MSI Z170A-G43 PLUS Instruction Manual

1
Unpacking
Unpacking
Thank you for buying the MSI®motherboard Z170A-G43 PLUS/ H170A-G43 PLUS/
Z170A-G43 PLUS AC/ H170A-G43 PLUS AC. Check to make sure your motherboard
box contains the following items. If something is missing, contact your dealer as soon
as possible.
SATA Cable x6
Drivers & Utilities
Disc
Motherboard User
Guide
I/O Shield
Motherboard
Antenna x2
For Z170A-G43 PLUS AC/ H170A-G43 PLUS AC
Intel 8260
Wi-Fi/
Bluetooth
Module
Wi-Fi/ Bluetooth
Module Bracket
Antenna Bracket
Intel 8260 Wi-Fi/
Bluetooth Driver
Disc

2Safety Information
Safety Information
󰁡The components included in this package are prone to damage from electrostatic
discharge (ESD). Please adhere to the following instructions to ensure successful
computer assembly.
󰁡Ensure that all components are securely connected. Loose connections may cause
the computer to not recognize a component or fail to start.
󰁡Hold the motherboard by the edges to avoid touching sensitive components.
󰁡It is recommended to wear an electrostatic discharge (ESD) wrist strap when
handling the motherboard to prevent electrostatic damage. If an ESD wrist strap is
not available, discharge yourself of static electricity by touching another metal object
before handling the motherboard.
󰁡Store the motherboard in an electrostatic shielding container or on an anti-static pad
whenever the motherboard is not installed.
󰁡Before turning on the computer, ensure that there are no loose screws or metal
components on the motherboard or anywhere within the computer case.
󰁡Do not boot the computer before installation is completed. This could cause
permanent damage to the components as well as injury to the user.
󰁡If you need help during any installation step, please consult a certified computer
technician.
󰁡Always turn off the power supply and unplug the power cord from the power outlet
before installing or removing any computer component.
󰁡Keep this user guide for future reference.
󰁡Keep this motherboard away from humidity.
󰁡Make sure that your electrical outlet provides the same voltage as is indicated on
the PSU, before connecting the PSU to the electrical outlet.
󰁡Place the power cord such a way that people can not step on it. Do not place
anything over the power cord.
󰁡All cautions and warnings on the motherboard should be noted.
󰁡If any of the following situations arises, get the motherboard checked by service
personnel:
󰁈Liquid has penetrated into the computer.
󰁈The motherboard has been exposed to moisture.
󰁈The motherboard does not work well or you can not get it work according to user
guide.
󰁈The motherboard has been dropped and damaged.
󰁈The motherboard has obvious sign of breakage.
󰁡Do not leave this motherboard in an environment above 60°C (140°F), it may
damage the motherboard.

3
Quick Start
Intel®LGA 1151 CPU
DDR4 Memory
Graphics Card
SATA Hard Disk Drive
SATA DVD Drive
A Package of Screws
Phillips Screwdriver
Chassis
Power Supply Unit
CPU Fan Thermal Paste
Quick Start
Preparing Tools and Components

4Quick Start
http://youtu.be/bf5La099urI
Installing a Processor
1
2
3
6
45
7
8
9

5
Quick Start
Installing DDR4 memory
http://youtu.be/T03aDrJPyQs
1
2
2
3

6Quick Start
Connecting the Front Panel Header
http://youtu.be/DPELIdVNZUI
1
2 10
9
JFP1
1 HDD LED + 2 Power LED +
3 HDD LED - 4 Power LED -
5 Reset Switch 6 Power Switch
7 Reset Switch 8 Power Switch
9 Reserved 10 No Pin
RESET SW
POWER SW
POWER LED+
POWER LED-
HDD LED
HDD LED
RESET SW
JFP1
HDD LED HDD LED -
HDD LED +
POWER LED -
POWER LED +
POWER LED

7
Quick Start
Installing the Motherboard
1
2

8Quick Start
Installing SATA Drives
http://youtu.be/RZsMpqxythc
1
23
4
5

9
Quick Start
1
4
5
Installing a Graphics Card
http://youtu.be/mG0GZpr9w_A
2
3

10 Quick Start
Connecting Peripheral Devices

11
Quick Start
Connecting the Power Connectors
JPWR1 JPWR2
http://youtu.be/gkDYyR_83I4

12 Quick Start
Power On
1
4
2
3

13
Contents
Contents
Unpacking ................................................................................................................1
Safety Information...................................................................................................2
Quick Start................................................................................................................3
Preparing Tools and Components....................................................................... 3
Installing a Processor .......................................................................................... 4
Installing DDR4 memory...................................................................................... 5
Connecting the Front Panel Header.................................................................... 6
Installing the Motherboard................................................................................... 7
Installing SATA Drives......................................................................................... 8
Installing a Graphics Card ................................................................................... 9
Connecting Peripheral Devices ......................................................................... 10
Connecting the Power Connectors.................................................................... 11
Power On........................................................................................................... 12
Specifications ........................................................................................................15
Block Diagram ......................................................................................................20
Rear I/O Panel ........................................................................................................21
LAN Port LED Status Table............................................................................... 21
Audio Ports Configuration.................................................................................. 21
Realtek HD Audio Manager............................................................................... 22
Overview of Components ....................................................................................24
M2_2: M.2 Wi-Fi/ Bluetooth module slot............................................................ 26
CPU Socket ....................................................................................................... 27
DIMM Slots ........................................................................................................ 28
PCI_E1~5, PCI1~2: PCIe and PCI Expansion Slots ......................................... 29
SATA1~6: SATA 6Gb/s Connectors.................................................................. 30
M2_1: M.2 Slot................................................................................................... 31
JPWR1~2: Power Connectors........................................................................... 32
JFP1, JFP2: Front Panel Connectors................................................................ 33
JUSB1: USB 2.0 Connector .............................................................................. 33
JUSB2~3: USB 3.1 Gen1 Connectors............................................................... 34
JAUD1: Front Audio Connector......................................................................... 34
CPUFAN1~2, SYSFAN1~3: Fan Connectors.................................................... 35
JLPT1: Parallel Port Connector......................................................................... 36
JCOM1: Serial Port Connector.......................................................................... 36
JTPM1: TPM Module Connector ....................................................................... 37
JBAT1: Clear CMOS (Reset BIOS) Jumper ...................................................... 37

14 Contents
JCI1: Chassis Intrusion Connector.................................................................... 38
EZ Debug LED: Debug LED indicators ............................................................. 38
BIOS Setup.............................................................................................................39
Entering BIOS Setup ......................................................................................... 39
Resetting BIOS.................................................................................................. 40
Updating BIOS................................................................................................... 40
EZ Mode ............................................................................................................ 41
Advanced Mode ................................................................................................ 43
SETTINGS......................................................................................................... 44
Advanced........................................................................................................... 44
Boot ................................................................................................................... 50
Security.............................................................................................................. 51
Save & Exit........................................................................................................ 52
OC ..................................................................................................................... 53
M-FLASH........................................................................................................... 59
OC PROFILE..................................................................................................... 60
HARDWARE MONITOR.................................................................................... 61
Software Description............................................................................................62
Installing Windows®7/ 8.1/ 10 ........................................................................... 62
Installing Drivers ................................................................................................ 62
Installing Utilities................................................................................................ 62
COMMAND CENTER........................................................................................ 63
LIVE UPDATE 6 ................................................................................................ 67
M-CLOUD.......................................................................................................... 69
RAMDISK .......................................................................................................... 72
NETWORK GENIE ............................................................................................ 73
Intel®Extreme Tuning Utility .............................................................................. 75
RAID Configuration...............................................................................................76
Using Intel®Rapid Storage Technology Option ROM ....................................... 76
Degraded RAID Array........................................................................................ 79
Troubleshooting ...................................................................................................81
Regulatory Notices ...............................................................................................82

15
Speci󰄈cations
Specifications
CPU Supports 6th Gen Intel®Core™i3/i5/i7 processors, and Intel®
Pentium®and Celeron®processors for Socket LGA1151
Chipset
Intel® Z170 Chipset (Z170A-G43 PLUS/ Z170A-G43 PLUS
AC)
Intel® H170 Chipset (H170A-G43 PLUS/ H170A-G43 PLUS
AC)
Memory
󰁡4x DDR4 memory slots, support up to 64GB
󰁈Supports DDR4 3200(OC)/ 3000(OC)/ 2800(OC)/
2600(OC)/ 2400/ 2133 MHz
󰁡Dual channel memory architecture
󰁡Supports ECC, un-buffered memory*
󰁡Supports Intel®Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)
* Supports ECC UDIMM 1Rx8/2Rx8 memory (non-ECC mode)
* Supports non-ECC UDIMM 1Rx8/2Rx8/1Rx16 memory
Expansion Slots
󰁡2x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots (support x16/x4 modes)
󰁡3x PCIe 3.0 x1 slots
󰁡2x PCI slots*
󰁡1x M.2 Wi-Fi module slot (Key E)
* No support PCI wake-up on S3, S4 & S5
Onboard Graphics
󰁡1x HDMI™port, supports a maximum resolution of
4096x2160@24Hz, 2560x1600@60Hz
󰁡1x DVI-D port, supports a maximum resolution of
1920x1200@60Hz
Multi-GPU 󰁡Supports 2-Way AMD®CrossFire™Technology
Continued on next page

16 Speci󰄈cations
Continued from previous page
Storage
Intel®Z170/ H170 Chipset
󰁡6x SATA 6Gb/s ports*
󰁡1x M.2 slot (Key M)
󰁈Supports PCIe 3.0 x4 and SATA 6Gb/s standards,
4.2cm/ 6cm/ 8cm length M.2 SSD cards**
󰁈Supports PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe Mini-SAS SSD with Turbo
U.2 Host Card (Z170A-G43 PLUS AC/ Z170A-G43
PLUS)***
󰁡Supports RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 10 for SATA
storage devices
󰁡Supports Intel®Smart Response Technology for Intel
Core™ processors
* SATA5~6 ports will be unavailable when installing the M.2 module in M.2
(M2_1) slot.
** Only support M.2 SATA interface for H170.
*** The Turbo U.2 Host Card is not included, please purchase separately.
USB
󰁡ASMedia®ASM1142 Chipset
󰁈2x USB 3.1 Gen2 (SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps) ports on
the back panel
󰁡Intel®Z170/ H170 Chipset
󰁈6x USB 3.1 Gen1 (SuperSpeed USB) ports (2 ports on
the back panel, 4 ports available through the internal
USB 3.1 Gen 1 connectors)
󰁈4x USB 2.0 (High-speed USB) ports (2 ports on the back
panel, 2 ports available through the internal USB 2.0
connectors)
Audio
󰁡Realtek®ALC892 Codec
󰁡7.1-Channel High Definition Audio
󰁡Supports S/PDIF output
LAN 1x Realtek®RTL8111H Gigabit LAN controller
WLAN & Bluetooth®
󰁡Wi-Fi/ Bluetooth®expansion module with Intel®Dual
Band Wireless-AC 8260 chip (H170A-G43 PLUS AC/
Z170A-G43 PLUS AC)
󰁈Supports Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual band (2.4GHz,
5GHz) up to 867 Mbps speed.
󰁈Supports Dual Mode Bluetooth®2.1, 2.1+EDR, 3.0, 4.0,
BLE, 4.2
Continued on next page

17
Speci󰄈cations
Continued from previous page
Back Panel
Connectors
󰁡1x PS/2 keyboard/ mouse port
󰁡2x USB 2.0 ports
󰁡2x USB 3.1 Gen2 ports
󰁡1x DVI-D port
󰁡1x HDMI™port
󰁡1x Clear CMOS button
󰁡1x LAN (RJ45) port
󰁡2x USB 3.1 Gen1 ports
󰁡1x Optical S/PDIF OUT connector
󰁡5x OFC audio jacks
Internal Connectors
󰁡1x 24-pin ATX main power connector
󰁡1x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector
󰁡6x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
󰁡1x USB 2.0 connector (supports additional 2 USB 2.0
ports)
󰁡2x USB 3.1 Gen1 connectors (supports additional 4 USB
3.1 Gen1 ports)
󰁡2x 4-pin CPU fan connectors
󰁡3x 4-pin system fan connectors
󰁡1x Front panel audio connector
󰁡2x Front panel connectors
󰁡1x TPM module connector
󰁡1x Chassis Intrusion connector
󰁡1x Serial port connector
󰁡1x Parallel port connector
󰁡1x Clear CMOS jumper
I/O Controller NUVOTON NCT6793 Controller Chip
Hardware Monitor
󰁡CPU/System temperature detection
󰁡CPU/System fan speed detection
󰁡CPU/System fan speed control
Form Factor 󰁡ATX Form Factor
󰁡12 in. x 9.6 in. (30.4 cm x 24.4 cm)
Continued on next page

18 Speci󰄈cations
Continued from previous page
BIOS Features
󰁡1x 128 Mb flash
󰁡UEFI AMI BIOS
󰁡ACPI 5.0, PnP 1.0a, SM BIOS 2.8
󰁡Multi-language
Software
󰁡Drivers
󰁡COMMAND CENTER
󰁡LIVE UPDATE 6
󰁡FAST BOOT
󰁡SUPER CHARGER
󰁡M-CLOUD
󰁡RAMDISK
󰁡Intel®Small Business Advantage (H170A-G43 PLUS/
H170A-G43 PLUS AC)
󰁡NETWORK GENIE
󰁡Intel®Extreme Tuning Utility
󰁡Norton™Security
󰁡Google Chrome™,Google Toolbar, Google Drive
󰁡CPU-Z
MSI Exclusive
Features
󰁡CLICK BIOS 5
󰁈EZ Mode & Advanced Mode Switching
󰁈Board Explorer
󰁈Hardware Monitor
󰁡COMMAND CENTER
󰁈System Monitor
󰁈Smart Fan Control
󰁡RAM DISK
󰁡LIVE UPDATE 6
󰁡M-CLOUD
Continued on next page

19
Speci󰄈cations
Continued from previous page
Specification
Highlights
󰁡DDR4 Boost Support
󰁈Dual-Channel DDR4 Memory Support
󰁈Isolated DDR4 Circuit Design
󰁈DDR4 XMP Ready
󰁡PCI Express 3.0 Support
󰁈2-Way AMD CrossFireTM Support
󰁡EZ Debug LED
󰁡1x Clear CMOS button on rear I/O
󰁡Audio Boost
󰁡Support M.2 Gen3 x4 (Z170A-G43 PLUS AC/ Z170A-G43
PLUS)

20 Block Diagram
Block Diagram
LPC Bus
Dual Channel DDR4 Memory
USB 3.1 Gen1
(5 Gbps)
SATA 6Gb/s
USB 2.0
P/S2 Mouse / Keyboard
DMI 3.0
Z170/ H170
CPU
NV6793
Super I/O
ASM1083
x1
USB 3.1 Gen2
(10 Gbps)
HDMI DVI-D
3x PCIe x1 slots
Realtek RTL8111H
2x PCI slots
x16
x4
Audio Jacks
ASMEDIA
ASM1142
PCI Express Bus
PCI Express Bus
Realtek
ALC892
SSD
M.2 (Key M)
Wi-Fi/ Bluetooth
M.2 (Key E)
(optional)