Gigabyte GA-X99-SOC Champion Under LN2
Ryan Leiserowitz / 9 years ago
Final Thoughts
Pricing
With a price point right at $299.99 there is nothing that really detracts from making the decision to purchase this board since it is really budget friendly for a X99 board. Really there is no other board that I would be considering if I wanted something to overclock at the $300 price point.
Overview
With a refined bios and support system that Gigabyte has for its overclocking boards, this is an ideal board to get for your next overclocking adventure with X99. Really if you want to try and go sub zero with a board, it isn’t that expensive and you can really squeeze the last bit of performance your other hardware has to offer. If you are wanting to get something that overclocks for your system and has some great options for gaming I wholeheartedly suggest the Gigabyte X99 Gaming line, as I currently use that in my gaming rig too.
Things I thought it was lacking was the fact that there were no onboard buttons this time around to manipulate the multi or the FSB. I would have liked to have seen the OC Socket built-in without the need to activate it, not really an issue just a personal preference. I ran into a few frustrating moments, but it was usually solved with swapping out the memory and clearing the CMOS. It really wasn’t too temperamental compared some of the boards that I have really pushed to the limits in the past.
The overall verdict is I would say if you want this board, get it and give it a spin and take the plunge into sub-zero benching. I will advise that it is very rewarding and fun if you like benchmarking on air or water already. The board was a pleasure to tweak and has been rewarding to work with prepping for the cold on-air and I have found that it has become my favorite board to use right now. I look forward to some more bios updates to hopefully play with some of the brand new DDR4 that are hitting the channels now as it should be fun to see what they should do, especially so with this motherboard at the heart of the testing.
“From pro overclockers to enthusiast system builders, if you’re wanting to push your hardware to the limit, the GX-X99-SOC is the perfect tool for the job.”
