Anantech Reviews Mini-ITX boards, Including GIGABYTE Z97N-WIFI

 

The Z97N-WIFI is GIGABYTE’s mini-ITX format from it’s 9 Series Ultra Durable. In this review from Anantech, the Z97N-WIFI was compared side by side against  ASROCK and MSI’s priced between $130~$140. Here are a few lines of what Ian had to say about the GIGABYTE motherboard 

“In the past, I criticized GIGABYTE for their component placement, but it would seem that the Z97N-WIFI gets a near perfect score. Along the top are the 4-pin CPU power connector, the COM header and the two fan headers, while on the right hand side (note, on the edge of the PCB) is the 24-pin ATX power connector, two of the SATA ports, the front panel header, a USB 2.0 header and a USB 3.0 header. Actually the only ports slightly away from the edge are the other four SATA ports, but given that two are on the outside that makes building a PC a lot easier.

The lack of a power delivery heatsink might give cause for concern for overclocking, however GIGABYTE is claiming to use high efficiency power delivery ICs and our overclock testing differs little from the other two motherboards.”

“A motherboard that is easy to set up, in terms of cabling, is always good to have on the test bed. The Z97N-WIFI is one such example, and this becomes one of its major selling points. By placing more of the important headers around the edges of the motherboard PCB, adding in the power cables, fan cables, SATA cables and any other cables makes building and repairing an easier job. The position of the socket, alongside the lack of a power delivery heatsink, would suggest that any size air cooler would fit with appropriate memory.”

 

We Want Your Feedbacks

A few good points were brought up in this review and we would love to hear what you have to say. Here are a few questions that we would like you to give us feedbacks.

• For those of you who have experienced overclocking with the Z97N-WIFI, have you experience any overheating issues?
• What about the motherboard component placement? Was it easy to make your build with this motherboard?
• Did you appreciate and made full use of the 2-HDMI ports found in the back IO
• What do you use for mini-ITX system for? Is it overclocked?

Leave us your thoughts in the comment section!

To read the full review from Anandtech: http://www.anandtech.com/show/8276/z97-miniitx-review-at-140-asrock-z97e-itx-msi-z97i-ac-and-gigabyte-z97n-wifi