Gigabyte x299 gaming 3 review in Spanish (complete analysis)

Gigabyte X299 Gaming 3 technical characteristics

Unboxing and design

The Gigabyte X299 Gaming 3 arrives packed in a black cardboard box and large orange letters. In the lower area it indicates the main certifications it incorporates. Interesting, right? We continue!

Already in the rear area we have a detailed explanation of the most relevant specifications and technical characteristics. It doesn't look bad at all!

Once we open the box we find two areas. The first where it houses the motherboard and a second where we have all the accessories. Inside we will find:

Gigabyte X299 Gaming 3 motherboard. Back plate. Instruction manual and quick guide. CD disk with drivers. Set of SATA cables. Adhesive stickers for our tower.

The motherboard incorporates the new and main LGA 2066 socket with its top-of-the-range Intel X299 chipset, being compatible with the new Intel Kaby Lake-X & Intel Skylake-X processors manufactured in a 14nm lithograph.

The motherboard is compatible with the new Intel Core i5, Intel Core i7 and the very powerful Intel Core i9 processors. The Gigabyte X299 Gaming 3 has an ATX format with dimensions of 30.4 cm x 24.4 cm. Its aesthetics is very successful with a black PCB and some white details.

Now we leave you a photo of the back for our most curious readers.

We are already entering refrigeration and we can see that it is divided into two fundamental areas: the first one is the power supply phases and the other for the new X299 chipset. It will allow us to do a good overclock thanks to the 8 feeding phases supported by Ultra Durable technology.

The Gigabyte X299 Gaming 3 incorporates a single 8-pin EPS connection for extra power. Will it be enough to overclock our processor? We have already anticipated that any i5 or i7 on this platform is left over. Although for the i9 with 12 cores or more it is better to opt for a higher model.

As expected it has a total of 8 DDR4 RAM sockets on Quad Channel. These are compatible up to 128 GB with frequencies up to 4400 Mhz and XMP 2.0 profile. Although if you decide on the most basic models: Intel Core i5-7640X or Intel Core i7-7740X we will have the limitation of installing only 64GB of RAM and the connection between the memories will be Dual Channel.

The layout is really good for a motherboard of its price, and that is that six PCI Express connections are x16 and PCI Express 3.0. Ok, but… How many graphics cards to play allows us to install? Supports a total of 3 AMD or Nvidia graphics cards for flawless performance in the most demanding games on the market.

44 Lanes (10 or more cores):

3 x PCIe 3.0 / 2.0 x16 (x16, x16 / x8).

28 Lanes (6 or more cores):

3 x PCIe 3.0 / 2.0 x16 (x16 or x16 / x8)

16 Lanes:

2 x PCIe 3.0 / 2.0 x16 (x 8 or x8, x4)

You couldn't miss the Gigabyte PCI shield metal armor on your PCI Express connections. Which enables? Mainly it shares 17% better data transfer while supporting 48% more weight of graphics cards. But not only on graphics cards! DDR4 RAM sockets also benefit.

Regarding high-speed storage, it has two sockets for M.2 NVMe connections. Both support high performance SSDs with 2242/2260/2280/22110 format (42/60/80 and 110mm) and allowing us to perform a RAID 0.1 or 5.

Incorporates a sound card with AMP-UP Audio technology with the new Codec Realtek ALC1220 120 dB SNR that offers a much more crystalline sound and that allows to install professional helmets of up to 600Ω avoiding the typical distortion of sound and low volume.

Let's not forget that it also incorporates a total of 8 SATA III connections at 6Gbp / s. More than enough to install SSDs and mechanical hard drives in our systems. Since with the arrival of M.2 disks

While next to the control panel it has 3 connections for fans: system, water pump, auxiliary fans, two USB 2.0 heads and another to turn on the equipment without having to tap it on the test bench.

Finally, we leave you all the rear connections that it integrates:

1 x PS / 26 USB 3.0 connections, USB 3.1 Type C1 connection, USB 3.1 Type A1 connection, network card, 6 audio connections.

Test bench and tests

TESTING BENCH
Processor:	Intel Core i5-7640X
Base plate:	Gigabyte X299 Gaming 3
Memory:	64 GB Corsair LPX DDR4 3600 MHz
Heatsink	Corsair H100i V2.
HDD	Samsung 850 EVO 500 GB.
Graphic card	Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti.
Power supply	Corsair AX860i.

To check the stability of the Intel Core i5-7640X processor at stock speeds, 3200 MHz memories, the motherboard we have stressed with Prime 95 Custom and we have used a Corsair H100i V2 cooling.

The graphic we have used is an Nvidia GTX1080 Ti, without further delay, let's see the results obtained in our tests with a 1920 x 1080 monitor. We show you the results we have obtained:

BIOS

Gigabyte maintains the design of its Z270 and AM4 platform BIOS. Solid BIOS, with easy options to overclock and monitor the entire system. If they continue with a good line of updates they can bring many joys to the owners of this motherboard.

Final words and conclusion about Gigabyte X299 Gaming 3

The Gigabyte X299 Gaming 3 is the first of the four Gaming motherboards launched by Gigabyte for socket 2066. Its compatibility with Intel Kaby Lake-X and Skylake-X processors makes it a good option for those users who do not want to be left behind. two kidneys and part of the liver on this platform.

Much has been said about whether the power and heatsink phases of this series of motherboards had a design problem. But very few have been able to show data with which to consolidate these claims. A few weeks ago (we have had this motherboard for quite a while) we taught you that for a normal user or wanting to overclock, this motherboard complies well, with warm temperatures but totally within the standard.

We recommend reading the best motherboards on the market

In our tests we have managed to raise the i5-7640X processor to 5 GHz with a very low voltage (1.20v) and with a GTX 1080 Ti we have been able to play any game on the market without any problem in Full HD. Although if we want something more serious we recommend the acquisition of the i7-7800X with six cores and 12 threads of execution.

Among its interesting features to highlight the reinforcements in the RAM and PCI Express slots, an improved sound card and a very stable BIOS to be such an early release.

Its price in online store is 299 euros. We think that it is very successful and that it can allow us to choose a very powerful processor without having overheating problems and with options for a moderate overclocking.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ BIOS.	- NOTHING HIGHLIGHT.
+ QUALITY OF THE COMPONENTS.
+ DOUBLE M.2 NVME CONNECTION.
+ IMPROVED SOUND.
+ OVERCLOCK CAPACITY.