GIGABYTE announced their new AORUS Gaming lineup of motherboards featuring Intel's new Z270 chipset, and these enthusiast boards emphasize "customization and personalization" with liquid cooling support, RGB lighting effects, and improved smart fan controls.
There are a total of six new Z270 models in this AORUS Gaming line, and will begin with the Z270X-Gaming 9 and Z270X-Gaming 8 motherboards:
The Gaming 9 features include:
- Supports 7th/ 6th Generation Intel Core Processors
- Dual Channel Non-ECC Unbuffered DDR4, 4 DIMMs
- Intel USB 3.1 Gen 2 with USB Type-C and Type-A
- 4-Way Graphics Support with Dual Armor and Ultra Durable Design
- EKWB G-Frost Hybrid Water Block
- Triple NVMe PCIe SSDs in RAID 0 Support
- Dual NVMe PCIe Gen3 x4 U.2 Connectors
- Dual Ultra-Fast M.2 with PCIe Gen3 x4 & SATA interface
- Intel Optane Memory Ready
- Creative Sound Blaster certified ZxRi 120dB+ Audio
- Killer DoubleShot-X3 Pro for the best networking experience possible
- USB DAC-UP 2 with Adjustable Voltage
- RGB FUSION with Multi-Zone LED Light Show design
- Swappable Overlay for Accent LED
- Smart Fan 5 features Multiple Temperature Sensors and Hybrid Fan Headers
- 2 External Thermistors Headers with 2 Included Thermistors
- Extreme 40 Gb/s Thunderbolt 3
- Integrated HDMI 2.0 Support
- GIGABYTE UEFI DualBIOS with Q-Flash Plus USB Port
- APP Center Including EasyTune and Cloud Station Utilities
The Gaming 9's premium audio features "a combination of Hi-Fi grade WIMA capacitors and Nichicon audio grade Fine Gold capacitors", which is about as premium as it gets!
Specs for the Gaming 8 are virtually identical to the Gaming 9's above – with a couple of notable exceptions: The Gaming 8 uses a Bitspower G-Chill Hybrid Water Block instead of the Gaming 9's EKWB option for the CPU VRMs, and it offers a different LAN configuration, with a combo comprised of 1x Intel GbE and 1x Killer E2500 NIC, rather than the Gaming 9's dual Killer E2500 NICs.
Next up are the Gaming 7, and Gaming K7 models (and no, the K7 is not an AMD board from the Socket A era, I checked):
The feature list for the Gaming 7 motherboard is very close to the Gaming 8 (and Gaming 9, listed above), though a few things will be lost compared to its more premium siblings, including the removal of a water block for the VRMs, missing ZxRi 120dB+ audio support, and "merely" 3x GPU support, compared to the 4-way graphics support of the Gaming 8 and 9.
Finally we have the Gaming 5 and Gaming K5, which look to be the most affordable offerings in the new lineup, though features are still very good for a gaming motherboard.
Here's the feature list for the Gaming 5:
- Supports 7th/ 6th Generation Intel Core Processors
- Dual Channel Non-ECC Unbuffered DDR4, 4 DIMMs
- Fast USB 3.1 Gen 2 with USB Type-C and Type-A
- 3-Way Graphics Support with Dual Armor and Ultra Durable Design
- Triple NVMe PCIe SSDs in RAID 0 Support
- NVMe PCIe Gen3 x4 U.2 Connector
- Dual Ultra-Fast M.2 with PCIe Gen3 x4 & SATA interface
- Intel Optane Memory Ready
- Sound Blaster X-Fi MB5 + ALC 1220 120dB SNR HD Audio
- Killer E2500 Gaming Network + Intel Gigabit LAN
- USB DAC-UP 2 with Adjustable Voltage
- RGB FUSION LED Light Show design
- Swappable Overlay for Accent LED
- Smart Fan 5 features Multiple Temperature Sensors and Hybrid Fan Headers
- Lightning-Fast Intel Thunderbolt 3 AIC Support
- GIGABYTE UEFI DualBIOS
- APP Center Including EasyTune and Cloud Station Utilities
The primary difference in features between the Gaming 5 and Gaming K5 is integrated LAN support, with the Gaming K5 losing the second Intel NIC and retaining the Killer E2500 as its sole onboard option.
The AORUS Gaming motherboards are available to order now, and a look at Newegg.com this afternoon shows pricing ranging from $179.99 for the Gaming K5, priced incrementally all the way up to $519.99 for the deluxe Gaming 9.
PC Perspective's CES 2017 coverage is sponsored by NVIDIA.
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Honest question…..but why
Honest question…..but why are motherboard manufacturers still listing X3 and x4 SLI configurations when nVidia doesn’t even support this anymore? I know its still possible but I’ve heard its a total PITA. I will admit I know nothing on AMD and their standing/support of more than a 2 card crossfire set up. It just doesn’t make sense to me to call out things that aren’t supported anymore.
“why are motherboard
“why are motherboard manufacturers still listing X3 and x4 SLI”
They are not. They specifically say 3-way graphics, not 3-way SLI, for this reason. Whereas Nvidia decides for the user when they shouldn’t run 3-way SLI or SLI on anything less than 8 lanes per GPU, AMD is a lot more permissive when it comes to multi-gpu configurations. The motherboards support it, so there’s no reason not to say so in your feature list.
A week or so a go on a PC Per
A week or so a go on a PC Per news post, someone commented on how the Aorus logo was a “do you even lift eagle”. I can’t look at it now without a chuckle.
I had a survey from owned
I had a survey from owned mobo last year, it asked if I prefer RGB on any hardwares. This RGB galores are on you guys!
http://i.imgur.com/DXsQGWg.jp
http://i.imgur.com/DXsQGWg.jpg