GIGABYTE Z170X-Gaming G1 (Intel Z170) Motherboard Review

Introduction

Intel's Z170 chipset landed recently and with it comes a slew of enticing motherboards. Many brands have done their best to diversify their lineups with unique features and aesthetics to compliment the new chipset and its rich connectivity.

GIGABYTE has once again redesigned and heavily equipped their gaming lineup, and today I have their top-dog Z170X-Gaming G1, offering the latest in chipset and gaming technologies in one package. The Z170 chipset is loaded with 26x I/O ports which can be configured as USB 3.0, SATA6G, or PCI-E 3.0. Out of those 26 ports, six must be USB 3.0. Out of the remaining 20 ports, four can be allotted to more USB 3.0 or PCI-E. Out of those leftover 16 ports, there is support for a maximum of six SATA6G ports, which can be configured as SATA6G or PCI-E 3.0.

To take things to a new level, those 16 ports also support three sets of 4x PCI-E lanes with iRST support for M.2 slots which can be used in RAID (each M.2 slot must also have two SATA connections blended in). This means that there will be many motherboards with different configurations catering to the target users of each individual motherboard. With the Z170 chipset, it will be harder than ever for manufacturers to differentiate themselves from one another. GIGABYTE has taken their Z170X-Gaming G1 a step further than previous G1 Killer motherboards, upgrading not only the audio with better hardware, but also USB 3.1, Thunderbolt 3.0, and providing better aesthetics all around. Let's see what this board is all about.

Specifications

The Z170X Gaming G1 is by far the most feature packed Z170 chipset motherboard I have reviewed so far. It packs 13 USB 3.0 ports (7 back and 4 through internal headers), 2x USB 3.1 Type-C (back panel/front panel), 2x USB 3.1 Type-A (back panel/front panel), two 1GBit Killer NICs, Killer WirelessAC/BT 4.0, Creative ZxRi 120dB+ audio, Thunderbolt 3.0, 4-way graphics support, and 10 SATA (3x SATA Express included) just to list the major ones.

Pricing

GIGABYTE's Z170X-Gaming G1 is currently listed for $500 on Newegg. That makes it the most expensive Intel Z170 motherboard currently for sale on Newegg.