Need a new MB, either Z170 or Z270 for overclocking!

So I purchased a PC from someone and I feel I got a very good deal. Its a Core I5 6600K system with 16 gigs DDR4 Ram. My problem is the machine, as beautiful as it is, is running in a H170 chipset which means I can't overclock the K processor.

This leads me to looking for a new Z chipset mb so I can overclock the beauty. However looking online I am overwhelmed with the options.

What I am looking for is a good motherboard for overclocking. I plan on just using this machine for gaming, the case its going into is large enough to take any size. Really, just overclocking with a single card is my primary concern.

My budget is 150$ max, obviously I would like to go as cheap as possible but not so cheap that the damn thing is made of cardboard.

What options could you guys give me for a good Z170/Z270 board?

I like Gigabyte, works great for overclocking. I have my i5 6600k overclocked to 4.5GHz first try. GIGABYTE GA-Z270-HD3 $114.99 http://www.gigabyte.us/Motherboard/GA-Z270-HD3-rev-10#kf

Cool I will look into that board. Thanks for the input.

If you want to spend a little more money this is a better looking board with more features. GIGABYTE GA-Z270X-UD3 $149.99 http://www.gigabyte.us/Motherboard/GA-Z270X-UD3-rev-10#kf

Nice board here https://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-LGA...keywords=gigabyte+g1+gaming+ga-z170x-gaming+5 I have the Gaming 7, but it's currently $10 over your stated budget. They do go on sale, though. https://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Int...keywords=GIGABYTE+G1+Gaming+GA-Z170X-Gaming+7

Conventional wisdom says the z170 chipset boards may overclock a little better as that chipset was made for the Sky Lake CPU series. But in reality it might not turn out to be the case.

trents said:

But in reality it might not turn out to be the case.

Click to expand...

This. You typically see the same clocks on a newer chipset.

Either or.

The from what I have seen when looking at the memory overclocking is much better on the Z270s Qualified Vendors List. I agree, for CPU overclocking the south bridge chipset on the Z270 and Z170 makes no difference.

The IMC of KL is a lot better and more of the reason for higher memory clocks...though the chipset does play a role in it.

I was just looking what the boards memory qualify for in the QVL whether using sky lake or kaby lake on the same Z270. I would think the Z270s are tested with newer memory or they had more time to get the OC timings and memory ruining better than the Z170 QVL.

Or the board is capable-provided the IMC is. Interesting discussion, though. I learn a lot hanging around here.

IMC (Integrated memory controller) is in the CPU. On the old Front sided bus memory overclocking was limited by dividers and FSB frequency. Now the IMC uses multiplier for memory speed to communicate to the cores.

That's what I was getting to. The board may support 4600 MHz on the RAM, but only if the improved IMC on KL can handle it. (along with the Z270 chipset)

This is all very interesting, thanks for the input and that point, I didn't even consider that a "rated" 270 boards memory settings could be held up by the older processor. I still have not made a decision yet, so any other input I greatly appreciate.

Sometimes I wonder If the IMC plays a part in memory overclocking. I spoke to Xidax who builds custom computers and they say when setting up all the PCs with high speed memory they don't have any problems with overclocking the memory with the same motherboards they use. They charge for overclocking the CPU.

When I look at the memory it is clocked off of the 100Hz BCLK in my case 16 x 100Hz = 1600Hz DDR4 =3200 speed. Then the communication from the memory is sent to and from the memory by the CPU IMC with timings and subtimings so I don't see that effecting the IMC unless I'm missing something because I don't see IMC increasing the frequency like overclocking with the old FSB.

Subtimings are the complicated part for memory communication to and from the CPU in clock cycles so the data transfers at the correct time.

I see the IMC affecting stability, thereby allowing higher speeds, unless I'm missing something.

I haven't seen any difference in IMC between any SL and KL that I had. Regardless if I was using i3, i5 or i7, max clock was always limited by the motherboard and its design. In theory KL has better memory controller but in real it doesn't matter as we can't check how better it is because of motherboard limits.

Cheaper motherboards have thin PCB and not optimized traces layout. It's causing additional interference and worse memory OC. Only 2 slot motherboards can handle higher than 4266 memory clock. Most motherboards won't support more than 3866 memory clock and some only in single channel mode.
In the end if you want high memory clock then you have to invest in good motherboard. Z270 are generally better choice because more models have improved layout while on Z170 only some ITX boards with shorter traces and ASRock OCF/OCFM are supporting 4000+ memory in dual channel.
Every single Z170/Z270 motherboard has DDR4-3200 support and even then you may find additional info that it depends on CPU and IMC.

Right now I'm not sure why anyone would choose Z170 over Z270. Z270 has additional features ( depends on motherboard ) and is simply newer so compatibility updates and BIOS releases will be longer available.

Does the Z270 chipset play nice with Windows OS prior to Windows 10?

That's a good question. From what I have read it sounded like it was the processor and not the mb that determined playing nice with Windows 7/8 but then again I am not sure.

From what I have read it sounded like it was the processor and not the mb that determined playing nice with Windows 7/8

Click to expand...

Upon further reflection, KL can run on Z170 chipsets, so I believe you're right.