These days all the big motherboard manufacturer have a gaming model in their portfolio. Gigabyte wants to win gamers hearts with their G1.Assassin 2, which has been armed with features especially for gamers as well as cooling blocks which look like guns. 
On the following pages we're going to show you if Gigabyte succeeding in convincing us with their brand new G1.Assassin 2 regarding layout and design.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 2 - Specifications / Delivery | Page 5 - Conclusion |
| Page 3 - Layout |
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Spezifikationen / Lieferumfang
| CPU | Intel Socket 2011 2nd Generation i7 Processors |
| Chipset | Intel X79 |
| Memory | 4 x DIMM max 32 GB, DDR3 2133 / 2000 /
1866 / 1600 / 1333 /
1066 MHz Quad Channel |
| Multi-GPU | NVIDIA 4-Way SLI AMD 4-Way CorssFireX |
| Slots | 4 x PCI-Express 3.0/2.0 x16 (quad at x8/x8/x8/x8,
triple at
x8/x8/x8, dual at x16/x16) 3 x PCI-Express x1 |
| Sound | Realtek ALC898, 2 / 4 / 5.1 / 7.1 Channel |
| Storage | 2 x SATA 6.0 Gb/s (Intel, RAID 0, 1, 5, 0+1) 4 x SATA 3.0 Gb/s (Intel, RAID 0, 1, 5, 0+1, JBOD) 4 x SATA 6.0 Gb/s (Marvell 88SE9172) 2 x eSATA 6.0 Gb/s (Marvell 88SE9172) |
| LAN | 1 x Intel Gigabit LAN |
| I/O internal | |
| I/O Back Panel | |
| Forfactor | ATX (30.5cm x 24.4 cm) |
| BIOS | Bios (2 x 64 Mbit flash ROM, EFI AMI BIOS) |
Uboxing the G1.Assassin 2 shows an awful lot of accessories. Next to a complete set of SATA cables one will find a quad SLI bridge, a triple SLI bridge, a CrossFire bridge an SLI bridge as well as a 3.5 inch front mount panel with two USB 3.0 ports. Furhtermore there are the different manuals, the wireless LAN and bluetooth expansion card as well as software and drivers on DVD.
Features
| 3D Power | Meanwhile Gigabyte also makes use of digital power designs on their motherboards. What it does is that it controls the flow of power to both CPU and memory. Gigabyte in this case promises maximum stability. |
| 3D BIOS | With their X79 motherboards Gigabyte introduces their interpretation of a UEFI-BIOS. Using a new Gigabyte board you can choose from a 3D Mode or the Advanced Mode. In 3D Mode one can see a picture of the board in BIOS. If you hover over the different areas you can select them and afterwards change the related settings. On the other hand there is the more standard advanced mode which come with a well-known tab based user interface. |
| PCI Epxress 3.0 | The G1.Assassin 2 already has PCI-Express 3.0 Support onboard. Therefore this board is ready for upcoming GPU generations that need even more bandwidth. |
| Bluetooth 4.0 and WiFi | Inclueded in delivery there is an expansion card that comes with a WLAN 802.11n module as well as Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity. Additionally there are two antenna which are going to be connected to the card via an extension cable. Therefore the antennas can be positioned to ensure best connectivity. |
| Bigfoot Killer NIC | Gigabyte equips their G1.Assassin 2 with a Bigfoot Killer NIC. The E2100 is a dedicated network chip which features an additional 1 Gigabyte DDR2 memory as well as an extensive software. |
| Creative onboard Audio | To satisfy gamers requirements Gigabyte chose to put a Creative audio chip on their gaming motherboard. Furthermore there is an additional headphone amplifier which is able to drive loads of 150 Ohms. Like this users can also plug in professional headphones/headsets which have high impendances. The board has also been equipped with high quality Nichicon capacitors and an additional EMI shield. |
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 2 - Specifications / Delivery | Page 5 - Conclusion |
| Page 3 - Layout |
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Layout
At first we noticed two things with the Gigabyte G1.Assassin 2: the southbridge cooler as well as the power design cooler which have both been shaped like weapons as well as the black PCB with the grenn expansion slots. The weapon cooler really are a matter of taste and you might either love or hate them. The layout itself has been 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 like for example a Radeon HD 6990.
Gigabyte equipped the Gigabyte G1.Assassin 2 with a 16 phase power design. In this case there aren't phases dedicated especially for the CPU and DIMM slots. Each of the eight pahses comes with high quality POScaps as well as PowerPAK MOSFETs.
Totally you'll find four DIMM-slots on the Gigabyte G1.Assassin 2. Officially supported are the following clock speeds: 2400 / 2133 / 2000 / 1866 / 1600 / 1333 / 1066 MHz. There is also 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.
Southbridge as well as current converters are being held at adequate temperatures via a passive cooling blocks. The cooling blocks have been positioned well, which means that they don't collide with memory or CPU coolers. Fortunately Gigabyte decided to not install an active southbridge cooler. Like this the board can be used noiseless right out of the box.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 2 - Specifications / Delivery | Page 5 - Conclusion |
| Page 3 - Layout |
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Anschlüsse und I/O
Totally Gigabyte equipped the G1.Assassin 2 with eight angled SATA ports, which is enough for every office PC, gaming rig or overclocking setup. With this board you'll not find practical onboard power- and reset-buttons. There is also no practical debug LED, which might be especially helpful if you should have hardware issues. Furthermore the placement of the PCI Express x16 slots is well chosen. Between them there is are two PCI Express x1 slots and the last slot is a standard PCI. Therefore you can easily install dual slot graphics cards in every full size PCI express solt.
Totally you'll find five fan headers on the Gigabyte G1.Assassin 2 which is more than enough, to provide even an overclocking rig or even a high-end gaming machine with plenty of fresh air. The fan headers are located around the CPU and their also spread over the entire board which makes them easily to access from any position in an enclosure.
Looking at the external connectors directly at the back-panel Gigabyte equipped the G1.Assassin 2 with one PS2 mouse/keyboard connector, two USB 3.0/2.0 ports, six USB 2.0/1.1 ports, one gigabit ethernet port, an optical out as well as an analogue audio panel. Furhtermore there is a BIOS reset switch and a CPU OC button.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 2 - Specifications / Delivery | Page 5 - Conclusion |
| Page 3 - Layout |
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Fazit
| Allgemein | + | - | |
| The G1.Assassin 2 is Gigabytes interpretation of an Intel X79 based gaming motherboard. The two things you'll notice first are the coolers which look like guns. This really is a matter of taste and you'll either love it or hate it. Furhtermore there are green expansion slots and enough SATA ports to attach plenty hard drives. On the back panel you get two USB 3.0 ports which isn't too much. At least there is the possibility to route another two USB 3.0 ports to the front of the computer. Really convincing, that's what the delivery was. For example we like the additional wireless card comes with two separate antenna for ideal connectivity. | - Layout | ||
| Layout | + | - | |
|
Generally the Gigabyte G1.Assassin 2s Layout has been very well thought. Once more practical are the angled SATA connectors. Unfortunately there are no power- and reset-buttons. Furhtermore there is also no debug display which might be very useful in case you should have issues with a component in your system or the board itself. Totally you find three PCI Express x16 slots, which have been very well positioned. Below the first two slots there is a PCI Express x1 slot and below the third full size PCI Express slot there is a standard PCI expansion slot. Like this you can install up to three dual slot graphics cards without rendering any of the connectors useless. |
- Angled SATA connectors - Space around the CPU socket - Positioning of the PCI-Express-x16-Slots |
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| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 2 - Specifications / Delivery | Page 5 - Conclusion |
| Page 3 - Layout |
Discuss this article in the forums
Author: m.buechel@ocaholic.ch