If you are updated with the news about the upcoming Intel processors and motherboards, most probably you are aware that the 6th Generation Intel Skylake processors, like the Intel Core i7-6700K and Core i5-6600K, will soon be released later this year. Recently, a Chinese site called MyDrivers.com revealed or leaked of what appears to be the next generation Z170 motherboards from Colorful. This leak is somewhat detailed and I wasn’t expecting to see a finished product in the flesh. Below you will see some Colorful Z170 motherboards, like the iGame-Z170-U, already finished and working. These motherboards are just waiting for Intel to officially release the Intel Z170 Express chipset and the 6th Generation Intel Core processors, codenamed Skylake. Check out more details about these Z170 motherboards below.
First Look on Intel Z170 Motherboards from Colorful
The upcoming Z170 motherboards pretty much look like the Z97 motherboards we have today. The Z170 motherboards, like the Colorful iGame-Z170-U, features the next generation Intel Z170 Express Chipset and will make use of a new socket LGA 1151. The LGA 1151 will support the upcoming 6th Generation Intel Skylake Core processors, and since it is a new socket, this means that Haswell Refresh or Broadwell CPUs won’t be compatible with Z170 motherboards. This also means that Skylake processors won’t be compatible with Z97 motherboards. If you have been reading news about the upcoming 6th Gen CPUs, more or less you have probably encountered the Intel Core i7-6700K and Core i5-6600K.
These leaked Z170 motherboards has four DIMM slots for DDR4 memory. No more DDR3+DDR4 setup something like what they did in the past (DDR2+DDR3). Most probably these will support up to 64GB of DDR4 memory and memory clock speeds of around 2133MHz. More or less you are aware that DDR4 memory kits are still very expensive right now, and can only be used in X99 motherboards. Unless prices of DDR4 memory goes down (significantly) by the time Z170 motherboards are released, consumers might be having a hard time upgrading due to the cost of DDR4 memory kits.
Next, we see the usually features that many Z97 motherboards already have. Features like SATA Express, M.2 slot, LED illumination path for audio section, SLI/Crossfire Support, debug LED, the usual things you see at the I/O ports and many more. But one thing I noticed at the rear I/O ports is the inclusion of USB 3.1 ports. Definitely, USB 3.1 will become a standard port in the next generation motherboard.
Looking at the rest of the photos shows that I/O shield, “audio guard”, motherboard armors and the likes is going to be a common thing in Z170 motherboard. I know Asus will have their thermal armor and the likes in their TUF series. MSI might also follow since some MSI Z97 motherboards do have I/O shielding, but I’m not really sure if Gigabyte is going to imitate the same approach.
Here are some leaked slides during the presentation of the Z170 motherboards:
Below are more photos of the bunny girls holding two yet to be named Z170 motherboards. The thing that got me confused is how come, the label in the box is “iGame Z97”? Another thing is, who/what is the subject in the photos and who/what is the object? Hmmm…
