GIGABYTE G1 Assassin X58 Motherboard Review

The Gigabyte G1 Assassin Motherboard

Super Sight, Super Hearing, Super Speed, and Super Shield are the four killer instincts that and true warrior needs. In the middle of battle they all count. These four features are what define the new GIGABYTE G1 Assassin X58 motherboard! If one of these features weren’t up to par, you would be sure to get fragged out in the field of battle! The GIGABYTE G1 Assassin is based on the flagship Intel X58 chipset, and features the latest and greatest features that can be found on a X58 motherboard. GIGABYTE Skipped right past the usual suspects for features and took a shot at the biggest and baddest options out there!

There is very little that the GIGABYTE G1 Assassin isn’t capable of. Let’s take a look at the four killer instincts of the GIGABYTE G1 Assassin. The first, which is Super Sight refers to the graphics card capabilities of the GIGABYTE G1 Assassin. The G1 Assassin will support 4-way CrossFireX and 3-way SLI. This will give your gaming rig the vision it needs to see the enemy before he sees you! This is ever so important in battle! The GIGABYTE G1 Assassin has two PCI Express X16 slots running at X16 and two at X8. If all four PCIe X16 slots are filled that will all operate at X8.

Super hearing is another of the killer instincts of the GIGABYTE G1 Assassin. GIGABYTE has incorporated an Creative Soundblaster X-Fi digital audio processor (20K2) onto the GIGABYTE G1 Assassin! Because hearing you enemy before he hears you is just as important as seeing him. The Creative Soundblaster X-Fi digital audio processor has features like EAX Advanced Hi-Def, Dolby Digital Live and DTS connect.

The Super Speed killer instinct will give you the speed you need when you need it. Along with the onboard Creative Soundblaster X-Fi, GIGABYTE has incorporated the latest gaming network card on the the G1 Killer series of motherboards. The Bigfoot Networks Killer E2100 Game Networking platform features a dedicated network processor and 1Gb of dedicated DDR2 RAM, this will free up your Intel Core i7 processor so you can take out your enemies as fast as you can. If you need a little speed boost in the middle of your latest frag fest, GIGABYTE has you covered. They supplied a front access control panel with a simple to use overclocking feature! Simply depress the OC button and the GIGABYTE G1 Killer series will automatically overclock your system on the fly! It may not be a record setting overclock, but it may be just enough to get the edge in the battle! GIGABYTE has also incorporated the latest SATA 3.0 (6Gbps) and USB 3.0 technology onto the G1 Assassin.

Staying cool in battle is a must. In order to do that, GIGABYTE has armed the GIGABYTE G1 Killer motherboards with the Super Shield killer instinct! The Super Shield Killer Instinct features custom coolers throughout the G1 Assassin. There is a grand total of five smart fan connectors, and of course the GIGABYTE G1 Killer series is using GIGABYTE Ultra Durable 3 technology. Power delivery is always a big deal for enthusiast level motherboards. GIGABYTE hasn’t failed to deliver, the power. The GIGABYTE G1 Killer motherboards features dual 8-pin CPU power, driver MOSFETs, and 16 phases to keep your Intel Core i7 processor from getting thirsty for power.

GIGABYTE G1-Killer Instinct Features

Super Sight	Super Hearing	Super Speed	Super Shield
4-way CrossFireX and 3-SLI	Onboard Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Digital Audio Processor (20K2)	Bigfoot Networks Killer E2100 Game Networking Platform	Locked and Loaded Heatpipe Design
	X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity	Front Access Control Panel with OC button	5 Smart Fan Connectors
	EAX AHD 5.0	SATA 3.0 (6Gbps), USB 3.0 and 3x USB Power	GIGABYTE Ultra Durable 3
	Dolby Digital Live		Maximum CPU Power Delivery
	DTS Connect		Dual CPU Power
	Front Audio Headphone Amplifier		Driver MOSFETs
	Nichicon High-end Audio Capacitors

If you like to see all of the the specifications for the GIGABYTE G1.SNIPER2 in particular, we have you covered.

GIGABYTE G1 Assassin Specifications

CPU	Support for an Intel Core i7 series processor in the LGA1366 package L3 cache varies with CPU
QPI	4.8GT/s, 6.4GT/s
Chipset	North Bridge: Intel X58 Express Chipset South Bridge: Intel ICH10R
Memory	6 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM sockets supporting up to 24 GB of system memory 3/Dual channel memory architecture Support for DDR3 2200/1333/1066/800 MHz memory modules Support for non-ECC memory modules Support for Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) memory modules
Audio	1 x Creative CA20K2 chip High Definition Audio 2/4/5.1/7.1-channel Support for Dolby Digital Live/DTS Neo:PC/DTS Interactive Support for S/PDIF Out
LAN	1 x Bigfoot Killer E2100 chip (10/100/1000 Mbit)
Expansion Slots	2 x PCI Express x16 slots, running at x16 (PCIEX16_1, PCIEX16_2) 2 x PCI Express x16 slots, running at x8 (PCIEX8_1, PCIEX8_2) 2 x PCI Express x1 slots 1 x PCI slot
Multi-Graphics Technology	Support for 3-Way/2-Way NVIDIA SLI technology and 4-Way/3-Way/2-Way ATI CrossFireX technology
Storage Interface	South Bridge: 6 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors (SATA2_0~SATA2_5) supporting up to 6 SATA 3Gb/s devices Support for SATA RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10 Marvell 88SE9182: 2 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (GSATA3_6, GSATA3_7) supporting up to 2 SATA 6Gb/s devices Support for SATA RAID 0 and RAID 1
USB	South Bridge: Up to 8 USB 2.0/1.1 ports (4 on the back panel, 4 via the USB brackets connected to the internal USB headers) 1 x Renesas D720200 chip and 2 x VLI VL810 hubs: Up to 8 USB 3.0/2.0 ports (4 on the back panel, 4 via the USB brackets connected to the internal USB headers)
Internal I/O Connectors	1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector 2 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connectors 2 x 4-pin PCIe 12V power connectors 2 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors 6 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors 1 x CPU fan header 1 x system fan header 3 x fan headers 1 x front panel header 1 x front panel audio header 1 x S/PDIF Out header 2 x USB 2.0/1.1 headers 2 x USB 3.0/2.0 headers 1 x clearing CMOS jumper 1 x Quick Boost button header 1 x heatsink LED power connector
Back Panel Connectors	1 x PS/2 keyboard port 1 x PS/2 mouse port 1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector 1 x coaxial S/PDIF Out connector 4 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports 4 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports 1 x RJ-45 port 5 x audio jacks (Center/Subwoofer Speaker Out, Rear Speaker Out, Side Speaker Out, Line In/Mic In, Line Out)
I/O Controller	iTE IT8720 chip
H/W Monitoring	System voltage detection CPU/System temperature detection CPU/System fan speed detection CPU overheating warning CPU/System fan fail warning CPU/System fan speed control
BIOS	2 x 16 Mbit flash Use of licensed AWARD BIOS Support for DualBIOS PnP 1.0a, DMI 2.0, SM BIOS 2.4, ACPI 1.0b
Unique Features	Support for @BIOS Support for Q-Flash Support for Xpress BIOS Rescue Support for Download Center Support for Xpress Install Support for Xpress Recovery2 Support for EasyTune Support for Dynamic Energy Saver 2 Support for Smart 6 Support for Auto Green Support for eXtreme Hard Drive (X.H.D) Support for ON/OFF Charge Support for Cloud OC Support for Q-Share
Bundle Software	Norton Internet Security (OEM version)
Operating System	Support for Microsoft Windows 7/Vista/XP
Form Factor	XL-ATX Form Factor; 34.5cm x 26.3cm

Now that you know all there is to know about the GIGABYTE G1 Assassin, we can take a look at what comes along with the GIGABYTE G1 Assassin inside the box on the next page!