Gigabyte Z170X-Designare Motherboard Review: Affordable, High-Tech, Great Performance


Gigabyte Z170X-Designare Summary And Conclusion

Performance SummaryThe Gigabyte Z170X-Designare motherboard was a solid performer and a lot of fun to tinker with. Thanks to clear labeling and a well-designed layout, the installation was straightforward and the board also remained stable throughout all of our standard testing. Things got a bit warm wtih our setup with the CPU overcloocked to 4.8GHz, but we never experienced a single hitch before dialing things back down to 4.6GHz. We are also confident systems equipped with more exotic cooling should be perfectly comfortable when overclocking beyond 4.6GHz. 

The Gigabyte Z170X-Designare is a breeze to use and tweak and is jam-packed with cutting-edge features. Again, you won't find numerous BIOS menus filled with complex tuning and OC settings, yet what is there is beyond sufficient for both mild overclockers, gamers and power users alike. The Z170X-Designare is also ready for a variety of high-performance storage options, as this board features healthy support for NVMe (with RAID), SATA express, and numerous SATA RAID setups. 

The GB Z170X-Designare was a great performer for us, that consistently finished at or near the top of the charts. Tack on all its top shelf expansion and IO connectivity like Thunderbolt 3, Mini DisplayPort, RAID 0 support for three NVMe devices including U.2, 8-Channel audio, USB Type-C, USB 3.1, and Dual Intel GbE NICs and you wind up with a motherboard fully decked-out with some great tech, that somehow maintains affordability at well under $250 (we've even seen it as low as $215). 

The Gigabyte Z170X-Designare kicks out enthusiast level performance for a relative deal comparatively, all while serving up premium technologies usually missing from competing boards in its price range. 

hothardware recommended
 
hotnot
  • Excellent performance

  • Lots of cutting-edge expansion

  • Spacious and easy to build

  • USB 3.1 ports (w/ Type-C)

  • NMVe, U.2 and M.2 storage IO

  • DDR4 Memory 4000MHz OC supported

  • RGB Lighting

  • A single USB 3.0 internal header

  • Multi-GPU is only 2-Way

  • No Wi-Fi radio or Bluetooth support


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