Skylake-Based Z170 Gaming Mini ITX Motherboard

Shame that the ASUS board looks like it was designed to attract 14-year-old kids. Wonder if you can remove those covers off the heatsinks.
 
Asus seem to be doing an abysmal job at actually providing truthful information when it comes to the specifications of the Z170i. Not exactly encouraging for a £130 motherboard.
 
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Z170I-PRO-GAMING/

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Asus Z170I doesn't have a USB Type C connector. Sheesh, each manufacturer's board is missing a nice feature and none of them have it all.

I think I'll still go with AsRock at this stage.

The Z170 Pro Gaming, it's bigger brother has USB Type C, though. Has black caps as well. Little brother is mistreated.

However, to me it's rather obvious that they saved USB Type C to the Impact VIII, which is coming in October. The Impact VIII probably has all that you wished for. There were some flaws on the previous generation, though.

Shame that the ASUS board looks like it was designed to attract 14-year-old kids. Wonder if you can remove those covers off the heatsinks.

Yeah, the mobo looked respectable until I saw that cover on the chipset heatsink.

The manual doesn;t list the card, but it does indiacte it is an m.2 card:

Might be hope then, but manuals are full of errors already pointed out.
 
Got my gigabyte Z170N-wifi today.

Put it all together with Kingston HyperX Fury HX426C15FBK2/16 (2x8GB) and got 4 long beeps and 1 short. Which seems to indicate problem with RAM. Removing both sticks same error. Swapping around individual sticks etc. same error.

Most likely the board doesn't like the type or both are dead or the mobo is DOA. Either way, asking supplier to test and in case they do work change them with a pair that's on the Gigabyte compatibility list.
In many years of building my PC I've never had an issue like this.
 
Did you check ram compatibility? is that Kingston on the list?

The list is on the site, I download this info a few weeks ago and it's not on that list... unless it's been updated. The HX26C15FB4/16 is but not the one you listed.

Sorry. Hope you get it sorted.
 
Got my gigabyte Z170N-wifi today.

Put it all together with Kingston HyperX Fury HX426C15FBK2/16 (2x8GB) and got 4 long beeps and 1 short. Which seems to indicate problem with RAM. Removing both sticks same error. Swapping around individual sticks etc. same error.

Most likely the board doesn't like the type or both are dead or the mobo is DOA. Either way, asking supplier to test and in case they do work change them with a pair that's on the Gigabyte compatibility list.
In many years of building my PC I've never had an issue like this.

I have never really worried about RAM compatibility lists before either. Somebody else mentioned a problem with compatibility with the gaming 5 so I picked from the list this time to be safe and had no problem. I went with 16gb (2x8) corsair (2666) but don't have the exact model on hand. The gaming 5 list on the website did cover pretty much all of the ddr4 corsair sticks available so that may be a good brand to go with for these boards.
 
Ordered a pair of Corsair sticks which should arrive tomorrow. If they do work it'll be the first time for me and friends that RAM compatibility is an issue.
 
Ordered a pair of Corsair sticks which should arrive tomorrow. If they do work it'll be the first time for me and friends that RAM compatibility is an issue.

Wow close one, I was about to buy the same combo.
Let me know if the corsair ones works.
I will have to look for different memory to now..
 
I don't think ram compatibility is that big of an issue these days, but it used to be the single most common reason for a new system to fail, I always check compatibility before buying.

It's the 1st thing to check if a new system fails to post.
 
core i5 6500
ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming-ITX/ac
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 Windforce 2X 4GB
16GB (2x 8192MB) Crucial CT2K8G4DFD8213
1000GB Samsung 850 Evo
Raijintek Metis Mini-ITX
Cooltek LP53
500 Watt Silverstone Strider Gold

Now waiting for the dan a4.

Waiting for the Dan A4 as well :)
Did you encounter any problem fitting the Cooltek LP53 on the ASRock Z170 Gaming-ITX/ac ? Must be a tight fit.

About the ram compatibility on the Gigabyte mobo, I have read the list yesterday and they list Kingston's 4x4go ram as compatible on a mini ITX mobo, are they serious ?

This and the fact that the USB 3.0 header is placed near the cpu socket, limiting your cooler options.

Let us know how it goes.
 
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Waiting for the Dan A4 as well :)
Did you encounter any problem fitting the Cooltek LP53 on the ASRock Z170 Gaming-ITX/ac ? Must be a tight fit.

About the ram compatibility on the Gigabyte mobo, I have read the list yesterday and they list Kingston's 4x4go ram as compatible on a mini ITX mobo, are they serious ?

This and the fact that the USB 3.0 header is placed near the cpu socket, limiting your cooler options.

Let us know how it goes.

The gigabyte ram compabality chart is really weird. I thought that any ddr4 ram would just work...
 
please don't blow this out of proportion. Keep in mind that Saens (as he said him self) didn't have any other RAM or MBO to confirm that either of those were DOA or something else.
Let's see what happens next ...

Keep calm (don't claim incompatibility on sample of 1 and possible DOA)
 
Nothing is out of proportion. I really doubt that this is a ram compatibility. They probably made a typo by listing Kingston 4x4 or 4x8 rams compatible and not the 2x4 and 2x8 one. That is just funny considering ITX boards have only 2 slots.

My gripe on the Gigabyte offer right now is the USB 3.0 header placement and the fact that most of the sata ports are right angled.
I guess the first will limit you cooling option to 9,5/10mm large cooler. And the second one shouldn't be "cramp space around mobo" friendly like Dan A4.

It's a shame because the Gigabyte Wifi is well rounded considering what you get for what you pay.
 
For the current crop of boards, I'm not too worried about lack of USB type C. NO ITX Z170 board has the Thunderbolt (or any other Alternate Mode) active, so there's no benefit there. Due to there only being single-stack Type C connectors available, using Type C at the moment basically means giving up two or more USB ports for a single port. e.g. Asus Z170i having 8 USB ports (2x 3.1, 4x 3.0, 2x 2.0) to the GA-Z170N-Gaming 5's 5 ports (2x USB 3.1, 3x USB 3.0) on the rear I/O panel.
 
It seems to me that it's the front where you'd want the type-C connector to be, not the back where you'll have to look over your case to find the port anyway. And most importantly, on the device you are trying to connect, like a phone, storage or headset.
 
Nothing is out of proportion. I really doubt that this is a ram compatibility. They probably made a typo by listing Kingston 4x4 or 4x8 rams compatible and not the 2x4 and 2x8 one. That is just funny considering ITX boards have only 2 slots.

My gripe on the Gigabyte offer right now is the USB 3.0 header placement and the fact that most of the sata ports are right angled.
I guess the first will limit you cooling option to 9,5/10mm large cooler. And the second one shouldn't be "cramp space around mobo" friendly like Dan A4.

It's a shame because the Gigabyte Wifi is well rounded considering what you get for what you pay.

I ordered a usb 3.0 header extension cable with a low profile connector for the motherboard end. There is plenty of room to hook the low profile cable up under my cryorig c1 but the standard tall ass connector couldnt make the bend tight enough to fit. The right angle sata actually worked better for me in the ft03 mini. It is very cramped once assembled but swapping sata cables to different ports was very easy with the right angle. All depends on the case configuration and the connectors that come with it I guess.
 
Yes it all depends on what you want to do with it.

Could you post a link to the USB 3.0 header extension cable you are referring too ?
 
It seems to me that it's the front where you'd want the type-C connector to be, not the back where you'll have to look over your case to find the port anyway. And most importantly, on the device you are trying to connect, like a phone, storage or headset.
Going all Type-C at the rear would allow a higher connector density (once multi-stack connectors become available). It also makes blind-plugging a lot easier than the current insert > rotate > insert > rotate > insert-again > rotate > insert >pull-the-damn-thing-out-to-try-and-see-which-way-up-the-port-and-connector-are sequence
 
Put in the Corsairs, reset the BIOS by shorting the jumper and off we went. So yea, go with Gigabyte certified RAM.

/edit or they were both DOA
 
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Put in the Corsairs, reset the BIOS by shorting the jumper and off we went. So yea, go with Gigabyte certified RAM.

/edit or they were both DOA

Do you have a link to the corsair ram?
Looking for a single 8gb stick or dual 8gb sticks(16gb)

Looked at the graf but I did not get any wiser from it..
 
Do you have a link to the corsair ram?
Looking for a single 8gb stick or dual 8gb sticks(16gb)

Looked at the graf but I did not get any wiser from it..

I got these
Corsair Vengeance LPX CMK16GX4M2A2666C16
16GB (2x 8GB)
 
Waiting for the Dan A4 as well :)
Did you encounter any problem fitting the Cooltek LP53 on the ASRock Z170 Gaming-ITX/ac ? Must be a tight fit.

Let us know how it goes.

Wasn't tight at all. The only tough part was the graphics card with the sfx l psu.
 
It seems to me that it's the front where you'd want the type-C connector to be, not the back

Yeah this is true. Aside from keyboard and mouse, I never plug anything else in the back if I can help it. I'd like to have C for future-proof reasons, but realistically speaking it will probably be a couple years before I have something that uses that port.

And it'll be just as long before we get cases with front USB C.
 
Hey guys just finished building my first PC in the NCASE M1 a few days ago. I use the ASROCK Z170 Fatal1ty motherboard which has worked mostly fine. The only "issue" is that any fan I put in the CHA_FAN1 connector doesn't display in the BIOS or programs such as SpeedFan/HWMonitor. It displays the CPU_FAN and CHA_FAN2 fans perfectly with their speed. However none of the fans in CHA_FAN1 ever shows. But I did test change the fan speed from "Standard" to "Full Speed" in the BIOS for CHA_FAN1 and sure enough it does change the speed. I guess it doesn't matter much because it spins fine but it just bugs me that I can't see the speed for any fan in that particular connector. Does anyone have any ideas what might be causing this issue?

Thanks!

Edit- I should mention that the fans I am using are Corsair SP120's for the Chassis Fans. I switched them around CHA_FAN1 and CHA_FAN2 to find that no matter what fan is in CHA_FAN1 it doesn't display the info.
 
The RPM pin, which gets the rotation speed from the fan, is most probably broken. This could be a reason to return the board, but I wouldn't do it
 
Is it true that the only Skylake ITX board that exists now or is even in the works that has Alpine Ridge onboard is the Gigabyte Z170N-Gaming 5?!?

I can't find anything definitive on whether or not the ASUS Maximus VIII Impact is going to be doing USB 3.1 via an Asmedia chip or via Intel Alpine Ridge controller, but the damn board was supposed to be shipping by now, so *somebody* must have actually seen one and knows which chip ASUS is using on it. I am assuming it's the Asmedia.

Can anybody comment on just how bad the Qualcomm E2201 gigabit ethernet ("Killer E2201") chip is that the Gigabyte board uses? Everyone on the forum here seems to prefer Intel's GigE implementation instead, but I'm unsure as to why. I've only had good experiences with Intel's GigE (and I've used hundreds of them over the years), but I've never owned a "Killer" branded NIC or motherboard with it onboard. My understanding is that if you don't actually use the "Killer" QoS software, then it should still be a reasonably decent network interface -- is that not true?

I want to build a new ITX box to run Linux and Windows 7 and 10 and maybe MacOS X if it's not too big a PITA to get running on Skylake, but if I'm going to spend the money on Skylake (vs. a cheaper e.g. LGA 1150 Z97 board which won't have DDR4 and won't take 16GB DIMMs or have USB 3.1), then I want the Alpine Ridge controller, and none of the ITX boards seem to have them except for that one Gigabyte board.

I've been burned by Asmedia chips way too many times over over the years (especially in Linux), and there's just no way in hell I'm going to trust the Asmedia ASM1142 with 40Gbps worth of USB3.1 and DP and Thunderbolt 2 signals in Linux. I barely trust Intel to get that interface right, and they're the gold standard...
 
I can't find anything definitive on whether or not the ASUS Maximus VIII Impact is going to be doing USB 3.1 via an Asmedia chip or via Intel Alpine Ridge controller, but the damn board was supposed to be shipping by now
No one has ever said it should have been shipped by now, it was expected to be released or announced in September or October.
If you aren't in a hurry, I'd wait a little longer to find out if it does have 3.1.
 
Is it true that the only Skylake ITX board that exists now or is even in the works that has Alpine Ridge onboard is the Gigabyte Z170N-Gaming 5? n[...] there's just no way in hell I'm going to trust the Asmedia ASM1142 with 40Gbps worth of USB3.1 and DP and Thunderbolt 2 signals in Linux.
Remember that while the Z170N Gaming 5 has the Alpine Ridge controller, it does not have Thunderbolt active on the Type C port. I wouldn't buy one on the chance that Gigabyte might decide to enable Thunderbolt support in the future (as that would be a massive selling point for the board at launch if it were possible).
 
Interesting...

I had assumed that once Gigabyte had done their jobs by providing the Intel CPU, the Intel GL82Z170 PCH/Z170 chip, the Intel Alpine Ridge chip, the Type C socket, and the impedance-controlled copper traces between them all (plus the charge-power regulation), then it would only be a matter of an either a) an Intel-furnished or b) an independently-developed Linux kernel driver in order to enable Thunderbolt support, and that Gigabyte would have very little to do with whether or not this board does or does not support Thunderbolt, at least under Linux.

But you make a good point, though, that there might well be BIOS support needed that Gigabyte may or may not ever decide to provide in order to support Thunderbolt over USB Type C for the Gaming 5 board. I hadn't considered that.

Phuncz, my apologies, I misunderstood the thread below regarding Maximus VIII Impact. I thought "availability" meant shipping from Asus to retail channels, not "product announcement" or some other intermediate step. Thank you for clarifying that for me.

Certainly, anandtech is claiming that Gigabyte has exclusive access to the Alpine Ridge controller chip for now, which was the basis for me thinking that ASUS would not provide it on Maximus VIII Impact.

(https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?75157-Maximus-VIII-Impact-availability)
(http://www.anandtech.com/show/9485/...srock-asus-gigabyte-msi-ecs-evga-supermicro/9)
 
So, quick question... I've seen mixed reports about getting 32Gb RAM kits working on Skylake ITX builds.

I'm hoping to do this build sometime over the next 6 months, but the last thing I'm unsure about is the RAM support. There aren't any listed incompatibilities, but with people saying some kits just aren't working with their Skylake motherboards for near no reason, it has me a little worried. Will the motherboard and RAM work together in my build?

Anything I should know about doing this build?
 
So, quick question... I've seen mixed reports about getting 32Gb RAM kits working on Skylake ITX builds.

I'm hoping to do this build sometime over the next 6 months, but the last thing I'm unsure about is the RAM support. There aren't any listed incompatibilities, but with people saying some kits just aren't working with their Skylake motherboards for near no reason, it has me a little worried. Will the motherboard and RAM work together in my build?

Anything I should know about doing this build?

Go check ASrock Z170 Gaming ITX Memory Support List :
http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming-ITXac/?cat=Memory

Seems like only few 16gb ram are supported right now. And none are from Corsair.
 
I have been on the lookout for a ITX board with TB3 as well. I'm pretty happy i didnt bet on Gigabyte activating TB through bios updates on the Z170N Gaming 5 with the Alpine Ridge controller as they will most likely have a new SKU like they did with GA-Z170X-UD5 / GA-Z170X-UD5 TH.

I'm putting my faith in the ROG Impact VIII now, so the Intel 6700K on the table next to me can be put to use.
 
The RPM pin, which gets the rotation speed from the fan, is most probably broken. This could be a reason to return the board, but I wouldn't do it

I just stopped by the ASRock America offices since I live kind of close by. They gave me a brand new replacement board and it still has the same problem. You're right though it's not a big enough problem since the fan does spin but just cant see the speed.
 
You should let them know, it might be fixable with a BIOS update maybe ?
 
Sent a ticket to Gigabyte a while ago asking about TB3 support on the gaming5.
Got the following response

Checked with our Hardware Team, the H/W of GA-Z170N-Gaming 5 do not supportThunderbolt.
 
@ Saens:

they should probably change their manual.. you can see "Intel Thunderbolt 3 Controller" on the description of the PCB :)
 
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