Gigabyte G1.Sniper M3 LGA 1155 Micro ATX Motherboard Review
Overclocking Results
Gigabyte Easy Tune 6 Overclocking
X GHz overclock using Gigabyte Easy Tune 6 software
Most modern motherboards include numerous overclocking options for beginners and experienced users. The G1.Sniper M3 provides plenty of options for adjusting CPU and memory voltages, ratios/speeds, and timings. Their 3D BIOS is easy to use to tweak the processor to the user's exact specifications to get the best overclock possible. We opted to use Gigabyte's Easy Tune 6 technology first before moving on to manual overclocking.
To use this feature, we had enabled it in the 3D BIOS. Next, we opened the Easy Tune 6 application in Windows 7 and clicked on the three "quick boost mode" overclocking buttons that automatically overclocked our i5-2500K up to 3.98, 4.22, and 4.47GHz. We confirmed the results using CPU-Z and Cinebench 11.5, and noticed that this micro ATX board worked as advertised by automatically increasing the CPU multiplier and BCLK without adjusting the core voltage or memory timings. This is around a 13.6 percent increase in performance from the i5-2500K's stock speed of 3.3GHz.
Manual overclocking via Gigabyte's UEFI BIOS
Achieved 4.634GHz overclock
During the manual overclocking portion of our review, we went into Gigabyte's 3D BIOS and made the following changes under Advanced Mode before we started overclocking our i5-2500K processor using the i5-2500K 3.3Ghz processor:
- Left BCLK frequency at 100
- Increase CPU Ratio (The math for overclocking our i5-2500K is very simple because we just multiply the BCLK frequency (100) and the CPU Ratio (currently 45) to get the overall CPU speed (4.5GHz)
- Increased CPU voltage to 1.4v
After making the changes above in the 3D BIOS, I began incrementally increasing the CPU ratio to test how far the i5-2500K could go. I continued to increase the CPU ratio to 47x before I we had our first BSOD and system crash. After backing it down a bit, I started to increase the BCLK in 1MHz increments and encountered stability issues right away at 104MHz. I backed it down to 103MHz and was able to get a stable 4.634GHz overclock. This is a 40.4 percent increase over the CPU's stock settings.
| CPU Speed | BCLK | CPU Multiplier | DRAM Frequency | DRAM Timings | CPU Voltage |
| 4.634 GHz | 103 MHz |
45x |
825 MHz | 6-6-6-16 1T | 1.376v |
Detailed Overclocking Results
PC Perspective Upcoming Events
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It would be nice if the comparison was against the ASUS Maximus V Gene. That way we can see two gaming z77 micro atx boards going head to head.
We are looking to have the board in very soon!!
Did you notice any issues with the audio drivers? Creative is notorious for having a bad(unstable) drivers.
Great thing that mATX market seems to be thriving, and not just limited to ultra-low-end budget office mobos.
I definitely like this review and mATX z77. It would be great if we could push it a bit with a faster cpu/gpu config and then we can compare it to some other boards in its class. Not so sure a 5770 is uh, worthy?, either way good rev, def want to see what this board does with a fast kepler gpu and an IB part.
Thanks again!
I'd definitely like to use a higher-end GPU, but we try to evaluate the motherboard exclusively with mid-range hardware to differientate if the added performance comes from the mobo or the other hardware. =)
I don't understand the market for mATX. Who is looking to make a high end gaming build -- possibly with multiple GPUs -- but has to make it in a very small form factor?!
My personal opinion is the micro ATX form factor caters mostly to LAN party gamers and HTPC builders because it is a smaller form factor that can be used in portable, lower-wattage PCs. They aren't typically used for "high end" gaming PCs, but more for gaming systems with single or dual graphics cards that aren't comparable to ATX-size boards with higher-end specs.
Steve - Was there contact between the CNPS12X cooler and video card? Is that why the 5770 was installed in the middle PCI express slot (x4) rather than the top PCI express x16 slot? I ask because I have this motherboard and am thinking of getting the same cooler. Any help would appreciated. Thanks
It says right on the motherboard PCIEX16, 4 and 8 - not 2x16 and 1x8.
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