It is often thought that cheap motherboard are unsuitable for overclocking. They lack most overclocking options, such as extra power phases for the CPU. The MSI Z170A PC Mate we're discussing in this article only has six of them. We tested whether it is possible to decently overclock with it or not.

Motherboard manufacturers seems to believe that more is better, in terms of sales. The question remains how much this arms race actually helps 'normal' overclockers, especially since motherboards for overclockers are usually designed for LN2 users. Therefore it is important to know how much of this functionality is necessary, if you want to overclock well on air or water. Mid-range motherboards should be sufficient, but does this also apply to the cheapest Z170 motherboards? We tested this with the MSI Z170A PC Mate, the cheapest model we've received.