Value Award
GIGABYTE Z170X
Ultra-Gaming
RRP: $144.99 | Website: www.gigabyte.com
Test Machine
• INTEL Core i7 6700K
• CORSAIR Vengeance LPX
DDR4 3600 C18
• EVGA GTX 780Ti K|NGP|N
Edition
• SAMSUNG PX941 512GB
• CORSAIR AX1500i
• Windows 10 x64
(F5d BIOS)
W
e are well and fairly
late into the Z170s
chipset life towards
the end of 2016. There’s
nothing we haven’t seen yet in
terms of motherboards for the
chipset. From the ultra-high
end to the near impossible
vaporware products, we’ve
seen it all.
Doesn’t bode well for
GIGABYTE’s Z170X Ultra
34 The OverClocker Issue 39 | 2016
gaming, given that it doesn’t
introduce anything that you’ll
not find on the many offerings
from the vendor. For features,
connectivity and functionality
it’s pretty much what you have
everywhere else except for the
fact that it retails for an oddly
low price. In fact, the price is
so low that you’d think it in line
with the H170 motherboards
that fancy themselves as
useful gaming platforms.
Previously we had written
about Core i3 overclocking and
how the ideal motherboard
would have been a high end
H170 chipset based model
at around this price. Not
that there aren’t other Z170
offerings here, but they tend
to be barren offering nothing
close to what a self-respecting
Z170 motherboard ought to.
This is not the case with the
Ultra Gaming.
Number one and most
obvious is the aesthetic
element which GIGABYTE have
decided to go with. It doesn’t
take a genius to see that black
is back in fashion and the three
major vendors or four, if you
prefer all have motherboards
that are a combination of black
and some other color (We have
the definitive one in this very
issue). Unlike the “GAMING”
name, this is one pervasive
aspect of motherboards that
is somewhat pleasing and
definitely should be carried
forward.
Offset with the red LED’s
around interspersed around