Gigabyte G1 Sniper Z97 Review

[section_title title=”Conclusion”]Conclusion

So after having a good play with the Gigabyte G1 Sniper Z97 motherboard, does it represent good value for money? How does it compare with the other Z97 motherboards that we have seen thus far?  Let’s find out…

Well starting with the performance of the G1 Sniper Z97 board, the performance is very similar to the Z97X-GAMING 5 that we previously reviewed, which shows to me that the majority of the key components used in the G1 Sniper are also used in the GAMING 5.  With that being said, the G1 Sniper does perform quite well for what I would consider to be one of Gigabyte’s current low-mid range offerings, which adds a whole new dimension into the results.  When a motherboard £60 cheaper than a couple of the boards it is competing against is hanging up there with them; you can’t turn your nose up at that.

The design and overall look of the G1 Sniper Z97 motherboard is nice but I do think Gigabyte have dropped the ball in following the other brands with their current GAMING designs.  It is near identical in looks other than slightly different heat sinks which might be good if you like that look (I actually do) but it would be nice to have alternative options available.  The Z87 G1 Sniper gave us an alternative and if it were me, I would have stuck with that.  However, I do like the sleek and clean look of the motherboard and there is plenty of room for expansion especially with the 3  PCI-E x1 slots, it allows multiple expansion cards to be used and for a board at its current price point to offer so much for so little, it outweighs the issues I have with the conflicting colour schemes all across the motherboard/BIOS.

The Gigabyte G1 Sniper Z97 has quite a few tricks up its sleeve in terms of features.  Aside from the included Killer E2200 Ethernet port which is designed to reduce lag and latency when in game, it is the strong showing via the on-board audio that Gigabyte have equipped the G1 Sniper with that really make it stand out.  The Creative Core 3D audio processor complimented by the Creative SBX Pro Audio Studio,  in my opinion is one of the best features about this board.  I would be more than happy to use this board for gaming and music audio without having to buy a dedicated sound card; this is unless of course you have a £200-300 headset/speaker set up and want to make the most out of it.  Even so, it is still a very nice inclusion on the part of Gigabyte and I really do applaud it.

Now it’s time to talk about the price, which currently comes in at £122, which is impressive when you consider what you get for your money.  Not only do you get a motherboard with a built in DisplayPort, it also has good overclocking performance, good performance in synthetic benchmarks and also supports Crossfire and SLI.  Couple that with support for the next generation (Broadwell) CPUs, along with quite a nice design and a very nice feature set, including the fantastic on-board audio, then you have a top quality product on your hands.  For just over £120 and with the included feature set, what more could you ask for?  For that price you are going to be hard pushed to find a gaming branded motherboard that ticks the boxes this board does for the price.

I would like to thank Gigabyte for sending the G1 Sniper Z97 motherboard in for review and I look forward to seeing more Gigabyte products in the near future.

To purchase the Gigabyte G1 Sniper Z97 motherboard you can do so by clicking this link – CLICK HERE