Gigabyte Lga 1151 Z170 2-way Sli Uefi Dualbios Atx Ddr4 Review

Gigabyte's Z170XP-SLI is aiming to tempt users looking for a motherboard that offers the Z170 platform's cadre features, but without requiring a significant cash outlay. In the Z170XP-SLI, Gigabyte offers one of the lowest cost boards to support SLI, while also retaining features such as USB 3.1, USB Blazon-C, and a 32Gbps Yard.two connector.

Gigabyte manages to cut costs and squeeze SLI certification into the Z170XP-SLI motherboard's ~£110 price tag by minimising the number of addition features. Intel's healthy Z170 chipset makes such a design methodology possible, although noticeable divergences from the low-cost approach come in the fashion of an upgraded sound system, USB three.one ports, and no less than three SATA-Limited connectors.

Can the Z170XP-SLI prove that jumping onto the Skylake platform does not take to exist a costly activity?

Features:

• Fast USB 3.1 with USB Type-C™ – The World's Next Universal Connector
• 3-Way Graphics with Premium PCIe Lane
• PCIe Gen3 x4 Thousand.2 Connector with upwardly to 32Gb/s Data Transfer (PCIe & SATA SSD support)
• 3 SATA Express Connectors for up to 16Gb/s Data Transfer
• 115dB SNR HD Audio with Built-in Rear Audio Amplifier
• High Quality Audio Capacitors and Audio Noise Baby-sit with LED Trace Path Lighting
• Intel^® GbE LAN with cFos Speed Internet Accelerator Software
• APP Centre Including EasyTune™ and Cloud Station™ Utilities
• GIGABYTE UEFI DualBIOS™ Engineering

The front of the motherboard's packaging shouts out the product proper noun and as well features Heroes of the Storm game branding.

A closer look at features and specifications is plant on the rear of the box.

Given the lath's entry-level pricing for a SLI-certified part, the comparably healthy bundle is surprising.

Gigabyte includes 4 SATA cables, which is great to see. Completing the packet are a bones rear IO shield, a black SLI ribbon, and Gigabyte's G-connector device for easily connecting front end panel cables.

The standard set of documentation is supplied – a user transmission, commuter CD, and case sticker. A Heroes of the Storm branded door hanger and leaflet are also provided.

The Gigabyte Z170XP-SLI is slightly narrower than a standard ATX lath and therefore loses 2 of its right-border screwing locations. This is not an uncommon design feature among lower cost parts as it helps to minimise expenditure on unneeded PCB existent estate and traces.

The dark-brown, not black, PCB is disappointing although somewhat forgivable given the price point. Users wanting an attractive system may be best served by a unlike motherboard, or by cramming the Z170XP-SLI full of expansion cards and so that the somewhat dull colour scheme is suppressed.

64GB of DDR4 memory can be installed in the four unmarried-latch DIMM slots, with Gigabyte quoting frequency support of up to 3466MHz. Close to the memory slots are the 24-pin power connector and two outwards-facing USB 3.0 headers. Both of the USB iii.0 headers are served past the Z170 chipset'south banking company of 5Gbps ports.

A total of seven power commitment phases (presumably in a half-dozen plus ane configuration) are used to feed the LGA 1151 CPU and its integrated graphics core. At that place's no fancy branding for the MOSFETs, chokes, or capacitors, although Gigabyte does cool the power commitment components with a pair of metal heatsinks. The black blocks of metal are loosely held in identify past a pair of jump-tension pins, and then do not expect extreme cooling performance from these units.

Gigabyte uses what it calls a Turbo B-Clock IC. The scrap allows a range of BCLK frequency adjustments to made, with a region of 90MHz to 200MHz supported. This is really a positive for an entry-level motherboard, and may prove useful one time locked Skylake CPUs are released.

3 SATA-Express ports derive from the Z170 chipset's flexible IO connections. Gigabyte rates the SATA-Express transfer charge per unit for up to 16Gbps by utilising two of the chipset's PCIe iii.0 lanes. SATA-Express has been given a new breath of life thanks to it being the foundation for a front panel USB 3.one device, as nosotros saw ASRock deploy.

I am struggling to see the logic for including three SATA-Limited connectors. Unless Gigabyte knows facts about the storage market and upcoming devices that the residue of the industry has missed, one SATA-Limited port would suffice for the vast bulk of users. That said, the PCIe lanes derive from the Z170 chipset and then practice not necessitate additional price.

When non making utilize of the SATA-Express connections, all six of the SATA 6Gbps ports are available for standard SSDs and HDDs.

With a single graphics menu installed, the top total-length PCIe slot is allocated all sixteen of the LGA 1151 CPU'southward lanes. Installing an additional AMD or Nvidia card into the second total-length PCIe slot splits the Gen 3 lanes as x8/x8. That lowermost total-length PCIe slot operates at a maximum connection speed of PCIe three.0 x4 by using chipset-fed lanes, although it shares bandwidth with the 2nd PCIe iii.0 x1 slot (which will realistically never exist used due to a dual-slot graphics card cooler).

With a plausible lane configuration of x8/x8/x4 (CPU/CPU/chipset), iii-bill of fare CrossFire is supported, although potentially ill-advised due to the necessitated application of college-latency chipset lanes. Nvidia SLI demands a minimum PCIe link of x8 and is therefore supported in two-card capacity. Slot spacing is smart for ii-bill of fare users – a single gap for airflow is left when using dual-slot boards, and triple-slot coolers are usable.

ASMedia'south ASM1083 bridge chip is used to provide legacy PCI slots. I am non going to berate the conclusion to include PCI slots like some readers may – minimising the cost of an upgrade may forcefulness upkeep users to recycle that old PCI WiFi adapter or Idiot box tuner.

The 32Gbps Chiliad.2 connector supports drive lengths of 42mm, 60mm, and the popular 80mm sizing. Back up for extended 110mm-long drives is not present, although SATA or PCIe connections are possible. Gigabyte places the Yard.2 connector slightly below the CPU socket. While this location moves a drive away from the rut zone of a graphics carte, information technology also makes an SSD'due south (typically) ugly dark-green PCB visible inside a build.

Parallel, serial, and TPM headers are provided for legacy back up. There are two USB 2.0 headers found along the bottom edge, allowing a pair of front panel USB two.0 ports and something like an integrated card reader to be powered.

The sound system is based around Realtek's popular ALC1150 codec. Nippon Chemicon audio capacitors and a Texas Instruments OP1652-marked op-amp too form the audio system. Gigabyte shields the sound codec and inserts a controllable yellow LED in the signal pathway.

Two USB 2.0 ports and a PS/2 connector are institute on the rear IO. I like seeing these connectors provided to aid support with older operating systems (including Windows 7) and times of troubleshooting. Video connections are provided past means of DVI, VGA, and HDMI.

Three bluish USB three.0 ports are provided via the Z170 chipset. 10Gbps Type-A and Type-C USB 3.1 ports are provided by way of ASMedia'south ASM1142 chipset. I do non spot the pop EtronTech EJ179V logic IC, implying that Gigabyte is not making use of enhanced power delivery capabilities of the USB Power Delivery specification (commonly associated with the Type-C connector).

Intel'south I219-V chipset provides Gigabit Ethernet and cFos software is used for network management. Half-dozen audio jacks are present, although the omission of an optical SPDIF connection will disappoint users who desire to connect their home cinema surround sound system.

V iv-pivot fan headers are spread sensibly around the board. Two are allocated for CPU duties, with a further 2 being easily accessible from the LGA 1151 socket. The terminal 4-pin connector forth the lath'due south lesser edge is well-suited for a side panel fan.

ITE'south IT8628E chipset is used for monitoring and fan management duties. In typical Gigabyte fashion, dual BIOS chips are provided for redundancy.

UEFI

Firstly, we are pleased to written report that our generic wireless mouse worked to its usual standard in the Gigabyte Z170 UEFI. We've found the wireless mouse to be troubling with UEFI support in the past, so when it functions correctly in the interface, that is usually a good sign for overall mouse support.

Those who accept seen or used Gigabyte's 8- and 9-series motherboards volition remember the company'southward high-resolution interface. This seems to have been abandoned, at least for this Z170 motherboard, and nosotros don't really meet that every bit a bad thing. The high-resolution interface was riddled with flaws and was inconvenient to navigate, so users are likely to be better served by the old style of UEFI layout that is equipped for the Z170XP-SLI.

Entry point for Gigabyte's Z170 UEFI is the K.I.T page. This is the point where the main system operating functions, such as voltages, clock speeds, and fan controls, can exist accessed.

The main organisation clock speeds are given their own page. Access to the more than advanced CPU settings, such as the enshroud frequency, is given through a separate section.

Gigabyte includes a number of Performance and CPU Upgrade pre-set profiles. The CPU Upgrade profiles worked well with our Cadre i7-6700K bit and used sensible voltage settings.

A memory ratio of up to 41.33x is supported in the Gigabyte UEFI. A multiplier this loftier may be useful for future memory kits or for tweaking the BCLK below 100MHz in order to stabilise a organization overclock. A number of Memory Enhancement settings tin can be selected.

A select few power and voltage settings are provided throughout the UEFI. I was not impressed by Gigabyte's chosen input method for some of the selections. CPU VCore Loadline Calibration, for example, was given only two selections which were toggled using the – and + keys, rather than a drib-downwardly list.

The PC Health Status folio monitors organization operating parameters, such as voltages, temperatures, and fan speeds. Gigabyte features two pre-defined fan speed profiles, while the third is for transmission control and the fourth sets total speed.

The manual fan control method is terrible. An arbitrary number (to most people) which plots a section of the fan'southward PWM speed confronting a temperature reading is simply incomprehensible for most users. There should exist a simpler method that uses clear fan speed percentages and temperatures for the listed values.

And if Gigabyte wants to make the setting of a fan speed curve possible (as the current list and units would suggest), an interactive graph should exist used. Thankfully, the fan control method through Gigabyte's OS-based software is typically ameliorate.

Up to eight configuration profiles tin can be saved while many more can be transferred to and from a storage device.

One of the convenient features of the Peripherals page is the ability to control the audio strip LED. This can be set to operate in different modes.

Gigabyte's UEFI is generally easy to navigate and is equipped with enough features for novice users, but information technology lacks the features and interactivity that we have seen from Asus' and ASRock's latest UEFI iterations. The segregation of voltage settings makes overclocking a simpler task for less experienced users equally they are not inundated with a host of settings on a single cramped page.

The fan speed control settings, however, are dire and fail to make much sense. Gigabyte needs to use a list of fan speed settings that is more understandable for a wider user base of operations, or simply utilise a graphical tuning pick. Thankfully the OS-based software makes upwardly for this shortcoming.

I tried to exam out some of Gigabyte'due south OS-based software offerings, although I had very little luck with getting any of them to really exercise something on our Windows seven-based exam system. I would be inclined to signal the finger at the ageing operating system, which we accept scheduled to exist upgraded to Windows 10 shortly.

Intel's Skylake processors are just the latest Intel CPU architecture to come across many of the disquisitional system operations handled by the processor. As such, benchmarking a motherboard becomes more of a exam to certify that the part operates correctly and meets the anticipated performance levels.

When XMP is enabled, many of the competing vendors' motherboards automatically utilize a CPU operating state that sees all cores running at their maximum turbo frequency (typically termed as Multi-Core Turbo, or MCT). Gigabyte, notwithstanding, does not feature this setting on its Z170XP-SLI motherboard.

We manually overclocked the CPU to its maximum turbo state of 4.2GHz and gear up the cache frequency to 4.1GHz. This allows us to keep the performance results and testing configuration consistent with data from ASRock'due south and Asus' motherboards.

CPU-Z however has issues tracking the voltage levels of Skylake chips. AIDA64 showed that the processor was being delivered up to 1.296V when loaded in our manually-set 'simulated' MCT state. The VCore value was dropped to around one.21V using out-of-the-box settings.

Z170 Motherboard Test System:

• Processor: Intel Core i7-6700K (four.2GHz forced turbo).
• Retention: 16GB (4x4GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX 3200MHz 16-18-xviii-36 DDR4 @ i.35V.
• Graphics Carte: Nvidia GTX 980 Ti.
• System Bulldoze: 250GB Crucial BX100 SSD.
• CPU Libation: Corsair H100i.
• Example: NZXT Phantom 630.
• Power Supply: Seasonic Platinum 1000W.
• Operating System: Windows 7 Professional with SP1 64-bit.

Compared Z170 Motherboards:

• Asus Maximus VIII Hero.
• ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming K6+.

Software:

• Gigabyte Z170XP-SLI BIOS F4b (latest).
• GeForce 353.30 VGA drivers.
• Intel 11.0 ME drivers.

Tests:

• SiSoft Sandra 2015 SP2b (v2142) – Processor arithmetics and retentivity bandwidth (Organization)
• 3DMark i.5.915 – Burn Strike Ultra (System)
• Cinebench R15 – All-cadre CPU benchmark (CPU)
• vii-Zilch 15.05 beta – Manual video archival (CPU)
• HandBrake 0.ten.two – Convert 1.23GB 1080P game recording using the High Profile setting and MP4 container (CPU)
• Grand Theft Automobile V – 1920 x 1080, near-maximum quality (Gaming)
• Heart Earth: Shadow of Mordor – 1920 x 1080, ultra quality (Gaming)
• Metro: Final Low-cal – 1920 x 1080, very high quality (Gaming)
• Tomb Raider – 1920 ten 1080, maximum quality, TressFX disabled (Gaming)
• ATTO – SATA 6Gbps, USB 3.0, Chiliad.ii transfer rates (Motherboard)
• RightMark Audio Analyzer – General audio functioning test (Motherboard)

3DMark

We used 3DMark's 'Burn Strike Ultra' criterion which is designed to be used on loftier-resolution gaming PCs.

Sandra Processor Arithmetic

Sandra Memory Bandwidth

Solid performance is shown by Gigabyte'southward board in the 3DMark Physics and Sandra CPU arithmetics tests.

The Sandra memory bandwidth consequence is about 10GB/s off the mark of the competing pair, so this gives an indication that Gigabyte currently has a BIOS bug which is hampering retention performance.

Nosotros used the latest F4b BIOS, which is technically in beta grade, although we have seen Gigabyte utilise its beta BIOS profiles equally the latest updates for many months on some motherboards. The issue is present on the Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 operating systems that we tested, with multiple retentiveness kits, and while using different overclocked settings.

Cinebench

We used the 'CPU' test built into Cinebench R15 .

seven-Zip

We manually archive a ane.23GB MP4 game recording to examination the functioning in vii-Nada.

Handbrake Conversion

Nosotros measured the boilerplate frame rate achieved for a task of converting a 1.23GB 1080P game recording using the Loftier Profile setting and MP4 container.

The board'southward reduced retentivity performance has little affect on CPU-heavy workloads. The Z170XP-SLI scores a lesser-place finish in our Handbrake conversion exam, and is articulation-final in Cinebench, only the margins are small.

7-Zip is very sensitive to bandwidth and general performance of the retentivity subsystem, then it is no surprise to encounter reduced functioning for Gigabyte'south offering. As previously mentioned, this reduced memory-related performance seems to be an early BIOS problems and I would not be surprised to run across an update gear up the issue.

Metro: Terminal Light

We used a 1920 x 1080 resolution and the Metro: Last Calorie-free built-in benchmark ready to 'Very High' quality to offer an intense challenge for the hardware.

K Theft Automobile V

We apply very near maximum settings in Grand Theft Auto Five and a 1920×1080 resolution to push button today's hardware. Our information was recorded using the built-in benchmark.

Eye World: Shadow of Mordor

We used a 1920×1080 resolution and the Heart Earth: Shadow of Mordor built-in benchmark set to 'Ultra' quality.

Tomb Raider

Nosotros used a 1920×1080 resolution and the Tomb Raider born benchmark prepare to maximum quality, with TressFX disabled.

Gaming performance for Gigabyte's Z170XP-SLI is decent. It is generally a little slower than the higher-priced competitors, although a couple of percentage point drops in frame rates are unlikely to be noticeable in general gameplay and is close to benchmarking error margins.

Past ploughing the coin saved when buying Gigabyte'south depression-toll motherboard into a higher-performance graphics card, that pocket-size frame rate deficit could be overcome with ease.

One thousand.2 connector

Nosotros apply Plextor's fast M6e 256GB M.2 SSD to test the speed of a motherboard'south Yard.2 connector. We reviewed the 512GB Plextor M6e (and its PCIe x2 adapter bill of fare) HERE. Unfortunately we practise not accept access to a PCIe three.0-based SSD to fully test the M.ii connector's functioning limits.

Gigabyte's M.two connector, which is capable of providing a 32Gbps link speed, had no problem powering our Plextor M6e PCIe SSD without any slowdowns.

SATA

For SATA 6Gb/southward testing nosotros use a Kingston HyperX 3K (SandForce SF-2281) SSD.

Accounting for degradation in the operating country of our examination SSD, SATA 6Gbps performance for Gigabyte's Z170XP-SLI is roughly where would wait it to be for ports fed by the Z170 chipset.

USB 3.0

We tested USB iii.0 performance using the Kingston HyperX 3K SSD connected to a SATA 6Gb/s to USB 3.0 adapter powered by an ASMedia ASM1053 controller.

Using our Windows vii test system, which is before long to be updated, USB three.0 performance tops out at around 350MBps due to no UASP driver beingness present inside the older OS.

Audio

We utilize RightMark Audio Analyzer (RMAA) to analyse the functioning of the motherboard's onboard audio solution. A sampling mode of 24-flake, 192 kHz was tested.

According to RMAA, Gigabyte's audio solution on the Z170XP-SLI is Very Good. Dynamic range and noise level results are particularly strong.

Automatic CPU Overclocking:

The highest – 4.6GHz – CPU Upgrade profile functioned without hesitation using our retail 6700K processor. Co-ordinate to AIDA64, Gigabyte selects a voltage level of around 1.3V, which is fairly piece of cake to control with modest cooling hardware.

The profile allows XMP to be manually selected and does not change any system parameters other than those linked to CPU speed and voltage.

Manual CPU Overclocking:

To test the Gigabyte Z170XP-SLI motherboard's CPU overclocking potential, we commencement increased the CPU VCore to 1.40V, and checked that the PCH voltage was running at i.10V. We also enabled 'High' load-line scale (LLC) in order to supply as close to our selected voltage level every bit possible. The cache ratio was set to 45x.

Manually overclocking the system was straightforward thanks to Gigabyte'southward easy-to-navigate UEFI. We hit iv.8GHz on the CPU without issue. Finding the cache ratio setting was a little trickier than usual, although the other CPU-related parameters were easy to locate.

The Low LLC setting resulted in a significant voltage drop, so we instead applied the Loftier configuration. Dialling in one.40V in the UEFI and applying the Loftier LLC manner resulted in a VCore reading of ane.38V under CPU load. A 20mV drop is far from unnoticeable and should be considered when analysing voltage stability of a chip.

We will outline the functioning increases that can exist obtained from using theGigabyte Z170XP-SLI motherboard to overclock our organisation. Our overclocked processor frequency was iv.8GHz and memory speed was maintained at 3200MHz.

Every bit a functioning comparison, nosotros have included the overclocked results from one other Z170 motherboard. The maximum overclocked configuration achieved with ASRock'due south board was a 4800MHz (48 ten 100MHz) processor frequency and 3200MHz CL16 memory speed.

Using Gigabyte's Z170XP-SLI motherboard to overclock the organization results in additional performance being unlocked. GTA V saw its average frame charge per unit boosted slightly over the stock-clocked configuration, while the minimum frame charge per unit saw a noticeable increment.

The same memory performance issues hampers the Z170XP-SLI motherboard'due south 7-Zip archival performance even when the CPU and cache frequencies are overclocked. Other than that, overclocked performance from Gigabyte's low-cost offer is generally a small pct behind that of ASRock's higher-priced part.

We measured the power consumption with the arrangement resting at the Windows 7 desktop, representing idle values.

The power consumption of our entire test organization (at the wall) is measured while loading just the CPU using Prime95′s in-place large FFTs setting. The residual of the system'due south components were operating in their idle states, hence the increased ability consumption values (in comparison to the idle figures) are largely related to the load on the CPU and motherboard power delivery components.

The stock (iv.2GHz) clocked power consumption numbers pigment somewhat of an inaccurate picture due to our forced workaround to achieve the false MCT frequency. The load power describe value is simply 10% higher than ASRock's and Asus' due to a college CPU VCore level existence set by the auto voltage configuration, rather than the competitors' MCT setting. This load result can be ignored, nonetheless the idle number is specially positive.

Idle power consumption numbers for the overclocked organization remain positive. The overclocked Gigabyte lath's 13W lower load power draw reading compared ASRock's part is due to the one-time dropping its load VCore level to effectually 1.38V. This helps shave a few Watts off the system power usage and degrees off the CPU temperature, although it does present additional head-scratching when trying to pinpoint a stable processor overclock.

The Gigabyte Z170XP-SLI is a solid motherboard that makes entering the Z170 platform, while maintaining diverse multi-GPU capability, an affordable process.

Full general performance from the motherboard is expert, if not quite as fast equally noticeably higher-priced solutions from competing vendors. Our testing did identify what seems to be a BIOS bug relating to retentivity performance and it does impact operation where retention bandwidth is of relevance (7-Zip archival). If this is indeed a BIOS-led issue, a solution should not be difficult to come by just the waiting time for a BIOS update is frustrating for buyers.

Overclocking chapters of the board was strong, and impressive given the modest price tag. We had no problem taking our 6700K processor to 4.8GHz while pushing 1.40V through the flake, and Gigabyte'southward LLC setting even reduced the VCore level to 1.38V under load only maintained stability. Our CPU enshroud frequency was held stable at 4.5GHz, besides, and this was all alongside four DIMMs of 3200MHz DDR4.

Of course certification for the application of two Nvidia graphics cards in SLI is an important feature, and it actually makes the Z170XP-SLI one of (perhaps the) lowest toll Z170 boards that can run a pair of Nvidia GPUs in SLI. This is ideal for upkeep-conscious users who want longevity from their organisation, as calculation another GPU into the mix in a few months or years is typically a quick, price-effective way of boosting frame rates.

Gigabyte has been smart in deciding which features are important to those making a low-cost jump onto the Z170 platform. There's no addition SATA chipset or fancy power delivery components. Just instead Gigabyte allocates resource budget on the add-on of USB 3.i Type-A and Type-C ports, PCI connectors for users wanting to reuse their ageing WiFi card, and a good for you audio system. Add together Intel'due south I219-V NIC and the host of chipset-based offerings into the mix, and the Z170XP-SLI offers a proficient range of features that general users will appreciate.

The UEFI implementation offered past Gigabyte is piece of cake to use and allocates the cadre features that one would expect. It'southward far from impressive though, especially with its dire fan control method and inherent lack of value-added features or interactivity. ASRock and Asus (I have yet to test MSI's Z170 solution) have significantly better implementations, based on my experience.

Priced at £113.99 from OverclockersUK, the Gigabyte Z170XP-SLI is a smart solution to those looking for a low-price motherboard that gives them the flexibility to utilise SLI in the future. With a 32Gbps One thousand.ii connector, USB 3.1 Type-A and Type-C ports, and an enhanced audio solution, Gigabyte'south Z170XP-SLI tin can be used to build an impressive organization. Simply don't expect it to feature all of the bells and whistles of the higher-priced offerings and expect to look for a BIOS update to set memory performance.

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Pros:

• One of the lowest-price Z170 boards to support SLI.
• Solid overclocking performance and skillful congenital-in overclocking presets.
• Dual BIOS chips for redundancy.
• USB iii.1 Type-A and Type-C ports.
• Practiced set of features – Intel NIC with cFos software, 32Gbps M.two connector, ALC1150-based audio system.
• Smart layout decisions, especially expansion slots, fan connectors, and USB 3.0 headers.

Cons:

• Seems to take a BIOS bug that hampers memory functioning, although this should exist fixable.
• UEFI lacks the features of competing vendors' solutions, such as good fan command and general interactivity.
• Brown, not black, PCB will irritate appearance-conscious buyers.
• Optical SPDIF audio connector may be missed past some.

KitGuru says: A solid solution that gives users wanting SLI support a low-price entry betoken to the Z170 platform.

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Source: https://www.kitguru.net/components/motherboard/luke-hill/gigabyte-z170xp-sli-motherboard-review/all/1/

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