The value for price proposition of MSI's offering makes motherboards like the ASUS Maximus VIII Extreme look like even more of an impractical absurdity when the performance offered by the added $370 in purchase price is so insignificant that it's utterly meaningless.
The very top of the high end will always be absurdly expensive and with a terrible price/performance ratio. But that's how the high end works. Above a point every extra dollar invested brings in diminished returns.
The problem with that other motherboard is that it's not the very top of the high end. Realistically, it only manages to come up to a rough parity with something quite a bit less expensive. Sure there's a widget here and a goo gaw there that's not included at a lower price point, but the point I'm making is that, despite the difference, its only basically equal which doesn't make that other motherboard high end at all, but overpriced mid range.
@BrokenCrayons: "The value for price proposition of MSI's offering makes motherboards like the ASUS Maximus VIII Extreme look like even more of an impractical absurdity ..."
Not sure, but I don't think value or practicality has anything to do with the decision to buy an ASUS ROG board. ; ' )
Yeah, that's a completely valid point. Not everyone cares about getting a return on their purchase that's meaningfully higher on a set of benchmarks. If that's their thing, then sure, have at it.
There are a couple of different scenarios which still require PS/2: 1) As a systems admin I've run into systems that won't allow me access to BIOS menus using USB keyboards/mice 2) My 30 year old IBM Model M keyboard is still rock solid, and I'll only part with it when I leave this mortal coil.
Then there are the systems where a USB keyboard/mouse will not function at all until you are able to access the BIOS and adjust the USB legacy settings. No I have no idea why this is still happening. I too have a very old PS2 keyboard I will not let out of my home...ever.
since when has it been about performance? the high end motherboards have more features than budget ones.
they may overclock better or have some higher end components that purport to offer better stability, but again, features. nothing is directly "faster" or "slower" from motherboard to motherboard.
It's missing DisplayPort. Sadly, nearly all cheaper boards miss this. So, if you don't have a need for powerful graphics and are just fine with the IGP, but you still want to hook up one of those quite cheapie 4k monitor, you're out of luck. Really wish they'd ditch those near useless VGA and DVI-D ports in favor of DP (ok the latter isn't useless but all of intel's DVI-D ports are going to be single-link, hence limited to 1920x1200) - or better instead of ditching DVI-D and VGA they should just have one DVI-I port instead for people who really want to hook up that analog monitor there...
Your use case is very much a niche. 4K monitors are not the norm. Many people still have vga monitors as well. If you're going to drive a 4k display odds are you wont be using igp. I don't really see an issue here.
To add to that, even if I wanted a 4k monitor, I'd personally not want to use DP for that. A port meant just for computers was a terrible idea from the start and I will never buy anything with it. I'll stick with HDMI and its future versions. And DP has the same limitations as HDMI in regards to 4k@60p - you need newer versions of either to support that.
No, you only need DP 1.2 for 4k@60p (with no chroma subsampling). Everybody supports that since like forever. But for the same with HDMI, you need HDMI 2.0, which isn't supported by anything intel ships. All 4k monitors (but, of course, not TVs) support DP 1.2 too (except some very old models). I don't disagree HDMI 2.0 wouldn't be nice, but with Skylake IGP it's just not going to happen.
To clarify, intel supports DP 1.2 since Haswell. And FWIW there's still quite a lot of 4k monitors you can buy today which actually do not support HDMI 2.0 neither - they _require_ DP for 4k@60p. (There actually is a way for skylake based systems to do HDMI 2.0 - the Alpine Ridge TB controller can do that. Clearly, not an option for budged oriented boards. Kaby Lake however should support HDMI 2.0.)
Well, if you just want a gorgeous looking monitor for web browsing, office work or whatever, the IGP would do just fine with a 4k monitor (fwiw apple ships plenty of exactly such configurations). But sure 4k gaming isn't going to work... And as for VGA, that's why I suggested a DVI-I port - can still use monitors with VGA port with that (albeit would require an adapter). Maybe it's a niche (but then things like m2 nvme ssds are a niche too in that price segment), but it could be trivially supported by motherboards with only a tiny cost (no chips or anything required - just the connector).
Funny. Last time I was shopping for a motherboard I was cursing. "Do I really have to pay for all those useless video connectors?" Wasn't much choice. One less useless connector now I suppose. I've only used the IGP VGA in my Ivy Bridge board and then only for the initial testing in the garage where my ancient Eizo CRT sits.
Your data for the Gigabyte UD5 is very wrong (I own it). It has 4 dimm slots, 0x u.2, 1x m.2, and the pcie slots do either 16+4 or 8+8+4. Idk what else is wrong there...
It looks like it's pulling data for a different board entirely. The shopping link is for an Asus mITX board; that appears to have the specs shown here.
I really applaud MSI for this board. It's a great price point for a compelling product. Unfortunately I'm going to be sitting skylake out it looks like. I'm waiting to see what the kaby lake refresh might bring in terms of motherboards because U.2 is really really hard to find in a 170 series for a sane price. The honest truth is that I hope for fewer SATA ports and no SATA Express ports in kaby. Because of the longevity of the cpu performance nowadays I really want 2 or more U.2 ports, ideally one M.2 port for a boot drive. I'd be willing to give up all or almost all sata ports for such a mythical board. (Not that a board with no sata ports would ever sell yet.)
> I'm waiting to see what the kaby lake refresh might bring in terms of motherboards because U.2 is really really hard to find in a 170 series for a sane price.
Well I can understand people wanting to wait for Kaby Lake now. SInce its so near. However lack of U.2 ports isn't really one of them. For one thing, very few products are coming out with U.2. Making it next-to-useless.
Secondly, there do already exist very simple m.2 --> U.2 adapters. So with one of those, then any cheap Z170 mobo with an x4 m.2 slot should work fine. In fact mine has 2 of them, and its not even classed as a mid-range board. (Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 3). And using m.2 --> U.2 adapter is the more flexible solution. Since for some reason theres no adaptors available on the market which can go the other way around.
While I agree that U.2 is nascent, I still had a functioning 2009 board as of this year in use. The truth of the matter is that people still have Sandy and Ivy systems as their main gaming rig. So while yes, there are adapters and add-in cards that would serve the purpose of providing U.2 connectivity, I'd rather have the right ports available and grow into them so to speak. Since I'm looking at keeping the next platform I build for about 8 years or so.
Hey Ian, any word on how far along the x4 845 review your promised a while back is? I'm very interested in it but it's been quite a while now. I know you've been busy on other reviews but just want to know how that's going. If you don't know what I'm talking about: http://www.anandtech.com/comments/10000/who-contro...
It's taken a couple of weeks, but I think the X4 845 is tested (regular and OC). Just need to run through a couple of older gen chips to see difference / IPC - X4 760K only arrived yesterday. Should have the 860K in there as well, all three tested at stock and 3G for comparison - CPU (office, synthetic and realworld tests) and gaming performance are both covered. I've also got a set of i3 parts on the go, most of the new E3 Xeons, an FX retest and new A10 reviews in flight, so apologies for the delays. If you've been following my twitter feed recently, I've been updating the test work flow to hopefully optimize this for the future... :)
I wish more mid-high end boards would sport color schemes like this. If you want to do a mod project, this is like a blank slate that can work with nearly any theme. Unfortunately high end boards usually have one gaudy color that you can't ignore or alter without significant work. I get that its all part of the branding, but having such a neutral color scheme would have been nice when doing my own project.... I found myself having to use red in my build just to make my Asus ROG board (purchased prior to the project) work, even though I don't really care for the color.
Amen to that! I saw the MSI X99A Godlike Gaming Carbon and dropped three credit cards on the floor trying to get the one I initially grabbed! At that point, I had not idea what socket, what the specs were and what was generally compatible. I saw the awesome black and shiny combo, like a black muscle car with lots of chrome and went lights out. I came too when my walked up to me and asked why I had my cards out and why is that big black and metal thing $600.00?!!!
Agreed, this was a factor in me picking the ASUS Z170-A, seemed like every other board in the same price range (before this MSI, which didn't come out until the end of last year) was pimping a red scheme or something bolder.
So I'm in the early stages of thinking about a new build. I don't do this often, I'm currently using a Q6600 box I built almost 8 years ago. I don't game, I don't overclock, I'll use the integrated graphics with an SSD and HDD for storage. Most uses are standard office apps, web browsing plus media, and photography using Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop with a little video using Sony Vegas. There is a bewildering array of motherboards out there. I want a quality mb with quality components, good sound and the latest USB ports but since I'm not on the extreme bleeding edge I don't need to spend a fortune for a mb. This one looks like it might be a good fit for me. Am I right or are there other mbs out there I should look at?
Asrock Z170 Gaming-ITX/ac has all the latest, no extra flush. - Intel i219-v LAN. - Realtek ALC1150 sound. - 2 Chassis Fan ports(not incl CPU) - Display Port 1.2, HDMI 2.0 w/4k@60(but not HDCP 2.2), HDMI 1.4(thats two HDMI ports) - full x4 M.2 on back of motherboard - one regular and one type C USB 3.1 ports - removed the AC Wifi+BT module before install so dont know about that.
One ITX board with no extra stuff. (im ok w/o HDCP 2.2 as that requires an extra chip and who knows what driver issues will pop up). Only thing better would have been two M.2 ports.
Yep I had the ol' q6600 as well and just upgraded to a 6600k with the Asrock z170 itx/ac last month. Tasks like Handbrake are so much quicker. Picked up a GTX 970 as well and couldn't be happier.
This is a very solid choice, Asus Z170-A is worth considering but it might be a touch pricier or harder to find for minor differences. I had an MSI P97 and this SLI PLUS wasn't out when Skylake came out, so I changed it up to ASUS.
I still think ASUS does a better job on the software end, my MSI P97 had certain quirks like not allowing speed control over all fan headers, but those are things they've worked on and fixed since back then.
Guys you have both the comparison table AND the "Test Setup" specs table wrong. This MB doesn't have any SATA-Express ports. I was comparing this one with ASUS' Z170-A and saw you list the later with two LAN adapters which is also wrong. I've always liked your reviews and trusted the data w/o the needed to re-check specs in the manufacturer's website. I hope you get the time to fix this, thanks for the good work!
Yeah the boards are all mixed up in that dropdown comparison table. It was all messed up in the previous motherboard review as well. They are usually good about this stuff, so I hope they fix it soon.
Yet again the motherboard comparison drop down is totally messed up. The specs shown do not match the motherboard selected in the dropdown. I mentioned this on the previous motherboard review as well. Please fix!
It is sad that we consider $130 "the baseline" today... My current computer was bought at a time when $50 mobos were normal and this one would be considered quite high end. And don't even get me started on those $500 scams.
First off thanks for a review. Nice board as well. But looking at local prices here in EU, this board is about the price of Gigabyte's Z170X Gaming 3, and some similar boards. I'm pointing out Gigabyte's as I've just ordered one, and it seems to have comparable features and comparable price, yet GA board also features 2x M.2 slots, few extra USB ports, including 2x of what they call 16Gbps USB 3.1 port (Type A + Type C), and just as rich software and BIOS. Oh and Dual BIOS as well.
So from my point of view, by the local prices - MSI has some hard competition, and I haven't even mentioned some AsRock and ASUS boards I was considering as well,all in similar price range.
Picked this up for my gf a few days ago and paired it with an 6600k @4.4ghz, corsair LPX 16gb, and an asus GTX 970. Bios will take some getting used to as I'm more comfortable with Asrock's bios, but she's happily playing Division is happily at 60fps @ 1080p so I can't complain. Can't wait to finally experiment with SLI by adding my own 970 and see what it can do.
Motherboard manufacturers in 2056 will be including PS/2 connectors to satisfy the new resurgence in demand as tomb raiders unearth the coveted vintage (but still functional) IBM Model M keyboards from the cold, dead hands of a generation of geeks like me after we're finally laid to rest.
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BrokenCrayons - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
The value for price proposition of MSI's offering makes motherboards like the ASUS Maximus VIII Extreme look like even more of an impractical absurdity when the performance offered by the added $370 in purchase price is so insignificant that it's utterly meaningless.close - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
The very top of the high end will always be absurdly expensive and with a terrible price/performance ratio. But that's how the high end works. Above a point every extra dollar invested brings in diminished returns.BrokenCrayons - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
The problem with that other motherboard is that it's not the very top of the high end. Realistically, it only manages to come up to a rough parity with something quite a bit less expensive. Sure there's a widget here and a goo gaw there that's not included at a lower price point, but the point I'm making is that, despite the difference, its only basically equal which doesn't make that other motherboard high end at all, but overpriced mid range.bigboxes - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
Thanks for your input, random comment man.BurntMyBacon - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
@BrokenCrayons: "The value for price proposition of MSI's offering makes motherboards like the ASUS Maximus VIII Extreme look like even more of an impractical absurdity ..."Not sure, but I don't think value or practicality has anything to do with the decision to buy an ASUS ROG board. ; ' )
BrokenCrayons - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
Yeah, that's a completely valid point. Not everyone cares about getting a return on their purchase that's meaningfully higher on a set of benchmarks. If that's their thing, then sure, have at it.Ethos Evoss - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
Really DON'T understand WHY MB manufs. still implementing ancient ps/2 connectors are they stupid or somethin' /??!?! who uses it nowadays ??Major_Kusanagi - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
There are a couple of different scenarios which still require PS/2:1) As a systems admin I've run into systems that won't allow me access to BIOS menus using USB keyboards/mice
2) My 30 year old IBM Model M keyboard is still rock solid, and I'll only part with it when I leave this mortal coil.
random2 - Wednesday, April 20, 2016 - link
Then there are the systems where a USB keyboard/mouse will not function at all until you are able to access the BIOS and adjust the USB legacy settings. No I have no idea why this is still happening. I too have a very old PS2 keyboard I will not let out of my home...ever.skrewler2 - Tuesday, April 19, 2016 - link
since when has it been about performance? the high end motherboards have more features than budget ones.they may overclock better or have some higher end components that purport to offer better stability, but again, features. nothing is directly "faster" or "slower" from motherboard to motherboard.
HollyDOL - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
Price given this board is very impressive piece of hardware...ImSpartacus - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
Yeah, I'm tickled to see gems like this.That was a fun review to read.
jasonelmore - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
Throw in a $20 5 Port USB 3.0 Card and this thing has everything you need.http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00FCQPVI8
mczak - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
It's missing DisplayPort. Sadly, nearly all cheaper boards miss this. So, if you don't have a need for powerful graphics and are just fine with the IGP, but you still want to hook up one of those quite cheapie 4k monitor, you're out of luck. Really wish they'd ditch those near useless VGA and DVI-D ports in favor of DP (ok the latter isn't useless but all of intel's DVI-D ports are going to be single-link, hence limited to 1920x1200) - or better instead of ditching DVI-D and VGA they should just have one DVI-I port instead for people who really want to hook up that analog monitor there...Manch - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
Your use case is very much a niche. 4K monitors are not the norm. Many people still have vga monitors as well. If you're going to drive a 4k display odds are you wont be using igp. I don't really see an issue here.Visual - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
To add to that, even if I wanted a 4k monitor, I'd personally not want to use DP for that. A port meant just for computers was a terrible idea from the start and I will never buy anything with it. I'll stick with HDMI and its future versions.And DP has the same limitations as HDMI in regards to 4k@60p - you need newer versions of either to support that.
mczak - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
No, you only need DP 1.2 for 4k@60p (with no chroma subsampling). Everybody supports that since like forever. But for the same with HDMI, you need HDMI 2.0, which isn't supported by anything intel ships. All 4k monitors (but, of course, not TVs) support DP 1.2 too (except some very old models). I don't disagree HDMI 2.0 wouldn't be nice, but with Skylake IGP it's just not going to happen.mczak - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
To clarify, intel supports DP 1.2 since Haswell.And FWIW there's still quite a lot of 4k monitors you can buy today which actually do not support HDMI 2.0 neither - they _require_ DP for 4k@60p.
(There actually is a way for skylake based systems to do HDMI 2.0 - the Alpine Ridge TB controller can do that. Clearly, not an option for budged oriented boards. Kaby Lake however should support HDMI 2.0.)
mczak - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
Well, if you just want a gorgeous looking monitor for web browsing, office work or whatever, the IGP would do just fine with a 4k monitor (fwiw apple ships plenty of exactly such configurations).But sure 4k gaming isn't going to work...
And as for VGA, that's why I suggested a DVI-I port - can still use monitors with VGA port with that (albeit would require an adapter).
Maybe it's a niche (but then things like m2 nvme ssds are a niche too in that price segment), but it could be trivially supported by motherboards with only a tiny cost (no chips or anything required - just the connector).
amrs - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
Funny. Last time I was shopping for a motherboard I was cursing. "Do I really have to pay for all those useless video connectors?" Wasn't much choice. One less useless connector now I suppose. I've only used the IGP VGA in my Ivy Bridge board and then only for the initial testing in the garage where my ancient Eizo CRT sits.thetuna - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
Your data for the Gigabyte UD5 is very wrong (I own it).It has 4 dimm slots, 0x u.2, 1x m.2, and the pcie slots do either 16+4 or 8+8+4.
Idk what else is wrong there...
DanNeely - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
It looks like it's pulling data for a different board entirely. The shopping link is for an Asus mITX board; that appears to have the specs shown here.Gunbuster - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
Somewhere a warehouse slightly less full of overstocked PS/2 ports is happy.hansmuff - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
I like my PS/2 ports, NKRO is a given and hardware interrupts > software interrupts.Ikepuska - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
I really applaud MSI for this board. It's a great price point for a compelling product.Unfortunately I'm going to be sitting skylake out it looks like. I'm waiting to see what the kaby lake refresh might bring in terms of motherboards because U.2 is really really hard to find in a 170 series for a sane price.
The honest truth is that I hope for fewer SATA ports and no SATA Express ports in kaby. Because of the longevity of the cpu performance nowadays I really want 2 or more U.2 ports, ideally one M.2 port for a boot drive. I'd be willing to give up all or almost all sata ports for such a mythical board. (Not that a board with no sata ports would ever sell yet.)
dreamcat4 - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
> I'm waiting to see what the kaby lake refresh might bring in terms of motherboards because U.2 is really really hard to find in a 170 series for a sane price.Well I can understand people wanting to wait for Kaby Lake now. SInce its so near. However lack of U.2 ports isn't really one of them. For one thing, very few products are coming out with U.2. Making it next-to-useless.
Secondly, there do already exist very simple m.2 --> U.2 adapters. So with one of those, then any cheap Z170 mobo with an x4 m.2 slot should work fine. In fact mine has 2 of them, and its not even classed as a mid-range board. (Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 3). And using m.2 --> U.2 adapter is the more flexible solution. Since for some reason theres no adaptors available on the market which can go the other way around.
jasonelmore - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
F Kaby Lake, we all waiting for Skylake EPIkepuska - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
While I agree that U.2 is nascent, I still had a functioning 2009 board as of this year in use. The truth of the matter is that people still have Sandy and Ivy systems as their main gaming rig. So while yes, there are adapters and add-in cards that would serve the purpose of providing U.2 connectivity, I'd rather have the right ports available and grow into them so to speak. Since I'm looking at keeping the next platform I build for about 8 years or so.Manch - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
Wouldn't use this as my main rig board but a media center mid range gaming pc for the living room this would fit the bill nicely.kaesden - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
Had this board been out a few months ago, i'd probably have gone with this over my Asus board and saved a hundred bucks.Dr. Swag - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
Hey Ian, any word on how far along the x4 845 review your promised a while back is? I'm very interested in it but it's been quite a while now. I know you've been busy on other reviews but just want to know how that's going. If you don't know what I'm talking about:http://www.anandtech.com/comments/10000/who-contro...
Ian Cutress - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
It's taken a couple of weeks, but I think the X4 845 is tested (regular and OC). Just need to run through a couple of older gen chips to see difference / IPC - X4 760K only arrived yesterday. Should have the 860K in there as well, all three tested at stock and 3G for comparison - CPU (office, synthetic and realworld tests) and gaming performance are both covered. I've also got a set of i3 parts on the go, most of the new E3 Xeons, an FX retest and new A10 reviews in flight, so apologies for the delays. If you've been following my twitter feed recently, I've been updating the test work flow to hopefully optimize this for the future... :)Dr. Swag - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
Awesome man! Just take your time and don't rush it :). Thanks for the reply/update.owan - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
I wish more mid-high end boards would sport color schemes like this. If you want to do a mod project, this is like a blank slate that can work with nearly any theme. Unfortunately high end boards usually have one gaudy color that you can't ignore or alter without significant work. I get that its all part of the branding, but having such a neutral color scheme would have been nice when doing my own project.... I found myself having to use red in my build just to make my Asus ROG board (purchased prior to the project) work, even though I don't really care for the color.ImSpartacus - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
I know! Why is a tasteful black & gray so troubling to get right?Questor - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
Amen to that! I saw the MSI X99A Godlike Gaming Carbon and dropped three credit cards on the floor trying to get the one I initially grabbed! At that point, I had not idea what socket, what the specs were and what was generally compatible. I saw the awesome black and shiny combo, like a black muscle car with lots of chrome and went lights out. I came too when my walked up to me and asked why I had my cards out and why is that big black and metal thing $600.00?!!!Impulses - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
Agreed, this was a factor in me picking the ASUS Z170-A, seemed like every other board in the same price range (before this MSI, which didn't come out until the end of last year) was pimping a red scheme or something bolder.Oxford Guy - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
Give us a Skylake that makes use of its EDRAM controller (by having EDRAM) and then I'll care about this generation of boards.Oxford Guy - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
Probably in the same file with the GTX 960. "Coming real soon."KLC - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
So I'm in the early stages of thinking about a new build. I don't do this often, I'm currently using aQ6600 box I built almost 8 years ago. I don't game, I don't overclock, I'll use the integrated graphics with an SSD and HDD for storage. Most uses are standard office apps, web browsing plus media, and photography using Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop with a little video using Sony Vegas. There is a bewildering array of motherboards out there. I want a quality mb with quality components, good sound and the latest USB ports but since I'm not on the extreme bleeding edge I don't need to spend a fortune for a mb. This one looks like it might be a good fit for me. Am I right or are there other mbs out there I should look at?
blahsaysblah - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
Asrock Z170 Gaming-ITX/ac has all the latest, no extra flush.- Intel i219-v LAN.
- Realtek ALC1150 sound.
- 2 Chassis Fan ports(not incl CPU)
- Display Port 1.2, HDMI 2.0 w/4k@60(but not HDCP 2.2), HDMI 1.4(thats two HDMI ports)
- full x4 M.2 on back of motherboard
- one regular and one type C USB 3.1 ports
- removed the AC Wifi+BT module before install so dont know about that.
One ITX board with no extra stuff. (im ok w/o HDCP 2.2 as that requires an extra chip and who knows what driver issues will pop up). Only thing better would have been two M.2 ports.
KLC - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
Thanks, I'll look into that one. I'll probably post this same question in the forums.thebeansoldier - Tuesday, April 19, 2016 - link
Yep I had the ol' q6600 as well and just upgraded to a 6600k with the Asrock z170 itx/ac last month. Tasks like Handbrake are so much quicker. Picked up a GTX 970 as well and couldn't be happier.Impulses - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
This is a very solid choice, Asus Z170-A is worth considering but it might be a touch pricier or harder to find for minor differences. I had an MSI P97 and this SLI PLUS wasn't out when Skylake came out, so I changed it up to ASUS.I still think ASUS does a better job on the software end, my MSI P97 had certain quirks like not allowing speed control over all fan headers, but those are things they've worked on and fixed since back then.
Toshio - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
Guys you have both the comparison table AND the "Test Setup" specs table wrong. This MB doesn't have any SATA-Express ports. I was comparing this one with ASUS' Z170-A and saw you list the later with two LAN adapters which is also wrong.I've always liked your reviews and trusted the data w/o the needed to re-check specs in the manufacturer's website. I hope you get the time to fix this, thanks for the good work!
extide - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
Yeah the boards are all mixed up in that dropdown comparison table. It was all messed up in the previous motherboard review as well. They are usually good about this stuff, so I hope they fix it soon.Ian Cutress - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
I think one of my table html scripts screwed up. When I get to my PC I'll fix it :)extide - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
Thanks, Ian.MrShigura - Sunday, April 17, 2016 - link
Still isn't fixed...extide - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
Yet again the motherboard comparison drop down is totally messed up. The specs shown do not match the motherboard selected in the dropdown. I mentioned this on the previous motherboard review as well. Please fix!Tchamber - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
What ever came of the PCIE communication discrepancy? Is it still running slower than it's supposed to?MrSpadge - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
Usually not. There's a section on this before the gaming benchmarks.Visual - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
It is sad that we consider $130 "the baseline" today... My current computer was bought at a time when $50 mobos were normal and this one would be considered quite high end. And don't even get me started on those $500 scams.Major_Kusanagi - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
Yeah, that $600 MSI X99A Godlike Carbon is so over the top. :-PLuxZg - Sunday, April 17, 2016 - link
First off thanks for a review. Nice board as well. But looking at local prices here in EU, this board is about the price of Gigabyte's Z170X Gaming 3, and some similar boards. I'm pointing out Gigabyte's as I've just ordered one, and it seems to have comparable features and comparable price, yet GA board also features 2x M.2 slots, few extra USB ports, including 2x of what they call 16Gbps USB 3.1 port (Type A + Type C), and just as rich software and BIOS. Oh and Dual BIOS as well.So from my point of view, by the local prices - MSI has some hard competition, and I haven't even mentioned some AsRock and ASUS boards I was considering as well,all in similar price range.
random2 - Wednesday, April 20, 2016 - link
You lost me at "cost-down". More fashionista journalist terminology? Is anyone still using "moving forward"?SLI PLUS this, SLI Plus that.....So does this do Crossfire? Of course it does. Lets not get too wrapped up in the MSI/Nvidia hype.
thesmith - Sunday, April 24, 2016 - link
LOL. Any team players wishing to get with the program could check the take home message here:http://www.hobotraveler.com/wankwordbingo.htm
thebeansoldier - Sunday, April 24, 2016 - link
Picked this up for my gf a few days ago and paired it with an 6600k @4.4ghz, corsair LPX 16gb, and an asus GTX 970. Bios will take some getting used to as I'm more comfortable with Asrock's bios, but she's happily playing Division is happily at 60fps @ 1080p so I can't complain. Can't wait to finally experiment with SLI by adding my own 970 and see what it can do.thesmith - Sunday, April 24, 2016 - link
My two IBM Model M's agree.Motherboard manufacturers in 2056 will be including PS/2 connectors to satisfy the new resurgence in demand as tomb raiders unearth the coveted vintage (but still functional) IBM Model M keyboards from the cold, dead hands of a generation of geeks like me after we're finally laid to rest.
thesmith - Sunday, April 24, 2016 - link
(This was in reply to Major_Kusanagi way up above...)Questor - Friday, April 29, 2016 - link
This board is missing at least one aesthetic feature I have comes to like (and mentioned in the article) in the I/O cover.wolfwalker78 - Friday, October 21, 2016 - link
This appears to be the Z170 version of the MSI C236A, or vice versa.