GIGABYTE Z170XGaming G1
RRP: $499.99 | Website: www.gigabyte.com
Test Machine
• INTEL Core i7 6700K
• CORSAIR Dominator
Platinum •DDR4 3200 C16
• EVGA GTX 980Ti K|NGP|N
Edition
• SAMSUNG PX941 512GB
• CORSAIR AX1500i
• Windows 10 x64
(F5a BIOS)
H
ere it is, GIGABYTE’s
premium Z170
gaming motherboard.
Decked out in a brilliant white
and red, this should be the end
all, be all motherboard for
the platform as far as gaming
is concerned. “Gaming” is
a vague term these days
as it applies to just about
everything under the sun
supposedly, but if we narrow
it down to the context which
motherboard vendors use
the term. It simply means a
motherboard with some kind
of “gamer” friendly aesthetic,
a high definition audio solution
and a high end LAN controller.
We aren’t in the habit of
perpetuating the lie, so one
is quiet aware of the fact that
any motherboard, that lacks
all of the above is well and
truly capable of forming the
basis of a gaming machine.
GIGABYTE’s own overclocking
series and ultra-durable
motherboards are testament
32 The OverClocker Issue 36 | 2015
to this.
Having said that, what the
G1 offers is more than just
the ability to plug various
components into it when
building your ultimate gaming
machine. This motherboard is
best looked at as a long term
investment for those who
do not always upgrade their
machines with every chipset,
but rather wait a good three to
four years. As such, the $500
USD price tag is somewhat
justified, especially given that
you are receiving cutting edge
technology at present. There
isn’t anything that one could
bolt unto the Z170 chipset
that has not been included
and as such this board is a
direct representation of where
GIGABYTE is in terms of R&D,
innovation and mobility in this
forever changing market.
First, I’d like to start with
the positive of which there is
plenty of in the G1 Gaming.
Again, it is decked out in all
relevant and possible features
you can think of and there isn’t
another motherboard
on the market that can claim
to objectively have more
features on the motherboard
(none overclocking related)
than this one. For instance,
it supports 4-way SLI and of
course CrossFire X. This isn’t
the typical dual GPU dual card
solution as touted by many
motherboard that claim to
have "quad-SLI" support. No,
this is via the familiar PLX
8747 switching ch