Conclusion
When it comes to picking the motherboard of choice, features, performance, overclockability are factors of consideration.The Z270X-Gaming 7 motherboard seems to satisfy almost all of the above factors except pricing which is still unavailable at press time.
There are 3 way SLI / CrossFireX support, 3 NVMe PCIe SSD support in RAID 0 for superb performance + NVMe PCIe Gen3 x4 U2 connectors on board. Creative SoundCore 3D with SBX Pro Studio audio suite and a no lag Killer E2500 Gaming LAN + Intel LAN. There are also USB DAC Up 2 with adjustable Voltage USB, Smart Fan 5. Thunderbolt 3, Dual BIOS, App Centre and RGB Fusion.
Software wise, Gigabyte has put in a lot of effort to provide customisations. For example, there is the colour temperature which reduces blue light to protect our eyes. The Cloudstation app turns the PC into a hotspot, remoteOC etc. Of course the EasyTune and Vtuner comes in handy for adjusting the clock speeds of the CPU and GPU on board.
Although we chose to use a mid range 1060 graphics card, the performance is excellent. The board should outperform when it is paired with higher end processors and graphics cards. Furthermore, we haven’t even taken advantage of it’s other features like the U2 connectors. The board is basically future proof and has a lot more options for future upgrade.
Installation is straightforward. I like the idiot proof way of overclocking but just choosing the speed of your choice. Although 4.8GHz is our stable choice for overclocking on air, we could go higher to 5GHz if we bump up the voltages a bit more beyond 1.2v.
Documentation is very concise but Gigabyte could have included the ranges of the options available. Packaging needs a bit of refresh as we are still supplied a DVD-ROM for drivers. A USB drive would be more suitable as DVD drives are being phased out.
In conclusion, the Gaming 7 board is truly packed with features that may not be needed by everyone. If you are a gamer, how often will you use the Thunderbolt feature ?
Pricing
Gigabyte GA-Z270X-Gaming 7 motherboard
Pros
- App Centre
- RGB Fusion
- Thunderbolt 3
- U2
Cons
- No DVI-D converted provided (optional)
- No HDMI cable provided
Ratings
Here are my ratings out of 10 stars.
|
Category |
Score |
| Performance |
10 / 10 |
| Features |
10 / 10 |
| Ease Of Installation |
10 / 10 |
| Overclocking Features |
10 / 10 |
| Documentation |
9 / 10 |
| Packaging |
8 / 10 |
| Overall Rating : |
9.5 / 10 |
