GIGABYTE G1.Sniper 5 Motherboard Review

[PAGETITLE=Introduction, Specifications & Hardware Tour][Top Ad] In September, I took a look at GIGABYTE's midrange Z87X-UD3H. With its rich feature-set and $160 price tag, I deemed it an impressive offering - impressive enough to earn itself an Editor's Choice award. For those wanting an affordable Z87 board and don't want to give much up, the Z87X-UD3H still comes highly recommended by me. In this article, we're taking a look at another GIGABYTE board, but one that has a bit of a different focus: The high-end gamer. At $400, the G1.Sniper 5 isn't targeting the market at large; rather, it's aimed at those who want a gamer-tuned product with a features list longer than entire 26-volume Warren Commission Report. I don't think it'd be a stretch to dub this board GIGABYTE's "ultimate" Z87 offering. But, features on paper and features in execution are two different things, so let's take a quick overview look at the board, and then figure out just what it offers. We'll take a hardware tour on the next page, but for now, feel free to peruse a top-level view of the G1.Sniper 5's features: GIGABYTE G1.Sniper 5 Architecture Intel Z87 (LGA1150) Form-Factor EATX (12" x 10.4") Memory Up to 4x8GB DDR3-3000 Multi-GPU 4-way NVIDIA SLI4-way AMD CrossFireX Expansion 4x PCIe 3.0 x16 (x16, x16+x16, x8+x8+x8, or x8+x8+x8+x8)3x PCIe 3.0 x1 Storage 6x SATA 6Gbit/s (Intel)4x SATA 6Gbit/s (Marvell) Network 1x Qualcomm Atheros Killer E22011x Intel Gigabit Wireless 802.11 a/b/g/n Dual-Band (2.4/5GHz)Bluetooth 4.0/3.0+HS/2.1+EDR Audio Creative Sound Core 3D (5.1)S/PDIF Output USB Back-panel: 6x 3.0 (Renesas)2x 2.0 (Intel)Internal: 4x 2.0 (Intel), 2x 3.0 (Intel), 2x 3.0 (Renesas) Back I/O 2x 1Gbit/s LAN, 6x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0, 1x Optical S/PDIF, 5x Audio Jacks, 2x HDMI, DisplayPort, PS/2 Features @BIOS, Q-Flash, Xpress Install, EasyTune, ON/OFF Charge2, EZ Setup, Dual BIOS When a board comes in the EATX form-factor, there's a great chance that its feature-set is large, and that's just the case with the G1.Sniper 5. One of the biggest things to set this board apart from most Z87 models is the fact that it supports 4 graphics cards with AMD's CrossFire or NVIDIA's SLI. While running mainstream cards in such a configuration might be suitable, I'd quicker recommend the Intel X79 platform for the ultimate in high-end - as mentioned in my look at ASUS' P9X79-E WS a couple of months ago, it's not bandwidth that matters so much, but instead electrical lanes. Still, it's nice to have support for multi-GPU for those who need to make use of it, especially with the rising popularity of Bitcoin mining. With its 4 DIMM slots, the G1.Sniper 5 supports up to 32GB of RAM at DDR3-3000 speeds. For storage, a total of 10 SATA 6Gbps ports are provided; 6 of which are driven from the Intel chipset (which means they are priority for your drives), while the other 4 come courtesy of Marvell. USB-wise, 6x 3.0 and 2x 2.0 can be found at the back I/O panel, while a total of 4x 3.0 and 4x 2.0 can be added via internal connectors. Most people wouldn't associate "wireless" with "gaming", but GIGABYTE has provided some rich Wi-Fi and Bluetooth functionality here. On the Wi-Fi side, GIGABYTE allows you to forego the functionality if you don't want it; and if you do, it can be added in via an included x1 PCIe card. Since its introduction a couple of years ago, GIGABYTE's G1. series has included a Killer NIC solution on each model, and on the higher-end models, a Creative X-Fi solution. Here, the primary NIC duties are handled by the E2201 chip, and the audio, a cut-down version of a discrete Creative X-Fi solution called Sound Core 3D. I'm not an audio expert, but GIGABYTE touts this as being a far superior solution to a traditional onboard card (such as Realtek, and we'd never disagree). Clearly, the G1.Sniper 5 is a packed board, so let's get right into our hardware tour, shall we? [PAGEBREAK][PAGETITLE=A Hardware Tour of GIGABYTE G1.Sniper 5][Top Ad] To help kick things off, we'll make use of a GIGABYTE-provided image of the G1.Sniper 5, offering a top-down view that lets us grasp the board's layout much easier. One thing that helps the G1 series stand out of the crowd is its aggressive green+black color scheme, and not to mention its heatsink design. On the Sniper 5, GIGABYTE avails the opportunity to integrate the top heatsink into a water cooling setup - so for those who have one, you'll be able to keep temperatures around this area much cooler than would be possible on air. In a recent motherboard review, I mentioned that it used to be that you'd have to spend hundreds of dollars on a motherboard in order to get a good assortment of fan headers (at least 6). Well, if that's the case, then what about a motherboard that does cost hundreds of dollars - $400 to be exact? Well, you're given what I believe is the highest number of fan headers ever seen on a desktop board. In total, the G1.Sniper 5 includes a staggering nine fan headers - 7 of which are 4-pin. As has become a regular sight, 2x 4-pins are located to the top-right of the CPU socket, while another can be found to the bottom-left. Along the bottom of the board, there are four more. The board's 2x 3-pin headers can be found to the right of the DIMM slots - perfect for a RAM fan or top-mounted fans. Other notable features: Onboard buttons (power, reset, CMOS clear), an LED BIOS code display, 2x USB 3.0 headers, a separated audio solution (electrically, not physically), a small fan to the top-right of the CPU socket, and the 8-pin motherboard connector in the exact orientation I like to see them in. GIGABYTE has done a great job overall here with the layout, although it's worth pointing out that if all four x16 slots are populated with a dual-slot GPU, all of the x1 slots become unusable. For a lot of people, this won't be an issue, but given the fact that the included Wi-Fi card is destined for one of these slots, GIGABYTE in effect prevents you from taking advantage of two board features at the same time - 4-way GPU, and Wi-Fi. I'll jump to conclusions, however, that Wi-Fi is going to be low-priority on a quad-GPU setup. Alright – let’s buckle-up and go on this hardware tour. As covered on the previous page, the G1.Sniper 5 supports 32GB of RAM with its 4 DIMM slots, with further support of up to DDR3-3000 speeds. At the top-right corner of the board are three buttons; red = power, blue = reset, and black = CMOS clear. Below these are the board's 2x 3-pin fan headers and LED BIOS code readout. Looking at the shot above, and to the right of the DIMM slots, we can see two switches. These correlate to the dual-BIOS function; one acts as a switcher, and the other disables the dual-BIOS function for those who don't want it (I can't come up with a reason for doing that). Also worth pointing out is the red USB 3.0 internal header - a convenient spot for those using front-panel peripherals (such as the one included with the board). Moving to the bottom-right part of the board we can see an attractive heatsink (which cools the Intel Z87 chipset), BIOS battery, ATX chassis connectors, another USB 3.0 internal header, two internal USB 2.0 headers (one is half cut off in the photo), and finally, two of the bottom 4-pin fan headers. The next shot is interesting for a couple of reasons. For starters, we can see the Creative audio solution to the left, which has been separated from the rest of the board with a trace path. We can also see the other two bottom 4-pin fan headers, along with the 4x x16 and 3x x1 PCIe slots. Audio is a major focus of GIGABYTE's latest G1 series, a point that is proven with the inclusion of a feature most people won't take advantage of: A removable OPAMP, which can be seen in the below image, near the center. One feature a lot of people with higher-end headphones might want to take advantage of is the built-in amplifier - but, it works only when using the front panel audio connector (the internal header is also located on this "card"). For those who feel more confident when their audio components are gold-plated, GIGABYTE has got you covered here. And here is the LGA1150 socket in all its glory. Exciting stuff, huh? More worth looking at might be the heatsink solution which has input/output water cooling barbs on either side, in addition to a small fan located to the top-left. Motherboards that feature built-in water cooling capabilities are hardly new, but GIGABYTE's implementation looks quite good here. Below is a better look at the top of the board. It's crowded, but it shouldn't be crowded enough to prevent most large CPU heatsinks from being used (it's worth double-checking in case you are planning to use a mammoth cooler, though). We've covered a number of things in this article so far that helps set this board apart from most, and it's time to add another to the list: Dual HDMI ports. I admit to having a horrible memory, but I do not recall ever seeing this in a motherboard before. The idea is that you could use one HDMI port for audio, and the other for the display (which would assume you're plugging into an amp, and not into a monitor that has built-in speakers). Like the rest of the audio-related hardware, these ports are gold-plated. In addition to the HDMI ports, there's also a DisplayPort, 2x USB 2.0 ports, 6x USB 3.0 ports, the dual LAN options, and full complement of audio jacks. Oh - and for those with the need, a PS/2 keyboard or mouse port (I like to call these the "Oh crap, the computer is beyond repair so I need a non-USB keyboard to fix it" port). All motherboards include accessories, so let's start with some that - once again - set this board apart. First, an additional OPAMP is included for those who want to fiddle with their sound reproduction, along with the tool required to remove the one on the board. To help prove that GIGABYTE isn't just implementing a feature like this to separate itself for the sake of separating itself, it offers an OPAMP kit that provides...

GIGABYTE G1.Sniper 5 Motherboard Review

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Rob Williams