Supermicro C7Z170-OCE (Intel Z170) Motherboard Review

Circuit Analysis

The motherboard looks good without any heat sinks. The diagram on the right is a detailed block diagram of everything.

The VRM on the C7Z170-OCE uses high-quality International Rectifier parts for the CPU core and iGPU phases. The inductors are Vitec 45A high-frequency power inductors, and each power stage is an International Rectifier IR3556M 50A integrated power stage. There are two IR 35203 digital PWMs, each outputs 6+2 phases, but in this case not all phases are being used. One PWM controls the three iGPU phases, and another provides six phases for the CPU core and a single phase for the VCCSA.

The memory VRM is from Infineon (which just bought IR and Primarion) with a Primarion PX3143HDM digital PWM and a single integrated power stage with the marking DA21232. Right below the CPU socket is a Texas Instruments TPS51362, which is a 10A integrated power converter that supplies the VCCIO rail. There is also an IDT6V1555NGL clock generator for CPU BLCK overclocking.

The VCCSA is from the IR3556M located above the PLX8747, and it is controlled by one of the IR35203 located closer to the top of the motherboard. The Avago (formerly PLX Technologies) PEX8747 takes the 16x PCI-E 3.0 from the CPU and outputs 32x PCI-E 3.0. The PCI-E ports are just like normal PCI-E ports and support a variety of GPUs and storage devices. The PEX8747 is powered by its own TPS51362 10A integrated power converter. Four ASMedia ASM1480s switch 8x of PCI-E 3.0 from the bottom full sized 16x slot to the middle one if occupied.