The Z97-HD3 Rev. 2 is a trimmed down board, both literally and figuratively as it is a mere 19cm (7.5") wide and lacks the LEDs, gold heatsinks and Nichicon caps that the initial release did. It is also less expensive, $80 after MIR which is a bonus for someone looking to build an entry level machine. The topmost 16x PCIe slot is a 3.0 slot and perfect for single GPU systems, the second is 2.0 and a maximum of 4x which takes SLI out of the picture but will handle Crossfire, not something to be overly worried about for an entry level system. Do these cost cutting measures also impact the performance and stability of the board? Check out The Tech Report's full review to find out.
"At $100, the Z97-HD3 is Gigabyte's most affordable full-sized Z97 board. We've taken a closer look at what the board has to offer, and we've paired it with a Pentium Anniversary Edition for some overclocking fun. Read on to see if it's worth opening your wallet."
Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
- ECS Z97I-Drone LEET Gaming @ eTeknix
- MSI X99A Gaming 7 Motherboard Review @ Hardware Asylum
- Gigabyte X99-UD4P @ Bjorn3d
- ASRock X99E-ITX/ac (Intel SKT 2011-3) @ techPowerUp
- ASUS H81M-A Motherboard @ Hardware Secrets
Not a bad board for Z97 at
Not a bad board for Z97 at the $100 price point, and I’ll admit I’m intrigued by the possibilities inherent in the board’s slim design, but for the $100, I’d still stick with the ASUS z97-A offering. Call me an ASUS fanboy… But their boards have never failed me. :p
These undersized boards annoy
These undersized boards annoy me. If it isn’t the full ATX size, then it it isn’t really an ATX board, is it?