MSI Z170A XPower Gaming Titanium Edition ATX Motherboard

Description

MSI's Z170A XPower Gaming Titanium Edition ATX Motherboard lets you build a versatile Windows system and provides you with overclocking tools to help enhance the performance of your internal computer components. It comes with an Intel Z170 chipset along with an LGA1151 socket to support DDR4 memory and Intel's 6th-generation of Skylake processors. You can utilise MSI's OC Dashboard panel, Click BIOS 5, or Gaming app to fine-tune your system. In addition, MSI has outfitted this motherboard with titanium chokes and other onboard components to ensure your system runs stable.

MSI gives you the option to build a gaming PC with multiple dedicated graphics cards linked with AMD CrossFire or NVIDIA SLI technology. You could also use your processor's integrated graphics to deliver high-definition visuals through the motherboard's DisplayPort and two HDMI ports. To complete the multimedia experience, audio is handled by the built-in Realtek ALC1150 processor and enhanced with Nahimic sound technology. Additionally, this motherboard comes with two headphone amplifiers as well as six audio jacks.

The Z170A XPower Gaming Titanium supports a variety of hi-speed storage devices by coming with two 32 Gb/s M.2 slots, two SATA Express ports, and two USB 3.1 ports with 10 Gb/s speeds. For your current devices, it has three USB 2.0 and four USB 3.0 ports as well as eight SATA III connectors. RAID support is available for the SATA-based and M.2 interfaces so you can boost the read and write speeds of your drives. Other connections include a PS/2 combo port and an Ethernet port that connects to networks at Gigabit speeds. Furthermore, three PCIe 3.0 x1 slots allow you to add additional capabilities and ports to this motherboard.

Features

Intel Z170 Chipset

The Z170 chipset is designed to support Intel's 6th-generation of Skylake processors. It delivers RAID support and six SATA III ports so the system can protect and quickly access data. This chipset natively supports up to ten USB 3.0 and fourteen USB 2.0 ports as well as twenty PCIe 3.0 lanes for faster data retrieval.

Intel LGA1151 Socket

This motherboard supports Intel Core i7/i5/i3/Pentium/Celeron processors in the LGA1151 package. These processors come with integrated graphics, memory, and PCI-Express controllers to deliver onboard graphics, dual-channel DDR4 memory support, and PCI Express 3.0 lanes for graphics performance.

DDR4 Memory

MSI has designed this motherboard with optimised trace paths and isolated memory circuitry to help ensure the DDR4 memory signals stay pure. In addition, a XMP LED notifies you of an active Extreme Memory profile for the best memory speed with stability.

Protection

MSI has provided circuit protection for this motherboard by outfitting it with titanium chokes, Hi-c and Dark capacitors, multiple PCB layers, and shielding along with a DrMOS mosfet. For key components, they have passed military testing to ensure stable operation in a harsh environment. MSI has protected all the I/O ports on this motherboard against electrostatic discharge damage. The Ethernet jack comes with 15KV anti-surge protection that shields your network from lighting strikes and static electricity. In addition, the motherboard meets FCC regulations and produces less electromagnetic interference than other motherboards.

With the increased size and weight of high-end graphics cards, MSI has designed the PCIe slots with reinforced soldered points that help strengthen the connection. A red LED light near the 24-pin power connection lets you know that protection is activated to prevent overvoltage and short-circuit damage of the CPU and other components. If the system does not function properly, three LED lights help you determine if the CPU, memory, or graphics need replacement.

Networking

The onboard Intel i219 Ethernet controller is designed to deliver high-performance while gaming. It is optimised for competitive gameplay by reducing the processor's overhead and offering high TCP and UDP throughput.

Audio Boost 3 with Nahimic Sound Technology

With premium audio components powered by Nahimic sound technology, this motherboard offers studio-grade sound by delivering clear sound and music through 8-channel speakers or high impendence headphones. Audio is enhanced with Nahimic sound technology, which offers immersive virtual surround sound, bass boost, voice leveller, noise gate and reduction, voice clarity, and HD audio recorder. This motherboard comes with six audio jacks, Chemi-Con audio capacitors, and two headphone amplifiers as well as an isolated audio PCB, an EMI-shielded audio processor, and a front headphone-out connector.

Overclocking Technology

MSI has equipped this motherboard with overclocking features that can be controlled via software or hardware. It comes with copper contact cooling, premium power phases, DigitALL power, OC PCB design, and over-voltage protection to enhance the performance of your components. Additionally, the OC Engine 2, which is an external clock generator, overclocks your setup and offers lower jitter and power consumption.

The Z170A XPower Gaming Titanium comes with an OC dashboard panel that provides you with the tools to overclock the system in an open test bed setup. This panel offers on-the-fly overclocking and assistance in trouble shooting with the following features:* Easy Button 3 - illuminated buttons lets you reset, power up, or power down the system

• Direct OC - a set of + and - buttons allows you to adjust the base clock in 1 MHz or 0.1 MHz increments
• V-Cheque Points 2 - supports up to three multimeters at once to accurately monitor the voltages
• MultiBIOS II - a switch and LED light lets you change between the two BIOS chips
• GO2BIOS Button - starts up in the BIOS menu upon rebooting the system
• Debug LED - a two-digit panel for diagnostics and CPU temperatures
• Clear CMOS Button - resets the BIOS' settings
• Slow Mode Switch - temporary decreases the CPU ratio below stock settings
• Complete Discharge Button - wipes your motherboard from all settings
• Ceasefire - a set of three switches to disable one of the PCIe x16 slots

Additional Features

• USB 3.1 Ports - provide data at a rate of up to 10 Gb/s
• Onboard USB Port - saves your game scores and instals BIOS updates and drivers during an open test bed setup
• MSI Super Charger - delivers more power than standard chargers to charge mobile devices quickly
• USB Redrivers - enable you to use long internal USB 3.0 cables
• Gaming Device Port - supports high-end gaming mice to fully utilise its speed

Software Package

• MSI Gaming LAN Manager - automatically classifies and prioritises latency-sensitive applications for online gaming
• Game Boost - increase the performance of your processor and other components
• Gaming Hotkey - assign functions or macros to any key on your keyboard to quickly launch apps or multiple commands
• Click BIOS 5 - provides EZ and Advanced modes to help you boost your system's performance
• MSI Gaming app - allows simultaneous control of both your motherboard and graphics card's overclocking
• CPU-Z - displays CPU speed, Memory speed, timings, motherboard BIOS version, and more
• RAMDisk - creates a virtual drive from your system memory

Specifications