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

With $1,000 and two GIGABYTE Z97 series motherboards up for grabs, the GIGABYTE CATZILLA OC Contest invited the overclocking community to push their hardware to the limit by running the custom made CATZILLA benchmark skin on their GIGABYTE 9 Series motherboard.

We are happy to announce that WebTourist won the AIR/Water cooling stage and that DANCOP took the first place on the LN2 cooling stage.

On top of winning the cash prize and a limited edition GIGABYTE Z97X-SOC FORCE LN2 motherboard, overclocker DANCOP can also add to his winnings a gold cup for the World Record on CATZILLA - 720P benchmark with a 43121 mark using a GIGABYTE Z97X-SOC FORCE. Good work DANCOP!

GIGABYTE CATZILLA OC Contest Winners

· Air/Water cooling stage: WebTourist (http://hwbot.org/submission/2587632)

Wins $500 in cash and a GIGABYTE Z97X-UD5H

· LN2 cooling stage: DANCOP (http://hwbot.org/submission/2587636)

Wins $500 in cash and a GIGABYTE Z97X-SOC FORCE LN2

Give away

We would like to also congratulate Newlife, Mameluco, Marrawi and KA7RATA for winning the lucky draw held on each Friday of the contest. For their submissions to the GIGABYTE CATZILLA OC Contest, each of them won a GIGABYTE overclocking shirt.

Thanks to everyone who participated and see you soon at another GIGABYTE overclocking challenge.

To review all submissions of the GIGABYTE CATZILLA OC Contest, please visit the contest page hosted on HWBOT.org: http://hwbot.org/competition/gbt_z97_catzilla

To download the Catzilla benchmark with GIGABYTE skin, follow this link: http://www.catzilla.com/jdownloads/Download/CatzillaGIGABYTE.exe

With a stock frequency of 3.2 GHz, the Intel Pentium AE can be easily overclocked using the revamped EasyTune application so that users can experience faster system performance without having to buy a more expensive CPU. The Smart Quick Boost function within EasyTune comes pre-configured with set overclocked profiles which have been tested by GIGABYTE’s experienced engineers, to ensure no matter what the hardware configuration, users can enjoy 24/7 stable system performance. To enable different levels of overclocking, users just need to click “Light”, “Medium” or “Extreme”, with the expected CPU frequency being highlighted in the upper right corner of the settings tab.

For more experienced users, EasyTune also offers advanced overclocking options for both the CPU and memory so that users can tweak their system performance to even higher levels in a Windows environment, without having to enter the BIOS.

Here is a quick intro on how to use EasyTune and quickly get some added performance out of an unlocked processor.

Gigabyte UK have partnered with PC Specialist Ltd & HEXUS.net to give you the chance to win a Vanquish G3 gaming rig based on GIGABYTE Z97X-Gaming 3 motherboard and many other great components.

You have until Wednesday the 16th to enter, so hurry up!

The competition is open worldwide.

Enter to win at:http://hexus.net/fbcxn

Here are the full rig details::

• Chassis: In Win GRone Black
• CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K
• Motherboard: Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 3
• RAM: 16GB Kingston HyperX Beast
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 2GB
• SSD: 120GB Kingston HyperX 3K
• HDD: 1TB WD Caviar Black
• PSU: Corsair RM650
• Cooler: Corsair H80i
• OS: Microsoft Windows 8.1
• Headset: Kingston HyperX Cloud

Good Luck!!!

This week marks the last few days to enter this competition hosted on HWBOT.org and have the chance to win a GIGBYTE Z97X-SOC FORCE LN2 or a Z97X-UD5H motherboard plus some $$$.
Congratulations to Newlife, Mameluco and Marrawi as they won the first 3 lucky draw. Friday the 18th will be out last lucky draw for a GIGABYTE shirt.
You must enter your submissions to have a chance to win!

We also would like to send our congratulations to DANCOP for his World Record submission, scoring 42279 in the Catzilla 720P using LN2 on a Z97X-SOC Force. (His submission here)

Good luck!

To participate and for more details: http://hwbot.org/competition/gbt_z97_catzilla/

Monstru and Matose did some overclocking on the weekend and broke the 7GHz barrier with their setup.

They ran a GIGABYTE Z97X-SOC Force and Intel 4770K CPU on liquid nitrogen. For those wondering what a CPU like that would reach on air cooling, probably around 5.5GHz or so. This is a pretty sweet CPU!

Fantastic guys! You can read all about it on Lab501 website!

Using the AMD KABINI platform, the good guys at Tom’s Hardware took three AMD AM1 motherboards in comparison, including the GIGABYTE AM1M-S2H macroITX motherboard.

In conclusion, thanks to it’s great performance, low price and great value, the GIGABYTE AMIM-S2H walked out with the Smart Buy award!!

Here is the full review: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/am1-motherboard-socket-fs1b-athlon-5350,3850.html

أبلغ رئيس حزب اسرائيل بيتنا اليميني المتطرف، وزير الخارجية الإسرائيلي افيغدور ليبرمان صباح اليوم الاثنين رئيس الوزراء الاسرائيلي بنيامين نتانياهو عزمه حل الشراكة مع حزبه الليكود. 

وقال ليبرمان أنه أخبر نتانياهو برغبته في عودة حزبه مستقلا كما كان قبل اتفاق الحزبين في الانتخابات العامة عام 2013. 

ويأتي رد ليبرمان هذا على خلفية انتقادات حادة وجهها إلى نتنياهو بسبب الاستجابة "المتراخية" ضد حماس في ظل استمرار الهجمات الصاروخية من قطاع غزة الذي تسيطر عليه حماس.

أطلقت جماعة من مجموعات المقاومة قذيفة صاروخية  مضادة للدبابات على قوة من الجيش الإسرائيلي المتمركزة قرب السياج الحدودي.

ونفلت مصادر إعلامية إسرائيلية  أن القوة كانت بالقرب من كيبوتس ريعيم.  ووقع تبادل لإطلاق النار. لم يبلغ عن وقوع إصابات  أو أضرار جراء الهجوم.

Neo from The Overclocker Magazine has been a busy bee and put together a stunning issue for everyone to check out. Computex is usually a time when things are jam packed with technology and this mag takes the tech-deliciousness to a new level.

Make sure you check it out here and subscribe! It’s free!!!!!!!

GIGABYTE UK and HardwareHeaven teamed up to give you a chance to win some great hardware. Today is your last chance to enter this comp for a chance to win an awesome Z97X-Gaming G1 WIFI-BK and a Corsair Raptor HS30 gaming Headset. All you have to do is Like the GIGABYTE UK FB page and enter your details at: http://j.mp/HHwinGBT to win.

The competition is for everyone residing on planet Earth! Sorry Martians… next time maybe.

Good luck!!