[section_title title=”Conclusion”]Conclusion
So this is what it all boils down to, the conclusion! Time to see if the Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 5 can hold its weight in a very crowded market. Without further ado, let’s take a look at the design.
The design of the Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 5 wants to win you over; however, it has one serious downfall. The inclusion of 2 grey ram RAM slots ruins the whole aesthetics of the board if you ask me. When I first took the board out of its anti-static packaging the first thing I would want to be drawn to is the (in this case) red aluminium heatsinks. Instead I was greeted with 2 grey RAM slots that I just can not get past! However, if we can put aside our feelings of the grey RAM slots the rest of the Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 5 is quite pleasing. The red aluminium heatsinks stand out well against the black PCB and PCI lanes. I do also have to say compared to some of the other boards I have had the chance to take a look at in this price range; this one is not built the sturdiest, though by all means it is not flimsy and cheap.
Moving on to performance, this is where things are going to get a little tricky. The results of my benchmark tests were a bit all over the place. One of the things I noticed is how well it handled RAM. If you look at the Aida and SiSoftware benchmarks you will notice the Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 5 towards the top of the charts when it comes to the RAM benchmarks. Another thing I would like to touch on is the difference between running the 4770K at 3.9 and 4.5GHz. If you look at some of the benchmarks you will notice at 3.9GHZ the Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 5 is towards the bottom of the list but at the same time when we boost the CPU to 4.5GHz it is then towards the top. Results seem to be all over the place as mentioned which should hopefully bode well for Gigabyte down the road if they can release a BIOS update and harness all of the potential.
Taking a look at the price tag of £118 we have a solid contender in the Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 5. The board supports both M.2 and SATA Express SSDs and offers all of the features we would hope to see in a mid-range Z97 offering. Some of the other features include support for 4th and 5th Generation Intel processors, Audio Noise Guard with LED Path lighting (looks quite nice), Killer E220 Networking and Gold plated display and audio ports.
Gigabyte have a decent Z97 offering in the way of the Z97X-Gaming 5 motherboard. It offers decent overclocking ability, performance and is not to hard on the eyes (except for the grey RAM slots). I feel that with a BIOS update or two this could be a real solid contender at the lower priced end of the mid-range market. While our benchmarks results aren’t totally consistent there is no denying that this board did in-fact perform well.
With all of that being said; I would like to award the Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 5 with our silver award. While I may not be a big fan of the overall design it offers good performance at a decent price point.
I would like to thank Gigabyte for sending us the Z97X-Gaming 5 and look forward to see more from them in the near future.
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Performance
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Design
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Value
Summary
Overall the Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 5 offers good performance and all of the features in a Z97 board you would expect in this price range. If you are looking for a mid-range board that will support 5th Gen intel chips when they come out this may be one to consider.
