(loads the last successful boot
even after CMOS clearing).
Of course there are other
several switches and buttons
for you to work with, but these
are the stand out ones which
aren’t actually new to this line
of motherboards. GIGABYTE
may not admit this when
asked directly, but it is without
question that what makes
this motherboard useful and
practical in an overclocking
context is this very area/OC
Touch region of the board. It
is reductionism you may think
but consider that, GIGABYTE
largely uses an identical BIOS
for all the motherboards.
Thus there’s not anything
to marvel at within which is
distinctively different from
what the gaming boards offer.
For the most part in fact,
outside of LN2 overclocking,
the performance and tuning
capabilities are identical.
If there’s any positive
criticism one may have for this
motherboard is that once again
the BIOS is not a 1:1 match
for how fantastic the actual
board in electronically and
by design. It is a culmination
of the best mechanical/
electronic wizardry, which is
vastly superior to the software
driving it. This has been the
narrative for GIGABYTE OC
boards for a while, but the
discrepancy between these
two elements varies and in
some cases, (such as the X99
SOC-FORCE) the BIOS holds
its own against the rest of the
motherboard making for the
most compelling overclocking
offering for that particular
platform to date.
Moving farther on you may
have noticed again the vast
connectivity options that
GIGABYTE is offering with this
motherboard. Yes we’ve pretty
much gotten over the inclusion
of USB 3.1 Type A and Type C
connectors, which of course
are present here. It is however,
the dual USB connectors near
the SATA ports which add
Issue 37 | 2016 The OverClocker 27