Gigabyte Z97N-Gaming 5 (LGA 1150) Motherboard Review
Ryan Martin / 9 years ago
A Closer Look & Layout Analysis
Layout is crucial with mini-ITX motherboards because space is so limited: every design choice counts. Gigabyte’s Z97N-Gaming crams in just about everything that it should have, my only concern is the lack of M.2 on the reverse side of the motherboard. I am a big fan of how close the audio and networking chips are to the respective ports, it should keep latency between them to a minimum. Part of how Gigabyte have saved space comes from the vertical mounting of the WiFi card and of the CMOS battery – smart decisions all round.
Along the side of the board Gigabyte cram in a power connector, a SATA port, front panel connectors and USB 2/3 headers.
The bottom side is dominated by the 16X PCIe gen 3 lane while we can also see the gold audio capacitors and front panel audio headers. A nickel plated heatpipe connecting the chipset and VRM heatsinks is also clearly visible.
At the top of the board we find the 8 pin EPS connector and a pair of fan headers. One is a system fan header and the other for the CPU, you can of course use both for your CPU cooler if necessary.
The CPU socket boasts an impressive 6 phase VRM design and uses Gigabyte’s 10K rated black capacitors.
The rear I/O is fully featured for its size. The integration of the WiFi antennae means you do lose a few USB ports but there’s still enough USB on offer.
As we mentioned Gigabyte haven’t taken advantage of the ability to mount an M.2 slot on the base of the motherboard. The matte black PCB is nice though.
