MSI to Fuse OC and Gaming Lines with Z170 Family

[Assimilator]

You've never used this KillerNIC. Might be a bit quick to judge here.

I've never had cancer either, but that doesn't mean I intend to get it just to find out if it's really as bad as everyone says.

Every review I've read of motherboards with Killer NIC has them performing the same, or worse, than Intel's offerings (within statistical margins of error). There have also been many issues reported with the Killer NIC software, including but not limited to high CPU usage and BSODs. There's a thread on MSI's forum about how to remove the Killer NIC software and install generic Qualcomm drivers to avoid these issues. There's a thread here about how to do the exact same thing.

In contrast, I have never had a bad experience with an Intel ethernet adapter. From my first Pentium 3 board to my current Ivy Bridge, every Intel NIC I've used has installed and worked and given me zero trouble. The Internet agrees with me.

Killer NIC is snake oil BS that Qualcomm is dumping into the market at discounted rates to gain market share. MSI would rather save a few pennies and put these on their boards than stump up for decent Intel hardware; I would rather support a motherboard manufacturer that doesn't cheap out on their customers.

 

[Steven B]

The Z170 chipset is the southbridge. The CPU has 20 lanes of PCIE 3.0 for graphics. The Z170 has 20 lanes of PCIE 3.0 for M.2 support, SATA-Express, SATAIII, USB 3.1/3.0/2.0 and other "slower" devices.

You talk like you know for a fact?

 

[cadaveca]

Its not a very good value for money purchase (as a gamer) if it includes all the OC gear.

X-POWER boards have never been "budget" or "cheap". They are usually MSI's highest-level board. IT says in the first sentence "fusing two premium..."

In contrast, I have never had a bad experience with an Intel ethernet adapter. From my first Pentium 3 board to my current Ivy Bridge, every Intel NIC I've used has installed and worked and given me zero trouble. The Internet agrees with me.

Killer NIC is snake oil BS that Qualcomm is dumping into the market at discounted rates to gain market share. MSI would rather save a few pennies and put these on their boards than stump up for decent Intel hardware; I would rather support a motherboard manufacturer that doesn't cheap out on their customers.

Intel NICs also have similar software provided by CFOS. It is just as horrible. But I do have a KillerNIC is my main gaming rig and haven't had a single problem. I can also say that it is very likely the particular KillerNIC that is on this board is a chipset that hasn't seen a public release yet. So it may be better... it may be worse... until they hit the market and people start using them, I won't make any statements about how they perform, or if they have bugs. I don't know what chipset this board uses myself yet. Hopefully I'll have one soon, and then I can test and see.

 

[ironcerealbox]

You talk like you know for a fact?

Yep, I do. It's called doing your homework:

http://chinese.vr-zone.com/141909/2...ve-3-different-dt-platform-by-intel-02012015/
http://www.kitguru.net/components/c...-intels-skylake-100-series-chipsets-unveiled/ (talks about the same thing as the first link, translated to English)
http://www.techspot.com/news/59616-intel-skylake-chipsets-reported-upgraded-pcie.html (again, same slides)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGA_1151 (sure, not a "real academic" source, but, hey, they are accurate 99.9% of the time on tech, science, and math-related stuff)
http://techreport.com/news/27761/report-skylake-chipsets-getting-massive-pcie-upgrade
http://www.techspot.com/news/59616-intel-skylake-chipsets-reported-upgraded-pcie.html
http://www.maximumpc.com/intel-skylake-chipsets-may-receive-significant-pcie-upgrade-2015/
http://www.golem.de/news/z170-und-q...-express-3-0-in-den-chipsatz-1407-107854.html

And there are a bunch of others. Do you want me to hold your hand when using Google?

"Like the Q170 where this chipset [Z170] truly shines like the Holy Grail is in the additional 20 PCI-E 3.0 lanes off the Southbridge" - http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2724973/skylake-chipset-features.html

It is a done deal. LGA 1151 specifications have been finalized for a while now.

 

[Bundy]

X-POWER boards have never been "budget" or "cheap".

I didn't use either of those terms.