with its two memory slots. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 4-pin CPU power connectors. Besides the angled PCIe x16, you get an mPCIe slot (for WLAN cards), and one 32 Gb/s M.2 slot. Four SATA 6 Gb/s ports, 6-channel HD audio, four USB 3.0 ports, and gigabit Ethernet make for the rest of its connectivity.
Its star-attraction aside, the Z170-PIO2, as its name suggests, is based on the overclocking-ready Z170 Express chipset. It supports up to 32 GB of dual-channel DDR4 memory with its two memory slots. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 4-pin CPU power connectors. Besides the angled PCIe x16, you get an mPCIe slot (for WLAN cards), and one 32 Gb/s M.2 slot. Four SATA 6 Gb/s ports, 6-channel HD audio, four USB 3.0 ports, and gigabit Ethernet make for the rest of its connectivity.
23 Comments on ASRock Unveils the Z170M-PIO2 Motherboard with Parallel Expansion Slot
Perfect for bench table and/or wall mounted madness.
The only thing that bothers me is where to find a compatible case? So far I've seen none....In most cases you'll have GPU slot below motherboard, but not above it :roll:
Some have a GPU mounting options right over the CPU, but it still requires PCIe ribbon.And in best traditions of AsRock, there a H110M-PIO and B150M-PIO that look almost exactly the same. Don't know whether I should thank or hate AsRock for that, but Asus, MSI, Gigabyte and others also sell the exact same board as "highest quality premium design".
My friend/colleague even did a "poor repairsman" chipset flipping on some dead motherboards from AsRock for fun (leftover unfixed junk).
Still have a Z77 Pro4 which was re-born, like a phoenix, as a B85 Pro4. Still use it on my testbench. Some FM2+ boards even have stickers placed over the original "high-end" labels.
But that's what makes them so cheap :rockout:
mini-DTX is a quite popular now form factor (sometimes marketed as micro-ATX due to compatibility).
I used to have a bunch of these at work:
www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Product/Product_Detail.aspx?CategoryID=1&DetailID=1478&DetailName=Feature&MenuID=24&LanID=0
uDTX is somewhat a mystery to me, and though it looks interesting, I haven't been able to find a single case that will work with this + dedicated GPU.
Couldn't even find specs for uDTX form factor.
Also dtxpc.org no longer exists, so I could only find old slides from AMD (who initially pushed for a new open standard):
web.archive.org/web/20090823194411/http://www.dtxpc.org/_docs/DTX_Overview.pdf
Something like their PC-010, but of course a lot slimmer for this form factor.
This is clearly a made up form factor by ASRock
On the other hand, there are few similar boards from other manufacturers, though some of them feature PCI-e x16 both on top (horizontal), and on the bottom (classic vertical).
Like this MSI B150M ICAFE AIO:
cn.msi.com/Motherboard/B150M-ICAFE-AIO.html#hero-specification
Only available in China ATM, but it may be the sign that PIO cases may hit the shelves soon, with those pretty tiny boards.
Maybe I'm showing my age a little...