Best 1151 m-ATX, m-ITX motherboards for gaming

[Sokhrman]

Are there enough choices out there to ask for the "best LGA1151" motherboards for gaming, in each form factor (m-ATX, m-ITX)? I like the idea of a smaller setup, thinking either the Thermaltake V1 or V21. Thanks!

 

[pigeoncracker]

It's not too big of a category, and I'm just going to list the first ones that I can think of.

Asus Z170I PRO GAMING - Mini ITX - $160 or so

Gigabyte GA-Z170MX-Gaming 5 - Micro ATX - $140 or so

Gigabyte GA-B150M-D3H - Micro ATX - $80 or so

MSI B150M BAZOOKA - Micro ATX - $85

ASRock Z170M Pro4S - Micro ATX - $100

There's five that I can think of. You really can't find much better. My friend has the MSI Bazooka and loves it to bits, but he did have to go through one of them to get one that worked. Just a heads up.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

I have built computers on noth those cases at school (although Haswell)

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2625445/build-log-consolidated-middle-school-builds.html

If you are using a locked CPU you can use H170 motherboards. What CPU are you thinking of?

Skylake runs out of voltage before it runs out of thermal margin, most of the timer, so the CPU cooler can be more modest if you overclock.

Do you have a budget?

The most feature-full and robust mITX is the ASUS Maximus VIII Impact, and it is also very expensive. For an overclocking system

ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming-ITX/ac
Asus Z170I PRO GAMING

would be my top choices.

ASRock H170M-ITX/ac
Gigabyte GA-H170N-WIFI

with a locked chip.

For mATX there is much more choice

The ASUS Maximus VIII GENE is the top end product.

Gigabyte GA-Z170MX-Gaming 5
Asus Z170M-PLUS
ASRock Z170M Extreme4

to overclock

ASRock H170M Pro4
ASRock H170M Pro4S
Gigabyte GA-H170M-D3H

for locked chips.

 

[chrispher]

If you need overclock go Z170I
Better scalability can go Mortar or Bazooka

B150M Mortar 84.99$ M-ATX

B150M BAZOOKA 79.99$ M-ATX

Z170I Gaming Pro AC 174.99$ M-ITX

 

[Tfuture]

z170 extreme6+ is a good board for OC you also get a handy 5.25 usb 3.1 slot thing

 

[DonkeyOatie]

z170 extreme6+ is a good board for OC you also get a handy 5.25 usb 3.1 slot thing

Less useful in mITX where full-size external 5.25 are rarer.