Gigabyte X99 SOC Force Motherboard Unveiled

Gigabyte has just unveiled their X99 SOC Force Motherboard, which is actually the second X99 motherboard that they have previewed this month. The X99 Gaming WiFi board was previewed last week! What that board was focused more towards gamers the X99 SOC Force is aimed at high-end overclockers and features a variety of features.

Gigabyte X99 SOC Force Motherboard

The X99 SOC Force will be the flagship motherboard in Gigabyte’s overclocking series of motherboards. It features the orange and black color scheme that Gigabyte has used in their overclocking motherboards in the past. There are three large heatsinks on the motherboard and they are interconnected by a large heatpipe.

The X99 SOC Force will feature Intel’s LGA 2011-3 socket, which supports Intel’s upcoming Haswell-E HEDT processors. There are four DDR4 DIMM slots on each side of the CPU socket for quad channel memory operation. Power to the CPU comes by way of an 8pin EPS connector and this board makes use of Gigabyte’s Ultra Durable design that features high-quality components.

Gigabyte has used their Ultra Durable design across their X99 motherboards which make use of the industry leading PowIRstage controllers from International Rectifier. These 100% digital controllers offer enhanced precision in delivering power to the motherboard’s power hungry and energy sensitive components. The PowerIR stage ICs used on the Gigabyte X99 SOC Force have the highest rating of 40A with lower losses, excellent thermal management and higher efficiency. The new DirectFET technology helps save motherboard space and less electrical leakage as compared to MCM packages (Multi-Chip Module).

The X99 SOC Force is the first HEDT motherboard to make use of the OC panel. The OC Panel features several components along side the motherboard, the features of the OC Panel include:

– OC PCIe Swtich (Manually turn on or off each installed PCIe lane of the motherboard).
– OC DIMM Switch (Manually turn on or off each channel of installed memory DIMM)
– OC Brace (It allows extreme overclockers and system testers to safely install upto four graphics cards in an open case or test bed without risking PCIe slot damage)
– OC Ignition (Maintains power to your motherboard and connected components while the system is shut down. This means that the system fans will continue to provide airflow in cold bug situations, while i-ram drive users will not lose installed data. It allows users to also test water cooling setups and allows case mod demonstrations without having to turn on the PC).
– OC Tag (Load your customized settings at the touch of a button)
– OC Turbo (One touch overclocking button automatically loads the most optimized Gigabyte overclocking configuration for your processor and memory)
– OC Connect (Positions two USB connectors on the near side of the motherboard facing the overclocker. This makes it easier to save date, flash the BIOS or install software in open bench testing platforms.)
– OC PEG (Adds Auxiliary power to the PCIe slots of your motherboard, improving system stability in extreme configurations.)
– OC Gear BCLK Steppings
– Power Button
– 80 Port Debug Display
– CPU Ratio +/- Buttons
– BCKL Ratio +/- Buttons
– Restart Switch
– Gigabyte Memory Safe (Reduces DDR4 module timing to eliminate memory comparability issues)
– Direct To BIOS Switch (Enter BIOS menu instantly after reboot without hitting the ‘DEL’ button)
– Gigabyte Settings Lock (Automatically remember your last successful settings, even after clearing CMOS)
– Single BIOS Mode Switch (User can select which BIOS they want to use.)
– Dual BIOS Switch (Enable or Disable Gigabyte DualBIOS)
– OC Trigger Switch (Jump between low and extremely high frequencies in an instant).
– Onboard Voltage Measurement Module
– Clear CMOS (Clear CMOS settings without losing your pre-configured profiles)

When it comes to expansion you have four PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots for 4-way SLI and Crossfire setups. There is also three PCI-Express 3.0 x1 slots and a single M.2 SSD interface. For storage you have 9 SATA 6GB/s ports and two SATA Express ports. There is also a USB 3.0 header at the bottom of the board. We have also spotted the AMP-UP audio design with an orange line that shows the PCB isolation. Since the I/O ports are not shown we do not know that much information on them at this time.

Expect to see this motherboard launch when Haswell-E drops.

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