Layout
At a first glance the Gigabyte GA-X170-EXTREME ECC leaves a very good impression with its good looking design. The PCB has been kept in combination of black matte and grey. Apart from that there is a large shroud with digital camouflage design covering the I/O panel as well as the onboard sound. The aluminum heatsinks are solid and of good quality and they share the same design as the rest of the board. The layout itself is well-thought and there is for example plenty of space around the CPU socket ensuring there won’t be any compatibility issues. Looking for M.2 slots, we find two of them, while one is below the CPU socket, right above the first PCIe slot and the other has been located between the first and the second PCIe slot. The fact that there are SATA connectors which have been angled by 90 degrees allows for an easy installation of oversized graphics cards.
The Gigabyte GA-X170-EXTREME ECC comes with a digital 12+2 phase power design. It's important to Gigabyte that high quality components are being used for this motherboard. Each individual phase is backed up by one MOSFET and at least one solid cap. The solid black capacitors offer a minimum lifespan of 10'000 hours at 105°C.
The Southbrigde as well as the power design have been equipped with passive heatsinks featuring a nice design. All blocks have been very well manufactured and they’re not too large, which means there won’t be any compatibility issues. The blocks covering the VRM area have been connected by a heatpipe allowing for a more even heat dissipation.