CPUs & Motherboards

GIGABYTE Z170X-Ultra Gaming Review

vortez
June 22, 2016 20 Min Read
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In the spotlight today is the GA-Z170X-Ultra Gaming motherboard – designed to work in conjunction with Intel Skylake, this new release arrives with lots of exciting features including Ambient LED.


Product on Review: GA-Z170X-Ultra Gaming
Manufacturer & Sponsor: GIGABYTE
Street Price: £139.99 GBP / $160 USD

It’s fair to say that the Intel Z170 lineup has been living in the shadows of Intel’s High-End X99 chipset for many weeks now since the introduction of Intel Broadwell-E. In a bid to balance things out, various manufacturers have released fresh Z170 motherboards to liven things up – one such brand being GIGABYTE.

It was at Computex 2016 (a matter of weeks ago), that GIGABYTE unveiled their new lineup of Intel Z170 motherboards bearing the names Designare and Ultra Gaming. Today, we’ll be taking a close look at the Z170X-Ultra Gaming – a sleek motherboard which packs in a multitude of features – including Ultra Durable components, a variety of storage solutions such as U.2 and dynamic lighting courtesy of ‘Ambient LED’. Although this board arrives with a strong feature-set, it still maintains the appealing price-tag of £139.99 GBP / $160 USD – over the subsequent pages we’ll be putting this new motherboard under a watchful eye. Let’s begin!


About GIGABYTE
Founded in 1986, GIGABYTE is committed to providing top-notch solutions that “upgrade your life”. We are regarded as a pioneer in innovation with groundbreaking excitements such as Ultra Durable™ — a revolutionary technology that redefines the industry, WINDFORCE™ — exclusive heat dissipation design that builds for extreme performance, G1™ Gaming series—the perfect solutions for gamers and enthusiasts, P series — a powerful gaming laptop less than an inch thick, and BRIX series—a versatile mini-PC in the palm of your hand. GIGABYTE has continuously brought unique new ways of digital world and created marvelous products that empower you with meaningful and charming experiences.

Technical Specifications


Below are the technical specifications concerning the Z170X-Ultra Gaming, taken directly from the GIGABYTE website:

CPU
Support for Intel® Core™ i7 processors/Intel® Core™ i5 processors/Intel® Core™ i3 processors/Intel® Pentium® processors/Intel® Celeron® processors in the LGA1151 package
L3 cache varies with CPU
Chipset
Intel® Z170 Express Chipset
Memory
4 x DDR4 DIMM sockets supporting up to 64 GB of system memory
Dual channel memory architecture
Support for DDR4 3866(O.C.) / 3800(O.C.) / 3733(O.C.) / 3666(O.C.) / 3600(O.C.) /
3466(O.C.) / 3400(O.C.) / 3333(O.C.) / 3300(O.C.) / 3200(O.C.) / 3000(O.C.) / 2800(O.C.) /
2666(O.C.) / 2400(O.C.) / 2133 MHz memory modules
Support for ECC Un-buffered DIMM 1Rx8/2Rx8 memory modules
(operate in non-ECC mode)
Support for non-ECC Un-buffered DIMM 1Rx8/2Rx8/1Rx16 memory modules
Support for Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) memory modules
Onboard Graphics
Integrated Graphics Processor-Intel® HD Graphics support:
1 x HDMI port, supporting a maximum resolution of 4096×2160@24 Hz
* Support for HDMI 1.4 version.
1 x Mini-DisplayPort, supporting a maximum resolution of 4096×2304@60 Hz
* Support for DisplayPort 1.2 version.
Maximum shared memory of 512 MB
Audio
Realtek® ALC892 codec
High Definition Audio
2/4/5.1/7.1-channel
Support for S/PDIF Out
LAN
Intel® GbE LAN chip (10/100/1000 Mbit)
Expansion Slots
1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 (PCIEX16)
* For optimum performance, if only one PCI Express graphics card is to be installed, be sure to install it in the PCIEX16 slot.
1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x8 (PCIEX8)
* The PCIEX8 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIEX16 slot. When the PCIEX8 slot is populated, the PCIEX16 slot operates at up to x8 mode.
1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x4 (PCIEX4)
* The PCIEX4 slot shares bandwidth with the SATA3 0/1 connectors. When the PCIEX4 slot is installed with a x4 or above card, the SATA 3 0/1 connectors becomes unavailable.
3 x PCI Express x1 slots
(All of the PCI Express slots conform to PCI Express 3.0 standard.)
Multi-Graphics Technology
Support for NVIDIA® Quad-GPU SLI™ and 2-Way NVIDIA® SLI™ technologies
Support for AMD Quad-GPU CrossFireX™ and 2-Way AMD CrossFire™ technologies

Storage Interface
Chipset:
1 x M.2 connector (Socket 3, M key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 SATA and PCIe x4/x2 SSD support)
1 x U.2 connector
2 x SATA Express connectors
6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
Support for RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10
* Refer to “1-8 Internal Connectors,” for the installation notices for the U.2, M.2, SATA Express, and SATA connectors.
USB
Chipset+Intel® USB 3.1 Controller:
1 x USB Type-C™ port on the back panel, with USB 3.1 support
1 x USB 3.1 Type-A port (red) on the back panel
Chipset:
6 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports (4 ports on the back panel, 2 ports available through the internal USB header)
6 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports (2 ports on the back panel, 4 ports available through the internal USB headers)
Internal I/O Connectors
1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector
1 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector
1 x U.2 connector
1 x M.2 Socket 3 connector
2 x SATA Express connectors
6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
1 x CPU fan header
1 x water cooling fan/pump header (CPU_OPT_PUMP)
2 x system fan headers
1 x system fan/water cooling pump header (SYS_FAN2_PUMP)
1 x front panel header
1 x front panel audio header
1 x USB 3.0/2.0 header
2 x USB 2.0/1.1 headers
1 x S/PDIF Out header
1 x Trusted Platform Module (TPM) header
1 x Thunderbolt™ add-in card connector
1 x Clear CMOS jumper
Back Panel Connectors
1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse port
1 x USB Type-C™ port, with USB 3.1 support
1 x USB 3.1 Type-A port (red)
1 x Mini-DisplayPort In port
1 x Mini-DisplayPort
1 x HDMI port
4 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports
2 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports
1 x RJ-45 port
1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector
5 x audio jacks (Center/Subwoofer Speaker Out, Rear Speaker Out, Line In, Line Out, Mic In)
I/O Controller
iTE® I/O Controller Chip
H/W Monitoring
System voltage detection
CPU/System/Chipset temperature detection
CPU/CPU OPT/System fan (pump) speed detection
CPU/System/Chipset overheating warning
CPU/CPU OPT/System fan (pump) fail warning
CPU/CPU OPT/System fan (pump) speed control
* Whether the fan speed control function is supported will depend on the fan (pump) you install.
BIOS
2 x 128 Mbit flash
Use of licensed AMI UEFI BIOS
Support for DualBIOS™
PnP 1.0a, DMI 2.7, WfM 2.0, SM BIOS 2.7, ACPI 5.0
Unique Features
Support for APP Center
* Available applications in APP Center may vary by motherboard model. Supported functions of each application may also vary depending on motherboard specifications.
3D OSD
@BIOS
AutoGreen
BIOS Setup
Color Temperature
Cloud Station
EasyTune
Easy RAID
Fast Boot
ON/OFF Charge
Platform Power Management
Smart TimeLock
Smart Keyboard
Smart Backup
System Information Viewer
USB Blocker
V-Tuner
Support for Q-Flash
Support for Smart Switch
Support for Xpress Install
Bundle Software
Norton® Internet Security (OEM version)
Intel® Smart Response Technology
cFosSpeed
Operating System
Support for Windows 10/8.1 64-bit
Support for Windows 7 32-bit/64-bit
* Please download the “Windows USB Installation Tool” from GIGABYTE’s website and install it before installing Windows 7.
Form Factor
ATX Form Factor; 30.5cm x 24.4cm

Packaging & First Look



Ultra Gaming arrives in a highly attractive box which certainly catches the eye. We’re left in no doubt of the target audience as the word “Gaming” is peppered all over the covers. On the front we have a line up of the most significant features to which Ultra Gaming arrives with. Over on the reverse, GIGABYTE goes into more detail surrounding these features.


Inside the box there are a series of included items which form the bundle. These items include the following:

• 4x SATA 3 (6GB/s) Cables
• Velcro Cable Ties
• Flexible SLI Bridge
• Rear IO Shield
• Q-Connect Adapter
• HDD Label Sheet
• G1 Gaming Sticker
• Door Hanger
• Documentation – User Manual, Multi lingual Guide
• Driver/Software CD

We’re still surprised to see manufacturers like GIGABYTE supplying CDs rather than USB drives – since all users have a USB port but not all users have an optical drive anymore. Hopefully in the near future we’ll see a change here.


Unveiling the motherboard from its anti-static bag we’re met by a rather sleek solution. The Z170X-Ultra Gaming opts for a matt black livery with only text, PCI express slots and audio components deviating from the scheme.

This understated design is highly favoured nowadays and this motherboard will be easy to pair up with other hardware such as memory, graphics cards and coolers – allowing the user to create a sleek theme.

Ultra-Gaming conforms to the ATX form factor. On the next page we’ll take a closer look at the features of this motherboard.

Closer Look


Arriving with the LGA1151 socket the Ultra-Gaming is designed to work with Intel’s 6th Generation of Core i5/i7 processors codenamed Skylake.

Our motherboard uses digital power delivery and utilises an 8-phase power design. Covering the MOSFETs there are two independent heatsinks which are not interconnected. A single 8-pin EPS CPU Power is found just behind the uppermost heatsink. Ultra Durable 10K Black CAPs are used through Ultra Gaming too.

GIGABYTE has also chosen to provide two CPU fan headers, one of which is tailored for water pump usage. This header can be modified to choose between voltage calibration or PWM mode.


Turning to the memory section, there are four slots to support dual-channel DDR4. Up to 64GB is supported with the customary XMP. GIGABYTE has also tied the memory area into their ‘Ambient Surround LED’ feature – in between the slots there are a series of clear strips – these illuminate red when the system is powered up. If you are using a twin module kit this feature works well, but if you do happen to occupy each of the four slots, the lighting struggles to be seen. The memory slots also benefit from having Ultra Durable armour which reinforces the slots.

Directly next to the 24-pin ATX power, GIGABYTE has placed a single USB 3.0 header – this is the only USB 3.0 header found across this motherboard.

The eagle-eyed among you will notice the two yellow strips which run down the outer edge of the Ultra Gaming – this, again relates to the Ambient Surround LED feature. The entire right-side and other elements of this motherboard light up red, different effects can be applied via the included software.



Storage is something which comes in a variety of forms with the Ultra Gaming. We have:

• 2x SATA Express
• 1x U.2
• 2x SATA 3 (6GB/s)
• 1x M.2 slot (Above the PCI Express slots)

As usual, if the SATA Express aren’t being used the redundant SATA ports can be used for standard SATA connectivity. The inclusion of U.2 is a notable addition; we expect to see more U.2 devices over the forthcoming months. It’s possible to take advantage of a triple NVMe storage configuration with Intel’s 750 SSD with this motherboard since we can use a PCI Express slot, M.2/U.2 converter and the U.2 port combined. GIGABYTE had a running demo of this type of setup at Computex 2016 just a few weeks ago.

There is also a connector named “THB_C” next to the SATA Express, this serves to combine with a GIGABYTE Thunderbolt add-in card. (not included).

Behind the storage ports we have a large black heatsink which covers the Intel Z170 chip.


Moving to the PCI Express region, we have a nice selection to choose from, including:

• 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 (PCIEX16)
• 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x8 (PCIEX8)
• 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x4 (PCIEX4)
• 3 x PCI Express x1 slots

The most obvious slot to use if you’re opting for a single-GPU configuration is the top PCI Express X16 as this runs in X16 mode. Ultra Gaming supports NVIDIA SLI and AMD Crossfire too.

The triple X16 slots benefit from a double-lock feature, plus steel armour plating as reinforcement (similar to that of the memory slots). This adds strength to the motherboard and is a feature we’ve seen on quite a few motherboards already.


For the audio, the Ultra Gaming benefits from the renowned Realtek ALC1150. Accompanying this popular codec we also have an isolated area for the PCB and Japanese Solid CAPs – both should help to achieve the best audio resolution.


Casting an eye over the rear IO section of Ultra Gaming (which has a protective metal brace), we have the following:

• 1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse port
• 1 x USB Type-C™ port, with USB 3.1 support
• 1 x USB 3.1 Type-A port (red)
• 1 x Mini-DisplayPort In port
• 1 x Mini-DisplayPort
• 1 x HDMI port
• 4 x USB 3.0 ports
• 2 x USB 2.0 ports
• 1 x RJ-45 port (via Intel i219)
• 1 x Optical S/PDIF Out connector
• 5 x Audio jacks

There is a surprisingly large gap at the back of the motherboard – while this will be covered up by the Rear IO we would have expected some additional USB functionality in its place.

GIGABYTE has given the USB 3.1 Type-C connector 100W – giving it greater power for multiple devices and which offers up to 32GB/s.

Intel Z170 Features


Intel’s initial release schedule for Skylake was planned well in advance, long before Microsoft officially announced the launch date of Windows 10. Most of August was set aside for conferences and seminars including the Intel Developers Forum in San Francisco, all with the aim of taking the wraps off and going deep into the technology within this new CPU architecture. Unfortunately bringing forward the release date of ‘K-series’ SKUs has meant that they’re unable to furnish detailed technical info to reviewers and members of the press, and won’t be releasing this information until IDF. The following is information which has been released thus far.

Developed under the codename Sunrise Point, Intel’s 100-series chipset is designed to operate hand-in-hand with an Intel ‘Skylake’ 6th Generation core processor. It utilises an LGA 1151 socket, underscoring the fact that neither CPU nor motherboard are backwards compatible with any of the previous generation hardware. As a result Sunrise Point is free to add additional features not present in x90-series and earlier chipsets.

Memory and Overclocking

Most notably from a consumer perspective Sunrise Point is the first Intel mainstream computing platform to be compatible with DDR4, and most Z170 and H170 designs are indeed likely to feature this memory technology rather than continue with DDR3L (a memory spec which Skylake CPUs can also handle). Default support is at DDR4-2133, however speeds above this are possible if a Z170 motherboard and K-Series CPU are used in tandem. One year on from the release of Haswell-E DDR4 pricing is quickly becoming more bearable, and so whilst it’s an additional expense to swallow compared with Haswell/Z97 it may not be quite the price premium you expect.

With Skylake Intel are, for the first time in many generations of Core architectures, once again re-enabling fine grade overclocking of memory at the Base Clock (BCLK) level. The PCI subsystem clock is now independent of BCLK, allowing for robust overclocking support which dispenses with coarse ratios in favour of a MHz by MHz stepping to far higher levels. Pre-launch testing by board partners have ascertained that stable BCLK’s of up to 400MHz are possible (with a stepping down of CPU multiplier), a far cry from even last year’s Haswell Refresh.

It should be noted that overclocking support has also been improved through greater control over individual CPU voltage inputs. Haswell made use of a Fully Integrated Voltage Regulator on the CPU itself; in essence, the motherboard supplied one input voltage and the FIVR divided this into individual on-board component inputs. With Skylake/Z170 the motherboard chipset controls each of these voltages individually, allowing direct adjustment for greater stability where necessary. This could theoretically be a great boon to enthusiast overclockers eager to get every last smidgen of performance out of a system.


Chipset and PCH Features

As we noted in our review of the two launched Skylake CPUs, up to 16 PCI-Express 3.0 lanes exist as a direct low-latency connection between CPU and 3rd party hardware such as graphics cards. These can operate in a 1×16 lane, 2×8 lane or 1×8 lane and 2×4 lane setup for multi-GPU configurations depending on the hardware implementation chosen by the board partners, but aren’t sufficient alone to support additional hardware options such as PCI-Express storage. The Platform Controller Hub therefore provides additional PCI-Express lanes to peripheral controllers.

In contrast to Intel’s 9-series motherboards Sunrise Point can supply up to an additional 20 PCI-Express 3.0 lanes, potentially resulting in double the bandwidth compared with the 20 PCIe 2.0 lanes of the previous generation. These new lanes augment the chipset storage options, most notably in respect to PCIe storage with many designs now featuring multiple next-generation storage options rather than a singular M.2 or SATA-Express port. Whilst not the low-latency connection you require for effective graphics processing, they will be more than suitable for new high-speed storage options including RAID for PCI-Express thanks to an upgraded DMI connection between PCH and CPU.

Further augmenting the platform’s storage capabilities is the adoption of new Intel Rapid Storage Technology protocols allowing PCI-Express storage to be used as caching drives for slower media. Potentially still a niche technology, the stark benefits of next-generation SSDs over mechanical drives as well as future SSDs could be just the breakthrough Intel RST needs to capture mainstream adoption.

In an additional change from the 9-series motherboards support has been added for up to 10 native USB 3.0 ports and 14 USB 2.0 ports, with a maximum of 16 ports in some combination thereof. It should be noted that so far as we can tell USB 3.1 isn’t actually native to the Sunrise Point chipset. Implementation is up to motherboard vendors through 3rd party controllers, and it’s to their credit that many have adopted the new high-speed standard without any fuss. For some both USB 3.1 Type-A and Type-C connectors are available, with Type-C the most common otherwise.

Those who make use of on-board CPU graphics can now enjoy support for up to three digital display outputs, or make use of the Intel 530 Graphics capabilities in tandem with discrete graphics. Microsoft Windows 10 (via DirectX 12) includes new options which allow disparate graphics hardware to be used in tandem, making best use of processing power where possible. Even without this, the transcoding capabilities of Intel QuickSync make it a tempting proposition for fast and efficient h.265 encoding and decoding, even if your discrete graphics hardware is formidable.

With unchanged support for six conventional SATA III storage ports, Intel 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet, Intel Audio options and comprehensive UEFI BIOS options, Sunrise Point (and by extension all Z170 motherboards) are choc-full of features. That’s not to say that there aren’t some omissions – lack of native USB 3.1 support being the most obvious, whilst native U.2 connectors are a premium feature supplied by board partners – but as a whole the platform is a significant step forward overall.

Test Setup & Methodology


Test Setup
CPU Intel Core i7-6700K
Cooling Corsair H100i GTX
Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-Z170X-Ultra Gaming
Memory 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 3200MHz
Graphics XFX R7970 Black Edition
Storage OCZ Vector 180
PSU Corsair HX1050 80 Plus Gold Certified PSU


Benchmarks
Cinebench R15 – CPU/OpenGL Score
x264 HD 4.0 – 1st and 2nd pass encoding
SiSoftware SANDRA 2014 – CPU & Memory benchmarks
AIDA64 – CPU benchmarks
PCMark 8 – Home Suite
3DMark FireStrike – DX11 3D Benchmark
Games – Tomb Raider, THIEF


Other Software
Temperature Analysis: Real Temp
Stress Testing Software: AIDA64 Stability Test
CPU Specification Monitoring: CPU-Z


Overclocking

Overclocking with Skylake is now fully flexible since we can adjust many variables including BCLK and ratio/multiplier.

Our current milestone is 4.8GHz with the Intel Core i7-6700K – unfortunately, the Ultra Gaming wasn’t able to attain this frequency. Instead, we managed to achieve 4.7GHz; which isn’t too shabby at all. At 4.7GHz (100×47) we required a CPU core voltage of 1.34v.

Reaching this mark was easy thanks to the intuitive UEFI BIOS. GIGABYTE has re-designed the layout and we feel it’s much more streamlined – making it easy to find specific settings.

Benchmarks: Power Consumption

It’s interesting to note the power consumption across all motherboards. Although they are using the Z170 chipset, energy results can fluctuate between manufacturers due to the features and specifications that are integrated. First of all, for the idle tests the system is cold booted into Windows and no additional applications are executed – the watts are noted on the external energy monitor we use and then the system is loaded with 3DMark FireStrike – watts are again monitored for the duration of the test and the highest rated wattage result is then noted down. Below are the results of this energy test.

Benchmarks: X264 HD

Simply put, this test measures how fast your machine can encode a short, DVD quality MPEG-2 video clip into a high-quality x264 video clip. What’s x264, you ask? It’s more or less the next-generation Xvid/DivX codec. I think it’s ideal for a benchmark because the application (x264.exe) reports fairly accurate compression results (in frames per second) for each pass of the video encoding process, and it uses multi-core processors very efficiently.

Benchmarks: AIDA64

AIDA64 Product Page
This simple integer benchmark focuses on the branch prediction capabilities and the misprediction penalties of the CPU. It finds the solutions for the classic “Queens problem” on a 10 by 10 sized chessboard. At the same clock speed theoretically the processor with the shorter pipeline and smaller misprediction penalties will attain higher benchmark scores. For example — with HyperThreading disabled — the Intel Northwood core processors get higher scores than the Intel Prescott core based ones due to the 20-step vs 31-step long pipeline. CPU Queen test uses integer MMX, SSE2 and SSSE3 optimizations.

Benchmarks: Cinebench R15

CINEBENCH is a real-world cross platform test suite that evaluates your computer’s performance capabilities. CINEBENCH is based on MAXON’s award-winning animation software CINEMA 4D, which is used extensively by studios and production houses worldwide for 3D content creation. MAXON software has been used in blockbuster movies such as Iron Man 3, Oblivion, Life of Pi or Prometheus and many more.

Benchmarks: SiSoftware SANDRA

SANDRA isn’t always a benchmark that is included in hardware reviews but we believe it shouldn’t be ignored. SANDRA provides a vigorous package that tests your system in a rather large array of benchmarks. There are many aspects of benchmark that can be executed. We will be considering – CPU and memory tests.



Benchmarks: 3DMark

3DMark FireStrike Product Page
Fire Strike is our new showcase DirectX 11 benchmark designed for high-performance gaming PCs. It is our most ambitious and technical benchmark ever, featuring real-time graphics rendered with detail and complexity far beyond what is found in other benchmarks and games today. Fire Strike will only be available in the Windows editions of 3DMark initially.


Benchmarks: PCMark 8

PCMark 8 combines performance benchmarking with battery life measurement and includes tests based on popular Adobe and Microsoft applications. Whether you are looking for long battery life, or maximum power, PCMark 8 will help you find the devices that offer the perfect combination of efficiency and performance for your needs. It’s the complete PC performance benchmark for home and business.

Benchmarks: Tomb Raider & THIEF

It’s important for us to perform a number of game benchmarks as well as the synthetic tests because gamers will want to know if there are any significant benefits. So here we have two popular and recent gaming titles which feature a dedicated benchmark tool within them to display results.

Conclusion


Intel’s X99 chipset has taken the spotlight since Intel Broadwell-E hit the scene earlier this month but Computex 2016 was not without its fair share of new additions to the Z170 family either – most notably GIGABYTE’s Designare and Ultra Gaming models, the latter of which we’ve been checking out today.

The Z170X-Ultra Gaming arrives with a sleek aesthetic which should satisfy those with a thirst for understated styling. However, to liven things up GIGABYTE has equipped numerous locations on this motherboard to use their optional ‘Ambient LED’ configuration – allowing a variety of animations to cycle. The only niggle with this is that the LED is fixed to red; so this lighting may interfere with a different coloured theme, such as blue or green etc.

GIGABYTE has made steps to include a number of features which will diversify this offering, these include steel armour plated PCI Express/DDR4 slots, Intel USB 3.1 Type-C with Power Delivery 2.0 (100W), U.2 storage connector; supporting triple NVMe storage and smaller details such as the water pump fan headers which offer precise PWM and voltage control. GIGABYTE has also made steps to refine and tweak their UEFI BIOS which from our point of view is a much-welcomed modification – the BIOS is now much easier to use and feels intuitive.


Putting Z170X-Ultra Gaming into the performance tests reveals consistently good results, coupled with the fact we managed to easily overclock our Intel Core i7-6700K to 4.7GHz on just 1.34v. This motherboard also presented us with one of the lowest power consumption results thus far on our Z170 journey; all of this reinforcing just how efficient and reliable the Ultra Gaming really is.

Arriving with a price-tag of just £139.99 GBP / $160 USD, the Z170X-Ultra Gaming is surely a good value for money route for anyone considering a move to Skylake. This motherboard has plenty of features and is also backed by a lengthy, 3-year warranty. ** GIGABYTE is currently running a promotion (June 2016) which allows cashback on specific boards, customers can expect up to £32 back after purchasing Z170X-Ultra Gaming, therefore bringing the total cost to just over £100 after cashback! **

Z170X-Ultra Gaming is a cost effective route to Intel Skylake. With a bag full of useful features, defining looks and great performance this motherboard is definitely one to contemplate.

VIDEO REVIEW – VORTEZ TV


Pros
+ Sleek, attractive design
+ Great storage options
+ Overclocks easily
+ Easy to use UEFI BIOS
+ Strong audio solution
+ Affordable

Cons
– No onboard buttons
– LED lighting fixed to red

Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.

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