Layout

At a first glance the Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force leaves a very good impression with its harmonic design. The manufacturer decided to go for a combination of black and orange which suites nicely and in the end you get an aesthetic product. The layout itself is well thought and there is for example plenty of space around the CPU socket to install even todays largest CPU coolers. The fact that there are SATA connectors which have been angled by 90 degrees allow an easy installation of oversized graphics cards. Another very practical thing are the two standard USB ports right next to the SATA connectors. Overclockers will love them but they're also practical if you own a case where the front USB ports have to be connected using a standard USB cable. Usually you have to rout this cable to the backside of the motherboard to connect it with a USB port located at the I/O panel.

The Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force comes with a digital 8 phase power design. It's most important for the manufacturer to make sure that components of highest quality are being used. Each individual phase is equipped with chokes from International Rectifyer (IR3580), which are able to withstand loads of up to 60A. Additionally there are special black capacitors which offer 100'000 hours lifespan at 105°C.


Totally you'll find four DIMM-slots on the Z97X-SOC Force. Officially supported are  DDR3 3300 (O.C) / 3200 (O.C.) / 3100(O.C.) / 3000(O.C.) / 2933(O.C.) / 2800(O.C.) / 2666(O.C.) / 2600(O.C.) / 2500(O.C.) / 2400(O.C.) / 2200(O.C.) / 2133(O.C.) / 2000(O.C.) / 1866(O.C.) / 1800(O.C.) / 1600 / 1333 MHz. There is engough space between the DIMM-slots and the CPU socket which means that you wont encounter compatibility problems with big coolers even when you choose to install RAM with big heatspreaders. Also supported are Xtreme Memory Profiles (XMP) in version 1.3.

The current converters are being held at adequate temperatures via a passive heatpipe cooling solution. There are two separate cooling blocks covering the area, which are connected via a heatpipe. The southbridge got a cooling block too, which has not been integrated into the heatpipe loop of the VRM. The fact that the cooling blocks around the CPU socket aren't too big, makes it comfortable to install a big aircooler. We also noticed the very high manufacturing quality of the cooling blocks.

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 14 - SiSoft Sandra 2
Page 2 - Specs and Delivery	Page 15 - UC Bench
Page 3 - Features	Page 16 - Super Pi 1M / 32M
Page 4 - Layout	Page 17 - wPrime 1024M Multi Core
Page 5 - Connectors and I/O	Page 18 - Cinebench
Page 6 - BIOS	Page 19 - Bioshock: Infinite
Page 7 - Test setup	Page 20 - Metro Last Light
Page 8 - Preview / Gallery	Page 21 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 9 - 3D Mark	Page 22 - Power Consumption
Page 10 - 3D Mark 11	Page 23 - Performance Rating
Page 11 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 24 - Price Comparison
Page 12 - PC Mark 7	Page 25 - Conclusion
Page 13 - SiSoft Sandra 1