GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-Gaming 3 Intel motherboard

Intel Z97 ATX motherboard for LGA1150 CPUs

The GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-Gaming 3 is an ATX motherboard built on the Intel Z97 Express chipset for LGA1150 processors. It supports 4th and 5th Generation Intel Core i7, i5 and i3 CPUs in a standard ATX form factor. The board provides four DDR3 DIMM slots running in dual-channel mode with a maximum capacity of 32 GB. It is aimed at enthusiasts building a gaming system around these Haswell or Broadwell generation processors.

Suits builders keeping an LGA1150 platform.

This board fits users who already own a compatible LGA1150 processor and want Z97 overclocking features, Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi MB3 audio with LED path lighting, and a Killer E2200 networking platform. It also delivers SATA Express and an M.2 slot each capable of 10 Gb/s transfer rates, plus three PCI Express x16 slots for multi-GPU CrossFire configurations. Builders who require a different CPU socket, more than 32 GB of system memory, or a smaller form factor should consider other options.

Four DDR3 slots with 32 GB maximum capacity

The memory subsystem tops out at 32 GB across four slots, so the total RAM ceiling is the decisive specification for capacity planning. Supported DDR3 speeds include a long list of overclocked frequencies from 3200 down to 1333 MT/s, all running in dual-channel mode with non-ECC modules. If your workload demands more than 32 GB of memory, this motherboard cannot accommodate it.