Compromises at the present means spending big in the future

Sep 9, 2015 08:12 GMT  ·  By

Want to buy yourself the latest Skylake CPU but you don't want to spend some extra precious cash on some DDR4 memory kit? Well, Gygabite's got you covered.

The latest Gigabyte motherboard helps your better spread your upgrade budget, and to help you prioritize spendings on more important components like processor or the graphics card. H170-Gaming 3 DDR3 is built in the ATX form-factor, taking in power from 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS power connectors. It uses a 7-phase VRM to condition power to the CPU. The CPU is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, and one PCI-Express 3.0 x16.

Extra expansion slots will include a PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (electrical gen 3.0 x4, wired to the PCH), and two PCIe 3.0 x1, AMD Crossfire dedicated, and legacy PCI. Storage-wise, it takes a lot of cues from the Z170 and it includes two M.2 32 Gb/s slots, two SATA-Express 16 Gb/s, and six SATA 6 Gb/s. The USB connectivity includes eight USB 3.0 ports (four on the rear panel, four by headers) while the display outputs include one each of HDMI, DVI, and D-Sub.

Good budget solution now, but a major issue in a very near future

The integrated audio solution combines a 115 dBA SNR 8-channel CODEC with ground-layer isolation, audio-grade capacitors, and a user-replaceable OPAMP chip while networking is provided by a Killer E2200 NIC.

The funny part is that it still has PCI and PS/2 ports although it's amazing how much of the latest technology still retains lots of retroactive features for older PCI soundcards. Yet, price-wise, it still provides a good bargain for access to Skylake processing power.

However, if the user wants to finally upgrade to the DDR4 standard, he'll have to buy a new motherboard, AND new memory kits in order to switch. Since the DDR4 is the new standard, it's clear that budget solutions like these are good enough for the moment but will become obsolete in a very short time.

Apparently, the price for this device is around $100-$120 (€107).

H170-Gaming 3 DDR3 (4 Images)

H170-Gaming 3 D3 is your budget-friendly Skylake upgrade
H170-Gaming 3 D3H170-Gaming 3 D3
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