Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 3 (LGA 1150) Motherboard Review

One of the household names in the consumer computer motherboard industry, Gigabyte’s Gaming 3 a good BITE at the Z97 arena as a board that’s made for gamers but it comes with good features for overclocking as well.

Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 3 (LGA 1150) Motherboard Review

Right out of the box, the board looks as simple as it is.

Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 3 (LGA 1150) Motherboard Review

You’ll notice that the NorthBridge cooler is quite small, making the area less cluttered and easier for one to install large coolers.

Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 3 (LGA 1150) Motherboard Review

Nothing unusual at the DIMM area, it looks just like any other motherboard but if you look on the other end of the DIMM slot, you’ll see an M.2 port.

Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 3 (LGA 1150) Motherboard Review

Yes, the M.2 port for you to attach an M.2 drive. 😀 The choice of location is great as it’s between the PCI-E x16 slot and the processor. This allows you easy access to the M.2 storage (not blocked by GPU) and

Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 3 (LGA 1150) Motherboard Review

The SouthBridge cooler is small took, taking up very minimal real estate. I quite like the finishing on it though.

Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 3 (LGA 1150) Motherboard Review

Here’s a closer look at the NorthBridge’s design pattern. 😀

Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 3 (LGA 1150) Motherboard Review