Over the last few years small builds have been becoming more and more popular. Both for LAN rigs like we have been using for a long time, but even for main PCs. This is partially due to more parts being available but mostly some people are tired of dealing with huge heavy cases, especially when you can do nearly anything you want in the Mini-ITX form factor. Late this fall I started thinking about a new LAN rig, maybe even another iteration of our LunchBox series, before I did that though I really needed to check out the new Z170 boards. That leads me to today where I’m going to check out MSI’s gaming focused Mini-ITX board, the Z170I Gaming Pro AC. I’ve used a few of MSI’s ITX boards in builds before and I’m excited to see what this one has to offer.
Product Name: MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC
Review Sample Provided by: MSI
Written by: Wes
Pictures by: Wes
Amazon Link: HERE
| Specifications | |
| CPU | Supports 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i3/i5/i7 processors, and Intel® Pentium® and Celeron® processors for Socket LGA1151 |
| Chipset | Intel® Z170 Chipset |
| Main Memory |
2 x DDR4 memory slots, support up to 32GB Supports DDR4 3200(OC)/ 3000(OC)/ 2800(OC)/ 2600(OC)/ 2400/ 2133 MHz Dual channel memory architecture Supports non-ECC, un-buffered memory Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) |
| Slots | 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots |
| Onboard Graphics |
1 x HDMI™ port, support a maximum resolution of 4096x2160@24Hz, 2560x1600@60Hz> 1 x DisplayPort, support a maximum resolution of 4096x2304@24Hz, 2560x1600@60Hz, 3840x2160@60Hz, 1920x1200@60Hz> |
| Storage |
Intel® Z170 Chipset 4 x SATA 6Gb/s ports 1 x M.2 slot (on the botton of the motherboard)* Supports PCIe 3.0 x 4 and SATA 6Gb/s standards, 4.2cm/ 6cm length M.2 SSD cards 1 x SATAe port (PCIe 3.0 x 2)** Supports RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10 Supports Intel® Smart Response Technology for Intel Core™ processors |
| USB |
Intel® Z170 Chipset 6 x USB 3.1 Gen1 (SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps) ports (4 ports on the back panel, 2 ports available through the internal USB connector) 5 x USB 2.0 (High-speed USB) ports (3 ports on the back panel, 2 ports available through the internal USB connectors) |
| Audio |
Realtek® ALC1150 Codec - 7.1-Channel High Definition Audio - Supports S/PDIF output |
| LAN | 1 x Intel® I219-V Gigabit LAN controller |
| WLAN / Bluetooth |
Wi-Fi Bluetooth® expansion module with Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 chip Supports Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual band (2.4GHz, 5GHz) up to 867Mbps speed. Supports Dual Mode Bluetooth® 2.1, 2.1+EDR, 3.0, 4.0 BLE, 4.2 |
| Internal I/O Connectors |
- 1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector - 1 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector - 4 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors - 1 x SATAe connector - 1 x USB 2.0 connector (supports additional 2 USB 2.0 ports) - 1 x USB 3.1 Gen1 connector (supports additional 2 USB 3.1 Gen1 ports) - 1 x 4-pin CPU fan connectors - 1 x 4-pin system fan connectors - 1 x Front panel audio connector - 2 x Front panel connectors - 1 x TPM module connector - 1 x Chassis Intrusion connector - 1 x Clear CMOS jumper |
| Back Panel I/O Ports |
- 1 x PS/2 keyboard/ mouse port - 3 x USB 2.0 ports - 1 x DisplayPort - 1 x HDMI™ port - 1 x LAN (RJ45) port - 4 x USB 3.1 Gen1 ports - 1 x Clear CMOS button - 2 x antenna connectors - 1 x Optical S/PDIF OUT connector - 5 x OFC audio jacks |
| Dimension |
6.7 in. x 6.7 in. (17 cm x 17 cm) Mini-ITX Form Factor |
| Mounting | 4 mounting holes |
