Gigabyte Z170X-UD5 TH (LGA 1151) Motherboard Review

Introduction Intel's latest Skylake architecture is built on the 14nm manufacturing process and designed to replace the previous generation, Haswell Refresh CPUs. However, the Core i7-6700K is currently a poor value proposition throughout Europe and costs upwards of £350. While the Z170 motherboards are an affordable proposition, some consumers are still waiting for CPU price cuts before considering making the switch. Furthermore, the i7-6700K is priced incredibly close to the X99-based Core i7 5820K which contains 6 cores and provides enhanced performance in multi-threaded workstation tasks. Eventually, Skylake K-series CPUs should fall to reasonable pricing around the £250 mark and increase the sales of Z170 motherboards. The latest motherboard to arrive at eTeknix headquarters is the Gigabyte Z170X-UD5 TH which supports 3-way SLI, Turbo B-Clock Tuning IC, SATA Express, USB 3.1 Type-C and 40 Gb/s Thunderbolt 3 capable of powering dual 4K displays at 60Hz. Gigabyte's engineering team has developed a feature-rich motherboard which utilizes the fastest connectivity options on the market. As a result, I expect it to perform remarkably well in every benchmark. Packing and Accessories The Z170X-UD5 TH is bundled in a visually appealing black and gold box which clearly displays the unit's Thunderbolt 3 functionality. On the rear, Gigabyte focused on the huge connectivity options and impressive speeds which come from Thunderbolt 3, and Intel's USB 3.1 controller. In terms of accessories, the motherboard comes with a user's manual, installation guide, I/O shield, SLI bridge and driver disk. Gigabyte also includes a G Connector to easily conect front panel headers, SATA cables and Rear I/O dust covers. These covers should prolong the rear connector's lifespan as dust build-up can cause damage over time. A Closer Look The motherboard adopts a professional colour scheme which should fit with a decent range of hardware. From this wider shot, we can see the six fan headers, 8-pin EPS placement and PCIe spacing. The PCIe x16 slots are reinforced by a single durable piece of stainless steel shielding which offers enhanced protection against mechanical damage. More specifically, the PCIe shielding design is 1.7 times stronger in shearing tests and 3.2 times stronger during retention force tests compared to typical PCIe slots. On another note, the M.2 connector supports a maximum data transfer speed of 32GB/s and easily accessed between the bottom two PCIe slots. The motherboard's heatsinks look phenomenal and evokes a premium feel. Furthermore, Gigabyte's latest heatsink designs offer excellent cooling efficiency across the PWM section and PCH. Gigabyte decided to utilize an 8+3 phase VRM and 10K capacitors which provides reliable power delivery even at relatively high core voltages. As a result, the motherboard doesn't experience any problems reaching high frequencies and maintaining stability under extreme load. The motherboard incorporates a CMOS reset switch, diagnostic LED, power button, reset switch, voltage readout points, 24-pin connector in its optimal position, two USB 3.0 headers, and an internal SATA power connector. I'm not overly fond of the USB 3.0 headers' positioning which should be nearer the PCB's edge. Clearly, Gigabyte chose this layout to accommodate the SATA power connector but I would personally prefer a right-angled USB 3.0 to help with cable management. Although, this is all down to personal preference. The Realtek ALC1150 audio chipset is separated on a dedicated audio path to the main PCB which reduces interference and helps protect the motherboard's sensitive audio circuitry. Furthermore, the audio section utilizes Nichicon capacitors and an EMI shield to enhance audio clarity. There is also a headphone amplifier which delivers high-quality audio up to 115dB SNR. As you might expect, the audio path opts for an aesthetically pleasing yellow LED without being too overpowering. On another note, the audio section's white pattern looks fantastic and contrasts superbly with the motherboard's simple design. Here we can see the front panel connectors which are labelled pretty well, and dual BIOS. This is essential when overclocking or even updating the BIOS, as it's perfectly feasible to experience problems with a specific revision. On the front, there is an audio connector, communications port, trusted platform module and front USB headers. The rear I/O contains a keyboard/mouse port, four USB 2.0, four USB 3.0, two Thunderbolt 3, HDMI 2.0, RJ45 port, an optical S/PDIF Out connector and 5-channel audio. On the opposite side, there are 6 SATA ports, and 3 SATA Express capable of up to 16Gb/s. Testing & Methodology Before we delve into any testing we would like to take this opportunity to review our test system. All tests are conducted three times and the average taken to use in our charts. Hardware Motherboard varies by review CPU: Intel Core i7 6700k GPU: NVIDIA GTX 980Ti RAM: Crucial Elite 16GB (2x8GB) 2666MHz Cooling: Thermaltake Water 3.0 AIO with Gelid GC-Extreme Case: Lian Li T80 Test Bench Storage Drives: Main storage: Crucial MX200 250GB, Test Devices: SanDisk Extreme Pro 240GB SSD, Plextor 256GB M6e M.2 SSD and Patriot SuperSonic Magnum 256GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive PSU: be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 850W Operating System: Windows 8.1 64-bit Networking: ASUS RT-AC68U router Software SiSoft Sandra Engineer - available here WPrime - available here Cinebench - available here 3DMark - available here Bioshock Infinite - available here Tomb Raider - available here AIDA 64 Engineer - available here Latencymon - available here Rightmark Audio Analyser - available here LAN Speed Test Lite - available here Passmark - available here Memory For our memory tests, we use the built-in memory benchmarks in AIDA64 Engineer and SiSoft Sandra. For more details on each of the benchmarks please see here and here respectively. Storage To test the storage performance in our motherboard reviews we use AIDA's Disk Benchmark utility built into their AIDA64 Engineer Edition software package and run linear read and write tests. We run each of the benchmark tests on a SATA III, USB 3.0 and M.2 device. For SATA III testing we use a SanDisk Extreme Pro 240GB, for USB 3.0 testing we use the Supersonic Magnum 256 GB USB 3.0 flash drive and for M.2 testing we use Plextor's 256GB M.2 M6e SSD. The drives are always formatted before use. Networking For our networking tests we connect the test system up to our Intel Gigabit-enabled ASUS Rampage IV Extreme X79 motherboard test system through the ASUS RT-AC68U router and run our tests. We opted for this over a direct point-to-point connection because we wanted to simulate real-world performance. For our WiFi tests we do the same except we connect the test system to the ASUS RT-AC68U router via WiFi at a distance of 2 metres from the router. The testing software we use for these are LAN Speed Test Lite and Passmark, available here and here respectively. Lan Speed Test LAN Speed Test was designed from the ground up to be a simple but powerful tool for measuring file transfer, hard drive, USB Drive, and Local Area Network (LAN) speeds (wired & wireless). It does this by building a file in memory, then transfers it both ways (without effects of windows file caching) while keeping track of the time. Download the free Lan Speed Test Lite utility from here. PassMark The PassMark Advanced Network Test (which is part of PerformanceTest) is designed to test the data transfer rate between two computers both of which must be running PerformanceTest. One of the computers must act as the server and will sit waiting for a connection. The other computer acts as a client. It connects to the server machine and sends data to it for the duration of the test. You can download a trial version of PerformanceTest from here. Power Usage To measure power consumption we, use a "killawatt" meter and measure the total system power draw at the wall. We run three different use-case scenarios for 5 minutes and take the average reading. RightMark Audio Analyser (RMAA) RMAA suite is designed for testing quality of analog and digital paths of any audio device. The results are obtained by playing and recording test signals passed through the tested audio path by means of frequency analysis algorithms. A more common mark is also provided for those unfamiliar with measured technical parameters. Available here. We run the RMAA test using a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable connecting the line out to the line in to test the quality of the motherboard audio codec not any external audio devices. We run the complete playback and recording test at default settings and then get RMAA to interpret the results giving the below outputs. We sync the playback and recording audio devices to the same setting as the test for accurate results. DPC DPC is a Windows tool that analyses the capabilities of a computer system to handle real-time data streams properly. It may help to find the cause for interruptions in real-time audio and video streams, also known as drop-outs. This software is available for download free here. wPrime wPrime is a leading multithreaded benchmark for x86 processors that tests your processor performance by calculating square roots with a recursive call of Newton's method for estimating functions. wPrime is a free utility that is available for download here. Cinebench R15 Cinebench is a widely respected benchmark for testing the performance of x86 CPUs. The program allows you to test single and multi-threaded performance as well as GPU performance by rendering with Open GL. Download here. 3D Mark The new 3DMark includes everything you need to benchmark your hardware. With three all new tests you can bench everything from smartphones and tablets, to notebooks and home PCs, to the latest high-end, multi-GPU gaming desktops. Download here. Tomb Raider In Tomb Raider, the player is confronted with a much younger Lara Croft who is shipwrecked and finds herself stranded on a mysterious island rife with danger, both natural and human. Tomb Raider is a demanding game offering up ultra quality textures, full DirectX 11 support, SSAA, FXAA, MSAA and AMD TressFX technology. Bioshock BioShock Infinite is the third and last game in the BioShock series. It is a first-person shooter video game developed by Irrational Games and published by 2K Games. BioShock Infinite supports dynamic shadows, post-processing, light shafts, ambient occlusion, object level of detail, Diffusion Depth of Detail, FOV adjustment controls and other advanced DirectX 11 features. BIOS and Overclocking Gigabyte's UEFI BIOS on this particular model revolves around the Classic mode and there isn't an option to use the more lavish graphical interface. In my opinion, this is a positive step, and I prefer the simplicity of Gigabyte's traditional, keyboard driven BIOS. That's not to say you can't use the mouse, but navigation is clearly designed with a keyboard in mind. The Memory Intelligent Tweaker front page relays information regarding the BIOS version, BLCK, Vcore, CPU frequency, CPU temperature and more! This is presented in a logical manner and allows you to quickly glance at the system's main parameters. Another highlight is the clearly labelled function keys on the right-hand side which makes restoring default settings incredibly easy. For the more advanced users, you can examine the memory timings, CPU temperatures per core, and BLCK figures. Enabling Intel's XMP is a breeze if you simply want to set your memory's base frequency and voltage. Furthermore, Gigabyte separates the XMP settings away from complex memory sub-timings. As a result, this prevents the less experienced user from altering advanced memory options by mistake and causing system instability. In terms of CPU enhancements, the BIOS features an automatic performance upgrade and hosts of manual tweaks. Here you can alter the CPU's base clock, multiplier, FCLK, XMP and enter the Advanced CPU Core Settings menu. For the average user, changing the key options to manual and inputting the appropriate multiplier is all that's required before moving onto voltage control. Once you've selected the target frequency, navigate to the CPU voltage area and manually adjust the Vcore. This menu is presented in an easy-to-understand manner and doesn't confuse the user with too many variables. Although, there is more than enough to try to eke every last inch of performance from the CPU. The System Information page outlines the motherboard name, BIOS version, BIOS ID, and other rudimentary settings. Moving onto the BIOS Features tab, you can adjust the hard disk priority, booting options such as Fast Boot and other storage settings. The Peripherals section is pretty self-explanatory and grants access to the SATA, M.2, Super IO and Thunderbolt configuration. You can also change the audio LED path to be still or flash on and off in an exuberant manner. The Chipset portion is usually best left on default settings unless you want to manually disable the integrated graphics. The Power Management tab contains a good supply of options if you're technically minded, but most people shouldn't need to change any of these. Finally, the Save & Exit page lists the boot drive order, allows you to save/load overclocking profiles and restore optimized defaults. While the BIOS isn't the most visually appealing example I've seen, its functional layout makes navigation extremely easy. Overclocking The overclocking process is relatively easy and I attained a frequency of 4.8GHz by increasing the multiplier to 48. Please note the i7-6700K's core voltage is actually 1.504V and not 1.920V as reported by CPU-Z. This misreading is down to a software compatibility error which should be fixed in an update to CPU-Z. Software Overview The App Center adopts a simple, unified user interface to easily launch Gigabyte applications from the system tray. Overall, Gigabyte includes an impressive array of software to customize your experience and help with system diagnostics. Gigabyte's @BIOS functionality outlines key information about the BIOS version and allows you to update to the latest version directly from Windows. You can also alter the LED audio path's behavior and choose between Still, Pulse and Beat modes. Please note, the motherboard's LED path isn't RGB and can only display in yellow on this particular model. The USB Blocker is a handy utility which allows you to block USB devices by type. Once a device is blocked, it will be completely ignored by the operating system. Gigabyte's Home Cloud is useful to share files between your computer and a number of smart devices. The EasyTune feature contains three presets to alter the CPU's frequency to a typical usage scenario. Although, there is AutoTuning capability if you're unsure which setting applies to your current configuration. For the more advanced users, you can adjust the Host BLCK frequency and CPU core voltage. I'm also quite fond of the bottom measurements which reminds you of existing settings in real-time. The Advanced DDR OC tab allows you to manually tweak individual timings and the memory frequency. Although this is only necessary for users trying to record benchmark figures. The Advanced Power tab only has two options, and I wouldn't recommend altering the default values. The Hotkey software is designed to map two overclocking profiles to your keyboard and switch between them during benchmarks. The Fast Boot option is useful if you wish to skip system initialization and use legacy CMS settings to improve boot times. Gigabyte also includes a tool which detects your cooling apparatus and adjusts the RPM values of each fan to balance cooling performance with operating noise. Of course, there are a number of standard presets if you want to prioritize quiet running over performance. You can even set your own custom fan curve in relation to system workload % and temperatures. The System Alert tab is designed to monitor and create warning messages for when the exceeds specific safety markers. The record function monitors CPU, PCH, and System temperatures which provides you with the information to see how stable a manual overclock is. Gigabyte's Smart Backup is capable of recovering an entire disk drive or partition from a restore point. This is vital when securing sensitive data and protecting against any system problems. The Smart TimeLock is a wonderful addition if you have children and gives you the freedom to set an allotted time for using the PC. This piece of software has a great deal of flexibility and makes it incredibly easy to restrict access to the PC at specific times. CPU & GPU Performance Cinebench WPrime SiSoft Sandra 3DMark Tomb Raider Bioshock Infinite Memory Performance AIDA64 Engineer SiSoft Sandra Combined Latency Test Storage Performance Linear Read Linear Write Networking Performance LAN Speed Test Lite Passmark Performance Test 8 - Ethernet Passmark Performance Test 8 - CPU Work Load Audio Performance 16 Bit, 44KHz (DVD Quality) 16 Bit, 96KHz (Studio Quality) 24 Bit, 96KHz (Studio Quality) DPC Audio Latency Analyser Power Consumption Final Thoughts Pricing The Gigabyte Z170X-UD5 TH is available in the UK for £149.98 and costs $219.99 from US retailer, Newegg.com. It's almost impossible to compare the motherboard's pricing to other models as it's the first unit to market with Thunderbolt 3 certification. Nevertheless, at just under £150, the motherboard is great value considering the overclocking features and Thunderbolt 3 connectivity. Overview During the last couple of months, we've taken a look at various Z170 motherboards and analyzed their unique selling points. As a result, it's wonderful to receive a motherboard which natively supports Thunderbolt 3 and improves the flexibility of the Z170 chipset. The Gigabyte Z170X-UD5 is an overclockers dream and features voltage readout points, an 8+3 phase power regulation and premium components. When combined, this ensures the end-user will maximize the potential of their CPU and maintain stability under extreme stress. The motherboard's UEFI BIOS adopts a logical layout and opts for simple keyboard navigation over ostentatious menus. I honestly believe this is a positive step and makes navigating around the BIOS a quick and seamless process. From an aesthetics standpoint, the Z170X-UD5 TH is sublime and I love the understated colour scheme. Furthermore, the white textured design on the dedicated audio path contrasts extremely well with the motherboard's main theme. Gigabyte also did a splendid job with the heatsinks in terms of thermal efficiency and visual design. It's quite refreshing to see a motherboard which utilizes a unique style and implements gold accents in a sophisticated manner. Throughout our rigorous testing procedure, the motherboard attained impressive results, especially in 3D tasks. The Realtek ALC1150 chipset coped exceedingly well with various bitrate tests as the EMI shielding helped to reduce electrical interference. In terms of audio quality, the motherboard's integrated 5-channel sound is excellent across various music genres and easily copes with bass-heavy first-person-shooters without becoming distorted. On another note, the Z170X-UD5 TH is an absolute marvel when it comes to connectivity options and support for high-bandwidth devices. The integrated Thunderbolt 3 functionality is capable of driving a single 5K display, or dual 4K monitors at 60Hz. Furthermore, Thunderbolt 3 over USB 3.1 Type-C can daisy chain up to 12, yes 12 devices which almost defies belief! The Intel USB 3.1 controller utilizes four PCIe Gen3 lanes offering transfer speeds up to 10 Gb/s per USB 3.1 port. Other connectors include SATA Express, M.2 and traditional 6 Gb/s SATA 3 ports. There is also HDMI 2.0 which supports 4K video at 60Hz and might come in handy if you stream videos on a 4K display. In conclusion, the Z170X-UD5 TH is an absolutely fantastic motherboard which provides impeccable stability, an intuitive BIOS and widespread support for the fastest data speeds available today. Pros 2X Copper PCB design 8+3 phase CPU power delivery 10K rated premium black capacitors Classy aesthetic design Dual BIOS functionality Easy to navigate BIOS prioritizes functionality over style Excellent software package Fantastic 3D results First Thunderbolt 3 motherboard provides bandwidth up to 40 Gb/s Huge array of hard disk options from M.2 to SATA Express Integrated HDMI 2.0 capable of outputting 4K video at 60Hz Premium 10K capacitors Superb audio clarity up to 115dB SNR World's first USB-IF certified controller offers a maximum of 32 Gb/s Cons Front USB 3.0 header placement not ideal "The Gigabyte Z170X-UD5 TH is the first Thunderbolt 3 certified motherboard to market and provides a stunning array of connectivity options at the fastest possible speeds." Gigabyte Z170X-UD5 TH (LGA 1151) Motherboard Review Thank you Gigabyte for providing us with this sample.