Gigabyte’s sniper series is all about gaming. Does that
make for an awkward fit with any system based on AMD’S Kaveri APU? After all,
it’s not exactly a gaming beast.
GIGABYTE
G1-Killer series motherboards are packed with absolutely everything
you'll need to build an uncompromising, high-performance gaming PC.
However,
pretty much our whole pitch this issue is that Kaveri makes a lot of sense for
a certain kind of console-ish gaming box, and if that’s your aim, a
gaming-centric board has to be appealing. What’s more, you’re not paying much,
or maybe even anything, for the privilege since the only board here that’s
significantly cheaper is Gigabyte’s sibling rival, the bargain basement
F2A88XM-DS2.
So what does
gaming-centric mean for an FM2+ motherboard? First, it’s a full-sized ATX board
with four DIMM slots, allowing for a few more memory configuration options
compared to the SFF alternatives. Even more significantly, there are two
physical PCI express 16-lane slots, enabling dual-graphics crossfire gaming.
You could question the viability of Kaveri for high-end dual-GPU gaming, but
you can also imagine a scenario a couple of years from now when you’d want to
give your rig a gaming boost by adding a second-hand graphics card. It could
make sense.
Featuring
a gold plated USB 2.0 port,
GIGABYTE USB DAC-UP provides clean, noise-free power
Another
really nice feature is the audio Noise Guard. It’s basically electrostatic insulation
for the audio circuit to reduce interference and noise. How much you’ll care
about the likes of the swappable OP-AMPs (which allow for different audio
amplifier characteristics) is another matter, but this board is clearly the
pick of the bunch for audio enthusiasts.
Video-out is
well catered for too, with DVI, HDMI and VGA, the former supporting dual-link,
and therefore 1600p and 1440p displays. There’s no displayPort, which could be
a long-term problem for 4K support, but you always have the option of an add-in
3D card to paper over that crack.
OC letdown
Of course,
something has to give at this price point, so enthusiast-friendly frills like
led debug displays, on-board power and reset switches and voltage checking
points don’t form part of the mix. That said, we expected a strong showing in
the CPU core overclocking stakes. The bios has all the CPU-tweaking options,
but the 4.2 GHz result is disappointing. Admittedly, that was in our quick and
dirty testing. Spend an afternoon fine-tuning the settings and no doubt a
better result could be achieved, but other boards given the same treatment
managed up to 4.5 GHz. The sniper doesn’t offer easy access to big CPU core
frequencies.
For
integrated graphics overclocking, we had no problem getting good numbers.
Results of 1,000 MHz-plus on the GPU core and 2,400 MHz on the memory side for
that much-needed boost in bandwidth are just a few bios tweaks away. We’re not
convinced that anyone buying this full-ATX board will want to use Kaveri’s
integrated 3D gubbins though, so that might be a moot point.
GIGABYTE
motherboards feature GIGABYTE DualBIOS™, an exclusive technology from GIGABYTE
that protects arguably one of your PC's most crucial components, the BIOS.
Overall, this
feels like the best value of the big ATX boards and runs the ASUS A88X-Pro
awfully close. The question is whether the ASUS’ easier access to big CPU
overclocks is worth the extra $36, or whether the sniper’s superior audio
clinches the deal. The choice is yours.
Specifications: ·
Socket FM2+
supports AMD FM2+/FM2 A-series APU ·
GIGABYTE Ultra
Durable™ 4 Plus Technology ·
GIGABYTE UEFI
DualBIOS™ ·
GIGABYTE AMP-UP
Audio technology ·
Exclusive
Upgradable OP-AMP ·
Exclusive Gain
Boost ·
Audio Noise
Guard with LED path lighting ·
Nichicon High
End Audio Capacitors ·
Noise-less USB
DAC-UP port ·
2way CrossFire™
Support ·
HDMI, Dual-link
DVI, D-sub ports for Triple-Monitor support ·
High ESD
Protection on GbE LAN and USB ports ·
Realtek ALC898
with High Quality 110dB SNR HD audio ·
Bundle CFOS
Speed Internet Accelerator Software
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