Wifi interface alternatives on skylake mini-itx build

[pablix]

Hi, after my first successful mini-itx Gigabyte H-97n build that I did last year for my girlfriend I'm decided to build another one for me, using Skylake chipset.
I'm developer but I also plan to use it for some gaming; I want it to be a bit more on the "hot-rod" side

Mi requirements are:
- Z170 chipset to use high speed 3000 mhz DDR4 and future proofing
- Minimum 16gb of ram
- Still haven't decided if I will go to a 6600k processor or I'll stay wih locked variants, I don't think I will need to overclock CPU if I use a decent GPU
- I plan to stall an M2 SSD stick
- I'll start with integrated graphics and later I'll add a GTX1060 or rx480 card when I see support for them is stable

I love the small form factor of ITX cases but the fact that those cases have 2 pci slots worries me, as I would use both of them for the graphics card and I would'n have place to mount a wifi PCI card like the TP-link PCI adapter I used for my girlfriends hackintosh.
I have read that wifi USB dongles support is not perfect and It's hard to find Z170 boards with PCIe-mini support.
I could try an M2 wifi adapter but then I would be forced to use a slower SATA SSD.

Anyway, my questions are:
How can be added wifi to Z170 mini-itx boards with GPU and m2 drives installed?
Should I go for a mATX build instead? I like more miniITX , but the posibility to add more PCI future I/O interfaces in the future (usb4?) and the two extra DDR4 slots are also interesting...

That's all, thanks in advance!

 

[Going Bald]

The Asus Maximus VIII Impact mITX board has a half height mPCIe card and a U.2 SSD socket. You could use a U.2 SSD or get a U.2 to M.2 adapter and use an M.2 SSD.
The half height mPCIe card can be changed if it is not compatible.

 

[pablix]

Thanks for the quick response Going Bald.
The Asus Maximus VIII Impact seems to be a terrific board but it would be maybe an overkill for my needs.. It is full of overclock features that I doubt I will use and...it is pricey Also U.2 SSDs are still hard to find where I live.

But your suggestion led me to the Asus Z170i PRO Gaming in the buyers guide, a more basic model that still has z170, shares the same asus Wifi Go! module, with half height Intel mPCIe wifi card inside.
I'm a little reluctant to open the Asus wifi module to replace the card and void in the process the mainboards warranty (as I guess it would), but I've checked that the wifi module is held by screws so maybe I will give it a try...

 

[Going Bald]

Thanks for the quick response Going Bald.
The Asus Maximus VIII Impact seems to be a terrific board but it would be maybe an overkill for my needs.. It is full of overclock features that I doubt I will use and...it is pricey Also U.2 SSDs are still hard to find where I live.

But your suggestion led me to the Asus Z170i PRO Gaming in the buyers guide, a more basic model that still has z170, shares the same asus Wifi Go! module, with half height Intel mPCIe wifi card inside.
I'm a little reluctant to open the Asus wifi module to replace the card and void in the process the mainboards warranty (as I guess it would), but I've checked that the wifi module is held by screws so maybe I will give it a try...

From the underside of the board remove the 2 screws that hold the metal cover on. Gently pry the antenna connectors from the mPCIe card, remove the card, insert new card, press on the antenna connectors, replace the cover, replace the screws. I doubt this would void the warranty.