EVGA Plans Three-Point Strike On Z170 With Classified, FTW And Stinger

[IInuyasha74]

EVGA plans for a precision strike, firing three boards at key market segments.

EVGA Plans Three-Point Strike On Z170 With Classified, FTW And Stinger : Read more

 

[dstarr3]

Sweet. I'll build one more Z97 computer this Christmas and then give this new generation of processors and chipsets a couple years to mature.

 

[g-unit1111]

I really want to build a mini ITX system. I was thinking I might use my old i5-3570K, but this new crop of Z170 motherboards are amazing in like every way, and it's great to see manufacturers catering to small form factor builds now. The Z170 Stinger looks like a winner.

 

[norseman4]

The Z170 Stinger looks like a winner.

The thing that kills the stinger for me is that the M.2 is not available for drives. They have an adapter that converts what's on the board to M.2 Key E, which is not for storage. (No SATA)

Key M is PCIe x4 with drive support. (B is x2 with drive support)

 

[IInuyasha74]

The Z170 Stinger looks like a winner.

The thing that kills the stinger for me is that the M.2 is not available for drives. They have an adapter that converts what's on the board to M.2 Key E, which is not for storage. (No SATA)

Key M is PCIe x4 with drive support. (B is x2 with drive support)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.2

Key E supports PCI-E x2 connection, so it will work for the M.2 PCI-E based storage devices.

 

[g-unit1111]

The Z170 Stinger looks like a winner.

The thing that kills the stinger for me is that the M.2 is not available for drives. They have an adapter that converts what's on the board to M.2 Key E, which is not for storage. (No SATA)

Key M is PCIe x4 with drive support. (B is x2 with drive support)

I don't think this would be an issue for too many people building this kind of system especially if they want a Steam Box but then again you never know.

 

[Blueberries]

The classified board is the only one worth commenting on here, but the dual 8-pin power is really cool and I've never seen that before. I also like the heat-pipe connecting the MOSFETs/VRM/Chipset, not only does it look cool but it's an incredibly effective design. Furthermore the power delivery to PCI-e 3.0 looks phenomenal on this board and is a much better design than usually offered.

Why only 4 DIMMS for an e-ATX board, however?

 

[norseman4]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.2

Key E supports PCI-E x2 connection, so it will work for the M.2 PCI-E based storage devices.

I have never seen an M.2 SSD. M and B, yes, but nothing with the key so much closer to the middle.

 

[Blueberries]

The Z170 Stinger looks like a winner.

The thing that kills the stinger for me is that the M.2 is not available for drives. They have an adapter that converts what's on the board to M.2 Key E, which is not for storage. (No SATA)

Key M is PCIe x4 with drive support. (B is x2 with drive support)

What? Why would you want SATA for storage if you have x2 PCI-e lanes?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.2

Key E supports PCI-E x2 connection, so it will work for the M.2 PCI-E based storage devices.

I have never seen an M.2 SSD. M and B, yes, but nothing with the key so much closer to the middle.

Do you mean M.2 2242? Where are you seeing this anyways? Do you have a link to the adapter you're talking about?

 

[norseman4]

http://www.evga.com/articles/00952/EVGA-Z170-Motherboards/

Scroll down about half the page to see the Stinger. Under internal I/O it lists M.2 Key E. The other photos show what is included, other than the board, inside the box and you can see the adapter, and the physical keying of the M.2 slot.

And yes, this looks like 2242.

---

I'm looking to reduce the number of power cables in my current build, and get away from the 2.5/3.5 storage solutions, and AHCI. Some cables are required, of course, and my still desiring ODDs will add some more, but throwing an NVMe drive on a 4 lane M.2 would be good for me. (Hence why I said the Stinger doesn't work for me)

 

[norseman4]

I don't think this would be an issue for too many people building this kind of system especially if they want a Steam Box but then again you never know.

What I think of when I hear Steam Box is a low-profile SFF machine using a very good iGPU. Putting the boot-drive on an M.2 SSD (AHCI or NVMe) seems to be ideal for this for simplified internals.

I can see having the WiFi solution here though

 

[Himei]

That iTX looks great but the sata ports and USB 3.0 Header is in awkward spots. Unless you for a good case for it, it'll be a pain cable managing in a tight ITX case especially since the stupid 3.0 case cable is so stupidly thick.

 

[2Be_or_Not2Be]

I'm disappointed that the Stinger didn't have a USB 3.1 Type-C. Since I want to use the board for a couple of years and would want the port for future use, that's a full-stop for me.

 

[Blueberries]

http://www.evga.com/articles/00952/EVGA-Z170-Motherboards/

Scroll down about half the page to see the Stinger. Under internal I/O it lists M.2 Key E. The other photos show what is included, other than the board, inside the box and you can see the adapter, and the physical keying of the M.2 slot.

And yes, this looks like 2242.

---

I'm looking to reduce the number of power cables in my current build, and get away from the 2.5/3.5 storage solutions, and AHCI. Some cables are required, of course, and my still desiring ODDs will add some more, but throwing an NVMe drive on a 4 lane M.2 would be good for me. (Hence why I said the Stinger doesn't work for me)

You're right that is frustrating, I wonder why they chose such a form factor. ADATA's solutions aren't bad but if you don't want to use the PCI-e port for your SSD your choices seem pretty limited here. I would rather use an 850 Pro over SATA than any 2242 option available right now.

 

[g-unit1111]

I'm disappointed that the Stinger didn't have a USB 3.1 Type-C. Since I want to use the board for a couple of years and would want the port for future use, that's a full-stop for me.

Yeah USB Type C would be an absolute must for anyone considering Z170 I would think.