Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z170 Review

Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z170 Review

Introduction

The Sniper has gone through a lot of iterations in the few years that it’s been part of the Gigabyte range. We still love the single mindedness of the original design, although we understand why, in these modern terror-alert times, it had to be changed from the replica gun design to something more neutral.

However, the thing we really loved was the searing green hue of the board, something which also got lessened as time moved on. With the latest version of the G1.Sniper Gigabyte have returned to their green original design scheme whilst retaining the low purchase cost of the latter models.

Does it still produce the goods? Or at the least is it still good enough to scratch your itch for a green system? Let’s find out.

Technical Specifications

Despite being priced at the affordable end of the motherboard spectrum, the quality of the Z170 chipset means that even a product that provides as much value as the G1.Sniper is still replete with an array of high-end, high-bandwidth hardware. The days when the Intel chipsets required a plethora of additional chips to provide even basic features are far behind us. Whether it’s DDR4 support, M.2 storage or just an abundance of USB ports, the G1.Sniper has you covered.

CPU
  1. Support for Intel® Core™ i7 processors/Intel® Core™ i5 processors/ Intel® Core™ i3 processors/Intel® Pentium® processors/ Intel® Celeron® processors in the LGA1151 package
  2. L3 cache varies with CPU
Chipset
  1. Intel® Z170 Express Chipset
Memory
  1. 4 x DDR4 DIMM sockets supporting up to 64 GB of system memory
  2. Dual channel memory architecture
  3. Support for DDR4 3466(O.C.) /3400(O.C.) /3333(O.C.) /3300(O.C.) /3200(O.C.) /3000(O.C.) /2800(O.C.) /2666(O.C.) /2400(O.C.) /2133 MHz memory modules
  4. Support for ECC UDIMM 1Rx8/2Rx8 memory modules (operate in non-ECC mode)
  5. Support for non-ECC UDIMM 1Rx8/2Rx8/1Rx16 memory modules
  6. Support for Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) memory modules
Onboard Graphics Integrated Graphics Processor-Intel® HD Graphics support:
  1. 1 x D-Sub port, supporting a maximum resolution of [email protected] Hz
  2. 1 x DVI-D port, supporting a maximum resolution of [email protected] Hz
    * The DVI-D port does not support D-Sub connection by adapter.
  3. 1 x HDMI port, supporting a maximum resolution of [email protected] Hz
    * Support for HDMI 1.4 version.

Support for up to 3 displays at the same time
Maximum shared memory of 512 MB

Audio
  1. Realtek® ALC1150 codec
  2. High Definition Audio
  3. 2/4/5.1/7.1-channel
  4. Support for S/PDIF Out
LAN
  1. Intel® GbE LAN chip (10/100/1000 Mbit)
Expansion Slots
  1. 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 (PCIEX16)
    * For optimum performance, if only one PCI Express graphics card is to be installed, be sure to install it in the PCIEX16 slot.
  2. 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x8 (PCIEX8)
    * The PCIEX8 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIEX16 slot. When the PCIEX8 slot is populated, the PCIEX16 slot will operate at up to x8 mode.
  3. 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x4 (PCIEX4)
    * The PCIEX4 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIEX1_2 slot. When the PCIEX1_2 slot is populated, the PCIEX4 slot will operate at up to x1 mode.
  4. 2 x PCI Express x1 slots
    (All of the PCI Express slots conform to PCI Express 3.0 standard.)
  5. 2 x PCI slots
Multi-Graphics Technology
  1. Support for NVIDIA® Quad-GPU SLI™ and 2-Way NVIDIA® SLI™ technologies
  2. Support for AMD Quad-GPU CrossFireXâ„¢ and 3-Way/2-Way AMD CrossFireâ„¢ technologies
Storage Interface Chipset:
  1. 1 x M.2 Socket 3 connector (Socket 3, M key, type 2242/2260/2280 SATA & PCIe x4/x2/x1 SSD support)
  2. 3 x SATA Express connectors
  3. 6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
  4. Support for RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10
USB Chipset:
  1. 7 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports (3 ports on the back panel, 4 ports available through the internal USB headers)
  2. 6 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports (2 ports on the back panel, 4 ports available through the internal USB headers)

Chipset+ASMedia® ASM1142 chip:

  1. 1 x USB Type-Câ„¢ port on the back panel, with USB 3.1 support
  2. 1 x USB 3.1 Type-A port (red) on the back panel
Internal I/O Connectors
  1. 1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector
  2. 1 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector
  3. 1 x M.2 Socket 3 connector
  4. 3 x SATA Express connectors
  5. 6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
  6. 1 x CPU fan header
  7. 1 x water cooling fan header (CPU_OPT)
  8. 3 x system fan headers
  9. 1 x front panel header
  10. 1 x front panel audio header
  11. 1 x S/PDIF Out header
  12. 2 x USB 3.0/2.0 headers
  13. 2 x USB 2.0/1.1 headers
  14. 1 x Trusted Platform Module (TPM) header
  15. 1 x Thunderboltâ„¢ add-in card connector
  16. 1 x serial port header
  17. 1 x parallel port header
  18. 1 x Clear CMOS jumper
Back Panel Connectors
  1. 1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse port
  2. 1 x D-Sub port
  3. 1 x DVI-D port
  4. 1 x HDMI port
  5. 1 x USB Type-Câ„¢ port, with USB 3.1 support
  6. 1 x USB 3.1 Type-A port (red)
  7. 3 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports
  8. 2 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports
  9. 1 x RJ-45 port
  10. 6 x audio jacks (Center/Subwoofer Speaker Out, Rear Speaker Out, Side Speaker Out, Line In, Line Out, Mic In)
I/O Controller
  1. iTE® I/O Controller Chip
H/W Monitoring
  1. System voltage detection
  2. CPU/System/Chipset temperature detection
  3. CPU/CPU OPT/System fan speed detection
  4. CPU/System/Chipset overheating warning
  5. CPU/CPU OPT/System fan fail warning
  6. CPU/CPU OPT/System fan speed control
    * Whether the fan speed control function is supported will depend on the cooler you install.
BIOS
  1. 2 x 64 Mbit flash
  2. Use of licensed AMI UEFI BIOS
  3. Support for DualBIOSâ„¢
  4. PnP 1.0a, DMI 2.7, WfM 2.0, SM BIOS 2.7, ACPI 5.0
Unique Features
  1. Support for APP Center
    3D OSD
    @BIOS
    Ambient LED
    AutoGreen
    Cloud Station
    EasyTune
    Easy RAID
    Fast Boot
    Smart TimeLock
    Smart Keyboard
    Smart Backup
    System Information Viewer
    USB Blocker
  2. Support for Q-Flash
  3. Support for Smart Switch
  4. Support for Xpress Install
Bundle Software
  1. Norton® Internet Security (OEM version)
  2. Intel® Smart Response Technology
  3. cFosSpeed
Operating System
  1. Support for Windows 10/8.1 64-bit
  2. Support for Windows 7 32-bit/64-bit
Form Factor
  1. ATX Form Factor; 30.5cm x 22.5cm
Box Contents
  1. G1.Sniper Z170 motherboard
  2. Four SATA cables
  3. Motherboard driver disk
  4. I/O Shield
  5. User’s Manual
  6. One 2-Way SLI bridge connector
  7. Quick Installation Guide
  8. One G Connector
  9. Two Velcro Cable Ties