UPDATE: The FULL REVIEW is now posted here.
Does anyone not know about GIGABYTE’s G1 Killer series motherboards? Well, they returned with the G1 Killer Sniper 2. While the Guerilla, Sniper (1) and Assassin motherboards use the X58 chipset, the Sniper 2 sports a revised Intel Z68 chipset which features Intel Smart Response for users who want extra performance using a 20-64GB SSD and who don’t want to format their systems to get the benefits of an SSD. Besides all that, the G1-Killer series just looks looks darn cool! Click on the video above (or direct on YouTube) for a look at this new board in all its glory!
As you’ve just observed, the new Sniper 2 packs all the weapons and ammo any gamer needs for a full battle experience. It contains an integrated Creative Labs X-Fi 20K2 series audio processor providing a full range of audio features like EAX Advanced HD 5.0, X-Fi Fidelity, X-Fi Crystalizer, X-Fi 3D Headphone, X-Fi 3D Surround and X-Fi 3D Virtual support. Between the front panel amplifiers and Nichicon MUSE ES/MW series capacitor clarity, if your opponents whisper, you’ll hear it!
The Sniper 2 is also cocked, locked and ready to rock the graphics through four PCI Express 2.0 expansion slots (PCIE 3.0 through latest BIOS update) for maximum visibility. AMD CrossfireX fans have four slots at their disposal. And, NVIDIA SLI fans up to three PCIE slots at their call. Basically, if your opponent moves an inch, you’ll see it!
As with any G1 Killer series motherboard, the Bigfoot E2100 network processor’s capabilities ensure maximum bandwidth and connectivity to your favorite servers at all times via the ever useful Bigfoot Network Manager. This useful utility guarantees your game’s network traffic priority incoming and outgoing. It’s really the icing on the cake for the ultimate gaming experience after you’ve done everything else you can to your gaming rig.
Power is important for two more main features. One of which is overclocking which is one of the things the latest Intel Sandy Bridge processors are very good at. There’s an 8-Phase VRM ensuring that the new Driver MOS are supplied with clean power during those mission critical moments. And, if you need some extra frequency, you’ll find those 8-Phases surprisingly agile like we did in the labs, reaching 4.5GHz easily. You’ll be seeing more detail on our overclocking op in the full review very soon.
Pricing of the GIGABYTE G1 Killer Sniper 2 motherboard start at $330 US/CA if you can find one to have air dropped to your location. This is gamer platform will add a huge amount of armament to your next or current gaming system build.