Intel's H170 Chipset
The H170 chipset is targeted at enthusiasts that want a solid system without overclocking and poor multi-GPU support. H170 locks the CPU's PCI-E 3.0 lanes to a single PCI-E x16 slot, which limits multi GPU configurations to x16/x4. This chipset also loses overclocking support, four HSIO lanes and two USB 3.0 lanes compared to Z170. These reductions have little effect on the system, however, as there are still 22 HSIO lanes available. There are also eight USB 3.0 ports, which should be sufficient for most users.
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Although a few features were cut, if you’re not planning to overclock or use multi-GPU configurations, you’ll hardly notice the difference between this chipset and Z170. Of the three 100-series chipsets to support RAID (the others are Z170 and Q170), this one is the most budget-friendly and it is typically available at lower price points. H170 also supports other helpful features such as Intel Smart Sound, RST and Smart Response technology.
With this mixture of features, H170 is expected to fill the same role as the H(X)7 chipsets always have — as a budget-friendly option for enthusiasts. As such, a large number of motherboards using this chipset fall into gaming-oriented product lines.
MORE: Intel Z170 Motherboard Price List
MORE: Intel B150 Motherboard Price List
Intel 100 Series Consumer Chipsets
| Header Cell - Column 0 | Z170 | H170 | B150 | H110 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU PCI-E 3.0 Config Support | 1 x 16 / 2 x 8 / 1 x 8 + 2 x 4 | 1 x 16 | 1 x 16 | 1 x 16 |
| Independent Display Support | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Memory Channels / DIMMs per Channel | 2 / 2 | 2 / 2 | 2 / 2 | 2 / 1 |
| DMI | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 2.0 |
| CPU Overclocking Support | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Intel Smart Sound Technology | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Intel Small Business Advantage 4.0 | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Intel Small Business Basics | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Intel RAID Support 0/1/5/10 | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Intel Smart Response Technology | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Max Intel RST for PCI-E | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| I/O Port Flexibility | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Maximum HSIO Lanes | 26 | 22 | 18 | 14 |
| Chipset PCI-E Support | 20x v3.0 | 16x v3.0 | 8x v3.0 | 6x v2.0 |
| USB Support (USB 3.0) | 14 (10) | 14 (8) | 12 (6) | 10 (4) |
| SATA 3.0 Ports | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 |
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