Connectique et I/O
In total, Gigabyte equipped the X299 AORUS Gaming 3 motherboard with eight SATA 6Gbps connectors, which have all been natively wired to the PCH. Furthermore there are two M.2 slots, where the first is located below the CPU socket and the second is below the first PCIe x16 slot. With this motherboard you get five full-sized PCIe slots, while the two which received metal reinforcements have been wired using 16 lanes. Apart from that the bottom PCIe-slot has been wired using eight lanes and the other two make use of four lanes. With a 44-lane CPU, you can run 16x/16x SLI/CrossFire and 16x/16x/8x CrossFireX (3-way). Basically these are the standard options you get with any Intel X299-based motherboard, that does not feature a PLX chip. The placement of the PCIe connectors has been well thought. Furthermore we also see all the bells and whistles you'd ask for in the event of overclocking.
The Gigabyte X299 AORUS Gaming 3 motherboard features a total of eight fan headers, which is more than enough to provide a high-end gaming rig with fresh air. A closer look at the pictures below shows where they have been placed. All six fan headers feature 4 pins and support PWM functionality. Therefore it's possible to control fan speeds from within Windows as well as the BIOS.
Looking at the external connectors placed directly at the I/O-panel, Gigabyte equipped the new X299 AORUS Gaming 3 motherboard with a P/S2 connector, six USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A ports, one USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A port, one USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C port, an Ethernet connector as well as an analogue audio panel.