Require clarifications for the Gigabyte GA-Z170MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard

[Olivier Martin]

Hi,

I am planning on upgrading to Skylake shortly and I was looking at the Gigabyte GA-Z170MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard.

I am not a very technical individual when it comes to understanding specification for computer and I was hoping some of you folks could confirm if the following setup is possible with this board.

Run two 280x (sapphire dual-x & MSI Twin Frozen) in crossfire with x8 & x8
Run TRENDnet Wireless N 300 Mbps Dual Band PCIe Adapter, TEW-726EC

If this is not possible with this MOBO, any recommendations are welcome however please note that I absolutely need a micro ITX mobo with Skylake.

Thank you in advance.

 

[Suztera]

If you want to do crossfire, you can't use the pcie adapter since you don't have an available slot.
You could go with a Mini-ITX motherboard that has onboard wifi but that will lose the ability to crossfire.

Alternatively, you can simply use a USB wifi adapter.

 

[Olivier Martin]

Would I not be able to insert it in the third PCI Express 3.0x16 while running in crossfire? According to the Newegg specification specs, there is 3 PCI Express 3.0 x16 and 1 PCI Express x1 slot. Is it because they are not able to all run simultaneously?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128844&AID=10657534&PID=3938566&SID=&nm_mc=AFC-C8JunctionCA&cm_mmc=AFC-C8JunctionCA-_-na-_-na-_-na&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_source=afc-%zn

 

[Suztera]

Would I not be able to insert it in the third PCI Express 3.0x16 while running in crossfire? According to the Newegg specification specs, there is 3 PCI Express 3.0 x16 and 1 PCI Express x1 slot. Is it because they are not able to all run simultaneously?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128844&AID=10657534&PID=3938566&SID=&nm_mc=AFC-C8JunctionCA&cm_mmc=AFC-C8JunctionCA-_-na-_-na-_-na&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_source=afc-%zn

You could put the 2nd R9 280X on the 3rd x16 slot and still run in crossfire and the wifi card in the 2nd pcie slot. The pcie x1 slot is likely to be blocked by the first R9 280X.

 

[Olivier Martin]

Yes that is definetly an option however the bottom PCI will only operate at x4 rather than x8 which is not something I want (I know it currently does not make a difference, however I am trying to future proof this purchase). If I put both video card in PCI x16 & PCI x8, would there be enought space in the PCI x4 for the wireless adapter? If not, then the other MOBO I had in mind would be the ASUS ROG MAXIMUS VIII GENE LGA 1151. Any idea if that would solve my problem?

 

[Suztera]

Yes that is definetly an option however the bottom PCI will only operate at x4 rather than x8 which is not something I want (I know it currently does not make a difference, however I am trying to future proof this purchase). If I put both video card in PCI x16 & PCI x8, would there be enought space in the PCI x4 for the wireless adapter? If not, then the other MOBO I had in mind would be the ASUS ROG MAXIMUS VIII GENE LGA 1151. Any idea if that would solve my problem?

Neither will have the space to fit the wifi adapter after you put in the R9 280Xs.
Can you not use a USB wifi adapter instead rather than a wifi card.
Or just accept crossfire with x16 x4 mode. There not much difference between x8 x8 mode.
You won't find a Z170 micro atx motherboard that will allow x8 on the 3rd pcie x16 slot

 

[Olivier Martin]

I can however I already own the wifi adapter and I find that Wifi USB adapter are not as good as the one's that are plugged through PCIe performance wise.

Thank you for the clarifications.

 

[Suztera]

There are only two Z170 micro atx motherboards that support X8 X8 mode for crossfire/ SLI. The Gigabyte and the ASUS. Unfortunately, you can't fulfill your needs with a micro atx size, it's not enough room.

 

[FPrenholato]

Maybe some kind of pci riser for third PCI slot and some creativity ?

 

[Anon__Zero]

Look into an X99 board and a 5820K, that would suit your needs I think...or perhaps the M.2 slot on the Z170 would accomodate a WiFi adapter.