Page 12 - Overclocking and Conclusion
The highest raw overclock I was able to obtain with my Intel Core i7-4770K was marginally under 4.50 GHz (4.489 GHz to be exact, if you are really that picky) with the multiplier set at 45x. It took me quite a bit of time to manually get these results, so some variance may cause instability. With those set, I ran Prime95 on my Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87 on all four cores for an extended period of time to ensure stability. Any higher overclocks resulted in an unstable system, so I stand by my results above. This seems to be a pretty standard overclocking result for an Intel Core i7-4770K. As I have mentioned in Page 3 of this review, the processor used is an off the shelf retail box CPU purchased locally.
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When I first came across the Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87, my first impression was, this must be an expensive enthusiast board. I mean, it comes with Creative's dedicated Sound Core3D chip and high end Nichicon MUSE ES audio capacitors -- not to mention even a dedicated BigFoot NPU, plus some fancy LED lights on board. If amazing audio (Which performed excellently on our tests, by the way) and network still doesn't convince you for what you're paying, then I don't know what else will, because the Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87 retails for only $170 at press time. Seriously guys, this is the real deal. A real bargain for real performance. For those that are looking for a great setup, Gigabyte has provided an excellent solution without breaking the bank. Electrically, you will also find an 8-phase power design for system performance and power stability, which great for a midrange performance motherboard. Our overclocking tests show the G1.Sniper Z87 performs well within expectations in this regard. With a generous array of connectors inside and out, the only complaint I have is the width of the motherboard in which it is slightly slimmer than most ATX boards on the market today, as there are no holes on the right side for risers to support it. There is a good chance when plugging in your cables and other components, it will exert extra stress on the right side of the motherboard. Obviously, this is not a big deal, but if Gigabyte were to spend the extra effort and small amount of pocket change to build a standard sized ATX motherboard, consumers will greatly appreciate it down the road. I am also not seeing a whole lot of need for legacy PCI slots; just slap PCIe x1 slots instead and call it a day. Other than that, the Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87 is a great motherboard to have, especially considering its price. For those who are looking to build a new computer right now, the G1.Sniper Z87 is a real bargain for what you get.
Gigabyte provided this product to APH Networks for the purpose of evaluation.
APH:Renewal Award
Since April 30, 2007, Number Ratings have been dropped for all CPUs, motherboards, RAM, SSD/HDDs, and graphics cards. This is to ensure the most appropriate ratings are reflected without the inherent limits of using numbers. Everything else will continue using the Number Rating System.
More information in our Review Focus.
The Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87 is a stunning midrange enthusiast motherboard with many great features -- all for a mere $170 at press time.
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Page Index
1. Introduction, Features, and Specifications
2. Bundle, Chipset, BIOS
3. A Closer Look, Board Layout, Test System
4. Benchmark: AIDA64 CPU
5. Benchmark: AIDA64 FPU
6. Benchmark: AIDA64 Memory
7. Benchmark: PCMark 8
8. Benchmark: 3DMark
9. Benchmark: PassMark PerformanceTest 8.0
10. Benchmark: SuperPI 1M, Cinebench R15
11. Onboard Sound (RMAA 6.3.0) Analysis
12. Overclocking and Conclusion
