We still don't have official word from Intel on when to expect its next-gen Skylake processors. However, Biostar sent out a press release today that provides the clearest indication yet. The company's Gaming Z170X motherboard is designed for the chips, and it's slated to be available in August. Compatible CPUs will presumably be available around the same timeframe.
The Gaming Z170X has everything you'd expect from an enthusiast-oriented Skylake board. There are multiple PCIe x16 slots for graphics, quad DDR4 slots for memory, and an M.2 slot for mini SSDs. Putting M.2 drives right under the primary graphics card probably isn't great for thermals, though.
The feature list includes Type-C USB 3.1 connectivity and dual Gigabit Ethernet controllers. Onboard overclocking buttons abound, while plastic "armor" covers multiple regions. It looks like there are a couple of SATA Express ports on the right edge, as well.
A promo for Biostar's latest "built for gamers" video is also tucked into the press release. The footage dates back to April, and the cheese factor is nearly off the charts:
Um, yeah.
Looks like all the Skylake mobos are finally killing the PCI slot. I have to say it’s about time, though it does mean I will need a new sound card.
I have bought furniture from walmart that were made from a higher quality of metal than that CPU Socket
If Biostar’s products are any rule of measure I would say this video went over budget.
Welcome! 🙂 Had me going initially too. There’s an orange LED in the cross thingy though 🙂
I’m not sure what you just wrote.
Eh … (ノー`)
tl;dr
Thank you!
LED
In a vain attempt to bring this discussion back to topic, I’m hoping it’s not a fan. Maybe a LED light?
Certainly not when taken out of context, but even upon reflection, I don’t feel one iota of regret about it. I seriously doubt chuckula is on the phone with the therapist telling him/her that some guy on tr.com responded to his mean comment with another mean comment.
Note: Please downvote this in groups of 3. It’s fun to watch the cool kidz in the Gold Subscriber clique make shallow attempts to lord their vote in triplicate superpowers over us plebeians.
If I were a normal (English speaking) person, I might infer a few ‘points’ from my post above.
I will break each sentence down (four of them) individually for you since you seem to be very interested in my post!
Sentence 1: Here I express my (real) doubt that the comment is as funny as you say it is to you. I think you are exaggerating. Most people were poking fun and laughing at the cheesy ad (not the board review). But, I will give you the benefit of the doubt. If you are serious and you thought it was “literally the funniest thing you have ever seen on TR”, then I have these questions:
1) Was it funny because an engineer in Taiwan “all the way across the world” called him?
2) Was it funny because the phone call was described as “mysterious” or that the reviewer happened to be in a supermarket checkout line when he got this call?
3) Was it funny that it was a “SFF Gamer Build” (ATI 9800 Pro) in the first place — i.e. jamming hot components into a tiny space so as to cause heat to build up easily?
4) Was it funny that the reviewer didn’t think to try cooling the affected area somehow?
5) Was it funny that the engineer was honest and didn’t expect the reviewer to try to fix the issue?
6) Was it funny that the reviewer was spending several weeks of back-and-forth with Biostar PR about the issue when PR doesn’t know jack shit about how to troubleshoot technical issues, and he should have actually been in contact with technical support instead?
7) Was it funny that the fact that the reviewer expected a “recall” when the issue would not affect normal operation, and if it still were a problem for a customer they could most certainly RMA?
Those are some of the questions I thought of just now. Tell me EXACTLY why you found this so funny because I really didn’t see anything funny about it.
Sentence 2: Here I imply that you really must not have been here long for this to be actually the funniest thing you have seen on TR. I admit this is a little cryptic, but now that I have explained it to you I hope you get it…
Sentence 3: Here I am being a smartass, playing on your wording to make fun of you because you came off as dirpy and awkward.
Sentence 4: Here I am doing what is called summarizing, or ‘wrapping-up my thoughts’. I am being truthful and honest so don’t read into my words for hidden meaning! I am stating what I really feel about the situation.
I hope that helps you because you seem very upset (and confused)….
I literally stated it in the last post. English, mother- fucker, do you speak it?
Is that a question or a statement? Anyway (whether that was a question or a statement), I ask what do you find unclear about my post?
Biostar is the only brand I’ve had an objectively bad experience with.
I don’t know why you made the comment? (ergo, the ‘point’ of the comment)
OK then what exactly do you not understand in my comment? Did you really not understand what my point was, or were you just being snarky?
Yes. TR is not a comedy site, so I don’t know what your objection is.
That’s not very appropriate.
I didn’t have any problem with MMO’s comment. I totally got it and played along it. It was chuckula who felt the need to explain the obvious joke and insult my intelligence.
I assume you know ‘literally’ means ‘actually’.
No. Have you thought about doing the world a favor and jumping off a bridge?
Normally no….
On a related topic, the portion of your nickname ending in “jokeman” might be wasted on you. Have you thought about truncating after the first four letters?
I upvoted you because Biostar is highly questionable but I’m actually rather fond of ECS. Their high-end/gaming line has kitschy names and I dig it. (‘ω’)ノシ
I joined in Jan. 2013. What’s your point?
“and an M.2 slot for mini SSDs. Putting M.2 drives right under the primary graphics card probably isn’t great for thermals, though.”
Maybe that is the second best spot on the MB (best spot under cpu cooler but probobly no space for a M.2 DRIVE), 6W without any heat spreader .
.
21K posts? o.O quality ones also LOL.
Bad day?
So somehow MadManOriginal doing what you asked (in a slightly overly-literal sort of way, which was really funny) is akin to the “get a gun and shoot me” bloody murder mess? What kind of sick fuck are you, anyway?
That was my thought too. Could I just get a straight fscking answer to my original inquiry query about the chipset fan or are we going to play word games all day?
Oh for crapping out loud. We’re really going this route? Really?
So a 10 year old board review is the funniest ting you have ever seen on here? You registered what last year? For me, your reply is the funnist thing I have ever read on TR, whether review, forum, or comment post. To me it’s cool the engineer personally made a phone call to the guy who bought a cheap board like that.
How clever… I suppose when someone says, “Get a gun and shoot me.” you take that literally too?
it all depends on how much quality control is presided over the parts and manufacturing as well as post-production support. unfortunately, there are no motherboards made in germany nor japan, so quality will always be lacking in some form or another. you just have to compromise.
This is literally the funniest thing I have ever read on TR, whether review, forum, or comment post. (ノ▽`)・゜・。Oh man.
Unfortunately the video isn’t so bad it’s good….it’s just bad :\ To be fair I only got like 2mins in, maybe the end would have blown me away.
You just wanted him to [i<]tell you[/i<] that there's not a fan on the chipset. You never required him to be accurate in his assertion.
What’s the 2-pin plug coming from that heatsink?
No, the top PCI-E 1x looks like it’ll take any lenght of cards.
Try looking at the shroud in front of the cards as well, its the same height.
Well, their bad rap on TR started here:
[url<]https://techreport.com/review/6335/biostar-ideq-200p-mini-barebones-system/7[/url<] and then this is the pertinent section of this: [url<]https://techreport.com/news/26340/release-roundup-bits-pieces-and-whole-pcs[/url<] [quote<]I reviewed a Biostar SFF system once that kept crashing whenever I ran a memory benchmark. After several weeks of back-and-forth with Biostar PR about the issue, I got a surreal call on my cell phone while in a supermarket checkout line. On the call was a Biostar engineer, across the globe in Taiwan, who frankly and carefully explained to me that he'd isolated the problem: Biostar had cut corners on some key components on the motherboard, and the board would overheat when stressed and crash. What was the fix, I asked, expecting news of a recall or the like. He offered the solution of not running memory benchmarks, I believe, and said they'd have to avoid cutting corners so closely next time. [/quote<] edit: damn the tags
That’s not a fan on the chipset.
That top PCI-E 1x slot looks like it will only be able to take cards that are no longer than the connector–or you’ll bump into that shroud/heatsink.
So, storage I/O is limited to the M.2 and the two SATA-Express ports? So, you could get two SATA and one SATA-Express or four SATA instead. I guess that’s something. Down a bit from the 10’ish SATA ports we have gotten used to.
Looking at the buss switch chips there below the M.2 slot, it looks like we’re got the normal 16/0/0, 8/8/0, 8/4/4 setup for the 16x PCI-E slots. Do we still only have 20 PCI-E lanes from the CPU? So, that probably isn’t a 4x PCI-E v3 M.2–not if they wanted to save any lanes for Ethernet–unless that’s all coming off the southbridge.
If that’s the case, then I really hope they improved the CPU->chipset link this time around. If they’re stuffing two SATA-Express ports, ethernet, etc. through there, it’s gonna get crowded on that buss. 🙂
That’s why AMD is launching the Radeon Fury this month!
chipset.. or PCH or whatever the heck acronym Intel uses nowadays.
But can it do 60 fps
IT WOULD STILL BE MORE THAN THEY SPEND NOW!
$3?
*shrug* When it comes to motherboards, I don’t put too much stock in “brand names.” I read the reviews of each mobo and let them stand (or fall) on their own merits. Just because you get one good/bad mobo from a company doesn’t mean the next mobo model you get from them will be good/bad too. It could be a completely different team that designed it.
I don’t know why Biostar gets such a bad rap on this site. I’ve used them for several builds and have mostly been satisfied. I consider them the successor to Epox in that they give you boards that may lack some of the frills and OC’ing features of equivalent boards from other manufacturers, but you can also get a price break. I’ve run into a few BIOS niggles with some Biostar products, but I’ve also run into some really bad midrange boards from Asus and MSI.
Please don’t tell me that’s a chipset on the motherboard!!
The Fixer wins because at least the people making it realize that they shouldn’t take it too seriously.
Somehow, I still like AMD’s “The Fixer” series better.
[url<]https://techreport.com/news/27754/amd-new-fixer-video-is-even-crazier-than-the-last[/url<]
If only they put HALF the budget of that video into quality control….
That video … [i<][b<][u<]was amazing![/u<][/b<][/i<]
[quote<]The company's Gaming Z170X motherboard is designed for the chips, and it's slated to be available in August.[/quote<] Now I'm sure a lot of you are wondering: What good is a motherboard without any actual processor that works with the motherboard? Well my friends, thanks to the magic of UEFI firmware and the fact that even your chipset has more CPU power than high-end PCs of yesteryear, I have good news! All of these Z170x motherboards come with a free, BUILT-IN copy of Ms. Astro Chicken that can be played without the need for one of those pesky Skylame processors! Behold our launch video: [url<]https://youtu.be/d05KNLNu884?t=1m59s[/url<]
Please tell me that’s not a fan on the chipset.
does anyone actually want a biostar board?
imo they are in the same box as ECS as something i just dont want