Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming G1 Review
Published by Marc Büchel on 17.09.15Page:
Conclusion
| General | + | - | |
| The GA-Z170X-Gaming G1 from Gigabyte leaves an excellent impression, but considering its price of a staggering 500+ Euro, that was to be expected. We like the individual design of this board, which is completely new. Apart from that this is the only Z170-based motherboard with PLX Chip. There are two M.2 slots and you can even integrate this board into a custom watercooling loop. Furthermore we like the high-end onboard audio, which is based on a Creative Core 3D chips as well as a Burr-Brown DAC and high-end capacitors. What's at least equally impressive like the audio solution is the 22 phase power design, which is simply overkill. So far there is no other manufacturer offering a Z170 motherboard with this many features and this high quality. But apparently and like we already mentioned, this comes at an exceptionally high price. | -
Design - Layout - Features |
- Price | |
| Layout | + | - | |
| The layout of the Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming G1 is very well thought. The onboard power and reset buttons as well as the debug LED are once more practical additionas an so are the overclocking buttons as well as the voltage read-out points. There is a total of four reinforced, full-sized PCI Express slots, which are wired using x16, x8, x16 and x8 lanes. This is possible thanks to the PLX PEX 8747 Chip, which offers 48 PCI Epxress Gen 3 lanes. We also like the fact that there are two M.2 slots, which can be found in between PCI Express slots. In general there is aboslutely nothing to complain about regarding the layout of this motherboard. But a such a high price that is something that can be expected. | -
Angled SATA
connectors - Space around the CPU socket - Placement of PCIe slots - Number of different storage connectors - 2 x M.2 x4 Gen 3 - PLX PEX 8747 - 4 x Full-Size PCIe Slot |
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| Performance | + | - | |
| Calculating the average of all 3D as well as all 2D benchmarks we find this board on the fifth spot in both cases. On another note, we had a look at power consumption and since this board comes with an armada for features, energy efficiency below average and the G1 Gaming from Gigabyte ranks 6th so far. | - Super Pi | - Power consumption | |
| Overclocking / BIOS | + | - | |
| The GA-Z170X-Gaming G1 comes with a massive 22 phase digital power design which with the right BIOS settings can push a 6th generation Intel Core CPU to its absolute maximum. Apart from that you get a feature rich BIOS. In our opinion the entry screen is excellently structured and designed, that unexperienced users easily find their way. Apart from that there is the classic mode, which allows experienced overclockers to for example quickly push their CPU to 5 GHz stably. | - Sheer amount of
options - Design |
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| Recommendation | + | - | |
| The Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming G1 is without a doubt the most feature-packed Z170 motherboard available these days. If the price is of no concern to you - which is rather unlikely given the fact, that this board costs 520 Euro - then you get an insanely well equipped motherboard and you simply couldn't ask for more. Nevertheless we're hoping that future BIOS revisions will add a little more performance every here and there. | -
Price
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Gaming - Enthusiast - Overclocking |
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| Rating | |||
| We give the Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming G1 very good 4.5 out of 5 stars. | |||
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