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Gigabyte announces new X99 SOC Champion targeted at overclockers

By Wong Chung Wee - on 7 Jan 2015, 4:11pm

Gigabyte announces new X99 SOC Champion targeted at overclockers

(Image source: Gigabyte)

Gigabyte has unveiled the X99 SOC Champion motherboard at CES 2015. Like the GA-X99-SOC Force, the new Intel X99-based board is packed with features targeted at overclockers. First of all, the company states the connecting pins for the following components have been treated with a 30-micron thick gold coating. Given the gilded treatment are the board’s LGA-2011v3 CPU socket, the four PCIe Gen 3.0 x16 slots, and the four DDR4 DIMM slots. Gigabyte claims this will improve the reliability and connectivity of those pins; therefore, is Gigabyte’s gilded LGA-2011v3 CPU socket a direct challenge to ASUS’ proprietary OC Socket technology?

(Image source: Gigabyte)

Due to a reduction in the number of DIMM slots, from eight to four, there’s more clearance around the CPU socket for insulation during extreme cooling configurations. Also, the memory slots boast of a new design with shorter traces to speed up the memory signals. The rest of the features of the SOC Champion are almost identical to the X99 SOC Force. From its server-grade chokes, black solid capacitors, and POSCAPs, they work in tandem with board’s IR digital power controllers to deliver stable and reliable power to the CPU.

In terms of storage options, the board supports M.2 PCIe SSD devices, up to a maximum bandwidth of 20Gb/s. It has a single SATA Express connector and an onboard Thunderbolt add-in card connector. The board can double up as an extreme gaming rig with its support for up to 4-way NVIDIA SLI or AMD Crossfire configurations. For more information, please visit this link.

(Source: Gigabyte)

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