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The MSI Z170A Gaming M6 motherboard will be right at home in your stealth-themed build

By Koh Wanzi - on 7 Sep 2016, 3:55pm

The MSI Z170A Gaming M6 motherboard will be right at home in your stealth-themed build

MSI has announced the Z170A Gaming M6 motherboard, the latest addition to its Gaming series of motherboards. The new board debuts in an oddly-named color that MSI calls “evil gray”, but which really looks like a mix of gray and black to us, and comes with a range of the latest connectivity and networking features to appeal to gamers and enthusiasts.

The board boasts two new signature features – Lightning USB and a next-generation Killer networking technology.

Lightning USB is actually a new ASMedia 2142 USB 3.1 Gen 2 controller chip, which has two PCIe 3.0 lanes available to it for up to 16Gb/s of bandwidth. In comparison, the older ASMedia 1142 USB 3.1 Gen 2 controller chip that is used on the vast majority of existing boards can take advantage of only two PCIe 2.0 lanes (10Gb/s) or one PCIe 3.0 lane (8Gb/s), which still limits the USB 3.1 Gen 2 10Gb/s transfer rate somewhat.

MSI claims this is the fastest USB 3.1 Gen 2 solution on the market right now, especially when used in combination with its USB Speed Up technology. The Z170A Gaming M6 features both USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A and Type-C ports, and the PCIe 3.0 interface helps increase transfer speeds even when two USB 3.1 Gen 2 devices are connected at the same time.

The board is also the first to feature Killer Networking’s latest technology, which is actually so new that the full details haven’t even been released yet (they will be unveiled later this month).

To wrap things up, you’ll also find the usual roster of features, like two M.2 sockets, steel-reinforced PCIe and RAM slots, and Audio Boost 3. One thing that is lacking is an I/O cover, and the exposed I/O ports are quite a jarring contrast against the mostly black backdrop. That said, we really like the muted MSI logo on the PCH heatsink as it’s quite a refreshing departure from the usual red-and-black affair.

We’ll update when we have more information on local availability and pricing.

Source: MSI

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