MSI Z170A XPower Gaming Titanium Edition Review

M.2 connector

We use Plextor‘s fast M6e 256GB M.2 SSD to test the speed of a motherboard's M.2 connector. We reviewed the 512GB Plextor M6e (and its PCIe x2 adapter card) HERE. Unfortunately we do not have access to a PCIe 3.0-based SSD to fully test the M.2 connector’s performance limits.

Unsurprisingly, MSI's 32Gbps-capable M.2 ports do not act as any form of bottleneck for a PCIe 2.0 x2 Plextor M6e SSD.

SATA

For SATA 6Gb/s testing we use a Kingston HyperX 3K (SandForce SF-2281) SSD.

SATA performance from the Z170 ports on MSI's board show no cause for concern. SSD degradation between runs is primarily accountable for small differences in recorded transfer rates on the boards.

The ASMedia ASM1061 SATA 6Gbps ports show transfer rates around the 400MBps mark. These ports should be used for slower storage devices or when the Z170-based ports are not available.

USB 3.0

We tested USB 3.0 performance using the Kingston HyperX 3K SSD connected to a SATA 6Gb/s to USB 3.0 adapter powered by an ASMedia ASM1053 controller.

MSI does not provide a UASP-activating software tool for Windows 7 users so the USB 3.0 transfer rates sit well below a 400MBps level.

Windows 8.1 and 10 users will enjoy higher transfer rates over USB 3.0 thanks to both operating systems feature an in-built UASP driver.

Audio

We use RightMark Audio Analyzer (RMAA) to analyse the performance of the motherboard’s onboard audio solution. A sampling mode of 24-bit, 192 kHz was tested.

MSI's Audio Boost 3 system is based around the Realtek ALC 1150 codec. Two Texas Instruments OP1652 operational amplifiers are used to drive high-impedance headphones. Nippon Chemi-Con audio capacitors are also utilised.

The Z170A XPower Gaming Titanium Edition's general audio performance is ‘Excellent‘ according to RMAA. The noise level and dynamic range ratings with magnitudes just shy of 100dB are particularly good results.

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