Agreed. I've actually got this board, and those USB ports get filled up fast. Would like a few extra, vs. the debug LED that I'm not sure I'll ever use.
Ehhhh, being able to quickly diagnose a post failure is more useful to me than not needing a USB hub. Not many people have more than 1-2 high bandwidth devices connected, but even if they did, you also have the USB3.1 port at the top that you could run your 3.0 hub through with minimal impact. Also there is a usb3.0 header so there should be 2 more ports available to you, if your case doesn't have connectors you can always just just by a header to dual usb connector.
I know your feeling, still rocking my 3770k on a mATX board, and there aren't enough ports available for all my stuff (wheel, joysticks, extra programmable pads, etc).
But to be honest, as Flunk stated, 5 ports is sufficient, as we're a minority. Got a powered USB hub with 7 ports a couple years ago, and all the "gaming" stuff connects there. Works great.
Thank you for in-depth review! Sadly Asus is still repeating its old mistakes. First is 3-jack audio. Second, lacking in back USB department. Third, why they try to push DIMMs in premium (read: packed) form factor? SO-DIMMs would allow either dual channel or more space. M2 port is missing, nobody uses and will use U2. M.2 disk should be on the bottom side of board. Board lacks USB 2.0 ports (not everything works on 3.0, sadly). And while I'm personally baffled by people using wireless network on desktop computer, 2x2 is just a waste. For this price either include solid 3x3, or none at all. This board tries, tries, but lacks in every aspect it tries to conquer.
Does any mITX motherboard out there currently fit your requirements? I agree M.2 is a glaring ommission, but a world without wireless is a disaster even on a desktop PC, and especially on a mITX motherboard where I/O ports are constrained.
I've got an Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe mITX motherboard. I've used the WiFi exactly zero times. And if I did need to use WiFi, there's always USB WiFi adapters.
Currently closest to what I want from the mini-ITX board are Asus P8H67-I Deluxe and P8H77-I for, but that's way into the past. Both of them are solid performers and fit their roles well - first is a candidate for really compact gaming rig and second is perfect for NAS builds. Currently I would let go DVI/VGA combo, add another pair of USB 3.0 ports, and add the frigging 5.1+mic/line ports. I'm using 7.1 audio and both line in and mic, and I have to use external card for it. And of course add m.2 Port.
I'm no longer looking for a motherboard that has M.2 but rather a board that uses U.2. If you want faster disk speeds with a M-ITX board, you need that U.2 port (because the PCI-E slot will be used by a beefy GPU). Also, plenty of reviews on Newegg for the Intel 750 run contrary to your statement that nobody uses and will use U.2.
This is basically the one and only drive that uses U.2, and I really suspect it will remain this way. Face it - it was dead before it has risen, and it's for the best.
Still, the chipset and CPU has enough PCIe lanes to include pair of mini-pcie connectors, be it M.2 or plain connector, and there are and were widely available extenders for this port. U.2 Is very insecure, it's easy to knock to the side, and is prone to being ripped from the PCB. Commercially available cables are stiff, at least these I got my hands on, and actual choice for them is minimal, especially on the short side. It's been misengineered from the beginning. Quest for extending pci-e singnaling is on. So far the best solution from mechanical pov is probably thunderbold/display port cable, but amount of signal conversion it requires excludes it from internal use, and it also suffers from stiffiness.
As far as I can tell, the only difference between M.2 and U.2 is the form factor. Picking one over the other has no bearing on the PCIe slot for the GPU. You're welcome to put a U.2 adapter in the M.2 port if you wish.
If they used SODIMMs someone else would be flaming them for using a slower/lower capacity/more expensive memory type on a gaming board. It would let them put the U2 connector on the other side of the board, add one or two more USB headers and 4 more back panel USB ports. I think it's probably a worthwhile tradeoff; but I also know that the last 100 MHz of ram speed or tick of a timing value hasn't mattered since the memory starved P4 was retired. Ultimately I think it's an artifact of there not being any real competition in this market segment.
I'm using analog 8 channel amplifier that has been happily playing music well before Chetnobyl catastrophe. Where should I put the optical in? In my case I'm alternating between some cheap 7.1 USB card and USB Xonar, but both suck.
m.2 is the glaring omission here for an ITX board. SFF PC's (the whole point of ITX) benefit more from m.2 than u.2, and m.2 to u.2 adapter boards are readily available. u.2 to m.2 adapters are not currently available (or even announced), and would introduce cable spaghetti due to the need for a power injector along with the actual adapter.
Missing M.2 does make this less attractive than some of the other offerings on the market. This is a surprising omission considering the Maximus VII Impact has one. I may be in the minority, but I can't see a reason for the onboard Wi-Fi, if you're building a high-priced gaming machine wired ethernet is a requirement. The LED and buttons on the back are pretty useless too. If you're running without a case they could be anywhere on the board and if you're running with a case you don't need the buttons.
"if you're building a high-priced gaming machine wired ethernet is a requirement."
An expensive gaming machine that lives in the living room (a big reason for going mini-ITX to begin with) might well have to rely on wifi. A good 802.11ac implementation is no slouch.
What's the power output limit for the USB3.1 C port? The new power delivery spec allows up to 5A at 5, 12, or 20V; but I find it unlikely that desktop systems would provide the maximum possible power; so what the port can output needs to be added to the review somewhere. (If for no other reason, the hardware to make 20V power would take up a decent amount of space.)
This is totally not a big deal, as I can still extract useful information from your review.
However, I found the text of it to be confusing and riddled with typos and grammatical errors. This seems like a good opportunity for you to improve in the coming year.
All over the place you use the wrong word, as if you're relying on spell check and not reading what you write.
For example: - The analogy of Senior/Sophomore/Freshman was baffling when applied to motherboards. Is this the age of the motherboard - that somehow a Freshman motherboard is newer (younger)? Or do Senior motherboards have more features? Interlacing this with a bunch of meaningless marketing terms makes it incomprehensible. You could have taken this text out and sorted the 100-Series list directly below by whatever buckets you were considering. - "Overal, the nature of Skylake makes our CPUs"... What 'nature' of Skylake? You don't specify. So, I have to decipher it and figure you mean 'Skylake as a whole'. This is redundant nonsense. Overall is also redundant. Also, Skylake IS the CPU. Just say 'Skylake gets 4.5 GHz'. Less is better. - "To read specifically about the Z170 chip/platform and the specifications therein, our deep dive into what it is can be found at this link." - This isn't wrong, but is so flowery that it feels like you're padding out the words. Just say "To read more about the Z170 chipset, our deep dive is here." (If you really want to say link, I understand, but most of the rest are junk words that confuse.) Also, the Z170 is the chipset. Not the chip or the platform. - "The overclocking methodology from ASUS comes in several formats." - I know what you're trying to say, but this is awkward. It's as if someone was running directly through google translate. - "For manual overclocks, based on the information gathered from previous testing, starts off at a nominal voltage" - Manual overclocks, based on previous testing, start off at a nominal voltage.
I could go on, but that's your job! Hopefully this makes you sit back, go 'whoa', and then feel inspired to go on a studying rampage. :D
Your words, more than anything, indicate to people your value. I mean that outside of reviews. You'll be writing resumes and blogs and who knows what else your whole life. Once you get the writing down, join us at Toastmasters for the public speaking. ;)
Oh please, most of what you point out is a matter of opinion and personal preference only. The wording isn't perfect, but at least he's doing something of value... not toastmasters, ugh.
these are tech geeks trying to be writers. Most writers in the tech blog business never obtained a college diploma. Even if they do have one, they probably majored in CIS or some standard business degree.
Your right, it would not hurt for them to take a few Comp classes, if they are trying to be leaders in their field.
Agreed with Mr. Elmore, but let me clarify. I'm a game programmer, myself. No, I do not have a college degree. I started too early for that. Writing clean documentation for others is one of the most important things I strive for. Picking good metaphors is also of vital importance. All things very similar to writing tech articles.
Sure, some of my comments may be pedantic, but I'd rather have feedback than silence from my audience. I just hope that Mr. Ian will ponder them and decide to improve. We stop living when we stop learning. Anyway, I really just wanted to help. Anandtech is one of the best websites out there for tech articles and probably a great career builder.
Personally speaking, I stopped reading the text because it was hard to decipher. So, I suspect others would, too. Kind of defeats the purpose of writing it. Good luck, Mr. Ian!
I'm waiting for Nvidia Pascal to drop before updating my mini ITX Asus P8Z77-i Deluxe Ivy Bridge system. This review will heavily influence my opinion when it comes time to purchase. Looks pretty good to me.
I bought an MSI gaming laptop which has Killer E2400/wifi, works very well IMO. Far better wifi range than I've ever had before with a laptop, good GigE speeds too.
Back in the Z97 era, I was pondering a Maximus VII IMPACT, but in the end I bought the ASUS Z97I-Plus instead, and very happy I am with it too. Many of the same features, cheaper, etc.
Reading this article, I wondered if there was a S1151 equivalent; well, almost, namely the H170I-PLUS D3. Ian, Iike these top-end miniITX reviews, but it'd be nice to compare to something a bit further down the range. Afterall, the M8I doesn't have M.2, whereas the Z97I-Plus, and the newer H170I-Plus D3 both do have it, so the latter is surely worth of consideration.
Fun times, when "low end" gets to run 30fps on ultra, be it on a "low" resolution (that's still classified as HD, mind you).
And the cherry on top is that even IGPs can finally do that, now if only they actually were put into some products... I wonder, why Intel seems to be purposely hiding the good Iris chips?
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42 Comments
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A5 - Tuesday, December 29, 2015 - link
I'd rather have 4 more USB ports than the wireless or debug LEDs, but this product isn't really for me to begin with.Flunk - Tuesday, December 29, 2015 - link
I agree with you, but 5 USB ports is pretty sufficient.Spyrano - Tuesday, December 29, 2015 - link
Agreed. I've actually got this board, and those USB ports get filled up fast. Would like a few extra, vs. the debug LED that I'm not sure I'll ever use.amnesia0287 - Thursday, July 7, 2016 - link
Ehhhh, being able to quickly diagnose a post failure is more useful to me than not needing a USB hub. Not many people have more than 1-2 high bandwidth devices connected, but even if they did, you also have the USB3.1 port at the top that you could run your 3.0 hub through with minimal impact. Also there is a usb3.0 header so there should be 2 more ports available to you, if your case doesn't have connectors you can always just just by a header to dual usb connector.LordanSS - Tuesday, December 29, 2015 - link
I know your feeling, still rocking my 3770k on a mATX board, and there aren't enough ports available for all my stuff (wheel, joysticks, extra programmable pads, etc).But to be honest, as Flunk stated, 5 ports is sufficient, as we're a minority. Got a powered USB hub with 7 ports a couple years ago, and all the "gaming" stuff connects there. Works great.
etamin - Tuesday, December 29, 2015 - link
I'd take a couple USB 2.0 ports over the sound card.UltraTech79 - Thursday, July 14, 2016 - link
Have fun gaming with no sound idiotgandergray - Tuesday, December 29, 2015 - link
Thank you for the quality review. As you note, competition (less expensive) seems to come from motherboards in the Asus portfolio, including: https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Z170I-PRO-GAMING... .Vatharian - Tuesday, December 29, 2015 - link
Thank you for in-depth review! Sadly Asus is still repeating its old mistakes. First is 3-jack audio. Second, lacking in back USB department. Third, why they try to push DIMMs in premium (read: packed) form factor? SO-DIMMs would allow either dual channel or more space. M2 port is missing, nobody uses and will use U2. M.2 disk should be on the bottom side of board. Board lacks USB 2.0 ports (not everything works on 3.0, sadly). And while I'm personally baffled by people using wireless network on desktop computer, 2x2 is just a waste. For this price either include solid 3x3, or none at all. This board tries, tries, but lacks in every aspect it tries to conquer.vgray35@hotmail.com - Tuesday, December 29, 2015 - link
Does any mITX motherboard out there currently fit your requirements? I agree M.2 is a glaring ommission, but a world without wireless is a disaster even on a desktop PC, and especially on a mITX motherboard where I/O ports are constrained.Gigaplex - Wednesday, December 30, 2015 - link
I've got an Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe mITX motherboard. I've used the WiFi exactly zero times. And if I did need to use WiFi, there's always USB WiFi adapters.Vatharian - Wednesday, December 30, 2015 - link
Currently closest to what I want from the mini-ITX board are Asus P8H67-I Deluxe and P8H77-I for, but that's way into the past. Both of them are solid performers and fit their roles well - first is a candidate for really compact gaming rig and second is perfect for NAS builds. Currently I would let go DVI/VGA combo, add another pair of USB 3.0 ports, and add the frigging 5.1+mic/line ports. I'm using 7.1 audio and both line in and mic, and I have to use external card for it. And of course add m.2 Port.Ninhalem - Tuesday, December 29, 2015 - link
I'm no longer looking for a motherboard that has M.2 but rather a board that uses U.2. If you want faster disk speeds with a M-ITX board, you need that U.2 port (because the PCI-E slot will be used by a beefy GPU). Also, plenty of reviews on Newegg for the Intel 750 run contrary to your statement that nobody uses and will use U.2.Vatharian - Wednesday, December 30, 2015 - link
This is basically the one and only drive that uses U.2, and I really suspect it will remain this way. Face it - it was dead before it has risen, and it's for the best.Still, the chipset and CPU has enough PCIe lanes to include pair of mini-pcie connectors, be it M.2 or plain connector, and there are and were widely available extenders for this port. U.2 Is very insecure, it's easy to knock to the side, and is prone to being ripped from the PCB. Commercially available cables are stiff, at least these I got my hands on, and actual choice for them is minimal, especially on the short side. It's been misengineered from the beginning. Quest for extending pci-e singnaling is on. So far the best solution from mechanical pov is probably thunderbold/display port cable, but amount of signal conversion it requires excludes it from internal use, and it also suffers from stiffiness.
Mr Perfect - Thursday, December 31, 2015 - link
You should be fine with PCIe lanes. The GPU will use the 16 lanes coming from the CPU, leaving all of the lanes from the chipset available for I/O.Gigaplex - Tuesday, January 5, 2016 - link
As far as I can tell, the only difference between M.2 and U.2 is the form factor. Picking one over the other has no bearing on the PCIe slot for the GPU. You're welcome to put a U.2 adapter in the M.2 port if you wish.amnesia0287 - Thursday, July 7, 2016 - link
Not when the M.2 slot is on the bottom of every other ITX board, which can be an actual issue because M.2 SSD get HOT.DanNeely - Tuesday, December 29, 2015 - link
If they used SODIMMs someone else would be flaming them for using a slower/lower capacity/more expensive memory type on a gaming board. It would let them put the U2 connector on the other side of the board, add one or two more USB headers and 4 more back panel USB ports. I think it's probably a worthwhile tradeoff; but I also know that the last 100 MHz of ram speed or tick of a timing value hasn't mattered since the memory starved P4 was retired. Ultimately I think it's an artifact of there not being any real competition in this market segment.jasonelmore - Tuesday, December 29, 2015 - link
It has Optical out there bud.. If your wanting full 5.1 surround, buy a good receiver and run i through the optical, or HDMI.Vatharian - Wednesday, December 30, 2015 - link
I'm using analog 8 channel amplifier that has been happily playing music well before Chetnobyl catastrophe. Where should I put the optical in? In my case I'm alternating between some cheap 7.1 USB card and USB Xonar, but both suck.jasonelmore - Wednesday, December 30, 2015 - link
take out the sound card then, and install a high end xonar one. it's removable.edzieba - Tuesday, December 29, 2015 - link
m.2 is the glaring omission here for an ITX board. SFF PC's (the whole point of ITX) benefit more from m.2 than u.2, and m.2 to u.2 adapter boards are readily available. u.2 to m.2 adapters are not currently available (or even announced), and would introduce cable spaghetti due to the need for a power injector along with the actual adapter.Great_Scott - Tuesday, December 29, 2015 - link
While an M.2 slot is a great idea and a strange omission, the sound solution is more glaring.WTH is a RealTek solution being used here? Given the price of the board, a XONAR-branded solution makes a lot more sense.
Vatharian - Wednesday, December 30, 2015 - link
Xonar is a C-Media rebrand. Still I'd like it more. Or IDT+decent Wolfsons...Flunk - Tuesday, December 29, 2015 - link
Missing M.2 does make this less attractive than some of the other offerings on the market. This is a surprising omission considering the Maximus VII Impact has one. I may be in the minority, but I can't see a reason for the onboard Wi-Fi, if you're building a high-priced gaming machine wired ethernet is a requirement. The LED and buttons on the back are pretty useless too. If you're running without a case they could be anywhere on the board and if you're running with a case you don't need the buttons.ciparis - Tuesday, January 12, 2016 - link
"if you're building a high-priced gaming machine wired ethernet is a requirement."An expensive gaming machine that lives in the living room (a big reason for going mini-ITX to begin with) might well have to rely on wifi. A good 802.11ac implementation is no slouch.
DanNeely - Tuesday, December 29, 2015 - link
What's the power output limit for the USB3.1 C port? The new power delivery spec allows up to 5A at 5, 12, or 20V; but I find it unlikely that desktop systems would provide the maximum possible power; so what the port can output needs to be added to the review somewhere. (If for no other reason, the hardware to make 20V power would take up a decent amount of space.)FelixDraconis - Tuesday, December 29, 2015 - link
This is totally not a big deal, as I can still extract useful information from your review.However, I found the text of it to be confusing and riddled with typos and grammatical errors. This seems like a good opportunity for you to improve in the coming year.
All over the place you use the wrong word, as if you're relying on spell check and not reading what you write.
For example:
- The analogy of Senior/Sophomore/Freshman was baffling when applied to motherboards. Is this the age of the motherboard - that somehow a Freshman motherboard is newer (younger)? Or do Senior motherboards have more features? Interlacing this with a bunch of meaningless marketing terms makes it incomprehensible. You could have taken this text out and sorted the 100-Series list directly below by whatever buckets you were considering.
- "Overal, the nature of Skylake makes our CPUs"... What 'nature' of Skylake? You don't specify. So, I have to decipher it and figure you mean 'Skylake as a whole'. This is redundant nonsense. Overall is also redundant. Also, Skylake IS the CPU. Just say 'Skylake gets 4.5 GHz'. Less is better.
- "To read specifically about the Z170 chip/platform and the specifications therein, our deep dive into what it is can be found at this link." - This isn't wrong, but is so flowery that it feels like you're padding out the words. Just say "To read more about the Z170 chipset, our deep dive is here." (If you really want to say link, I understand, but most of the rest are junk words that confuse.) Also, the Z170 is the chipset. Not the chip or the platform.
- "The overclocking methodology from ASUS comes in several formats." - I know what you're trying to say, but this is awkward. It's as if someone was running directly through google translate.
- "For manual overclocks, based on the information gathered from previous testing, starts off at a nominal voltage" - Manual overclocks, based on previous testing, start off at a nominal voltage.
I could go on, but that's your job! Hopefully this makes you sit back, go 'whoa', and then feel inspired to go on a studying rampage. :D
Your words, more than anything, indicate to people your value. I mean that outside of reviews. You'll be writing resumes and blogs and who knows what else your whole life. Once you get the writing down, join us at Toastmasters for the public speaking. ;)
okashira - Tuesday, December 29, 2015 - link
Oh please, most of what you point out is a matter of opinion and personal preference only. The wording isn't perfect, but at least he's doing something of value... not toastmasters, ugh.jasonelmore - Tuesday, December 29, 2015 - link
these are tech geeks trying to be writers. Most writers in the tech blog business never obtained a college diploma. Even if they do have one, they probably majored in CIS or some standard business degree.Your right, it would not hurt for them to take a few Comp classes, if they are trying to be leaders in their field.
FelixDraconis - Wednesday, December 30, 2015 - link
Agreed with Mr. Elmore, but let me clarify. I'm a game programmer, myself. No, I do not have a college degree. I started too early for that. Writing clean documentation for others is one of the most important things I strive for. Picking good metaphors is also of vital importance. All things very similar to writing tech articles.Sure, some of my comments may be pedantic, but I'd rather have feedback than silence from my audience. I just hope that Mr. Ian will ponder them and decide to improve. We stop living when we stop learning. Anyway, I really just wanted to help. Anandtech is one of the best websites out there for tech articles and probably a great career builder.
Personally speaking, I stopped reading the text because it was hard to decipher. So, I suspect others would, too. Kind of defeats the purpose of writing it. Good luck, Mr. Ian!
mapesdhs - Wednesday, December 30, 2015 - link
Felix, personally I find your comments most welcome, better writing should be encouraged. Brevity is in short supply these days.SpartyOn - Tuesday, December 29, 2015 - link
I'm waiting for Nvidia Pascal to drop before updating my mini ITX Asus P8Z77-i Deluxe Ivy Bridge system. This review will heavily influence my opinion when it comes time to purchase. Looks pretty good to me.TheSlamma - Tuesday, December 29, 2015 - link
Ugh, Killer network cards SUCK Intel all the way homejasonelmore - Tuesday, December 29, 2015 - link
Asus never use Killer network cards, that's a MSI thing.. All Asus ROG boards use Intelmapesdhs - Wednesday, December 30, 2015 - link
I bought an MSI gaming laptop which has Killer E2400/wifi, works very well IMO. Far better wifi range than I've ever had before with a laptop, good GigE speeds too.mapesdhs - Wednesday, December 30, 2015 - link
Back in the Z97 era, I was pondering a Maximus VII IMPACT, but in the end I bought the ASUS Z97I-Plus instead, and very happy I am with it too. Many of the same features, cheaper, etc.Reading this article, I wondered if there was a S1151 equivalent; well, almost, namely the H170I-PLUS D3. Ian, Iike these top-end miniITX reviews, but it'd be nice to compare to something a bit further down the range. Afterall, the M8I doesn't have M.2, whereas the Z97I-Plus, and the newer H170I-Plus D3 both do have it, so the latter is surely worth of consideration.
mapesdhs - Wednesday, December 30, 2015 - link
(rats, still no edit function! Can we please make that a priority for AT in 2016? I meant to say, I like these top-end miniITX reviews, etc.)legolasyiu - Tuesday, January 5, 2016 - link
Ian, I bet your POST time will be better if you upgrade BIOS to 1302,Maximus VIII Impact BIOS 1302
1. Improve system stability
Visual - Wednesday, January 6, 2016 - link
Fun times, when "low end" gets to run 30fps on ultra, be it on a "low" resolution (that's still classified as HD, mind you).And the cherry on top is that even IGPs can finally do that, now if only they actually were put into some products... I wonder, why Intel seems to be purposely hiding the good Iris chips?
Dug - Monday, January 11, 2016 - link
Could you please explain why you benchmark Non UEFI POST Time?legolasyiu - Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - link
Awesome motherboard! It has VRM card and also sound card build in! I wish I have one.