Gigabyte recently introduced a new Z170X motherboard in addition to their Gaming series, the Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 6, featuring a black and red theme with matte black PCB. The new GA-Z170X Gaming 6 looks very much the same with the Gaming 7, except that the Gaming 7 features a White and Red theme. Aside from the physical appearance, the Gaming 6 sounds like a trimmed down version of the Gaming 7, not by much though. Check out the rest of its features and specifications below.
Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 6 Features
The Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 6 supports the latest 6th generation Intel Core Skylake processors, and features 4 DIMM slots supporting dual channel DDR4 memory up to 3466MHz (OC). It has USB 3.1 with USB Type-C but no sign of Thunderbolt 3 support, unlike the Gaming 7.
It has three PCIe slots supporting 3-way multi-GPU configuration. Honestly, if you plan to do a 3 to 4 way SLI/CrossFire setup, I would recommend you go for an X99 system instead paired with the appropriate CPU. If you plan to do a 2-way SLI configuration with the Z170X Gaming 6, the speeds are x8/x8. There are also 4x PCIe x1 gen 3.0 slots for expansion cards.
For storage options, the Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 6 features 3x SATA Express connectors for up to 16Gb/s data transfer, or 6 SATA 6Gb/s connector. It also has two M.2 ports supporting Socket 3, M key, type 2242/2260/2280 SATA and PCIe x4/x2/x1 SSD. At the rear I/O panel, you get 4x USB 2.0/, 3x USB 3.0 ports, 1x USB 3.1 Type A, USB Type C, an HDMI port, a DisplayPort, PS/2 combo port, 5x audio jacks with optical out, and two RJ-45 LAN port (one Killer E2200 and an Intel Gigabit).
The Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 6 features high quality audio capacitors and audio noise guard with LED trace path lighting, Realtek ALC1150 115dB SNR HD Audio, and Gigabyte UEFI DualBIOS technology. Like most (all) Gigabyte Z170X Gaming motherboards, it comes with a proprietary APP Center including EasyTune and Cloud Station Utilities.
Check out the rest of its specifications from the table below.
Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 6 Specifications
| Specifications | GA-Z170X-Gaming 6 (rev. 1.0) | GA-Z170X-Gaming 7 (rev. 1.0) |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | 1. Support for Intel® Core™ i7 processors/Intel® Core™ i5 processors/ Intel® Core™ i3 processors/Intel® Pentium® processors/ Intel® Celeron® processors in the LGA1151 package 2. L3 cache varies with CPU | 1. Support for Intel® Core™ i7 processors/Intel® Core™ i5 processors/ Intel® Core™ i3 processors/Intel® Pentium® processors/ Intel® Celeron® processors in the LGA1151 package 2. L3 cache varies with CPU |
| Socket | Socket 1151 | Socket 1151 |
| Chipset | 1. Intel® Z170 Express Chipset | 1. Intel® Z170 Express Chipset |
| Memory | 1. 4 x DDR4 DIMM sockets supporting up to 64 GB of system memory * Due to a Windows 32-bit operating system limitation, when more than 4 GB of physical memory is installed, the actual memory size displayed will be less than the size of the physical memory installed. 2. Dual channel memory architecture 3. Support for DDR4 3466(O.C.) /3400(O.C.) /3333(O.C.) /3300(O.C.) /3200(O.C.) /3000(O.C.) /2800(O.C.) /2666(O.C.) /2400(O.C.) /2133 MHz memory modules 4. Support for ECC UDIMM 1Rx8/2Rx8 memory modules (operate in non-ECC mode) 5. Support for non-ECC UDIMM 1Rx8/2Rx8/1Rx16 memory modules 6. Support for Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) memory modules | 1. 4 x DDR4 DIMM sockets supporting up to 64 GB of system memory * Due to a Windows 32-bit operating system limitation, when more than 4 GB of physical memory is installed, the actual memory size displayed will be less than the size of the physical memory installed. 2. Dual channel memory architecture 3. Support for DDR4 3866(O.C)/3733(O.C)/3666(O.C) /3600(O.C.) /3466(O.C.) /3400(O.C.) /3333(O.C.) /3300(O.C.) /3200(O.C.) /3000(O.C.) /2800(O.C.) /2666(O.C.) /2400(O.C.) /2133 MHz memory modules 4. Support for ECC UDIMM 1Rx8/2Rx8 memory modules (operate in non-ECC mode) 5. Support for non-ECC UDIMM 1Rx8/2Rx8/1Rx16 memory modules 6. Support for Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) memory modules |
| Onboard Graphics | Integrated Graphics Processor-Intel® HD Graphics support: 1. 1 x DisplayPort, supporting a maximum resolution of 4096x2304@60 Hz * Support for DisplayPort 1.2 version. 2. 1 x HDMI port, supporting a maximum resolution of 4096x2160@24 Hz * Support for HDMI 1.4 version. Maximum shared memory of 512 MB | Integrated Graphics Processor-Intel® HD Graphics support: 1. 1 x DisplayPort, supporting a maximum resolution of 4096x2304@60 Hz * Support for DisplayPort 1.2 version. Integrated Graphics Processor+MegaChips MCDP2800 chip: 1. 1 x HDMI 2.0 port Maximum shared memory of 512 MB |
| Audio | 1. Realtek® ALC1150 codec 2. Support for Sound Blaster X-Fi MB3 3. High Definition Audio 4. 2/4/5.1/7.1-channel 5. Support for S/PDIF Out | 1. Creative® Sound Core 3D chip 2. Support for Sound Blaster Recon3Di 3. TI Burr Brown® OPA2134 operational amplifier 4. High Definition Audio 5. 2/5.1-channel 6. Support for S/PDIF Out |
| LAN | 1. 1 x Intel® GbE LAN chip (10/100/1000 Mbit)(LAN1) 2. 1 x Killer E2201 chip (10/100/1000 Mbit) (LAN2) * Teaming is not supported. | 1. 1 x Intel® GbE LAN chip (10/100/1000 Mbit)(LAN1) 2. 1 x Killer E2400 chip (10/100/1000 Mbit) (LAN2) * Teaming is not supported. |
| Expansion Slots | 1. 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 (PCIEX16) * For optimum performance, if only one PCI Express graphics card is to be installed, be sure to install it in the PCIEX16 slot. 2. 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x8 (PCIEX8) * The PCIEX8 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIEX16 slot. When the PCIEX8 slot is populated, the PCIEX16 slot will operate at up to x8 mode. 3. 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x4 (PCIEX4) * The PCIEX4 slot shares bandwidth with the M2H_32G connector. The PCIEX4 slot will become unavailable when an SSD is installed in the M2H_32G connector. 4. 4 x PCI Express x1 slots (All of the PCI Express slots conform to PCI Express 3.0 standard.) | 1. 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 (PCIEX16) * For optimum performance, if only one PCI Express graphics card is to be installed, be sure to install it in the PCIEX16 slot. 2. 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x8 (PCIEX8) * The PCIEX8 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIEX16 slot. When the PCIEX8 slot is populated, the PCIEX16 slot will operate at up to x8 mode. 3. 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x4 (PCIEX4) * The PCIEX4 slot shares bandwidth with the M2H_32G connector. The PCIEX4 slot will become unavailable when an SSD is installed in the M2H_32G connector. 4. 3 x PCI Express x1 slots (All of the PCI Express slots conform to PCI Express 3.0 standard.) |
| Multi-Graphics Technology | 1. Support for 3-Way/2-Way AMD CrossFire™ and 2-Way NVIDIA® SLI™ Technology | 1. Support for 3-Way/2-Way AMD CrossFire™ and 2-Way NVIDIA® SLI™ Technology |
| Storage Interface | Chipset: 1. 2 x M.2 connectors (Socket 3, M key, type 2242/2260/2280 SATA and PCIe x4/x2/x1 SSD support) 2. 3 x SATA Express connectors 3. 6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors 4. Support for RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10 * Refer to "1-10 Internal Connectors," for the supported configurations with the M.2, SATA Express, and SATA connectors. | Chipset: 1. 2 x M.2 Socket 3 connectors (Socket 3, M key, type 2242/2260/2280 SATA & PCIe x4/x2/x1 SSD support) 2. 3 x SATA Express connectors 3. 6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (SATA3 0~5) 4. Support for RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10 * Refer to "1-10 Internal Connectors," for the supported configurations with the M.2, SATA Express, and SATA connectors. ASMedia® ASM1061 chip: 1. 2 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (SATA3 6~7), supporting AHCI mode only |
| USB | Chipset: 1. 7 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports (3 ports on the back panel, 4 ports available through the internal USB headers) 2. 6 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports (4 ports on the back panel, 2 ports available through the internal USB header) Chipset+GENESYS LOGIC USB 2.0 Hub: 1. 2 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports (available through the internal USB header) Chipset+Intel® USB 3.1 Controller: 1. 1 x USB Type-C™ port on the back panel, with USB 3.1 support 2. 1x USB 3.1 Type-A port (red) on the back panel | Chipset: 1. 5 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports on the back panel 2. 4 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports (available through the internal USB headers) Chipset+Renesas® USB 3.0 Hub: 1. 4 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports (available through the internal USB headers) Chipset+Intel® Thunderbolt™ 3 Controller: 1. 1 x USB Type-C™ port on the back panel, with USB 3.1 support 2. 1 x USB 3.1 Type-A port (red) on the back panel |
| Internal I/O Connectors | 1. 1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector 2. 1 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector 3. 2 x M.2 Socket 3 connectors 4. 3 x SATA Express connectors 5. 6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors 6. 1 x CPU fan header 7. 1 x water cooling fan header (CPU_OPT) 8. 3 x system fan headers 9. 1 x front panel header 10. 1 x front panel audio header 11. 2 x USB 3.0/2.0 headers 12. 2 x USB 2.0/1.1 headers 13. 1 x Trusted Platform Module (TPM) header 14. 1 x Thunderbolt™ add-in card connector 15. 1 x serial port header 16. 1 x Clear CMOS jumper 17. 1 x ECO button 18. 1 x OC button 19. 1 x audio gain control switch | 1. 1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector 2. 1 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector 3. 2 x M.2 Socket 3 connectors 4. 3 x SATA Express connectors 5. 8 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors 6. 1 x I/O shield audio LED power connector 7. 1 x CPU fan header 8. 1 x water cooling fan header (CPU_OPT) 9. 3 x system fan headers 10. 1 x front panel header 11. 1 x front panel audio header 12. 2 x USB 3.0/2.0 headers 13. 2 x USB 2.0/1.1 headers 14. 1 x Trusted Platform Module (TPM) header 15. 1 x serial port header 16. 1 x Clear CMOS jumper 17. 1 x power button 18. 1 x reset button 19. 1 x Clear CMOS button 20. 1 x ECO button 21. 1 x OC button 22. 1 x audio gain control switch 23. Voltage Measurement Points 24. 1 x BIOS switch |
| Back Panel Connectors | 1. 1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse port 2. 1 x DisplayPort 3. 1 x HDMI port 4. 1 x USB Type-C™ port, with USB 3.1 support 5. 1 x USB 3.1 Type-A port (red) 6. 3 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports 7. 4 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports 8. 2 x RJ-45 ports 9. 1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector 10. 5 x audio jacks (Center/Subwoofer Speaker Out, Rear Speaker Out, Line In, Line Out, Mic In) | 1. 1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse port 2. 1 x DisplayPort 3. 1 x HDMI port 4. 1 x USB Type-C™ port, with USB 3.1 support 5. 1 x USB 3.1 Type-A port (red) 6. 5 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports 7. 2 x RJ-45 ports 8. 1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector 9. 5 x audio jacks (Center/Subwoofer Speaker Out, Rear Speaker Out, Line In/Mic In, Line Out, Headphone) |
| Form Factor | 1. ATX Form Factor; 30.5cm x 24.4cm | 1. ATX Form Factor; 30.5cm x 24.4cm |
Price and Availability
Gigabyte hasn’t disclosed yet the manufacturer’s suggested retail price for the new Z170X Gaming 6 motherboard. The board will probably become available in a few weeks’ time.
