Since this is a 200-series motherboard, Gaming 9 supports the latest Intel 7th Generation of Core Processors codenamed Kaby Lake. The socket is LGA 1151 and therefore is also compatible with Skylake too. The socket here benefits from 15 microinch thick gold plating for better contact something which we see GIGABYTE employing on most of their boards.
Unlike other AORUS boards, the Gaming 9 has a rather special cooling system around the CPU VRMs. GIGABYTE has teamed up with EK Water Blocks to supply a hybrid water block solution with G1.4 threaded fittings. This water block combines aluminium and copper and even if you arent planning to use water cooling by its nature, this design will offer great thermal cooling compared to other heatsinks.
Around the socket, we have long-life black solid CAPs for reliability and stability and a 22-digital phase power design which is astounding such a feature should aid with the ability to take performance to an extreme level. Later on, in this review well see how our Gaming 9 copes when we overclock the 7700K.
On the top-edge of the board we have an 8-pin CPU power socket.
Moving on to the memory, we have four slots for dual channel DDR4 and there is support for up to 64GB and 4000MHz kits. Not many boards are able to sustain 4000MHz DDR4 but this one is able to. The memory slots are also reinforced with steel and feature LEDs in between each slot marrying up with the RGB lighting system on our Gaming 9. Theres also a swappable plastic overlay running down the edge which utilises LEDs too, designs can be swapped out to personalise the board.
Around the memory we also have a large number of additional features, some of which are for advanced users. We have the following:
Voltage read points for use with a multimeter
LED Debug for diagnostics on POST
Diagnostic LEDs quick diagnosis of malfunction of CPU, VRAM, VGA or HDD.
Reset CMOS button
Reset button
Power button
ECO button energy saving mode
OC button overclocks CPU to predefined overclock
GIGABYTE also includes two USB 3.0 headers on this motherboard, both of which are immediately next to the 24-pin ATX connection.
Strong is a particular strong-point for Gaming 9 as this board features a large number of different standards to use. Included we have:
3x SATA Express slots
6x SATA 3 (6GB/s) ports
2x U.2 ports
2x M.2 (PCIe 3.0 x4 with Intel Optane Memory support)
So, quite a multitude of storage options to choose from giving plenty of flexibility. Although SATA Express doesnt appear to have gathered any momentum, at least we have the choice to use the SATA ports for SATA-based SSDs regardless.
Behind all the storage ports we have a substantial heatsink sitting on top of the Intel Z270 chip. This heatsink has a laser etched AORUS logo and coordinates very well with the rest of the motherboard.
At the bottom of the board (just in shot) are two switches which concern the BIOS. There is a switch to enable dual-BIOS and the other switch allows you to switch between each BIOS.
Turning our attention to the technicalities of the PCI Express we are once again, faced with an assortment of options here. Available there is:
4x PCI Express 3.0 X16
2x PCI Express 3.0 X1
The modes for each of the PCI Express X16s are: x16, x8, x16, x8. So, GIGABYTE has used a PLX chip and have wired the third slot to run x16. Having four slots for graphics cards means that we have NVIDIA Quad-SLI and AMD Quad-CrossFireX support. In the accessories bundle, there are multi-GPU bridges provided including a Quad-SLI bridge.
GIGABYTE has also added steel reinforcement to the X16 slots for longevity and there are RGB LEDs which contribute to the lighting system. Along the bottom edge of the board GIGABYTE has added an RGBW pin header to allow LED strips to be added to your system all of which can be controlled using the RGB Fusion software.
GIGABYTE has opted for a partnership with Creative for their audio solution; which isnt a bad idea at all. Creative are well-known for their high-quality audio products. So, at the heart of the audio is the Creative Sound Core3D which is a quad-core audio processor. Along with this audio chip we also have premium Nichicon gold solid CAPs and WIMI FKP2 audio caps (red) these component are found in high-end Hi-Fi systems.
Compared to the Gaming 7, this Gaming 9 has extras in the audio department including three upgradable OP-AMPs - two are for the left and right channels and the other is for the audio jack on the front panel.
All of the audio components are isolated and the tracer line has been given a touch of the RGB lighting which you probably knew by now!
Lastly, we arrive at the rear IO section of Gaming 9 and this serves up a nice selection of ports which include:
PS2 Keyboard/Mouse
2x USB 2.0 ports (DAC-UP 2x less noise)
2x WiFi outlets
Gold plated HDMI 2.0 + Displayport
2x USB 3.1 Gen1 ports
2x Gigabit LAN (Via Killer E2500)
1x Thunderbolt 3 port USB 3.1 Gen2 Type C
2x USB 3.1 Gen2 ports
Gold plated audio ports with optical out
GIGABYTE has added value to this back panel by supplying us with HDMI 2.0 many brands are supplying these ports using the older version of HDMI, thus missing out on advanced support for 4K@60Hz. Another thing to note is the inclusion of Thunderbolt 3 which arrives in the form of USB 3.1 Gen2 Type C which is capable of up to 40GB/s the ability to daisy-chain up to 6 devices is possible with this standard too.
Having two Gigabit LAN ports may not be a requirement for everyone but its interesting to see that GIGABYTE has moved away from using an Intel controller and instead gone with Killer E2500 for both ports. This latest standard for the Killer Series allows you to prioritise traffic for specific tasks like videos streaming and gaming, helping to reduce any lag at those critical times.
