Question 1

Hey! I was wondering what Heatsink fan or water-cooling sytem I should use with this motherboard?

Accepted Answer

I purchased an i5 4670k with this mobo, I use a Hyper 212 EVO cooler with an extra fan and my temps are very low! Best cooler for that price range!

Question 2

would this motherboard be good for building a gaming computer?

Accepted Answer

I guess that depends; I am only using 1 video card with it, 660ti, and I can say it's way better than the x79/ SB-E unit it replaces, as that platform was always inherently unstable. Still, that platform offered far more PCI-e bandwith, so if you were thinking SLI or Crossfire, with multiple monitors, you may have to use x79. For everything else, it is the best I've had thus far, and a great board at this price point

Question 3

Will this work with Windows 8?

Accepted Answer

Yes, on a couple of conditions:

Update the bios to F7.
Use only a approved memory modules.  Check the Gigabyte site for a module listing.
Be very careful installing the CPU in the socket.  Socket pins are very easy to bend.

Hope it helps.

Question 4

What if i use the free ram come with it(1866) and install another ram which is 2400, will it work well?

Accepted Answer

The higher-clocked RAM will run at 1866 speed instead of 2400, since all motherboards default to the lowest common denominator when dealing with RAM of different speeds. There's really no difference in any applications between 1866 and 2400 MHz RAM, so I would just save the money and buy a kit that matches the free one. Or you can overclock the 1866 MHz RAM to run at 2400 MHz speeds, but you'll have to do some manual testing and tweaking to make sure it's stable.

Good luck in whatever you decide!

Question 5

Is this compatible with the Asus HD770-DC-1GBD5-V2 AMD Radeon HD 7770 Video Card?

Accepted Answer

Pci express 3.o is backwards compatible.  So, yes. But why would you want to. The gpu on the cpu is faster than that old video card, even on an i3.

Question 6

So i'm pretty set on this MOBO...my only thing is which RAM speed would be best suited for this board?? I've decided on an 8GB machine, I plan on ocasionally gaming and watching movies (Media Center). this is what i have going on the board in the near future
-Intel i7-4770K (plan on over clocking ONLY if i feel the need)
-RAM: ???
-128GB SSD Samsung
-NVidia GeForce GTX770

any guidance would help tremendously...my first build

Accepted Answer

I went with 8gb of corsair sport ballistix with my 4670k, but to be honest, unless you are quite intent on overclocking, you're better off saving the money off a z87 motherboard, and getting an h87 and a non k cpu, but I would really encourage overclocking from the start as with this board I found it super easy. Just know that you will want an aftermarket cooler before you overclock, which, along with the z87 motherboard and k series cpu are things you could save money on of not intent on overclocking.

Question 7

Does this come with onboard video?
I see it has DVI, VGA and HDMI outputs.
Would it be possible to hookup 3 different monitors to those outputs and have them all be separate, independent screens?
Thanks!

Accepted Answer

The board definitely has DVI, VGA, and HDMI. It also has a Display Port... but I wouldn't recommend trying to run that many monitors off of the internal video alone. It only has, at max, 1GB of shared memory to give to all of the outputs, so if you did try to hook up a lot of monitors to the outputs, you'd probably get a lot of slowdown. It'd be stressful on the internal video to say the least. If you want to go for a multi-monitor setup, I'd highly recommend purchasing a decent graphics card. For 3 monitors, I'd focus on getting a newer card that has the highest available memory that fits within your budget.

Now, if you haven't purchased this board already, I'll give you a word of warning. While this board says that it natively supports DDR3 1600 memory, I can confirm that is not entirely true. During my build with this motherboard, I installed RAM sticks into all four RAM slots, each stick exactly identical and running at 1600. I was getting a bluescreen every 5 minutes. Even with every single driver installed correctly, the computer was guaranteed to deliver a bluescreen in under an hour. I went into the BIOS and tweaked the speed down on all four sticks. This system has been relatively stable at 1333... but man, it really sucks when you buy 1600 with plans to overclock it and find out that the mobo is too finicky to even run it normally.

I'd personally recommend looking into an ASUS board with similar features. I used to trust Gigabyte on their brand name greatly, but my recent experience with this board makes me skeptical to trying another one in the future.

Hope this helps!

Question 8

I have a KVM switch/USB3 port issue.  The board has only USB3 rear ports.  I have the ports set up for legacy in the BIOS, but the board will not  recognize my KYBD or mouse when connected through my KVM switch via USB.  Will recognize them when connected directly, but that won't work for my setup.  I have the F5 BIOS. Would a BIOS update help?  Anyone know a work-around for this?

Accepted Answer

I had an old 5.25 to 3.5 bay adapter that had a pair of USB2 ports in it, so I hooked those to an on-board USB2 port.  That allowed that KVM Switch KYBD/mouse to work.  
Not a driver problem  since this occurs at post before drivers are loaded with the OS.  
I did find a Startceh USB2 rear plate on Newegg and have it on order, since I don't want to have my KVM switch connected to the front of the box.
I will install the plate when it arrives and then load an OS and BIOS updates.
Still don't get why the front USB3 ports wouldn't work when I connected them using the 3 to 2 adapter cable that came with the case.  
Thanks for all the help.  Will update my review when I manage to get up with an OS.

Question 9

What can you guys recommmend for a power supply for this board? I may use this for some moderate gaming but mostly just downloading , surfing, and converting files. I'm a little  confused what to look for when filtering my results...atx? 12v? 24 pin? Which is compatible with this board?

Accepted Answer

What video card do you plan on getting? If you're just doing some moderate gaming with some slight overclock, then I recommend a 550W would be more than enough. If you want a nice buffer in case of future upgrades, then a 650W would be more than enough. Most motherboards have a 24 pin connector for the motherboard so you're safe. Just make sure to pick a quality brand power supply and not something that's super cheap. Make sure the power supply is 80 Plus rated.

Question 10

So i want to get this mobo, but the ram i want to get has 1.65 volts but the mobo is at 1.5 volts. will the ram just run with 1.5v and possibly slow down? its ddr3 2400. will something go wrong physically between the mobo or ram? can i just ramp up the volts or slow down the volts in the computer once everything is up and running? or should i just look for ram that has 1.5v to avoid any problems? i found one but 1883 or something and it costs more.

Accepted Answer

I use kingston hyper x blue 1866mhz ram with no problems. U could probably be alright as long as board supports higher mhz. U will have to manually set timings and voltage in bios.

Questions & Answers