Gigabyte X99-Gaming 5P Motherboard Review

Retrofitted with Gigabytes new pin-enhanced socket, the X99-Gaming 5P is targeting enthusiast gamers with an eye for multi-GPU configurations and an ear for high-quality audio hardware. Can the red and black-themed design appeal to gamers shopping for a mid-priced X99 motherboard? Branded as part of the G1 Gaming series, Gigabyte's X99-Gaming 5P motherboard features support for up to 4-way SLI and CrossFire, or fewer cards with preferable spacing arrangements. Designated AMP-UP Audio, the sound hardware has been upgraded from Gigabyte's usual design and now features a Creative-based configuration that revolves around the quad-core Creative Sound Core3D processor and an upgradeable op-amp. With enough storage and connectivity offerings to keep many gamers happy, as well as the likelihood of better overclocking from Gigabyte's updated socket with extra pins (that's what the 'P' indicates), can the X99-Gaming 5P appeal to gamers eying up Intel's HEDT platform? Features: Support for DDR4 XMP up to 3333MHz Genuine All Digital Power Design with IR Digital PWM & IR PowIRstage® ICs 4-Way Graphics with Premium PCIe Lane Dual M.2 Technology for SSD Drive and WIFI card Onboard Creative Sound Core3D™ quad-core audio processor AMP-UP Audio technology with exclusive Upgradable OP-AMP LED lighting for the audio guard light path and the back panel LED Quad DAC-UP USB ports High end Nichicon audio capacitors Killer™ E2200 gaming networking Long lifespan Durable Black™ Solid caps APP Center including EasyTune™ and Cloud Station™ utilities Thunderbolt™ Ready GIGABYTE UEFI DualBIOS™ with Q-Flash Plus USB port The Gigabyte X99-Gaming 5P ships in the company's usual style of gaming packaging. Gigabyte's eye symbol is predominant. Specifications and features are outlined on the box's rear side, while a flap can open to give a view of the board. The healthy bundle consists of: 4x braided SATA cables. 3x8-pin to 1x8-pin power adapter. Rear IO shield (LED lit). Black 2-way flexible SLI and CrossFire ribbons. Black 3-way, spaced 3-way, and 4-way SLI bridges. Gigabyte deserves credit for providing all-black SLI connectors, as well as including a black CrossFire ribbon for coluor-concious buyers. The meshed SATA cables are a nice touch, as is the LED-lit rear IO shield. I would be surprised if many people buying a mid-priced X99 gaming motherboard would have access to three 8-pin CPU power cables in their system. The standard affair of documentation, sticker, and drivers CD is included. Gigabyte prints a block diagram for the motherboard's connection inside the manual - this is a move that I love to see because educated buyers can get a better understanding of how their board best operates. Gigabyte outfits the X99-Gaming 5P in the red and black scheme the company uses for its Gaming series components. Red touches on the heatsink contrast a largely black appearance. There are also red LEDs in the chipset heatsink and audio PCB traces. The motherboard conforms to the EATX form factor, meaning that you will need a wider than standard case to house the board. While many full tower cases will accommodate EATX motherboards with ease, there are some mid-tower cases, such as the NZXT H440, which only officially support ATX boards. A look at the rear of the PCB shows that Gigabyte is using an all-black matte finish. LGA 2011-3 CPUs can be installed in the socket. Gigabyte adds extra pins to the socket (much like Asus pioneered with the vendor’s OC Socket) in order to unlock enhanced overclocking options and capacity. Up to 128GB of DDR4 memory can be installed in the eight single-latch DIMM slots. Gigabyte outlines supported frequencies of up to 3333MHz. A six-phase power delivery system feeds the LGA 2011-3 CPU. Gigabyte cools the MOSFETs by way of a sturdy metal heatsink that is connected via heatpipe to the sizable chipset heatsink. The MOSFETs used are six International Rectifiers IR3556M PowIRstage solutions which are managed by the same company’s IR3580 PWM controller. All six chokes are marked ‘1007R3 R15 03PH15 K’. A toggle switch is used to activate the extra pins in the CPU’s socket. This gives users the flexibility to choose which socket implementation design guidelines they want to use, although I do not see any negatives to using the additional pins, excluding potential warranty issues that were reported at X99’s launch. Adjacent to the 24-pin power connector is the vertical-facing USB 3.0 header. A cluster of electronic components in this area feeds the right-side DIMM bank as well as some of the system voltages. Highlights of the memory power delivery section are an International Rectifiers IR3570A PWM controller and IR3553M power solution for each DIMM bank. All ten SATA 6Gbps ports are provided by the X99 chipset. Two of the ports double up as the board’s 10Gbps SATA-Express connector. Using the SATA-Express connector renders the motherboard’s M.2 connector unusable. Gigabyte equips the X99-Gaming 5P with two M.2 connectors, although only one of them can be used for storage. The other M.2 port is intended for use with WiFi adapter cards. The storage-fed M.2 connector only operates at 10Gbps via two PCIe 2.0 lanes from the chipset. Really, Gigabyte? The 10Gbps M.2 idea has been and gone for X99 motherboards. 10Gbps is simply inadequate for many currently available and upcoming M.2 SSDs (Samsung’s XP941 and SM951, for example). This really squeezes the storage choices for a potential buyer. Yes, there is the backup option of simply going with a PCIe-to-M.2 adapter card, but that limits the use of PCIe slots for other devices. Gigabyte has clearly ignored the vast amount of feedback that it received from a variety of sources regarding a 10Gbps transfer rate for the M.2 slot. And there’s simply no excuse for it, especially given that this motherboard released well after the X99 platform’s inception in August of 2014. Up to 4-card SLI and CrossFire is supported by a 40-lane CPU. The supported lane configurations for a 40-lane chip are: x16/x0/x0/x0, x16/x0/x16/x0, x16/x0/x16/x8, and x8/x8/x16/x8. A 28-lane chip limits the maximum number of cards supported in SLI to a trio. CrossFire can still run in 4-way thanks to its application with a 4-lane PCIe link. Gigabyte’s PCIe slot layout is about as good as it gets for an X99 motherboard. There is a two-slot cooling gap between a pair of boards and three cards also line-up in preferable spacing arrangements. Gigabyte’s inclusion of a block diagram in the user manual is excellent for users with complex requirements. The standard affair of front panel connectors is present. Gigabyte also adds a downwards-facing 4-pin molex power port to provide additional juice for heavy multi-GPU configurations. At the heart of the audio solution is a Creative Sound Core 3D quad core processor. Accompanying the particularly high-end audio chip are Nichicon MUSE capacitors, a Burr Brown OPA2134A upgradeable operational amplifier, and a Texas Instruments DRV632 amplifier. The audio signals are transferred along segregated PCB tracks and EMI shielding is placed over the Creative processor. Gigabyte also includes a switch that allows users to boost the audio system’s gain. This can be useful for driving differing audio setups. Plenty of USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports are found on the motherboard’s rear IO, however there is a distinct lack of USB 3.1. This is related to Gigabyte’s preference of add-on chipset supplier and the primary USB 3.1 controller that is getting widespread use being from ASMedia (a company with ties to Asus). VIA now has a USB 3.1 solution on the market, so I would expect Gigabyte’s USB 3.1 boards to show up in coming months. Each of the DAC-UP USB 2.0 ports receives direct power to deliver a clean signal to USB DACs. Killer’s E2201 NIC is used for Gigabit Ethernet. One of the main reasons for choosing a Killer NIC is the board vendor’s ability to provide users with Killer’s Network Manager software that allows network control. Motherboard rear ports: 1 x PS/2 keyboard port 1 x PS/2 mouse port 6 x USB 3.0 ports (X99 chipset and Renesas D720210 one-to-four-port hub) 4 x USB 2.0 ports 1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector 1 x RJ-45 port (Killer E2201) 5 x audio jacks (Center/Subwoofer Speaker Out, Rear Speaker Out, Line In/Mic In, Line Out, Headphone) 2 x Wi-Fi antenna connector holes Five fan headers are spread smartly around the board, four of which are within reach of the CPU socket. Placing two along the bottom edge is a smart move that makes it easier to route connections for front or side panel chassis fans. Monitoring capacity is provided by ITE’s IT8620E chipset. Further ITE chipsets (2x IT8792E and IT8951E) provide various functionalities for the motherboard. Dual BIOS chips are used for redundancy. UEFI Firstly, we are pleased to report that our NZXT Avatar S mouse worked to its usual standard in Gigabyte's X99 UEFI BIOS. We’ve found our NZXT Avatar S to be the most troubling mouse with UEFI support, so when it functions correctly in the interface, that is usually a good sign for overall mouse support. Gigabyte's X99 UEFI is consistent across the motherboard line-up (and so is the bulk of our analysis). There are subtle differences between the interface on each board, for example the omission or inclusion of less-commonly used adjustable voltage settings. A UI based around Gigabyte’s old style of BIOS is present on the X99 interface. Overclockers with a vast bank of experience in the old interface may welcome the BIOS-style layout. Upon entering the 1920×1080 (dependent upon your monitor’s resolution) UEFI, Gigabyte opens the frequency page. The interface packs large amounts of information into a single screen by virtue of its 1920×1080 resolution. Voltages, frequencies and other monitoring parameters are consistently scattered around the outside of each page. A number of speed parameters and performance boosts can be selected via the Frequency page and its subsections. There are automated overclocking profiles which increase the speed of a relevant CPU to as much as 4.3GHz, which is impressive. The Gaming series motherboards use an orange skin by default, although the background image can be adjusted. Frequency and timings configurations can be adjusted via the Memory section. Power and voltage settings can be adjusted in the relevant subsection. Some of the parameters, such as CPU VRIN Loadline Calibration, open a graphical display to assist a user in making an appropriate choice. Oddly, Gigabyte situated the all-important CPU voltage controls in the second column on the Voltage subsection, not the first. If one does not like the slider approach of applying voltages, the relevant values can be typed in. Fan and warning settings can be accessed via the PC Health Status column of the Miscellaneous section. Fan speed controls can be set to a user’s preference, albeit with a limited range of input. Gigabyte uses a drop-down list to outline the relevant fan speed curves, which is a less user-friendly approach than the graphical interface used by competing motherboard vendors. That said, Gigabyte's OS-based EasyTune software provides a graphical interface. Remember the weird issue that we suffered with Gigabyte's other X99 motherboards when using a graphics card in PCIe Gen 3 (Auto) mode? That same issue is present again. To quote what was previously said, including the solution: "We suffered an anomalous issue that had me puzzled for about two days before coming up with a solution. Running any form of GPU load would result in a driver crash, screen lock-up, or BSOD. We thought it was a driver or hardware (namely GPU) issue, but after testing every single scenario (different drivers, Nvidia GPU, Asus R9 280X test GPU in other systems, different CPU/memory/PSU/motherboard, etc.), it was clear that Gigabyte's X99-UD4 motherboard was at fault." As in the case of the other X99 boards, the solution was an odd one. We have yet to work with one of Gigabyte's X99 parts that will run our Asus R9 280X Matrix Platinum graphics card using the PCIe Gen 3 mode. We have previously tested a Sapphire R7 240 and Palit GTX 750 Ti and they would operate without issue. Our only solution was to manually drop the Asus card's link to PCIe Gen 2 mode via the UEFI setting. This is a very odd issue that I have never experienced outside of Gigabyte's X99 motherboards. The problem seems to be an incompatibility between the Gigabyte motherboard and our Asus graphics card (perhaps due to conflicting BIOSes from each component). Gigabyte could not replicate our issues, so it could be limited to the partnership with our Asus GPU. Whatever the reason for the issue, it is concerning, especially given the vast array of hardware that can be teamed with a motherboard. We actually received feedback from a reader who experienced the exact same problem with his Gigabyte X99 motherboard and Asus R9 280X graphics card. So that's multiple Gigabyte boards showing identical issues, yet all other vendors' boards that we have tested have run without any form of basic GPU issue. That's concerning for potential buyers. We will provide an update when Gigabyte and ourselves better understand the problem and its cause. The Home section provides an area where users are given a degree of freedom as to the interface’s layout. By default, key component parameters are displayed on the Home page, but this layout can be tweaked to a user’s preference. And if you’d rather not tweak the interface, Gigabyte allows you to create four custom pages from scratch. The Recent section displays recently used settings while the Favourites tab can provide quick access to frequently used parameters. Up to eight OC profiles can be saved to the motherboard’s internal memory, while many more can be exported or imported via USB. Control adjustments for the UEFI and the Q-Flash BIOS updater can be accessed via the Save & Exit section. I would prefer Gigabyte to have given the many control parameters their own section titled ‘Settings’ to make them easier to spot in the UEFI. Save & Exit typically implies saving and exiting, not adjusting control options and updating the BIOS. Some pleasant additions to Gigabyte’s UEFI are the ability to change the visual theme, background wallpaper, and resolution. The Q-Flash updater is able to access folders in a USB flash drive, allowing users to manually seek a BIOS file. UEFI Summary Gigabyte has implemented a UEFI that is full of adjustable settings and parameters, as well as additional features that are of use. While this may appeal to advanced users, there is still clear room for improvement when it comes to organisation. The use of a Full HD, 1920×1080 resolution is excellent. Additional information relating to operational recordings can be displayed on a page without interfering with the parameters that users intend to tweak. And there’s also the old style of BIOS for overclockers who have extensive experience with Gigabyte’s motherboards from previous generations. There are still a few issues relating to overlapping content and generally poor layout. Many parameters for frequency and voltage are repeated multiple times causing the UEFI to seem more cramped than it actually is. However, there is no question that even seasoned overclockers will be happy by the sheer number of tweaking options provided. And, from our experience with Gigabyte's X99 BIOS versions, there is still the overhanging worry of system instability with certain PCIe configurations or graphics cards. Gigabyte supplies a wide range of software that is compatible with its entire series of X99 motherboards. The tools are largely identical to the Z97 offerings, with the exception of platform specific functions. Many of the screenshots below were taken using Gigabyte's X99-UD4 motherboard (which uses the same generic software as the other X99 boards in Gigabyte's line-up). App Center is where the installed tools can be accessed. The screen pops up in the bottom-right of one's screen when actuated via the taskbar. Gigabyte’s EasyTune software allows users to view and adjust frequency, voltage, and other overclocking-related settings in an OS environment. Pre-set frequency profiles can also be selected, as can an auto tuning overclocking tool. System information and fan speed settings can be tweaked via their own section in Gigabyte’s software suite. We found the accuracy of System Information Viewer to be good and largely consistent with CPU-Z. A larger list of system information readings is displayed on the Hardware Monitor break-out window. Gigabyte's software for X99 motherboard is simple and functional. The styling is good and there is flexibility with the applications that users can choose to install (such as RAID toggle and time control apps). The Creative Sound Blaster Pro Studio software suits gives users control over audio settings for general usage and gaming. Killer's Network Manager allows network traffic to be controlled, which could be useful for people trying to give gaming highest bandwidth priority. We will be outlining the Gigabyte X99-Gaming 5P motherboard's performance with the Core i7 5960X CPU at its stock frequency (3.5GHz due to forced turbo). Overclocked performance will be outlined later in the review. We initially tested with the F1 BIOS version found on Gigabyte's website as it is the latest (and only) non-beta BIOS profile. The BIOS is unstable and could not even provide full stability with the CPU running at its stock speeds. Gigabyte's other BIOS available on the product page - beta version F2c - functioned as expected throughput testing, without instability concerns. The vendor rolled out a sizable batch of updated BIOS profiles for many of its X99 boards at the end of April. This is good to see and shows that user feedback of instability and usage issues are being addressed. By default, the Gigabyte X99-Gaming 5P motherboard applies multi-core turbo (MCT) and forces the 5960X to a constant 3.5GHz when XMP is enabled. Gigabyte feeds the 5960X with just under 1.07V under its 3.5GHz MCT load. This is a good level of voltage to observe and provides positive, controllable temperature levels. We use Gigabyte's Hardware Monitor tool for recording voltages because CPUID HWMonitor is largely dysfunctional with the X99-Gaming 5P. Apart from completely erroneous readings in CPUID HWMonitor, Gigabyte's own tool seems to report CPU temperatures which are around 10°C lower than those reported by the CPUID software. X99 Motherboard Test System: Processor: Intel Core i7 5960X ES (3.5GHz forced turbo). Memory: 16GB (4x 4GB) G.Skill Ripjaws4 2666MHz CL15 DDR4 @ 1.20V. Graphics Card: Asus R9 280X Matrix Platinum 3GB. System Drive: 500GB Samsung 840. CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i. Case: NZXT Phantom 630. Power Supply: Seasonic Platinum 1000W. Operating System: Windows 7 Professional with SP1 64-bit. Compared X99 Motherboards: ASRock X99E-ITX/ac (BIOS v1.20) - with 16GB (2x8GB) G.Skill Ripjaws4 2400MHz CL15 DDR4 @ 1.20V. ASRock X99 OC Formula (BIOS v1.16) – with 16GB (4x 4GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX 2800MHz @ 2666MHz 16-18-18-44 DDR4 1.25V ASRock X99 Extreme11 (BIOS v1.00) – with 16GB (4x4GB) G.Skill Ripjaws4 2666MHz 15-15-15-35 DDR4 1.25V. ASRock Fatal1ty X99 Professional (BIOS v1.50) – with 16GB (4x 4GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX 2800MHz @ 2666MHz 16-18-18-44 DDR4 1.25V Asus TUF Sabertooth X99 (BIOS v0216) – with 16GB (4x 4GB) G.Skill Ripjaws4 2666MHz CL15 DDR4 @ 1.20V. Asus X99 Deluxe (BIOS 0801) – with 16GB (4x4GB) G.Skill Ripjaws4 3000MHz 15-15-15-35 DDR4 1.35V. MSI X99S Gaming 7 (BIOS V17.3B1) – with 3.56GHz CPU and 16GB (4x 4GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX 2800MHz CL16 DDR4 @ 2800MHz 1.20V. Software: Gigabyte X99-Gaming 5P BIOS F2c beta (latest official BIOS). Catalyst 14.9 VGA drivers. Tests: 3DMark 1.3.708 - Fire Strike (System) SiSoft Sandra 2014 SP2 - Processor arithmetic, memory bandwidth (System) Cinebench R15 - All-core CPU benchmark (CPU) WinRAR 5.10 - Built-in benchmark (CPU) HandBrake 0.9.9 - Convert 4.36GB 720P MKV to MP4 (CPU) ATTO - SATA 6Gbps, USB 3.0, M.2 transfer rates (Motherboard) RightMark Audio Analyzer - General audio performance test (Motherboard) Bioshock Infinite - 1920 x 1080, ultra quality (Gaming) Metro: Last Light - 1920 x 1080, high quality (Gaming) Tomb Raider - 1920 x 1080, ultimate quality (Gaming) 3DMark We used 3DMark‘s ‘Fire Strike’ benchmark which is designed to be used on gaming PCs. We opted for the Normal setting, NOT the Extreme mode. Sandra Processor Arithmetic Sandra Memory Bandwidth The Gigabyte X99-Gaming 5P delivers solid performance through our set of 3DMark and Sandra benchmarks. Performance is consistent and there are no glaring negatives or positives to Gigabyte's design choices. Cinebench We used the ‘CPU’ test built into Cinebench R15 . WinRAR WinRAR’s built in benchmark and hardware test can help us outline the performance differentials between each motherboard. We record the amount of data processed after a 30-second run. Handbrake Conversion We measured the average frame rate achieved for a task of converting a 4.36GB 720P H.264 movie (in the MKV container) to one in the MP4 container. CPU-based results put Gigabyte's board towards the lower end of our charts. That said, there's very little difference between the highest and lowest performance due to the heavily integrated nature of Intel's Haswell-E CPUs. Cinebench numbers seem a few points off the average, however the result is by no means a cause for concern (other, uncontrollable, variabilities in the test system may be to blame). Bioshock Infinite We used the Bioshock Infinite demanding ‘Ultra’ setting and a 1920x1080 resolution to push today’s gaming hardware. Our data was recorded using a section of the game, not the built-in benchmark. Metro: Last Light We used a 1920x1080 resolution and the Metro: Last Light built-in benchmark set to ‘High’ quality to offer an intense challenge for the gaming hardware while also making playable frame rates a possibility. Tomb Raider We used a 1920x1080 resolution and the Tomb Raider built-in benchmark set to ‘Ultimate’ quality. Despite being forced to use a PCIe Gen 2 mode due to Gigabyte's BIOS incompatibility with our Asus R9 280X Matrix Platinum graphics card, the X99-Gaming 5P delivers some good performance numbers in gaming. Bioshock Infinite takes a clear hit from the non-ideal PCIe mode, however Tomb Raider and Metro: Last Light show good frame rates with the Gigabyte X99-Gaming 5P powering our test system. M.2 connector We use Plextor's fast M6e 256GB M.2 SSD to test the speed of a motherboard's M.2 connector. We reviewed the 512GB Plextor M6e (and its PCIe x2 adapter card) HERE. Unfortunately we do not have access to a PCIe 3.0-based SSD to fully test the M.2 connector's performance limits. Gigabyte's 10Gbps PCIe 2.0 x2 M.2 connector is fast enough to not limit our Plextor M6e SSD. But there are plenty of faster M.2 drives on the market (Samsung's XP941 and SM951, as well as Kingston's HyperX Predator M.2, for example) that would more than saturate the lowly 10Gbps connection. It was a big mistake by Gigabyte to not include a faster-than-10Gbps M.2 connection. Buyers' SSD upgrade path will be heavily limited by the inadequate M.2 link speed. SATA For SATA 6Gb/s testing we use a Kingston HyperX 3K (SandForce SF-2281) SSD. SATA 6Gbps performance is as we would expect from X99-fed ports. USB 3.0 We tested USB 3.0 performance using the Kingston HyperX 3K SSD connected to a SATA 6Gb/s to USB 3.0 adapter powered by an ASMedia ASM1053 controller. The USB 3.0 transfer rates that we observed from Gigabyte's board are competitive with other X99-fed solutions. Audio We usually use RightMark Audio Analyzer (RMAA) to analyse the performance of the motherboard’s onboard audio solution. Unfortunately our usual RMAA testing procedures would not function with Gigabyte's X99-Gaming 5P audio solution (seemingly related to the high gain of the Sound Core3D processor and op-amp). So instead we used a subjective audio listening test. The first thing that I noticed about the X99-Gaming 5P's audio system was just how loud the output signal is. Using even basic headphones the audio was at the point of painful before a level of 50% was reached. 100% volume practically turned the headphones into stereo speakers. There's nothing wrong with a loud output volume - it gives users greater flexibility for driving difficult to power speakers at acceptable audio levels. It also had a noticeable positive effect on bass in our listening testing, although that can be partly attributed to the surrounding audio hardware. I liked the range of tones and clarity of audio output by the X99-Gaming 5P. Watching The Dark Knight was a pleasant experience with the movie's excellent soundtrack. And the high volume levels and clear audio transposed into effective gameplay, with quiet footsteps and other indicators being more recognisable. Manual CPU Overclocking: To test the Gigabyte X99-Gaming 5P motherboard’s CPU overclocking potential, we first increased the CPU VCore to 1.30V and CPU Input Voltage to 1.9V. We also enabled 'K OC' and applied Extreme LLC (to feed a constant voltage). We maintained the DRAM frequency at 2666MHz to take its stability out of the overclocking equation. Cache frequency was maintained at 3.0GHz for CPU overclocking tests. Navigating through Gigabyte's UEFI in search of overclocking options is not the most pleasant of experiences. The ordering really needs improvement to make the commonly-used functions more accessible. With that said, the overclocking options were plentiful and the board had a good degree of flexibility. Gigabyte's X99-Gaming 5P took our 5960X to its 4.4GHz limit without any problems. The board held stable and delivered only slightly more voltage than the 1.3V we asked for (as confirmed by Gigabyte's Hardware Monitor reading). CPU Cache/Ring Overclocking: LGA 2011-3 sockets with extra pins open up additional voltage headroom so that greater overclocks can be achieved. The biggest particular gain in overclocking capacity comes from the speeds that the CPU Cache/Ring can reach. With a slight increase in CPU Input voltage to a level of 2.0V, and with CPU Cache/Ring voltage set at 1.3V, we were able to get a stable cache/ring frequency of 4.2GHz with our processor. This seems to be a common level for many 5960X chips, so we will take a more in-depth look at cache/ring frequency overclocking as we work with more boards with the extra-pin sockets. Memory Frequency Performance: Support for high-speed memory kits has been a particularly troubling topic since the X99 launch. We test the motherboard's ability to load the 3000MHz XMP configuration on our G.Skill Ripjaws4 DDR4 memory. The 3GHz XMP setting for our G.Skill memory worked without any problems on the Gigabyte X99-Gaming 5P. We will outline the performance increases that can be obtained from using the Gigabyte X99-Gaming 5P motherboard to overclock our system. Our overclocked processor frequency was 4.4GHz and memory speed was 2666MHz. As a performance comparison, we have included the overclocked results from seven other X99 motherboards. The maximum overclocked configuration achieved with each board was a 4.4GHz processor frequency and 2666MHz memory speed (2400MHz for ASRock's X99E-ITX/ac). CPU-only overclocked performance continues the Gigabyte board's trend of being sat in the middle of our results chart. Cinebench and 3DMark Physics show sizeable gains from boosted CPU frequency, however Bioshock Infinite doesn't seem to care for greater clock speed. CPU Cache/Ring Overclocking Performance We examine the performance gains that can be had when overclocking the CPU cache/ring, in addition to the CPU core. The CPU-heavy Cinebench workload delivers a noticeable boost in performance with the CPU cache/ring operating 1200MHz faster than its stock-clocked frequency. An extra 60 Cinebench points is a worthwhile performance improvements, even if the increased CPU cache/ring voltage forced higher power usage. Temperature levels did not increase significantly with the CPU cache/ring over-volted and overclocked. There was a rise in CPU temperature by no more than a few degrees. 3GHz Memory Performance While XMP dictates the memory operating frequency, voltage, and primary timings, the secondary and tertiary timings are set at the motherboard vendor’s discretion. That can lead to performance differences in memory-intensive workloads. We used G.Skill’s Ripjaws4 modules set to their 3GHz XMP frequency to test memory bandwidth and latency numbers. Gigabyte's chosen timings for the 3GHz XMP setting deliver a good balance between memory bandwidth and memory latency performance. We measured the power consumption with the system resting at the Windows 7 desktop, representing idle values. The power consumption of our entire test system (at the wall) is measured while loading only the CPU using Prime95′s in-place large FFTs setting. The rest of the system’s components were operating in their idle states, hence the increased power consumption values (in comparison to the idle figures) are largely related to the load on the CPU and motherboard power delivery components. Stock-clocked idle power consumption numbers are slightly higher than the ASRock and MSI alternatives, although they are lower than Asus' offerings. A stock-clocked system-wide power draw of less than 250W can make for friendly energy bills. The high-quality International Rectifiers-based VRM allows Gigabyte's X99-Gaming 5P to deliver low idle power usage when overclocked. The accuracy of the digital PWM also results in positive load power consumption numbers. The Gigabyte X99-Gaming 5P is a solid choice of motherboard for gamers wanting a high-end multi-GPU system based on Intel HEDT platform. Overclocking performance is strong, thanks in large to the high performance International Rectifiers power delivery solution. The motherboard had no problem taking our 5960X to its core limit of 4.4GHz, and we were able to increase the CPU cache/ring frequency to 4.2GHz thanks to the added CPU socket pins. Expansion options on the PCIe front are excellent, with the board offering a graphics spacing layout that is among the best for any X99 motherboard. The audio solution is equally positive; clarity and noise level of the Creative-based system was excellent. And there's the potential for fine-tuned audio performance due to the upgradeable Burr Brown op-amp. Unfortunately the BIOS profiles for Gigabyte's X99 motherboard still seem a little 'hit or miss'. To Gigabyte's credit, the company worked hard to release a batch of BIOS updates at the end of April, despite many still being in beta form. Nevertheless, this motherboard should have shipped with a fully stable from day 1 given its arrival to the X99 scene well after the platform's launch. My biggest disappointment for the X99-Gaming 5P is its lackluster M.2 solution. It is an odd decision to be using a 10Gbps connection when PCIe connectivity on the X99 platform is plentiful. All of Gigabyte's competitors are consistently using 32Gbps connections which offer non-handicapped support for fast M.2 drives which are currently on the market. Priced at £229.99 from OverclockersUK, Gigabyte's X99-Gaming 5P is a notch above the pricing of entry-level X99 motherboards. But when the particularly high-end audio solution and pin-boosted CPU socket are factored into the equation, the price tag is understandable. Pros: Excellent multi-GPU support and layout spacing. Superb audio solution with upgradeable op-amp. Extra pins in the CPU socket provide good cache/ring overclocking capacity. High quality power delivery system. Red LEDs on the board may appeal to some. Cons: Only a 10Gbps M.2 connector - not 20Gbps or 32Gbps. UEFI layout could benefit from layout tweaks. Still the potential for BIOS and instability issues with certain graphics cards. KitGuru says: A solid choice for a high-end, multi-GPU gaming system, provided you don't plan on using a high-speed M.2 storage drive.

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Gigabyte X99-Gaming 5P Motherboard Review

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