MSI to Fuse OC and Gaming Lines with Z170 Family

btarunr · Jul 31, 2015

MSI is set to fuse its two premium motherboard lines - OC Series and Gaming, with its upcoming Z170 family. The company's upcoming Z170 XPower Gaming Titanium Edition is the first such product. This stunning looking board features a silvery-white PCB, with the frosty-silver scheme continuing on to the chipset and VRM heatsinks. Its main PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (which are wired to the CPU), feature a chrome tipped slot brace. Built in the ATX form-factor, the Z170 XPower Gaming Titanium Edition draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX, 8-pin EPS, 4-pin ATX, and 6-pin PCIe power connectors. It uses a 16-phase VRM with tantalum capacitors, to condition power for the CPU. The CPU is wired to four DDR4 DIMM slots, supporting up to 64 GB of dual-channel memory.

Expansion slots include four PCI-Express 3.0 x16, from which three are wired to the CPU (electrical x16/NC/NC or x8/NC/x8 or x8/x4/x4); the fourth is electrical PCIe 3.0 x4 and wired to the PCH. Three PCIe 3.0 x1 slots make for the rest of the expansion area. Storage connectivity includes two M.2 32 Gb/s slots, two SATA-Express 16 Gb/s, and eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports. Display outputs include one each of DisplayPort and HDMI. USB connectivity includes 4 USB 3.1 slots, which include a mixture of type-A and type-C, with a physical type-A port pointing "forwards." MSI AudioBoost 3 audio solution, and Killer E2200 NIC make for the rest of its connectivity. The board features a detachable module with OC controls, called the OC Dashboard. This plugs into headers around the voltage measurement points. You also get automatic overclocking via a rotary knob. MSI will launch this board in its first wave of socket LGA1151 motherboards.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

Chaitanya · Jul 31, 2015

that is one insane looking motherboard. I hope it is available in India at launch, as I wouldn't mind upgrading my old AMD system to either a Z170 based or a X99 based system.

SammyHayabuza · Jul 31, 2015

"Expansion slots include four PCI-Express 3.0 x16, from which three are wired to the CPU (electrical x16/NC/NC or x8/NC/x8 or x8/x4/x4); the fourth is electrical PCIe 3.0 x4 and wired to the PCH. "

But the Z170 chipset has 20 lanes, I should be able to run a GPU at full 16x and a NVMe PCIe SSD at 4x with no issues right? Also Sli at Full 8X/8X and 4x NVMe. (8x/4x/8x)

AsRock · Jul 31, 2015

Wow a board i actually like, like how they split the PCI-e connector too ( for x8 x8 config ). Might be short on USB ports as it might have have one short due to the diag being in the place were one normally is but looks like it has 3 up on the front of it.

Made the picture grainy so it looks better when you buy it ?

, i be tempted if the price was not extreme which i think it would be.

IvTK · Jul 31, 2015

Full size image XD
5160x4000 is too large to upload here

http://rghost.net/6WH2zCyjD/image.png

romeg · Jul 31, 2015

I'm planning a Skylake build. I really like the looks of this board as well as the specs. Certainly a mobo to seriously check out.

bogami · Jul 31, 2015

PLX processor was Too Expensive. :mad:

So he could have a titanium authority without PLX is titanium lipstick. :mad:

. Titanium fuckt up.
It is normal even good board with solid elements (170$)with normal OC options . but for the color does not have to bee designate titanium.

micropage7 · Jul 31, 2015

oo yeah, new soltek board

iwant, i want.....

BorisDG · Jul 31, 2015

"Guys we can't make "pure" white PCB like our rivals from ASUS, so we decided to go with "silver"-ish one. Hope you like it and ... buy it.".

Caring1 · Jul 31, 2015

An overclocking board without dual bios or replaceable chip? No thanks.

ironcerealbox · Jul 31, 2015

SammyHayabuza said:
"Expansion slots include four PCI-Express 3.0 x16, from which three are wired to the CPU (electrical x16/NC/NC or x8/NC/x8 or x8/x4/x4); the fourth is electrical PCIe 3.0 x4 and wired to the PCH. "

But the Z170 chipset has 20 lanes, I should be able to run a GPU at full 16x and a NVMe PCIe SSD at 4x with no issues right? Also Sli at Full 8X/8X and 4x NVMe. (8x/4x/8x)

To answer your first question: No. You will get x8 on the card and x8 (technically, x4 since I don't think there are x8 PCIE SSDs out). The configuration choices Intel gives you is x16/0/0 or x8/x8/0 or x8/x8/x4. Basically, you are better off getting M.2 PCIE 3.0x4 SSDs so as to not kill off your available GPU lanes ASSUMING that PCIE 3.0x8 will limit current GPUs (which it won't). Also, an M.2 PCIE 3.0x4 SSD should have the same theoretical bandwidth as an NVMe PCIE 3.0x4 SSD. However, latencies are now involved (NVMe vs. AHCI)...and, of course, I start to digress. But in all seriousness, running your card at 3.0x8 won't limit it in any way in the foreseeable future.

To answer your second question: Yes. Since you have 3 devices, they can match up with what Intel planned for the Z170 chipset: GPU/GPU/NVMe device @ x8/x8/x4, respectively.

The Z170 chipset is the southbridge. The CPU has 20 lanes of PCIE 3.0 for graphics. The Z170 has 20 lanes of PCIE 3.0 for M.2 support, SATA-Express, SATAIII, USB 3.1/3.0/2.0 and other "slower" devices.

That is a MASSIVE increase in bandwidth for a southbridge. Intel's enthusiast chipsets from P67 and Z68 (mated to Sandy Bridge CPUs) to the current Z97 (in line with Haswell and Broadwell) all had only 8 lanes of PCIE 2.0. Even the X99 adopters are limited to 8 lanes of PCIE 2.0 for their slower devices (of course, they get 40 lanes for CPU PCIE, though).

THAT is the main reason for my finally upgrading from my Ivy Bridge i7-3770K and a Z77 ASUS MAXIMUS V EXTREME to a Skylake i7-6700K and a solid Z170 motherboard. I really like full support by everyone (Intel and the board makers) of M.2 PCIE 3.0x4 for a whopping 32Gbps theoretical throughput along with better support for NVMe PCIE SSDs. No more workarounds to get your Z97 motherboard to recognize an M.2 PCIE 3.0x4 SSD (I'm looking at you ASRock).

So, yes, this generation of chipsets really do bring something more to the table.

natr0n · Jul 31, 2015

soyo dragon comes to mind.

Jhelms · Jul 31, 2015

Ha! First thing that came to my mind too - an old soyo dragon! Good lord I killed a lot of those mobos.

Gotta say though... this one is sexy as hell!

Assimilator · Jul 31, 2015

Ugh. Killer NIC being shoved into everything. Even more of a reason to stay away from MSI.

Frick · Jul 31, 2015

First I looked at the picture and thought ".... that dual socket board sure looks strange". Then I looked again and now I like it.

kn00tcn · Jul 31, 2015

my 660 is 'GAMING OC', the future was fusion?

cadaveca · Jul 31, 2015

Assimilator said:
Ugh. Killer NIC being shoved into everything. Even more of a reason to stay away from MSI.

You've never used this KillerNIC. Might be a bit quick to judge here.

AsRock · Jul 31, 2015

cadaveca said:
You've never used this KillerNIC. Might be a bit quick to judge here.

If it means cheaper motherboard to have a INTEL or broadcom or even realtec nic i am all for it. Don't need shit to drive costs up even higher foror whats been proven so many times not to be worth it.

v12dock · Aug 1, 2015

AsRock said:
If it means cheaper motherboard to have a INTEL or broadcom or even realtec nic i am all for it. Don't need shit to drive costs up even higher foror whats been proven so many times not to be worth it.

They just released a 160KB driver even more reason to get MSI

RejZoR · Aug 1, 2015

Does it even matter what PCIe is available? Unless you're doing 4 way SLI/Crossfire, it doesn't really matter. And these are what, PCIe 3.x or 4.x ? x4 and x8 are as fast as old x16 anyway and even old ones hardly made any difference...

cadaveca · Aug 1, 2015

RejZoR said:
Does it even matter what PCIe is available? Unless you're doing 4 way SLI/Crossfire, it doesn't really matter. And these are what, PCIe 3.x or 4.x ? x4 and x8 are as fast as old x16 anyway and even old ones hardly made any difference...

...unless you want a PCIe SSD. They do over 1000 MB a sec if you get a good one.

You can take it from there, I suppose...

RejZoR · Aug 1, 2015

Reaistically, will someone who can afford a high end PCIe SSD be buying a "budget" motherboard? I think people like this go with E platforms like the X99 or whatever will be for Skylake-E...

cadaveca · Aug 1, 2015

RejZoR said:
Reaistically, will someone who can afford a high end PCIe SSD be buying a "budget" motherboard?

M.2 is PCIe in some implementations. So yes, I do think so.

AsRock · Aug 1, 2015

v12dock said:
They just released a 160KB driver even more reason to get MSI

What ?, the gain a millisecond or some thing lol. I find it hard to believe anyone without any software telling them their is a difference will even know.

Bundy · Aug 1, 2015

Its not a very good value for money purchase (as a gamer) if it includes all the OC gear.

System Name	RBMK-1000
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling	DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory	2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s)	Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage	Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
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	PC.
Processor	i7 2600K 5.0Gh,i7 3770K 5.00Gh. EK, Liqed Coooleng
Motherboard	P67A-UD7-B3 Gigabyte T.,ASUS,P8Z77-V PREMIUM,MAXIMUS V EXTRIME..
Cooling	Liqed Cooleng ,EK Suprime LTX Nickel,EK for Motherboard,Aqua computer (WGA), Thermaltake .... 0i,
Memory	G.SKILL F3-17600CL7-2GBPISG. 16GBSkill Sniper F3-17000CL94GBSR on 2400Hz 10-12-11-29 1
Video Card(s)	GTX590 ,SLI ,POV TGT best 691Hz ,LiqedCoold,GTX480.....GTX1080MSI SeaHawkEK SLI
Storage	OCZ-REVODRIVE 3-240GB,2xCrucialMX100.512.R-0,1x LMT-32L3m,3x 1TB-WD,1x;1x2TbSEAGATE1x2Tb Seagate
Display(s)	DELL-U2412Mb,Samsung Synkmaster245B,HP ENVY 34c
Case	Thermaltake, NZXT SWITCH 810SE
Audio Device(s)	CREATIVE BLASTER X-Fi Titanium HD , AUNE T1MK2 TUBE USB
Power Supply	ENERMAX Platimax 1500W,Thermaltake 1500W
Mouse	VIPER V560,FUNC MS-3, Prestigio, R.A.T.E.7 and 5,LogitechG502,RAZER,Inperator.,dead...a.s.o.
Keyboard	Trust ....LogotechG410
Software	Windows7 64....
Benchmark Scores	3DMark Fire Strike 21.385 (37.234,11.828,7.176)

System Name	micropage7
Processor	Intel Xeon X3470
Motherboard	Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd. P55A-UD3R (Socket 1156)
Cooling	Enermax ETS-T40F
Memory	Samsung 8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3
Video Card(s)	NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800
Storage	V-GEN03AS18EU120GB, Seagate 2 x 1TB and Seagate 4TB
Display(s)	Samsung 21 inch LCD Wide Screen
Case	Icute Super 18
Audio Device(s)	Auzentech X-Fi Forte
Power Supply	Silverstone 600 Watt
Mouse	Logitech G502
Keyboard	Sades Excalibur + Taihao keycaps
Software	Win 7 64-bit
Benchmark Scores	Classified

System Name	Black Knight \| White Queen
Processor	Intel Core i9-10940X (28 cores) \| Intel Core i7-5775C (8 cores)
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Rampage VI Extreme Encore X299G \| ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark S (White)
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black \| Xigmatek Dark Knight SD-1283 Night Hawk (White)
Memory	G.SKILL Trident Z RGB 4x8GB DDR4 3600MHz CL16 \| Corsair Vengeance LP 4x4GB DDR3L 1600MHz CL9 (White)
Video Card(s)	ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4090 OC \| KFA2/Galax GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Hall of Fame Edition
Storage	Samsung 990 Pro 2TB, 980 Pro 1TB, 850 Pro 256GB, 840 Pro 256GB, WD 10TB+ (incl. VelociRaptors)
Display(s)	Dell Alienware AW2721D 240Hz\| LG OLED evo C4 48" 144Hz
Case	Corsair 7000D AIRFLOW (Black) \| NZXT ??? w/ ASUS DRW-24B1ST
Audio Device(s)	ASUS Xonar Essence STX \| Realtek ALC1150
Power Supply	Enermax Revolution 1250W 85+ \| Super Flower Leadex Gold 650W (White)
Mouse	Razer Basilisk Ultimate, Razer Naga Trinity \| Razer Mamba 16000
Keyboard	Razer Blackwidow Chroma V2 (Orange switch) \| Razer Ornata Chroma
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64bit

System Name	Lenovo ThinkCentre
Processor	AMD 5650GE
Motherboard	Lenovo
Memory	32 GB DDR4
Display(s)	AOC 24" Freesync 1m.s. 75Hz
Mouse	Lenovo
Keyboard	Lenovo
Software	W11 Pro 64 bit

MSI to Fuse OC and Gaming Lines with Z170 Family

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator

Chaitanya

SammyHayabuza

AsRock

TPU addict

IvTK

romeg

bogami

micropage7

BorisDG

Caring1

ironcerealbox

natr0n

Jhelms

Assimilator

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop

kn00tcn

cadaveca

My name is Dave

AsRock

TPU addict

v12dock

Block Caption of Rainey Street

RejZoR

cadaveca

My name is Dave

RejZoR

cadaveca

My name is Dave

AsRock

TPU addict

Bundy

System Name	natr0n-PC
Processor	Ryzen 5950x-5600x \| 9600k
Motherboard	B450 AORUS M \| Z390 UD
Cooling	EK AIO 360 - 6 fan action \| AIO
Memory	Patriot - Viper Steel DDR4 (B-Die)(4x8GB) \| Samsung DDR4 (4x8GB)
Video Card(s)	EVGA 3070ti FTW
Storage	Various
Display(s)	Pixio PX279 Prime
Case	Thermaltake Level 20 VT \| Black bench
Audio Device(s)	LOXJIE D10 + Kinter Amp + 6 Bookshelf Speakers Sony+JVC+Sony
Power Supply	Super Flower Leadex III ARGB 80+ Gold 650W \| EVGA 700 Gold
Software	XP/7/8.1/10
Benchmark Scores	http://valid.x86.fr/79kuh6

System Name	Project Evolv mATX V2
Processor	5800X3D
Motherboard	ASRock B550M Steel Legend
Cooling	AK400 Zero Dark Plus
Memory	32gb (4x8) G.SKILL 3200 C14 / 1T running at 3400
Video Card(s)	Sapphire 6800XT Nitro
Storage	Samsung 980 pro NVMe 2TB
Display(s)	Dual Samsung 27" G50A's
Case	Phanteks Enthoo Evolv mATX in Silver
Audio Device(s)	To many to list - generally a modified E-MU 0404 combined with a Project Ember for my desktop use
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime Titanium 750W
Software	Win 11

System Name	Firelance.
Processor	Threadripper 3960X
Motherboard	ROG Strix TRX40-E Gaming
Cooling	IceGem 360 + 6x Arctic Cooling P12
Memory	8x 16GB Patriot Viper DDR4-3200 CL16
Video Card(s)	MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti Ventus 2X OC
Storage	2TB WD SN850X (boot), 4TB Crucial P3 (data)
Display(s)	3x AOC Q32E2N (32" 2560x1440 75Hz)
Case	Enthoo Pro II Server Edition (Closed Panel) + 6 fans
Power Supply	Fractal Design Ion+ 2 Platinum 760W
Mouse	Logitech G602
Keyboard	Razer Pro Type Ultra
Software	Windows 10 Professional x64

System Name	White DJ in Detroit
Processor	Ryzen 5 5600
Motherboard	Asrock B450M-HDV
Cooling	Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Memory	2 x 16GB Kingston Fury 3400mhz
Video Card(s)	XFX 6950XT Speedster MERC 319
Storage	Kingston A400 240GB \| WD Black SN750 2TB \|WD Blue 1TB x 2 \| Toshiba P300 2TB \| Seagate Expansion 8TB
Display(s)	Samsung U32J590U 4K + BenQ GL2450HT 1080p
Case	Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s)	Line6 UX1 + Sony MDR-10RC, Nektar SE61 keyboard
Power Supply	Corsair RM850x v3
Mouse	Logitech G602
Keyboard	Cherry MX Board 1.0 TKL Brown
Software	Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	Rimworld 4K ready!

System Name	Grandpa
Processor	i5 4690K
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H-BK
Cooling	water
Memory	8GB Corsair Vengence 2400MHz
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte 5850 x2
Storage	Samsung SM951
Display(s)	Catleap 27"
Case	coolermaster stacker
Power Supply	corsair AX860i
Mouse	logitech g5 original
Keyboard	Ducky
Software	Windows 8.1