Gigabyte X99 SOC Force Review
Published by Hiwa Pouri on 23.09.14Page:
Conclusion
| Allgemein | + | - | |
| The X99 SOC Force from Gigabyte is undoubtedly a high-end motherboard. Therefore you get a plethora of features and also the price is a solid hint towards this boards high-end ambitions. Next to a really attractive design, which has been kept in black and orange in this case, there are obviously also the countless OC-Touch buttons, which is typical for Gigabyte's SOC Force series motherboards. Something that especially modders will apreciate is the backlit PCH cooler, which is actually very nicely done. What's also making perfect sense in the case of a high-end motherboard are the four PCI Express x16 slots, which allow for quad GPU setups. Apart from that also the delivery reflect the fact that this is a flagship model. | -
Design - Layout |
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| Layout | + | - | |
| Generally the Gigabyte X99 SOC Force's layout has been well thought. Once more practical are the angled SATA connectors. Since there is the OC-Touch panel on this motherboard, there are also practical power and reset as well as a clear CMOS button. In total there are four PCI Express x16 slots, which have been well placed, meaning it's possible to build a quad GPU systems using this motherboard. In between the second and the third PCIe x16 slot there is one M.2 slot, which is also something that makes perfect sense on a high-end motherboard. | - Angled SATA connectors
- 4 x Full-Size PCI Express x16 - Space around the CPU socket - M.2 |
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| Performance | + | - | |
| Having a closer look at our performance ratings, we find the X99 SOC Force score fourth in the case of our 2D rankings. When it comes to 3D performance this board scores fifth out of eight boards tested. Overall performance of the X99 SOC Force from Gigabyte is average and since this is an overclocking motherboard we would have liked to see it compete in the very top. On another note we also had a look at power consumption and noted that this is board is not the most energy efficient. The reason for that is simple: there are lots of features on high-end motherboards which all need that little bit of extra power. | - wPrime | - Power Consumption | |
| Overclocking / BIOS | + | - | |
| As you might be expecting it from Gigabyte, you get an excellent BIOS. It offers not only a boatload of tuning and tweaking options but is also very easy to use. Especially with the entry screen with which Gigabyte is trying - and also succeeding - to add elements which make the BIOS much easier to use for unexperienced users as well. | - Clear arrangement | ||
| Recommendation | + | - | |
| Should you be looking for a high-end overclocking motherboard, which is based on Intels latest X99 chipset, then the X99 SOC Force is definitely an interesting model worth checking out. Being a high-end X99 motherboard the SOC Force is apparently not cheap and will set you back about 335 Euro (Geizhals) or 329 US-Dollar (Newegg). Compared to the competition this is a rather decent price. | -
Overclocking - Enthusiast - Workstation |
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| Rating | |||
| We give the Gigabyte X99 SOC Force very good 4.5 out of 5 stars. | |||
Author: m.buechel@ocaholic.ch
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