EVGA EVGA Z170 Stinger ASRock ASRock Z170 Gaming-ITX/ac Gigabyte Gigabyte Z170N-WIFI Asus ASUS Z170i Pro Gaming MSI Biostar I'm getting excited about a new build. As long as skylake is decent. Collecting all info on models of Z170 mITX boards.
So far only Gigabyte seems to be taking full advantage of the chipset features. Any board that lacks m.2 and the usb 3.1/Thunderbolt C connector would be a non starter in my opinion. I do wish they would all dump sata express in favor of the u.2 (SFF-8639) as it is clearly the winner there. Personally I will be waiting for Skylake-E before I make any choices about upgrading... also super excited to see how the new DDR4 hybrid nvdimm does though I fear the prices.
I really don't understand what sata express is included. I don't even know of any sata express drives. With the Z170 chipset all boards should have M.2 as their is no shortage of lanes, especially with mITX boards. Skylake-E is above my budget unfortunately...
The ASRock also has M.2 (presumably on the rear of the board too), and lists a pair of USB 3.1 Type A connectors (to Gigabyte's single Type C). It's a real pain that high density Type C blocks don't seem to be readily available yet, so you have motherboards with the ludicrous inclusion of single Type C connectors in the space where you could fit two Type As. The good news is no boards so far have the CPU socket placed right next to the PCI-E slot, so no fitment issues with larger top-flow heatsinks.
So far the boards are looking good, though choices are few. I only really need 1 usb 3.1 port and a few 3.0. Most devices are still 2.0
Glad designs are looking better when my 2500k dies. Love my sg05 considering how much I van fit in it
The EVGA sadly does not have support for m.2 SSDs; that m.2 port attaches to a riser that points straight up out of the board, intended only for WiFi modules..
SATA express is not needed, m2 should be on the front side, those things run hot. All those listed (ty for doing so) look quite middling. The Asus Impact VII is a beast of an ITX board, the Z170 Impact will probably end up being the top dog...uhm, mouse? of the ITX FF again.
