Gigabyte Z97X SOC Force Overclocking Motherboard Review

Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SOC - Z97 Chipset
Intel Core i7 4790K (4.09Ghz) Quad Core 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache
Thermaltake Water 2.0 Performer
1x nVidia GTX 770
2x GSKill RipjawsX PC2133 4GB DDR3 (9-10-9-28)
Micron C300 128GB SSD
HP dvd1260i Multiformat 24x Writer
Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 1050 Watt PSU
Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit SP1

MSI Z97 MPower – Z97 Chipset
Intel Core i7 4790K (4.0Ghz) Quad Core 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache
Thermaltake Water 2.0 Performer
1x nVidia GTX 770
2x GSKill RipjawsX PC2133 4GB DDR3 (9-10-9-28)
Micron C300 128GB SSD
HP dvd1260i Multiformat 24x Writer
Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 1050 Watt PSU
Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit SP1

Gigabyte GA-Z87X-OC - Z87 Chipset
Intel Core i7 4770K (3.5Ghz) Quad Core 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache
Thermaltake Water 2.0 Performer
1x nVidia GTX 770
2x GSKill RipjawsX PC2133 4GB DDR3 (9-10-9-28)
Micron C300 128GB SSD
HP dvd1260i Multiformat 24x Writer
Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 1050 Watt PSU
Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit SP1

Our motherboard testing suite has been compiled to subject the system to a variety of different scenarios that help uncover some of the subtle differences in motherboard design.  Normally these differences are driven by the processor and BIOS programming but with the advent of an IMC and PCI Express moving to the CPU we have discovered that raw performance numbers are virtually identical across the systems.  

Our new approach is to look at total system performance and minimize the variances.  The results will tell us how the system responded as a total package and also give us something to use in our comparisons.

Speaking of comparisons we have a photo of the last three generations of Gigabyte OC motherboard based on the LGA 115x socket along with a side by side of the Z87X OC vs the Z97X SOC.  See if you can spot the differences.

Starting from the top left we have the Z87X OC Force and next to that is the Z77X UP7.  These boards were based on the same board design.  Below those you will find the Z87X OC followed by the Z97X SOC Force which are also based on similar board designs.  There are a few minor layout differences with each revision getting progressively better.