MSI Launches the Z170I Gaming Pro AC Mini-ITX Motherboard

btarunr · Aug 27, 2015

MSI launched its premium socket LGA1151 motherboard for the mini-ITX form-factor, the Z170I Gaming Pro AC. The board offers a premium feature-set, including support for dual-channel DDR4 memory, with MSI's DDR4 Boost technology. It draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS power connectors, and conditions it using a 5-phase VRM. Expansion slots include a PCI-Express 3.0 x16, an mPCIe (for the WLAN card), and an M.2 (reverse side of the board), with PCI-Express 3.0 x4 wiring.

Storage connectivity includes an M.2 slot (reverse side of the PCB), with 32 Gb/s PCIe bandwidth, and four SATA 6 Gb/s ports, two of which convert to a SATA-Express 16 Gb/s connector. Display outputs include one each of DisplayPort and HDMI. Networking features include a gigabit Ethernet interface (Intel controller), 802.11 ac, and Bluetooth 4.0. The onboard audio solution packs an 8-channel 115 dBA SNR CODEC. There's also a USB 2.0 port specialized for USB headsets. Six USB 3.0 ports make for the rest of it.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

TheLostSwede · Aug 27, 2015

Actually, the Wi-Fi card is using an M.2 slot as well.

Not a bad looking board though, for what it is. Been years since I used MSI though.

Nokiron · Aug 27, 2015

What's up with that 8-pin connector though?

jboydgolfer · Aug 27, 2015

great looking board, im guessing it will run in the $110++ area...weird 8 pin location.

yun4l · Aug 27, 2015

Nokiron said:
What's up with that 8-pin connector though?

+1

and where's SYSFAN2 ?

RMX · Aug 27, 2015

Looks awesome! Found that it also has M.2 on the back which rocks;

MakeDeluxe · Aug 27, 2015

Man, I really hope that is just a bad picture of the mobo. I mean, how could they screw up with the 8-pin's placement like that :confused:

Lionheart · Aug 27, 2015

I know many ppl are over the black & red colour scheme but man that looks sexy as f..k!

GhostRyder · Aug 27, 2015

This board...Man that is a good looking MITX board!!!

I really want one, but I need to see first if it has the voltage for the CPU unlocked before I would be interested.

Fx · Aug 27, 2015

In general, I don't like the color red, but this board would look pretty sweet with an AMD R9 Nano.

deemon · Aug 27, 2015

MakeDeluxe said:
Man, I really hope that is just a bad picture of the mobo. I mean, how could they screw up with the 8-pin's placement like that

and you think they re-touch only ugly celebrities?

it's called "photoshop fail motherboard edition"

PLAfiller · Aug 28, 2015

That is some sick board....gj MSI.

micropage7 · Aug 28, 2015

MakeDeluxe said:
Man, I really hope that is just a bad picture of the mobo. I mean, how could they screw up with the 8-pin's placement like that

yeah, they should give more space for than pins, or simple way just move the heatsink left a little or cut it to make more room

but anyway i like that board, small form factor, many satas, and simple (no add on board)

RMX · Aug 28, 2015

seems they released the wrong photos, I got this from their forums;

deemon · Sep 3, 2015

RMX said:
Looks awesome! Found that it also has M.2 on the back which rocks;

ONLY PROBLEM with this is, that... the only currently available fast M.2 SSD (Samsung SM951) is 2280, but the slot on the MSI board supports only 2242 and 2260 cards. So it's like ... what? Why?

Fx · Oct 7, 2015

deemon said:
ONLY PROBLEM with this is, that... the only currently available fast M.2 SSD (Samsung SM951) is 2280, but the slot on the MSI board supports only 2242 and 2260 cards. So it's like ... what? Why?

Wow! I can't believe they would do that. It doesn't make any sense. I really wanted this board until I found that out because I wouldn't be able to mount the Samsung 950 Pro.

System Name	RBMK-1000
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard	Gigabyte B550 AORUS Elite V2
Cooling	DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory	2x 16GB DDR4-3200
Video Card(s)	Galax RTX 4070 Ti EX
Storage	Samsung 990 1TB
Display(s)	BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case	Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s)	ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply	Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse	ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard	Gamdias Hermes E2
Software	Windows 11 Pro

System Name	Overlord Mk MLI
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard	Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15 SE with offsets
Memory	32GB Team T-Create Expert DDR5 6000 MHz @ CL30-34-34-68
Video Card(s)	Gainward GeForce RTX 4080 Phantom GS
Storage	1TB Solidigm P44 Pro, 2 TB Corsair MP600 Pro, 2TB Kingston KC3000
Display(s)	Acer XV272K LVbmiipruzx 4K@160Hz
Case	Fractal Design Torrent Compact
Audio Device(s)	Corsair Virtuoso SE
Power Supply	be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 850 W
Mouse	Logitech G502 Lightspeed
Keyboard	Corsair K70 Max
Software	Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	https://valid.x86.fr/yfsd9w

System Name	Americas cure is the death of Social Justice & Political Correctness
Processor	i7-11700K
Motherboard	Asrock Z590 Extreme wifi 6E
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12A
Memory	32GB Corsair RGB fancy boi 5000
Video Card(s)	RTX 3090 Reference
Storage	Samsung 970 Evo 1Tb + Samsung 970 Evo 500Gb
Display(s)	Dell - 27" LED QHD G-SYNC x2
Case	Fractal Design Meshify-C
Audio Device(s)	on board
Power Supply	Seasonic Focus+ Gold 1000 Watt
Mouse	Logitech G502 spectrum
Keyboard	AZIO MGK-1 RGB (Kaith Blue)
Software	Win 10 Professional 64 bit
Benchmark Scores	the MLGeesiest

System Name	Grand Aniki
Processor	Ryzen 7 1700X
Motherboard	AsRock B450m Pro4
Cooling	Phanteks PH-TC14PE
Memory	GSkill FlareX 16 GB 3200MHz
Video Card(s)	Asus DUAL RX 480 8 GB
Storage	Seagate Barracuda 1 TB, WD Blue 3 TB, Kingston HyperX Savage 240 GB
Display(s)	Dell U2515H & Zowie XL2411P
Case	Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s)	Asus Xonar DGX
Power Supply	Cooler Master V750 SM
Mouse	Logitech G502
Keyboard	Cooler master Masterkeys Pro M

System Name	Intel NUC 12 Extreme
Processor	Intel Core i7 12700 (E Cores Disabled)
Motherboard	Intel NUC Module Motherboard
Cooling	NUC Blower Cooler + 3 x 92mm Fans
Memory	64GB Corsair 3200Mhz CL22
Video Card(s)	PowerColor RX 9070 16GB Reaper
Storage	Silicon 512GB Gen4 SSD + 256GB SD Card
Display(s)	Sony 4K Bravia X85J 43Inch TV 120Hz
Case	Intel NUC 12 Extreme Mini ITX Case
Audio Device(s)	Realtek Audio + Dolby Atmos
Power Supply	SFX FSP 650 Gold Rated PSU
Mouse	Logitech G203 Lightsync Mouse
Keyboard	Red Dragon K552W RGB White KB.
VR HMD	( ◔ ʖ̯ ◔ )
Software	Windows 10 Home 64bit
Benchmark Scores	None. I also own a Apple Macbook Air M2

MSI Launches the Z170I Gaming Pro AC Mini-ITX Motherboard

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator

TheLostSwede

News Editor

Nokiron

jboydgolfer

yun4l

RMX

MakeDeluxe

Lionheart

GhostRyder

Fx

deemon

PLAfiller

micropage7

RMX

deemon

Fx

System Name	SnowFire / The Reinforcer
Processor	i7 10700K 5.1ghz (24/7) / 2x Xeon E52650v2
Motherboard	Asus Strix Z490 / Dell Dual Socket (R720)
Cooling	RX 360mm + 140mm Custom Loop / Dell Stock
Memory	Corsair RGB 16gb DDR4 3000 CL 16 / DDR3 128gb 16 x 8gb
Video Card(s)	GTX Titan XP (2025mhz) / Asus GTX 950 (No Power Connector)
Storage	Samsung 970 1tb NVME and 2tb HDD x4 RAID 5 / 300gb x8 RAID 5
Display(s)	Acer XG270HU, Samsung G7 Odyssey (1440p 240hz)
Case	Thermaltake Cube / Dell Poweredge R720 Rack Mount Case
Audio Device(s)	Realtec ALC1150 (On board)
Power Supply	Rosewill Lightning 1300Watt / Dell Stock 750 / Brick
Mouse	Logitech G5
Keyboard	Logitech G19S
Software	Windows 11 Pro / Windows Server 2016

Processor	Ryzen 2600x
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Strix X470-F Gaming
Cooling	Noctua
Memory	G.SKILL Flare X Series 16GB DDR4 3466
Video Card(s)	EVGA 980ti FTW
Storage	(OS)Samsung 950 Pro (512GB), (Data) WD Reds
Display(s)	24" Dell UltraSharp U2412M
Case	Fractal Design Define R5
Audio Device(s)	Sennheiser GAME ONE
Power Supply	EVGA SuperNOVA 650 P2
Mouse	Mionix Castor
Keyboard	Deck Hassium Pro
Software	Windows 10 Pro x64

System Name	Zen
Processor	Ryzen 5950X
Motherboard	MSI
Cooling	Noctua
Memory	G.Skill 32G
Video Card(s)	RX 7900 XTX
Storage	never enough
Display(s)	not OLED :-(
Keyboard	Wooting One
Software	Linux

System Name	PLAHI
Processor	I5-13500
Motherboard	ASROCK B760M PRO RS/D4
Cooling	120 AIO IWONGOU
Memory	1x32GB Kingston BEAST DDR4 @ 3200Mhz
Video Card(s)	RTX A2000
Storage	Kingston Renegade GEN4 nVME 512GB
Display(s)	Philips 288E2A 28" 4K + 22" LG 1080p
Case	TT URBAN R31
Audio Device(s)	Creative Soundblaster Z
Power Supply	Fractal Design IntegraM 650W
Mouse	Logitech Triathlon
Keyboard	REDRAGON MITRA
Software	Windows 11 Home x 64