Question 1

I heard the bottom of the I/O shield blocks graphics cards with backplates from being installed in the top PCIe slot. Is this true?

Accepted Answer

I cant see it blocking one, I have an EVGA GTX 980TI Classified and it fits with room to spare. This is an awesome MB I highly recommend it for gaming.
I'm using;
Intel Core i7-6700K 8M Skylake Quad-Core 4.0 GHz with a Corsair Hydro Series H115i Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler Cooling CW-9060027-WW

SAMSUNG 950 PRO M.2 256GB PCI-Express 3.0 x4 Internal Solid State Drive

CORSAIR Dominator Platinum 32GB (4 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3200

and the EVGA GTX 980TI Classified

I installed the board in a Corsair 600C Black ATX Full Tower Computer Case

I bought  a new Microsoft Windows 10 Pro | USB Flash Drive and installed it on the Samsung M.2 Drive and I don't need or use any other SSD Drive but I'm thinking of getting another one for the second slot.
This Rig SCREAMS!!! :-0

Sorry for all the extra info, I can't help it the best system I ever built!

Question 2

I got GSKILL 3600 Trident DDR4 RAM and it apparently is not compatible. What RAM did you guys go with that for sure works?

Accepted Answer

G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) Intel Z170 Platform Desktop Memory Model F4-3200C16D-32GVK... Was the choice I made.. It has worked very well for the past few months. Hope this helps.. Danny M.

Question 3

I plan on using a Samsung 950 Pro 512 GB MZ-V5P512BW M.2 card as my primary Drive and if I add any other SDD's it will be a Intel 750 PCIe SSD. I won't be using any SATA ports. I'm going to install a Intel Core i7-6700K 8M Skylake Quad-Core 4.0 GHz and Corsair Dominator® Platinum Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4 DRAM 3600MHz C18 Memory Kit (CMD16GX4M4B3600C18) memory. My Video Card is a EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 06G-P4-4998-KR 6GB,
My first quest is, will it matter which M.2 Socket I use either 80 mm or the 110 mm Socket with the Samsung 950 Pro. If it does matter which one should I use, I want to use the 80mm as it is farthest away from the Video Card and the heat it generates and I can direct air flow over the 80 mm socket better?
My next question is, will the 3600 DDR4 work well with the MB or should I use the 3200 MHz DDR4 since EVGA suggests the 3200 Corsair and doesn't list the 3600, and for that matter would the speed difference between the two be negotiable?

Accepted Answer

The Samsung 950 Pro 512 GB M.2 SSD Drive is an 80mm M.2 card however I believe either of the full speed slots will work either the 110mm or the 80mm you just have to make sure that you fit the screw on the end properly as it appears that card requires grounding. The longer 110 slot has several screw slots I believe designated to fit different sized cards but the 80mm slot only has the one.

Consequently I bought the same board and drive and installed mine in the 80mm slot. Keep in mind though that the use of the M.2 style cards uses up one of your PCIE slots (Using the 80mm slot disables PCIE #4 on the board.)

I can't help you out much on the ram I'm running 3200 MHz ram in my setup and it works great the thing to keep in mind is that it won't run full speed unless you are overclocked! I believe the 6th gen i7 Chips top out at 2200 MHz without overclocking.

Question 4

will this work with 7th gen proc? [i7-7700K (BX80677I77700K)}? Thanks

Accepted Answer

I  think it will, But I can not say for sure.. this is the one that I am running   
 Intel Core i7-6700K Skylake Quad-Core 4.0 GHz LGA 1151 91W BX80662I76700K Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics ... I have had it up and running  now for nearly a year with zero problems.. sorry I can't help more..

Question 5

can I run 3 graphics cards with this mother board ?

Accepted Answer

Hello, Thank you for contacting us with your question. We apologize that we are unable to provide you with direct technical assistance; however, we recommend visiting our online community forum. www.eggxpert.com. At EggXpert you can chat with someone who may assist you with your question. Hope this information is helpful. Have an Eggcellent Day! Newegg.com

Question 6

I'm thinking about this mobo, but want to air-cool it and I'm concerned about the heatsink above the CPU socket interfering with it (like a Noctua NH-D14). Any insight?

Accepted Answer

The heatsinks do get in the way when installing bigger cpu coolers, if it's any help I have a cooler Master V8 GTS on mine, and I had problens with my build a few times. Do I got used to the tight spaces. If you want ease of access to it I don't recommend this mobo. Otherwise if you can work around the tight spaces this is a great choice.

Question 7

This question is for the person that also is getting the 19/53 POST error codes. Were you able to fix this? If so, what was wrong? I've already tried multiple RAM, multiple, motherboards, and multiple CPUs.

Accepted Answer

I was getting some post errors keeping it from booting. Can't remember if they were the exact ones you were getting. Mine went away when I double checked the power cable to the CPU plug. I thought it was plugged in good but apparently the path I originally chose wasn't allowing contact to all pins. Once I re-ran the cable and made sure it was in there good. Everything booted up like it was supposed to. Had me stumped for a little while though...

Question 8

Which SATA port should I plug a Samsung 850 SSD Pro into?

Accepted Answer

The Intel ports work best, just remember if you use any of the M.2 slots you lose the last 2 ports on the Intel controller.  I used to have my Blu-ray Burner on a Marvel port but it caused problems in Windows 10 Anniversary update so I moved it to Intel slot .  It also boots faster now with nothing on the Marvel ports.  So I have a Samsung 950 Pro M.2 NVMe SSD in M.2 slot 1, a Samsung 950 EVO in Intel Slot 0 for hard drives using a standard SATA cable, not express.

Question 9

Can you change the LED colors on the board from the BIOS?

Accepted Answer

No, you cannot change the colors.  But you can turn off most of them if you enable Dark Mode in BOIS...hope that helps

Question 10

I bought two SAMSUNG 950 PRO M.2 512GB PCI-Express 3.0 x4 Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)'s to use with this motherboard. I have no idea how to set up a raid. I am interested in a software raid. Is this easy to do in Windows 10? Thanks in advance.

Accepted Answer

Software RAIDS are terrible and can only be used for storage post OS setup.

To enable RAID enter your BIOS and check to make sure both of your M.2 slots are enabled and showing drives. Then go to your SATA options and change the mode from AHCI to RAID.

Reboot and go back to BIOS and you will see a new menu for Intel Rapid Storage. Select it and you can then build your RAID from inside BIOS.

Then reboot with your Win 10 installation media and install it to the single drive that will appear. (Just under 1TB for you since you have two 512GB drives)

CPU Socket Type	LGA 1151
CPU Type	Celeron / Core i3 / Core i5 / Core i7 / Intel Core 6th Gen (LGA 1151) / Pentium

Number of Memory Slots	4x288pin (DDR4)
Memory Standard	DDR4 up to 3600+
Maximum Memory Supported	64GB
Channel Supported	Dual Channel

PCI Express x16	4 x PCI Express x16
PCI Express x4	1 x PCI Express x4
PCI Express x1	1 x PCI Express x1

Serial ATA (SATA)	6 x SATA 6Gb/s, by Intel Z170 PCH 4 x SATA 6Gb/s, by Marvell 9235
SATA Express	2 x SATA Express (Shared with SATA)
M.2	M.2 / 2 x Key M (Up to 32Gbps) M.2 / 1 x Key E
SATA RAID	0/1/5/10

Audio Chipset	Realtek ALC1150
Audio Channels	8 Channels

EVGA Z170 Classified K 142-SS-E178-KR LGA 1151 Intel Z170 HDMI USB 3.1 USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel® Z170 Chipset

Intel® Z170 Chipset

6 Layer PCB

2-Way SLI® + PhysX

M.2 Support

High Gold Content For CPU Socket

Killer E2400 NIC

8 Phase PWM

DUAL BIOS Support

Onboard Power, Reset and CMOS Reset Buttons

Top Notch Integrated Peripherals

Learn more about the EVGA 142-SS-E178-KR

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LAN Chipset	1 x Killer E2400 NIC
Second LAN Chipset	Intel I219
Max LAN Speed	2 x 1Gbps

HDMI	1 x HDMI
DisplayPort	1 x DisplayPort
USB 3.1	2 x USB 3.1
USB 3.0	6 x USB 3.0
USB 1.1/2.0	2 x USB 2.0
S/PDIF Out	1 x Optical
Audio Ports	5 Ports

Physical Spec
Form Factor	ATX
Dimensions (W x L)	12.0" x 9.6"
Power Pin	24 Pin

Item#: N82E16813188181

EVGA Z170 Classified K 142-SS-E178-KR LGA 1151 Intel Z170 HDMI USB 3.1 USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel® Z170 Chipset

Intel® Z170 Chipset

6 Layer PCB

2-Way SLI® + PhysX

M.2 Support

High Gold Content For CPU Socket

Killer E2400 NIC

8 Phase PWM

DUAL BIOS Support

Onboard Power, Reset and CMOS Reset Buttons

Top Notch Integrated Peripherals

Learn more about the EVGA 142-SS-E178-KR

Customer Reviews of the EVGA 142-SS-E178-KR

Warranty & Returns

Warranty, Returns, And Additional Information

Warranty

Return Policies

Manufacturer Contact Info