Introduction and Technical Specifications

GIGABYTE sought to design an extreme overclocking friendly motherboard with the X99-SOC Champion, combining aesthetics and design prowess for superior performance…

Introduction

Courtesy of GIGABYTE

The X99-SOC Champion is GIGABYTE's Intel X99-based answer for the extreme overclocking crowd, over-engineered to take the abuse that extreme overclockers punish their boards with. The board supports all Intel LGA2011-3 based processors paired with DDR4 memory in up to a quad channel configuration. As a member of their Overclocking series of boards, the X99-SOC Champion board enjoys the series-specific orange and black aesthetics. With an MSRP of $299.99, the board remains an approachable product for most enthusiasts.

Courtesy of GIGABYTE

Courtesy of GIGABYTE

Courtesy of GIGABYTE

GIGABYTE designed the X99-SOC Champion with overclockers in mind, starting with its 8+4-phase digital power system. Its power circuity was built using International Rectifier Gen 4 digital PWM controllers and Gen 3 PowIRstage controllers, Cooper Bussmann Server Level chokes, and long life Durable Black Solid capacitors. Overclocker-friendly features include a CPU Mode switch, enabling enhanced voltage settings for the processor, the OC Trigger switch specifically for LN2-based overclocking, and a plethora of on board voltage measurement points.

Continue reading our review of the GIGABYTE X99-SOC Champion motherboard! 

Courtesy of GIGABYTE

GIGABYTE integrated the following features into the X99-SOC Champion motherboard : eight SATA 3 ports; one SATA-Express port; one M.2 PCIe x4 capable port; an Intel i218V Gigabit NIC; four PCI-Express x16 slot; three PCI-Express x1 slots; 2-digit diagnostic LED display; on-board power, reset, and CMOS clear buttons; CPU Mode, OC Trigger, Dual-BIOS, and active BIOS switches; integrated voltage measurement points; and USB 2.0 and 3.0 port support.

Courtesy of GIGABYTE

Technical Specifications (taken from the GIGABYTE website)

CPU Support for Intel® Core™ i7 processors in the LGA2011-3 package
L3 cache varies with CPU

(Please refer "CPU Support List" for more information.)
Chipset Intel® X99 Express Chipset
Memory 4 x DDR4 DIMM sockets supporting up to 32 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.
4 channel memory architecture
Support for DDR4 3400(O.C.)* / 3333(O.C.) / 3200(O.C.) / 3000(O.C.) / 2800(O.C.) / 2666(O.C.) / 2400(O.C.) / 2133 MHz memory modules
Support for non-ECC memory modules
Support for Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) memory modules
Support for RDIMM 1Rx8 memory modules (operates in non-ECC mode)

* Note : For DDR4 XMP 3400MHz, please update BIOS to the latest version.
** Please refer "Memory Support List" for more information.
Audio Realtek® ALC1150 codec
High Definition Audio
2/4/5.1/7.1-channel
Support for S/PDIF Out
LAN Intel® GbE LAN chip (10/100/1000 Mbit)
Expansion Slots 2 x PCI Express x16 slots, running at x16 (PCIE_1,PCIE_2)
* For optimum performance, if only one PCI Express graphics card is to be installed, be sure to install it in the PCIE_1 slot; if you are installing two PCI Express graphics cards, it is recommended that you install them in the PCIE_1 and PCIE_2 slots.

2 x PCI Express x16 slots, running at x8 (PCIE_3,PCIE_4)
* The PCIE_4 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIE_1 slot. When the PCIE_4 slot is populated, the PCIE_1 slot will operate at up to x8 mode.
* When an i7-5820K CPU is installed, the PCIE_2 slot operates at up to x8 mode and the PCIE_3 operates at up to x4 mode.
(All PCI Express x16 slots conform to PCI Express 3.0 standard.)


3 x PCI Express x1 slots
(All PCI Express x1 slots conform to PCI Express 2.0 standard.)
Multi-Graphics Technology Support for 4-Way/3-Way/2-Way AMD CrossFire™/NVIDIA® SLI™ technology

* The 4-Way NVIDIA® SLI™ configuration is not supported when an i7-5820K CPU is installed. To set up a 3-Way SLI configuration, refer to "1-6 Setting up AMD CrossFire™/NVIDIA® SLI™ Configuration."
Storage Interface Chipset:
1 x M.2 PCIe connector
(Socket 3, M key, type 2242/2260/2280 PCIe x4x2/x1 SSD support)
* Support for M.2 PCIe SSDs only.

1 x SATA Express connector
6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (SATA3 0~5)
Support for RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10
* Only AHCI mode is supported when an M.2 PCIe SSD or a SATA Express device is installed.
(M2_20G and SATA Express connectors can only be used one at a time. The SATA Express connector becomes unavailable when an M.2 SSD is installed, but the SATA3 4/5 connectors are still functional.)

4 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (sSATA3 0~3), supporting IDE and AHCI modes only
(An operating system installed on the SATA3 0~5 ports cannot be used on the sSATA 0~3 ports.)
USB Chipset:
2 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports available through the internal USB header
8 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports (4 ports on the back panel, 4 ports available through the internal USB headers)

Chipset + Renesas® uPD720210 USB 3.0 Hub:
4 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports on the back panel
Internal I/O Connectors 1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector
1 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector
1 x 4-pin ATX 12V power connector
1 x OC PEG Power Connector
1 x SATA Express connector
10 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
1 x M.2 Socket 3 connector
1 x CPU fan header
1 x water cooling fan header (CPU_OPT)
3 x system fan headers
1 x Thunderbolt™ add-in card connector
1 x OC Panel connector (for future expansion)
1 x front panel header
1 x front panel audio header
1 x S/PDIF Out header
1 x USB 3.0/2.0 header
2 x USB 2.0/1.1 headers
1 x serial port header
1 x Clear CMOS jumper
1 x power button
1 x reset button
1 x Clear CMOS button
1 x CPU mode switch
1 x OC Trigger switch
1 x DualBIOS switch
1 x BIOS switch
Voltage Measurement Points
Back Panel Connectors 1 x PS/2 keyboard port
1 x PS/2 mouse port
4 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports
4 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports
1 x RJ-45 port
1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector
5 x audio jacks (Center/Subwoofer Speaker Out, Rear Speaker Out, Line In, Line Out, Mic In)
I/O Controller iTE I/O Controller Chip
H/W Monitoring System voltage detection
CPU/System/Chipset temperature detection
CPU/CPU OPT/System fan speed detection
CPU/System/Chipset overheating warning
CPU/CPU OPT/System fan fail warning
CPU/CPU OPT/System fan speed control
* Whether the fan speed control function is supported will depend on the cooler you install.
BIOS 2 x 128 Mbit flash
Use of licensed AMI UEFI BIOS
Support for DualBIOS™
PnP 1.0a, DMI 2.7, WfM 2.0, SM BIOS 2.7, ACPI 5.0
Unique Features Support for APP Center
* Available applications in APP Center may differ by motherboard model. Supported functions of each application may also differ depending on motherboard specifications.
  • @BIOS
  • Ambient LED
  • EasyTune
  • EZ Setup
  • Fast Boot
  • Cloud Station
  • ON/OFF Charge
  • Smart TimeLock
  • Smart Recovery 2
  • System Information Viewer
  • USB Blocker
  • V-Tuner
Support for Q-Flash
Support for Smart Switch
Support for Xpress Install
Bundle Software Norton® Internet Security (OEM version)
Intel® Smart Response Technology
cFosSpeed
Operating System Support for Windows 8.1/8/7
Form Factor E-ATX Form Factor; 30.5cm x 26.4cm

 

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