Review: gigabyte x99 soc force

Gigabytez, world leader in peripherals, motherboards and graphics cards. This time it is the first to send us a motherboard with a x99 chipset, and it is one of its flagships on this new platform, the Gigabyte X99 SOC Force that incorporates incredible features: M.2 connectors, Sata 3, card Dedicated sound for audiophiles, aggressive design and spectacular aesthetics.

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Technical characteristics

GIGABYTE X99 SOC FORCE FEATURES
CPU	Support for Intel ® Core ™ i7 processors in the LGA2011-3 package L3 cache varies with CPU
Chipset	Intel ® X99 Express Chipset
Memory	8 x DDR4 DIMM sockets supporting up to 64GB of system memory * Due to a 32-bit limitation of the Windows operating system, if more than 4 GB of physical memory is installed, the displayed memory size will be less than the physical memory size installed. 4-channel memory architecture Support for DDR4 3000 (OC) / 2800 (OC) / 2666 (OC) / 2400 MHz / 2133 (OC) memory modules Support for non-ECC memory modules Support for Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) memory modules Support for 1Rx8 RDIMM memory modules (works in non-ECC mode)
Multi-GPU Compatible	2 x16 PCI Express slots, runs at x16 (PCIE_1, PCIE_2) * For optimal performance, if only one PCI Express graphics card is to be installed, be sure to install it in the PCIE_1 slot; If you are installing two PCI Express graphics cards, it is recommended that you install them in PCIE_1 and PCIE_2.2 slots x16 PCI Express slots, running at x8 (PCIE_3, PCIE_4) * The PCIE_4 bandwidth slot shares with slot PCIE_1. When the PCIE_4 slot is filled, the PCIE_1 slot will work up to x8 mode. * When an i7-5820K CPU is installed, the PCIE_2 slot works up to x8 mode and the PCIE_3 operates up to x4 mode. (All PCI Express x16 slots meet PCI Express 3.0 standard.) 3 x1 x PCI Express slots (All PCI Express x1 slots conform to PCI Express 2.0 standard.) Support for 4 WAY / 3 WAY / 2 WAY AMD CrossFire ™ / NVIDIA ® SLI ™ * The 4-Way NVIDIA ® SLI ™ configuration is not supported when an i7-5820K CPU is installed. To establish a 3-way SLI configuration, refer to “1-6 AMD / CrossFire ™ NVIDIA®SLI ™ Configuration Configuration. "
Storage	Chipset: 1 x PCIe M.2 connector (Socket 3, M key, support type 2242/2260/2280 PCIe x4x2 / x1 SSD) 1 x SATA Express connector 6 x SATA 6Gb / s connectors (SATA3 0 ~ 5) Support for RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 10 * Only for AHCI mode is supported when installing a PCIe M.2 SSD or SATA Express device. (M2_20G and SATA Express connectors can only be used one at a time. The SATA Express connector is not available when an M.2 SSD has been installed, but the SATA3 5.4 connectors are still functional.) 4 x SATA 6Gb / s connectors (sSATA3 0 ~ 3), IDE and support only AHCI modes (An operating system installed on the SATA3 0 5 connectors ~ cannot be used on the sSATA3 0 ~ 3 connectors.)
USB and ports.	Chipset: 2 x 3.0 / 2.0 USB ports available through the internal USB connector 8 x 2.0 / 1.1 USB ports (4 ports on the back panel, 4 ports available through the internal USB headers) Chipset + 2 Renesas ® uPD720210 USB 3.0 Hubs: 8 x USB 3.0 / 2.0 ports on the back panel
Net	Intel ® GbE LAN chip (10/100/1000 Mbit)
Bluetooth	Do not.
Audio	Realtek ® ALC1150 codec High definition audio 2/4 / 5.1 / 7.1 channels Support for S / PDIF out
WiFi connection	Do not.
Format.	ATX format: 30.5cm x 24.4cm
BIOS	2 x 128 Mbit flash Using AMI UEFI BIOS license Support for DualBIOS ™ Q-Flash Plus support PnP 1.0a, DMI 2.7, WfM 2.0, SM BIOS 2.7, ACPI 5.0

Gigabyte X99 SOC Force

Gigabyte gives us a cinema presentation with a large box, with a handle and a design that at first glance attracts a lot of attention. On the cover we see a formula one car as a background, orange letters on the " X99 " and the corporate logo of Gigabyte OC. At the rear we have all the features and specifications.

The box is divided into two compartments, the first one houses the motherboard and the second one has all the accessories.

The Bundle is very complete and is made up of:

Gigabyte X99 SOC Force motherboard, Instruction manual, Quick guide, CD with drivers, SATA cables, Power cable or thieves to multiply outputs, SLI and CrossFire bridges, Rear hood, Support for overclocking benchtable, Voltage meters.

The Gigabyte X99 SOC Force has eATX measurements, (30.5 cm x 26.4 cm), so we must be careful that our box is compatible. It is positioned in the highest range of the x99 chipset and is compatible with the latest Haswell-E processors from the 2011-3 socket. Its design is quite striking thanks to the combination of black and orange, giving it a very sporty look. And is that this motherboard is made to break world overclock records.

At the rear we only have to highlight the aluminum heatsink that it incorporates so that the VRM does not heat up. Good detail!

Regarding the cooling and feeding, we come across PowIRstage phases with multi-CHIP in charge of efficiently and coldly managing any extreme overclock of our 6 or 8 core processor. As expected, it incorporates Ultra Durable technology that has the best CHOKEs, solid capacitors and VRM on the market.

In refrigeration we come across two large passive heatsinks in the area of the power supply phases (above the processors and to the left of the RAM) and on the north bridge. Tell you that it is totally fresh in idle and with overclock it hardly heats up.

We have a total of 8 sockets with the latest DDR4 Non-ECC technology that supports up to 64 GB of RAM at speeds of 3000/2800/2666/2400 and 2133 Mhz. It also allows us to activate XMP options (the memories must include certification).

To supply this power we have a 24-pin ATX connection and another 8-pin EPS auxiliary connection. This includes 3 thieves to increase the energy to our computers. We remember that these memories consume less and go faster, but the processors have a very high TDP. So we must assemble a balanced team and aware that the components that accompany it must be of quality.

The socket is slightly modified so that it does not fit between Sandy Bridge-E and / or Ivy-Bride-E processors. We leave you several images for you to check that it incorporates gold-plated connections with 30 microns that increases the conductivity and stability of the system.

The board allows us a wide range of possibilities for configurations of various graphics cards. We have 4 PCI Express 3.0 x16 connections and another three PCI Express normal to x1 connections. As expected it supports Nvidia 4-Way SLI and AMD CrossFireX technology.

We detail how we can connect the cards and their speeds with a 40 LAN processor:

1 Graphics card: x16.2 Graphics cards: x16 - x16.3 Graphics cards: x16 - x16 - x8.4 Graphics cards: x16 - x8 - x8 - x8.

We must not forget about the M.2 10 Gbp / s technology that exclusively offers the Z97 chipsets and the recent X99;).

Gigabyte is improving its products every day and has incorporated into this SuperOverclock Force series an AMP-UP sound card with a rather nice ALC1150 chipset. It supports headphones with amperage and 115dB in digital audio.

As in the previous SOC and SOC Force motherboards of the 8 and 9 series, it has the " OC Ignition " and " OC Buttons " technology that allows us to modify bios values on the hot board. For example, raise / lower multiplier, BLCK, clear BIOS, BIOS switch, voltage meters, activate the turbo or activate / deactivate the PCI Express 3.0 x16 connections at our whim.

It incorporates 10 SATA connections at 6Gbp / s, the first 6 are mounted with the Intel serial chip. While the 4 of the SATA Express are dedicated by the ASMEDIA chipset.

In the following image we see the Dual BIOS UEFI that this system incorporates, which allows us to exchange between 3 skins. With Q-Flash it is past having to insert an old processor to update the BIOS and thus catch the most recent one that is compatible. In the white USB connection (see the last image of the article) of the rear ports we insert a pendrive with the new BIOS and when turning on the equipment it is automatically updated, one of the LEDs will warn us that it is already updated. This wonder is controlled by the ITE CE 8951E chip.

The new LED lighting system is quite good and gives a spectacular touch to the equipment at night. Located on the chipset sink of the south bridge and an orange led strip accompanies the sound card. How handsome!

Among its rear input and output connections we have 10 USB 3.0 ports, 4 USB 2.0 ports, PS / 2 connector, button for overclocking, keyboard alternator, white USB port with special Q-Flash features, a Gigabit connection from Intel I128-V and Realtek ALC1150 high definition 7.1 sound card audio input / output

Test bench and tests

TESTING BENCH
Processor:	Intel i7 5820k
Base plate:	Gigabyte X99 SOC Force
Memory:	32GB Crucial DDR4 2133
Heatsink	Noctua NH-D15
HDD	Crucial M500 250GB
Graphic card	GTX 780
Power supply	Antec HCP 850

The DDR4 RAM used for this review is the Crucial 32GB at a speed of 2133 mhz. We thank Gigabyte and Crucial for the transfer of their products.

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To check the stability of the processor and motherboard, we have overclocked up to 4300mhz with Prime 95 Custom and air cooling. The graphics that we have used is an Nvidia GTX780, without further distractions let us see the results obtained in our tests with a 1920 × 1080 monitor:

TESTS
3dMark FireStrike	9991
Vantage	45141
tomb Raider	90 FPS
CineBench R11.5 / R15	13.71 / 1178 -
Metro Last Night	91.5 FPS.

And here CPU-Z screenshots with the 4300 mhz and CineBench

BIOS & Easy Tune

The BIOS is more refined than on previous occasions and to be a first platform it is going quite well. Although we still see that it is missing some other improvements. But overall and with future BIOS revisions it will be rock solid.

Another of the great advantages in its new and renewed Easy Tune software that allows us to overclock with several clicks from Windows: fast administration, advanced control of the processor, memory and power phases.

conclusion

The Gigabyte X99 SOC Force is a high-end motherboard that integrates the X99 chipset compatible with the latest generation Intel Haswell-E processors. Gigabyte maintains the design of its previous SOC & SOC Force models: strong orange and black. Engineered with Ultra Durable Components - Solid State Capacitors and a Copper Double Layer PCB Design. If we add 8 exquisite quality power phases (PowIRstage ICs) to all this, it will provide us with a balanced and solid system.

It allows us to install up to 64GB of DDR4 memory at speeds of 3000mhz and systems of up to 4 graphics cards (2-way, 3-way and 4-way) from SLI and CrossFireX at different speeds (16x and 8x.).

I would like to highlight several points that differentiate it from the rest of motherboards:

Ignition Overclock Panel and OC Buttons: Ignition allows us to have fans and hard drives started with the CPU turned off, this is ideal for professional overclockers using LN2. The OC Button is a set of buttons that allows us to increase the frequency of the BLCK and the hot multiplier. In addition to other options such as the "Turbo", OC Gear and equipment shutdown / reset. Realtek ALC1150 sound card with headphone amplifier up to 115dB. New LED lighting system: In addition to the usual design on the left side (led strip) we find that the sink of the south bridge lights up giving a “Premium” effect. OC PCIe switch: It allows us to activate / deactivate the graphics cards as we please, this is ideal for us if we want to make tests with other models to choose / test other cards.

Regarding overclocking, the processor reaches us by air up to 4300 mhz with 1.27v and temperatures contained at 75ºC with a high-end heatsink. With Cinebench it reaches up to 1178 cb and in Single Core it reaches 142 cb.

I would also like to emphasize its " App Center " and "Easy Tune" software that allows us to overclock, monitor and control the entire system from the hot operating system. Great job!

What am I missing? Although it seems silly, a motherboard intended for overclocking and that in other models included was a USB on the PCB that very much accommodated life.

In short, if you want an infallible motherboard, that takes out your last processor of six or eight cores to the last Mhz and that offers a great gaming experience, the Gigabyte X99 SOC Force is one of the best options on the market. As such, it is priced somewhat high but not as "expensive" as other rivals at € 370.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ DESIGN.	- THE PRICE IS SOMETHING HIGH, NEAR € 380
+ M.2 AND SATA EXPRESS CONNECTIONS	- TUNE THE BIOS A LITTLE
+ OVERCLOCK CAPACITY
+ LED LIGHTING SYSTEM.
+ EQUIPMENT PERFORMANCE.
+ OVERCLOCK PANEL.