Gigabyte GA Z170X Gaming G1 Motherboard

Let’s gets this out up front—the GAZ170X- Gaming G1 is $499. Now, before you think about skipping to the next review, this is possibly one of the most feature-filled boards you’ll ever find. There’s support for 4-way SLI and CrossFire (at x8/ x8/x8/x8), and both cards in a two-way GPU configuration will operate at the full x16 speed. For storage, the G1 provides a plethora of options with three SATA Express ports operating at 16Gbps, two M.2 slots that work at up to 32Gbps, and support for U.2 storage devices via the included M.2 to U.2 adapter. The VRM is also ready for liquid cooling. GIGABYTE also steps up its game when it comes to USB 3.1 support. To start, there are two USB 3.1 ports on rear panel—one standard Type-A USB connector and the reversible Type-C connector. The USB 3.1 ports are powered by Intel’s USB 3.1 controller that offers a maximum bandwidth of 32Gbps, so bandwidth won’t be limited if both 10Gbps USB 3.1 ports are active. The G1 also comes with a 5.25-inch front panel bay that adds another USB 3.1 Type-A and Type-C connector. The USB 3.1 bay does require one of the board’s SATA Express ports, but you’ll still have two left over, which is equivalent to or more than what you’ll find on other Z170 motherboards. For audio, GIGABYTE implements Creative’s Sound Core3D quad-core audio processor that can deliver a 192KHz/24-bit audio signal. The discrete-level audio fidelity is further enhanced by Nichicon and WIMA audio caps and a front-panel headphone amplifier that supports up to 600ohm headphones. Want to customize the sound? GIGABYTE offers switchable OP-AMPS for the rear left and rear right channels, as well as an OP-AMP for the front audio jack. Creative’s SBX Pro Studio software suite rounds out this impressive audio feature list. You’ll find a host of onboard overclocking capabilities on the G1. There are voltage read points, a POST code display, main and backup BIOS chips, and power, reset, and clear CMOS buttons. GIGABYTE also adds a Turbo B-Clock IC, which lets you fine-tune the BCLK (base clock) frequency beyond the 5% ranges of traditional straps. Those loading up their rig with heavy GPUs will like that GIGABYTE uses stainless-steel shielding to reinforce the PCIe connectors. GIGABYTE indicates that in shearing tests, the PCIe slots are 1.7 times stronger with the shields. As you might imagine, the G1 breezed through our benchmarks. It took top honors in 3DMark’s Fire Strike Extreme with the best Score (6510), Graphics Score (6858), and Physics Score (12768). It was also one fps faster, on average, than the competition in The Witcher 3 with 46fps. On the whole, the G1 did well in our CPU-intensive tests, and it posted top marks in SiSoftware’s Sandra 2015’s Memory Bandwidth tests with 29.12GBps in the Integer test and 29.13GBps in the Floating test. The GA-Z7170X-Gaming G1 certainly falls under the “spare no expense” category, yet it’s more than a showcase piece. It’s ready for anything you throw at it and then some.