Gigabyte X299 Aorus Gaming 3 Preview
Category : X299
Published by Marc Büchel on 25.09.17
The X299 Aorus Gaming 3 is basically Gigabytes entry-level motherboard when it comes to their X299 offerings. One might be tempted to assume that the vendor has been saving money everywhere but this board comes with a suprisingly high-end power design as well as an extensive RGB backlight, which illuminates the entire motherboard.
Already at launch Gigabyte has a complete portfolio of X299 motherboards. The X299 AORUS Gaming 3 is a reasonably priced motherboard for Intel's Skylake X as well as Kaby Lake X processors. Apparently this makes us curious what this board has to offer.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Layout |
| Page 2 - Specs and Delivery | Page 5 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 3 - Features | Page 6 - Conclusion |
Specs and Delivery
| Chipset | Intel X299 |
| Memory | Dual Channel DDR4, 4 x DIMM, Max. 64
GB DDR4, 4266 OC, Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory Quad Channel DDR4, 8 x DIMM, Max. 128 GB DDR4, 4266 OC, Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory |
| Multi-GPU |
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| Slots |
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| Audio | Realtek ALC1220
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| Storage | Intel X299 chipset
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| Network |
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| Internal Connectors |
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| Extrenal Connectors |
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| Forfactor | ATX (30.5cm x 24.4cm) |
| BIOS | 2 x 128Mb flash ROM, UEFI AMI BIOS |
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Layout |
| Page 2 - Specs and Delivery | Page 5 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 3 - Features | Page 6 - Conclusion |
Features
Digital Power Design |
Since quite some time Gigabyte has been equipping its boards with digital power designs. On the X299 AORUS Gaming 3 there are only high-end components when it comes to the power design. There are for example PowIRstages from International Rectifier as well as "Dark Solid Caps" offering 10'000 operating hours, which is up to three times as much as what you get from standard caps. In case of the inductors Gigabyte is again using high-quality parts, which in this case come from Coiltronics. |  |
High Definition Audio Design |
High Definition Audio Design is Gigabytes interpretation of good onboard audio. In this case there is a Realtek ALC1220 codec, which has been combined with high-quality capacitors. |
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PCIe & Memory Armor |
There are five full size PCIe slots on this particular board and two of them have been equipped with a steel frame. If you put a large and heavy gaming graphics card in a case, you will notice, that over time the slots starts to bend by a little bit. Furthermore, durgin rough transporting it can happen, that the PCIe slot breaks by the sheer force. In both cases the steel armor should help increasing protection of the PCIe slots. Apart from that also the memory slots received steel frames which helps increasing stiffness and also reduces electrical inteference. |  |
M.2 Support |
The new Gigabyte X299 AORUS Gaming 3 motherboard features two M.2 slot. This motherboard can be equipped with M.2 SSDs and it the slots have been wired directly to the X299 PCH via four PCI Express lanes. In other words there is up to 32 Gbps of bandwidth per slot. |   |
Ambient Surround LED |
This board features complete LED lighting, while Gigabyte illuminates the DIMM slots, the audio solution, a part of the SATA cover as well as parts of the I/O cover. The lighting is entirely customizable and you can even choose from different effects. | |
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Layout |
| Page 2 - Specs and Delivery | Page 5 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 3 - Features | Page 6 - Conclusion |
Layout
As we've already mentioned in the introduction the Gigabyte X299 AORUS Gaming 3 motherboard comes with a great looking design. The PCB has a matte black finish and the heatsinks feature covers showing the Aorus logo. As it's currently the trend there is a cover in place hiding away the I/O connectors. Apart from that the PCH received RGB backlight. The heatsinks have been shaped nicely and the whole product is really good looking. The layout has been well thought and there are plenty of useful features, like two headers to attach external USB 3.1 ports for instance, eight SATA 6Gbps ports and two M.2 Gen 3 x4 slots.
The Gigabyte X299 AORUS Gaming 3 comes with a digital 8 phase power design regarding the CPU. The CPU power design is controlled by an IR35201 dual-loop multi-phase buck controller, which has 8 output phases. Every single phase is backed up by an IOR 3556 driver from International Rectifier as well as one inductor. The IOR 3556 MOSFETs are capable of dealing with up to 50A output current per phase, which makes the power design of this board highly capable. On each side of the CPU socked the four DIMM slots, VCCSA, IO, DDR VRM, DDR VPP VRM and VCCIO are controlled by IR35204 3+1 phase digital PWM controllers. Overall this board has been equipped with at very high-quality power design and we're suprised to see such an expensive implementation already Gigabyte entry-level AORUS motherboard.
This board has been equipped with a total of eight DIMM-slots. Officially supported is everything up to DDR4 4266 (O.C.). 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 2.0. However the memory configuration will depend to the CPU that you are going to use. If you will install a Skylake-X CPU then you can install up to 128GB in quad-channel, otherwise with a Kaby Lake-X CPU you can use only four banks in dual-channel up to 64GB.
The PCH as well as the current converters are being held at adequate temperatures using passive heatsinks. The heatsink for the current converters are made from one aluminium block. The PCH heatsink is simple and flat. The cooling blocks have been very well made and they're firmly attached to the board to provide enough pressure on the component. The aluminium blocks are entirely black with grey sheet metal covers, overall resembling a very nice looking design. Regarding the whole Skylake X VRM temperature topic our point of view is that as long as either an 8-core or a 10-core CPU (7820X or 7900X) is not overclocked the VRM is going to be kept at temperatures, which are perfectly withing the tolerances. The individual phases are specified to operate with temperature of up to 125°C and this value was never reached during our testing. If you do use an 8- or 10-core Skylake X CPU and you want to overclock and you prefer to keep the temperatures low we'd recommend a full-cover water block.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Layout |
| Page 2 - Specs and Delivery | Page 5 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 3 - Features | Page 6 - Conclusion |
Connectors and 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.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Layout |
| Page 2 - Specs and Delivery | Page 5 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 3 - Features | Page 6 - Conclusion |
Conclusion
| Overall | + | - | |
As expected the Gigabyte X299 AORUS Gaming 3 is a well-built motherobard which comes with numerous features. There is a great looking design, which has been kept in black and grey. Apart from that the individual coolers come with an RGB backlight which can be controlled from within Windows. Furthermore there is a highly capable power design next to other high quality components. These days the X299 AORUS Gaming 3 sells for 260 Euro, which very reasonably considering the costly power circuitry. Last but not least there is a bunch of USB 3.1 ports, there are two M.2 slots and no less than five full-sized PCIe slots. |
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Design |
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| Layout | + | - | |
| The Gigabyte X299 AORUS Gaming 3's layout has been well-thought. Once more practical are the angled SATA connectors. Apart from that there are all features gamers and to a certain extent also overclockers want such as onboard power and reset buttons, but on the other hand there is no debug LED, which can come in very hand when building or debugging your system. Looking at the five full-sized PCI Express slots there are two, which received metal reinforcements. Furthermore we find two M.2 slots. Last but not least there is an extensive RGB backlight in place, which can be configured either from within Windows or via BIOS. | - Space around the CPU socket - Audio Solution |
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Layout |
| Page 2 - Specs and Delivery | Page 5 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 3 - Features | Page 6 - Conclusion |