I own another Z170 Gaming GT Motherboard and have loved it for a long time. I had to move on away from Vista and XP so I went with this Gigabyte board. It was easy to physically install. Now to some useful information:
1. I would highly recommend installing Windows 10 on what ever your intended Drive from the start. I had to try and switch drives from a mechanical to a new SSD. I was unable to do an image recovery. Also I had quite a bit of buggy install issues getting the Samsung finally back to a normal state so Windows could see it to install. Terrible experience.
2. Overclocking this board is quite different from the previous Z170 boards. It is more difficult in that I had to search and try and find the magical setting in the UEFI that was preventing my overclock from being seen in Windows. Here are various settings I have noted that I will work with in doing my overclocking on my new i7 7700k Kaby Lake I will be installing tomorrow in place of the working i5 660k. Make sure to flash bios to latest.
Advanced CPU Core Settings
1. CPU Core Ratio set it to the desired frequency
2. uncore ration set to auto
3. CPU Flex override Disabled
* 4. Intel Turbo Boost Technology Set to Disabled
5. CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E) Disabeled
6. intel speed shift Disabled
7. CPU EIST function Disabled
8. Voltage optimitazion Enabled
9. RSR Enabled
9. Hardware Prefetcher Enabled
System
1.Fast boot disabled
2.mouse speed x3
3.Windows 8/10 features set to Windows 8/10 whql
4. CSM support to enabled
MIT - advanced memory timings
1. set xmp profile 1 to 3200 speeds
2.memory enhancemet settings to Relax OC
3. Memory timing mode to manual
MIT - Advanced Voltage
1. CPU Core * dont increase unless you have to by small increments and testing. This is the danger zone here. I hope I don't have to up the voltage on the 7700k.
I very much recommend this Mother Board to all. The RGB lighting is fantastic and you can set different lighting in the bios. Again I dont like the App center. You dont have to have it. In fact in my opinion it is best not to use it. I only used it once to see if I could actually overclock my cpu an yes it worked.
I hope all this was helpful to you. I absolutelly could not find the detailed settings I needed in the bios like I have give you here on You Tube or anyware. Copy what I typed and I guarentee this will save you a HUGE disappointment in your Overclocking. I suppose it is not Gigabytes fault for not giving the necessary settings to make. They want you to use the App Center with the like 30 apps that come with it. not my thing. Here is a pic o my board working on air with a Noctua.
| RAM | DDR4 |
|---|---|
| Memory Speed | 2133 MHz |
| Wireless Type | 802.11n, 802.11b, 802.11g |
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 1 |
