Supermicro C7Z170-SQ (Intel Z170) Motherboard Review

Introduction

Not too long ago Supermicro decided to break into the gaming motherboard segment. Supermicro is known for their high-performance server hardware, but for the past few generations they have launched a few consumer motherboards. With the Z170 and Skylake platform launch came a pretty strong message from Intel; let's focus on gamers.

Most, if not all, motherboard companies have taken this to heart, and now every brand is focusing on gaming more than ever before. Supermicro launched two OCE series boards for the Intel Z97 and X99 platforms aimed at bringing workstation class design to overclocking and gaming motherboards. However, the gaming factor wasn't as prevalent as they wanted - for Z170, they did things differently.

Supermicro rarely shows off their boards before they launch, but with Z170, things were a bit different. They showed off their motherboard privately a few months before launch and invited some to provide their opinions and any suggestions they might have. The final product is different than the previous products in that they did integrate a lot of the feedback. For starters, buttons are in places that are easier for users to access, they have implemented the latest features, and they have implemented a new uniform red color theme. I should also say that this isn't the only Z170 motherboard that Supermicro is going to be bringing to the market for Z170, there will be others. So far we have seen the motherboard on paper, but let's see how it does in person.

Specifications

The Supermicro C7Z170-SQ has many of the latest features that users want including USB 3.1, 6x SATA6G, 32Gb/s M.2, Intel Gbit NIC, 6x USB 3.0 (two on the back four through two internal headers). The motherboard also supports CrossFireX, but not SLI.

Pricing

The C7Z170-SQ is available from a lot of stores and ranges in price from 209.99 to 219.99 (as per Supermicro).