Gigabyte AORUS Z270X-Gaming 7 LGA1151 Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing 

Unfortunately, there’s been a complete lack of information regarding the Z270 motherboards and their retail prices. As a result, it’s impossible to conduct a fair comparison between numerous products and assess the value proposition. Rest assured, once the full Z270 range is available to purchase, I’ll be adding the appropriate links and revisiting the pricing analysis. According to my sources, it’s likely vendors will add approximately £10-£30 compared to the previous generation. However, this doesn’t help matters when a company unveils something completely new and the predecessor can’t be researched to gauge a pricing estimate. Honestly, I’d expect more details to emerge during CES when PR contacts return from the holiday break.

Overview

The Gigabyte AORUS Z270X-Gaming 7’s black and white colour combination evokes a strong response and looks rather stylish. More specifically, the bold, imposing I/O cover which connects to a hefty heatsink adds a more dramatic touch and contrasts beautifully with the stainless steel shielding around the DIMM slots and graphics segment. Also, the PCH mimics a shield with the AORUS emblem featuring prominently. This creates a gorgeous effect and the subtle metallic accents are tastefully done. Of course, you can opt for a more ostentatious approach using the company’s RGB Fusion lighting system. Rather impressively, the lighting emanates from the PCI-E area, power delivery, audio isolation cover and other vital areas to offer superb customisation. You can individually program the lighting for different sections and even attach a 5050LED strip to the motherboard, then control it using Gigabyte’s dedicated software. The illumination is absolutely stunning and can easily be viewed through a windowed side panel.

On another note, Gigabyte deployed a high-end 12-phase digital power delivery, 10K black capacitors,  hefty MOSFET cooling, anti-sulphur resistors and a 15 microinch thick gold plated socket. The company’s Turbo B-Clock chip provides a wider range of BCLK adjustments to choose from between 90MHz and 500MHz which enhances the overclocking possibilities. The motherboard has eight hybrid fan headers supporting 2Ax12V which can all be controlled to use your hardware in the most proficient manner. Gigabyte catered to overclockers by embedding voltage readout points for the VCCIO, VAXG and more alongside a diagnostic post LED and onboard buttons. These come in really handy when assessing an overclock’s stability and pushing the CPU to the absolute limit.

The motherboard’s audio solution is brilliant and revolves around a quad-core processor, EMI shield, separated isolation pathway and Nichicon capacitors. Additionally, the audio segment contains a Brown OPA2134 operational amplifier which can be replaced to suit your individual taste. Even though it’s unlikely consumers will swap the Op-Amp, it’s a feature which I’m pleased to see. Throughout the testing, the motherboard’s audio excelled and it’s certainly one of the best solutions I’ve ever tested with a lovely dynamic response. When it comes to connectivity options, the motherboard is superb and supports dual M.2, U.2, SATA, SATA Express, USB 3.1 and Thunderbolt 3. As a result, you can pair together three NVMe devices in an RAID0 configuration and achieve unbelievable read/write rates. Furthermore, Thunderbolt 3’s 40Gb/s throughout is going to give the motherboard better longevity as the protocol becomes more popular. The storage performance was good, but the M.2 write has some for improvement.

Gigabyte’s latest BIOS is a joy to use and houses two interfaces for consumers with contrasting technical experience. The Easy Mode lists all the important system readings on a visually-pleasing page and allows you to make minor changes. This means, the end-user doesn’t feel a sense of apprehension and worried they might change the wrong setting. The Advanced mode contains everything you need to modify the CPU multiplier, Vcore, PCH voltage and boot order. The revised fan tuning is much better and you can create a custom curve or allow the BIOS to automatically set the best configuration.

In terms of performance, the motherboard is impressive and often features near the top. Interestingly, it’s not overshadowed by the company’s flagship Z270 offering and rivals products from other vendors. The CPU results in both stock and overclocked situations was great and defeated the majority of other options. Of course, the motherboard selection doesn’t make a massive difference and it’s mostly down to the CPU. Nevertheless, the Gigabyte AORUS Z270X-Gaming 7 is a stellar product which cements the AORUS brand as a force to be reckoned with in the motherboard sector.

Pros

• Dual BIOS
• Dual Gigabit networking
• Eight hybrid fan headers
• Excellent BIOS
• Ground-breaking audio performance
• Impressive range of onboard diagnostic tools
• Metal shielding
• Premium components
• Quad-Core audio processor
• Refined fan calibration
• Sophisticated aesthetic
• Spectacular RGB lighting
• Superb CPU results
• Supports dual M.2, U.2, Thunderbolt 3 and SATA Express

Cons

• Disappointing M.2 write speeds
• Memory latency could be lower

“The Gigabyte AORUS Z270X-Gaming 7 comes with revolutionary audio hardware and supports high-speed protocols including U.2, M.2 and Thunderbolt 3. Not only that, the motherboard has a stylish, balanced design and incorporates a vivid form of RGB lighting.”

Gigabyte AORUS Z270X-Gaming 7 LGA1151 Motherboard Review

Thank you Gigabyte for providing us with this sample.