Thoughts on GIGABYTE G1 Gaming GA-Z170X-Gaming 7

[Majcric]

Just wondering if any members here have any experience with the Gigabyte gaming board in the title? the reviews seem to be outstanding from both Amazon and Newegg, and tech sites to boot.


I'm looking for a good solid MB with little to no issues to par with the i7 6700k.

 

[nenforcer]

If I was getting a Socket 1151 Skylake mobo I would definitely be getting a Gigabyte since it has the Intel native Alpine Ridge USB 3.1 controller built in.

However, I don't like the Creative Sound Core 3D onboard audio or Killer Networks E2400 LAN port on the Gaming 7 even though that board has the MegaChips HDMI 2.0 controller on it.

I'd actually step down to the Gaming 5 which drops the second LAN controller and uses the standard Realtek ALC1150 Audio CODEC.

 

[bonehead123]

I just built a new rig with one of these, and I love it.

Super fast, easy to build/install, really fast, looks great, really fast. I'm so very happy I did this build, cause I was really getting tired of my last 2 rigs (Z97, Z87).

Oh, and did I mention this machine is very fAsT 😀

My set-up includes the 6700k @4.7, 16GB Trident Z 3400 ram, Evo212 cooler, 2x Samsung 950 pro NVME drives + 1 ADATA SSD, and a Radeon 7970 GPU, which will be the last thing I need to upgrade (soon), whenever I decide what to buy 🙂

I also splurged for all new fans, 5x Corsair AF140 Red + 2x AF120 Red, because all I had from the previous rigs was a mish-mash of various brands/colors/specs etc....

 

[Majcric]

I just built a new rig with one of these, and I love it.

Super fast, easy to build/install, really fast, looks great, really fast. I'm so very happy I did this build, cause I was really getting tired of my last 2 rigs (Z97, Z87).

Oh, and did I mention this machine is very fAsT 😀

My set-up includes the 6700k @4.7, 16GB Trident Z 3400 ram, Evo212 cooler, 2x Samsung 950 pro NVME drives + 1 ADATA SSD, and a Radeon 7970 GPU, which will be the last thing I need to upgrade (soon), whenever I decide what to buy 🙂

I also splurged for all new fans, 5x Corsair AF140 Red + 2x AF120 Red, because all I had from the previous rigs was a mish-mash of various brands/colors/specs etc....

I went with the gaming 7 and I'm using the 16GB Trident Z 3400 ram. Haven't had a chance to tinker with my i7 6700k overclock.

What is your voltage For the 4.7 overclock?

 

[Z15CAM]

Are you certain, considering that Gigabyte MB's have Dual BIOS's that you are not booting the specific Bios.

You can boot whatever Bios you load with a Dual Bios Gigabyte MB with any BIOS you choose with the option to over-write either Firmware with either one.

 

[bonehead123]

I went with the gaming 7 and I'm using the 16GB Trident Z 3400 ram. Haven't had a chance to tinker with my i7 6700k overclock.

What is your voltage For the 4.7 overclock?

Currently I have it set to 1.45v.

I haven't really delved too deep into the other settings yet, so once I get a grip them I may be able to lower it a bit... there are ton of other settings to play with, I just have to research them to see what they could actually do for me.

 

[bonehead123]

Are you certain, considering that Gigabyte MB's have Dual BIOS's that you are not booting the specific Bios.

You can boot whatever Bios you load with a Dual Bios Gigabyte MB with any BIOS you choose with the option to over-write either Firmware with either one.

?? I'm not sure where this question came from, but yes they do have the dual bios feature, and so far I have updated mine 2x, and currently running v6xx. I do have the v7xx downloaded and will probably install it this weekend.

 

[bonehead123]

If I was getting a Socket 1151 Skylake mobo I would definitely be getting a Gigabyte since it has the Intel native Alpine Ridge USB 3.1 controller built in.

However, I don't like the Creative Sound Core 3D onboard audio or Killer Networks E2400 LAN port on the Gaming 7 even though that board has the MegaChips HDMI 2.0 controller on it.

I'd actually step down to the Gaming 5 which drops the second LAN controller and uses the standard Realtek ALC1150 Audio CODEC.

a. I bought the 7 specifically for the USB controller, since I plan to upgrade all of my external hardware to 3.1/USB-C asap, cause I just luvz me some speeeeeed 🙂

b. I have no problems with the Creative sound card, but never really cared much for Realtek's audio solutions.

c. I rather like the idea of having a back-up ethernet controller, just in case 1 dies, all I have to do is move my cable & I'm back online in 2 seconds... a 2nd reason I chose this board.

d. Since both of my displays have HDMI connections, the Megachips controller works well for me. And yet a 3rd reason I bought this board..

 

[rickon66]

Just finished a build with the gaming 7 /6700k combo and so far it has been solid, but I have not yet tested any overclocking features. One of the almost useless features is the lighted I/O panel on back, but it sure looks pretty.

 

[EpicSurvivor]

For those of you that have the Gigabyte G1 Gaming 7 with an i7 6700K can you please kindly post Pictures of your CPU temps and Voltages? I'd really appreciate it. I opened a few threads on various forums including this one regarding my Temps. I am running F8 BIOS now (Downgraded from F20). My Debug LED Code says "bF". I Have no idea if I Should RMA and get a New MoBo=Clean Slate or keep this one?

Yes I am getting 70c-up to 80c with a Stock Cooler and NO Overclock even down volted my CPU Vcore but I still believe something has to be wrong! why would I get 70c or 75c even 80c after turning down voltage (Stable) from just 30 minutes of Gaming @1080p with a GTX 970?

Please post your temps so I can stop being so darn paranoid. I need to decide whether I RMA my MoBo or keep it for now.

Thanks

 

[UsandThem]

For those of you that have the Gigabyte G1 Gaming 7 with an i7 6700K can you please kindly post Pictures of your CPU temps and Voltages? I'd really appreciate it. I opened a few threads on various forums including this one regarding my Temps. I am running F8 BIOS now (Downgraded from F20). My Debug LED Code says "bF". I Have no idea if I Should RMA and get a New MoBo=Clean Slate or keep this one?

Yes I am getting 70c-up to 80c with a Stock Cooler and NO Overclock even down volted my CPU Vcore but I still believe something has to be wrong! why would I get 70c or 75c even 80c after turning down voltage (Stable) from just 30 minutes of Gaming @1080p with a GTX 970?

Please post your temps so I can stop being so darn paranoid. I need to decide whether I RMA my MoBo or keep it for now.

Thanks

You should just wait until you get your after-market cooler in and see what your temps are. You might be the only person right now using an boxed OEM Intel cooler on a 6700k, so knowing other people's temps won't really help you much. Once you get the new cooler in and get it installed, then we can tell you if your temps are out of line because of the reviews and from user experience. I know people report the high 60s for the 6700 with its stock cooler, so with the extra speed from the 6700k, it's not surprising to see temps pushing 70c.

Plus, I don't tend to take temps reported by various programs as the gospel truth. It wouldn't be the first time temps weren't accurate. For temp readings outside of the UEFI, I tend to use Intel Extreme Tuning Utility to check temps. But I would just wait until your new cooler comes in because even if you run it now, we probably won't be able to say one way or the other.

 

[EpicSurvivor]

You should just wait until you get your after-market cooler in and see what your temps are. You might be the only person right now using an boxed OEM Intel cooler on a 6700k, so knowing other people's temps won't really help you much. Once you get the new cooler in and get it installed, then we can tell you if your temps are out of line because of the reviews and from user experience. I know people report the high 60s for the 6700 with its stock cooler, so with the extra speed from the 6700k, it's not surprising to see temps pushing 70c.

Plus, I don't tend to take temps reported by various programs as the gospel truth. It wouldn't be the first time temps weren't accurate. For temp readings outside of the UEFI, I tend to use Intel Extreme Tuning Utility to check temps. But I would just wait until your new cooler comes in because even if you run it now, we probably won't be able to say one way or the other.

Okay excellent. Then I am going to wait for the cooler to get here. You think using 1 year old (Bought February 2016) Stick of Arctic 5 thermal compound would still be okay?

 

[UsandThem]

Okay excellent. Then I am going to wait for the cooler to get here. You think using 1 year old (Bought February 2016) Stick of Arctic 5 thermal compound would still be okay?

Should be fine. I think they give that stuff a 5 year guarantee, so only a year old is nothing. Plus, most after-market coolers come with paste that is usually just as good if you wanted to read up on it while waiting for the cooler to arrive.

 

[EpicSurvivor]

For sure! right on! will report after I have installed cooler. I think it arrives next week.