When comparing ASUS Z170-A vs Gigabyte LGA 1151 GA-Z170X-Gaming G1, the Slant community recommends ASUS Z170-A for most people. In the question“What are the best Intel LGA 1151 motherboards for gaming?” ASUS Z170-A is ranked 1st while Gigabyte LGA 1151 GA-Z170X-Gaming G1 is ranked 3rd. The most important reason people chose ASUS Z170-A is:
This board supports USB 3.1 type A and C meaning it is pretty future proof as well as versatile due to all of the options USB C connections allow.
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Good USB options
This board supports USB 3.1 type A and C meaning it is pretty future proof as well as versatile due to all of the options USB C connections allow.
Pro Good built in sound
The board supports 7.1 digital surround sound with great clarity, which is great for games that support it as it is can be helpful to gameplay when hearing sounds in certain directions.
Pro Easy to optimize the CPU
The board has a built in optimizing tool that will allow for easy overclocking as well as control for power consumption. It will also allow for auto adjusting of the PCs fans as well as set per app settings. While some may want to do all of this manually, for the uninitiated it is quite easy to click a single button to get better performance out of their setup.
Pro Audio as good as a discrete card
This board has a built in quad core audio processor as well as a high end 127dB DAC. This allows for a 192kHz/24-bit audio signal.
Pro Good USB options
This board supports USB 3.1 type A and C meaning it is pretty future proof as well as versatile due to all of the options USB C connections allow.
Cons
Con Third party tower coolers may not clear RAM
The RAM slots are pretty close to the CPU, which means if you are using or plan on using a third party tower cooler, it may not install due to the RAM positioning.
Con Mounting issues
The I/O shield on the board tends to be in the way, is quite flimsy and also is to be avoided as it can cut your hands. This makes installing the MOBO troublesome and maybe a bit dangerous.
Con Poor software
Starting with the BIOS, it is not very intuitive and takes a lot of poking around in order to learn what all of the features are. On top of this, many error codes are not listed on Gigabytes site or anywhere else, leaving the user guessing when one crops up.
The other issue with software is the bundled apps that work on the desktop, they have memory leaks and are prone to crashing, making for an overall poor experience and support when it comes to the supplied software.
Con Too many shared PCIe lanes
If the user wishes to use two M.2 slots at the same time, this will disable two of the Sata Express ports. So proper planning is required depending on what hardware one wants to use that are PCIe compatible. This can be much time spent on research, which some may not want to invest.