Z170 motherboards comparison

[Samaritans]

So i am currently in the market to choose a z170 motherboard for my first build. I have the budget of 160 dollars for mobo, so right now between Gigabyte Gaming 5 or a MSi M5. Also considered the Krait, but from the reviews i see people doesn't like the SATA ports on it. Any suggestions? Yes, i have heard lots of people say "MSi POOR QC", but when i look at the reviews Gigabyte doesn't seem to be better, some people also complains about their poor BIOS and Customer Support system.... And about Asus, i think they probably have the best quality, but i don't like the Brown PCB. Any other suggests of another good B&W or B&R board is great.

 

[Dunlop0078]

MSI used to have poor quality control from what I have heard, but not anymore in my experience I have bought many msi products over the years and so have my friends with no issues. Nor do I see people complaining about msi products in mass anymore they have been reviewing quite well lately. In fact im going to strongly look at msi products for my next upgrade. In terms of quality nowadays you can expect pretty similar quality in motherboards of the same price range from the reputable company's like ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, ASRock, etc. Check out toms z170 mobo overview it should help you decide.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-z170-lga-1151-skylake-motherboard,4254.html

Review of asus z170: http://www.anandtech.com/show/9729/the-asus-z170-a-motherboard-review

 

[junkeymonkey]

'' And about Asus, i think they probably have the best quality''

my ''last''3 asus's were my last no where near the asus of the past and I see them now as more on hype the on quality and poor customer service and dismal support that can be misleading /wrong [too big for there britches now a days]

then I would just build a tried and true proven haswell and skip the issue full skylake anyway

 

[Samaritans]

MSI used to have poor quality control from what I have heard, but not anymore in my experience I have bought many msi products over the years and so have my friends with no issues. Nor do I see people complaining about msi products in mass anymore they have been reviewing quite well lately. In fact im going to strongly look at msi products for my next upgrade. In terms of quality nowadays you can expect pretty similar quality in motherboards of the same price range from the reputable company's like ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, ASRock, etc. Check out toms z170 mobo overview it should help you decide.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-z170-lga-1151-skylake-motherboard,4254.html

Review of asus z170: http://www.anandtech.com/show/9729/the-asus-z170-a-motherboard-review

Ty, any insights on the performance and reliability comparison between the MSi M5 and the Gigabyte Gaming 5?

 

[Bearmann]

In addition to Newegg, make sure that you check the Amazon reviews too. Of course, you have to go through them with a fine tooth comb as some people complain about the most ridiculous things, e.g. I bought a B170 board and it won't overclock. Also check the dates, as bios updates fix some of the early problems. I like to check over at Tweaktown and see if Steven Bassiri has done a review of the boards that I am interested in. He is one of the few that actually performs a circuit analysis and details build quality. I see that he has reviewed a Gigabyte X99 Gaming 5 and a Z170 Gaming 6, but not many MSI boards. Sometimes you can infer the quality from a similar model.