SFF.Network ASRock Z270M-STX MXM Micro-STX Motherboard Pictured
- Thread starter jeshikat
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Unfortunately, this will fall under hackish as its not standard supported. It means modifying the case or having a permanent cable outside. My modding days have long gone
And it also means losing a m.2 slot, one of the attractive points of the MB.I have had the same issue with a bunch of laptops not supporting Thunderbolt or simply locking the bios to disallow eGPUs ( Dell on there cheaper laptops ).
Frankly, i find it a shame. The board debut in January and now 6+ months later, it still can not be certified. No wonder Intel has issues bringing Thunderbolt to the public. Frankly, if i was Asrock, i disable TB, sell the board and when they are certified release a bios that unlocked the TB again ( or disable it in the bios and let people "unlock" it themselves ). But i think that financial issues may be involved in decisions like that.
This. The TB3 controller not cheap so it doesn't make financial sense to add it but not be able to use it on an experimental form factor like Micro-STX.
Even on top of the expense of Alpine Ridge, getting Thunderbolt itself functional is not a trivial task: signal integrity needs to be tighter than regular internal PCIe routing due the signal then to needing to make its way over two removable connectors and a cable on top of spanning a PCB at either end. E.g. the ASUS Maximus VIII Impact and GA-Z170N Gaming 5 both had the Alpine Ridge controller, but no Thunderbolt capability.
Well, we shall see. In worst case one can upgrade a year down the line to a z270M "successor" if the form factor becomes popular. And given that Intel will integrate TB + make it licence free, the change for TB system in the future will increase.
If Asrock can offer a reasonably priced Z270M with 1050TI and a 1060/1070. It will depend a bit on the price. If there prices enter laptop area, then they will have a hard time because people can just buy a laptop then.
Just recently there was a laptop with 7700HQ + 1070 for 1400 euro in promotion here. And that includes a screen, keyboard, battery ( and the noise. HP Omen is not exactly quiet ). That is a bit their issue right now. If they can not gain MxM cards at a reasonable market price, it drives up there entire platform into Laptop price ranges, without all the "extras" that are present om laptops.
Like with everything, price is king.
Still no reply from AsRock NL regarding release or any other information for the EU market. Shame ... Actually strange there is no information about a release at all. Think the only information i found is mid this month but how accurate that is???
If Asrock can offer a reasonably priced Z270M with 1050TI and a 1060/1070. It will depend a bit on the price. If there prices enter laptop area, then they will have a hard time because people can just buy a laptop then.
Just recently there was a laptop with 7700HQ + 1070 for 1400 euro in promotion here. And that includes a screen, keyboard, battery ( and the noise. HP Omen is not exactly quiet ). That is a bit their issue right now. If they can not gain MxM cards at a reasonable market price, it drives up there entire platform into Laptop price ranges, without all the "extras" that are present om laptops.
Like with everything, price is king.
Still no reply from AsRock NL regarding release or any other information for the EU market. Shame ... Actually strange there is no information about a release at all. Think the only information i found is mid this month but how accurate that is???
I'm confused as to why you'd even want that option. The whole point of having MXM is to be able to have a dGPU; if you were going to use an eGPU, you'd be better off buying a NUC with thunderbolt anyway. and no, you cant SLI or Crossfire an internal and an external GPU as far as I am aware, and far too few games support explicit multi-GPU under DX-12 or Vulcan.
Currently MxM cards are expensive. By installing a cheaper card like a 1050TI/RX480 a z270m is still a full desktop with a reasonable graphical capacity.
At home one can have a eGPU for more "serious" gaming. That means ones the investment for the eGPU case has been done, you end up with a eGPU that can be upgraded in the future. If MxM cards get cheaper in the future, you can still upgrade the z270m
Its the best of both world. Compare this price difference:
** z270m + MxM 1080 = quoted at 2000 dollar. Lets assume that is around 2000 euro ( 1$ = 1 euro happens all the time over here ). That is 2000 dollars for a barebone system with coolers, psu and a gpu.
On other other hand, lets take the Deskmini H110 price what is around 140 euro here. Lets assume the z270m deskmini will be 280 euro ( that includes case, psu ).
** z270m deskmini barebone: 280 euro + a /RX480 can be found for around 300 dollar. Maybe some import costs...
** eGPU: 250 Euro + 530 Euro = 780 euro
= 1360 euro
So you have a mobile system with a reasonable GPU for on the road. At home you have a eGPU, that can be upgraded in the future for just the base GPU card price. No overpriced MxM.
Do not calculate that x dollars is cheaper in euro's because we almost always end up paying 1$ = 1 euro over here.
You see the difference. Unless Asrock sells the z270m + 1080 for around 1300 dollars, they can not compete with there own product if it has a thunderbolt port. And i think they know this also...
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Another point, take in account that technically the x270m is competing with the Intel Scull Nuc. That is a 600$/euro machine with a not ultra great GPU but still reasonable. It has eGPU support. So if a person goes Intel Nuc + eGPU, they are in the 1380 euro price range.
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In other words, if AsRock release the z270m at this high inflated price range because of the MxM prices, they are going to shoot themselves into the foot. People here already posted a maximum higher price range of 10 to 40% on top of the 1080s base price. Lets assume again:
** z270m: 280 euro + ( 1080 at 530 euro * 1.4 )
= 1022 euro
Notice the massive difference between people there expectations and the quoted price range by asRock. Making a good product is not a seller, when its outside people there expectations.
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Another comparison: A gaming laptop with a 1080 is going for 2300 euro here. That includes memory, hd, screen, keyboard, battery etc ...
So there 2000 dollar / euro price point even if a little bit lower, is a difficult price range and it puts the price pure on laptop level. And worst of all, its not there own system that is responsible for the price issue, its the MxM card.
This is why the exact same system with a Thunderbolt + egpu is so much cheaper and also more interesting as long as MxM cards are overpriced.
That was a long comparison ...
* Not counting memory/ssd etc in these calculation as they have nothing to do with it
I think you're vastly underestimating the cost of an MXM 1050ti.
If you're thinking of buying a MiniSTX board with a minimal or no MXM module and using an eGPU, you'd be better served just buying an existing smaller compact board/PC (e.g. Kaby Lake NUC with Thunderbolt) and an eGPU.
The 280 euro estimate did not include the GPU, only the base z270m board/psu/case ( simply doubling with asRock offers for the deskmini H110 ). I have seen RX480s for 300 dollar but you need to import them from China, what is always a wild gamble for import costs.
The issue is not just MxM availability, its those darn bit/currency miners that are buying up all the gpus by the droves that push all the prices, including MxM boards.
Unfortunately the amount of boards that offer Thunderbolt ( with eGPU possability and not cripple ) is very limited. And those boards then also do not have the 3 * m.2 slots or have other limitations. Its hard to find motherboards with the same feature sets like the z270m ( if it has the Thunderbolt ). I have not found any that matches...
Confirmation from AsRock that Newegg should be receiving the Micro-STX GTX 1080 in short order as well as a restock of the 1060.
I really hope for the next revision of the board they swap the 8 pin sound port and RGB LED headers to being in front of the GPU and move the whole front panel IO up. Would completely solve that problem.
I'm borderline considering removing the USB headers, USB port and Audio1 so I can showhorn in my own 1080 card, just for fun. I've got a heatsink coming in, it's my limiting factor before I start work. I don't trust the card going in at an angle.
I'm planning on removing the USB and Audio 1 from one of my boards so I can have the 1070 sit the way it is meant to. Easy workaround to use a USB headset. You would be fine to keep your USB 1/2 as they sit in front of the card and shouldn't impede anything. I'm actually thinking the best way to do it would be to buy a second Deskmini USB attachment off Newegg so you could have 4 USB ports instead of three and run a full length 1080.
@Kmpkt What does it use for an attachment? I was going to forget USB_1 and AUDIO1 all together, I've got AUDIO2 and USB_8 out front.
Also, I'm adapting a Sager 1080 200W model in... Not a standard sized MXM card. I have a 1070 coming in, but it's standard MXM and will end up in my Zotac SN970. The 970m 3GB is a wimpy card for sure, barely musters up VR performance, which is what I'm hoping to achieve.
Also, I'm adapting a Sager 1080 200W model in... Not a standard sized MXM card. I have a 1070 coming in, but it's standard MXM and will end up in my Zotac SN970. The 970m 3GB is a wimpy card for sure, barely musters up VR performance, which is what I'm hoping to achieve.
It seems this 1060 version @Kmpkt sent me the GPU sits perfectly level. The audio ports are moved toward the very front of the board.
*Edit*
As a bonus the heatsink on the GPU doubles as some sort of wind-chimer instrument. I'm going to learn how to play it.
*Edit*
As a bonus the heatsink on the GPU doubles as some sort of wind-chimer instrument. I'm going to learn how to play it.
The standard MXM models (1060, 1070) will sit fine, the 1080 they chose is a bit longer than the average MXM card - It's from Aetina.
http://www.aetina.com.tw/products-detail.php?i=201
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