GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd., a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, today announced the launch of its latest gaming motherboards, the GIGABYTE G1.Sniper Z5S and GIGABYTE G1.Sniper Z5, featuring signature GIGABYTE AMP-UP Audio features with Qualcomm Atheros Killer E2200 networking, deadly looks and awesome performance.

G1-Killer Motherboards: Gaming DNA Built-In
With the launch of GIGABYTE G1.Sniper Z5S and G1.Sniper Z5 motherboards, the GIGABYTE G1.Killer gaming series now spans several price points and market segments, without compromising on the core features and technologies that PC gamers have come to expect from GIGABYTE.

GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd., a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, today announced the launch of its latest gaming motherboard the GIGABYTE G1.Sniper Z87 at Blizzcon 2013, one of the biggest US gaming events of the year. The GIGABYTE G1.Sniper Z87 combines our signature AMP-UP Audio feature set with Killer E2200 networking, gold hardware, ruthless performance and looks that could kill.

"The new G1.Sniper Z87 has PC gaming built-in to its DNA, an utterly compelling choice for any high performance PC built with fragging in mind," commented Henry Kao, Vice President of GIGABYTE Motherboard Business Unit. "It's fantastic to be here as the exclusive motherboard sponsor at Blizzcon 2013, and also have the opportunity to showcase our latest gaming platform to thousands of true hard core gamers."

Kingston Technology Europe Ltd, an affiliate of Kingston Technology Company Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced the release of HyperX T1 Black DDR3 triple-channel memory kits. The new memory kits are designed to meet the performance requirements for the new Intel Core i7-990X chipset and X58-based motherboards and are available in kits of three or six modules and in capacities up to 24GB. Check out the Kingston HyperX 24GB Black T1 demo.

Our new HyperX T1 Black triple-channel kits give enthusiasts the opportunity to combine performance and style into their PC build, said Mark Tekunoff, Senior Technology Manager, Kingston. These high-capacity kits are ideal for the X58 products on the market, especially the new GIGABYTE G1-Killer gaming motherboards.

The third in the G1-Killer series of motherboards by Gigabyte to woo the high-end gamer after G1.Guerrilla and G1.Assassin is the G1.Sniper, an LGA1366 motherboard in the ATX form-factor, based on the Intel X58+ICH10R chipset. The G1.Sniper strikes a middle-ground between the relatively-slim G1.Guerrilla, and the fully/over-loaded G1.Assassin. It packs Creative SB X-Fi CA20K2 hardware audio processor with dedicated memory that the G1.Assassin has; but can accommodate up to three graphics cards for 3-way multi-GPU only. It retains the 8+2 phase VRM of the Guerrilla, and is hence still leaning towards being a force-multiplier for gamers than for overclockers. Rest of the feature set is identical to the Guerrilla. You'll either love or loathe the green+black color scheme and the heatsink that looks like an ammo-clip.

The second motherboard part of Gigabyte's G1-Killer series apart from the recently detailed G1.Guerrilla is the G1.Assassin. Also an LGA1366 motherboard based on the Intel X58 + ICH10R chipset, the G1.Assassin ropes overclockers into the equation. While the Guerrilla has more in for gamers (and support for up to 3 graphics cards in multi-GPU), the Assassin boasts of a strong CPU VRM, an arsenal of overclocker-friendly features, support for up to four graphics cards in 4-way SLI/CrossFireX, while retaining the gamer-appeal. Unlike Guerrilla, Assassin is an XL-ATX motherboard, retaining the same green+black color scheme.

It features the same 16-phase CPU VRM configuration found on the X58A-UD7 (rev 2.0). The four PCI-Express x16 slots are connected directly to the X58 northbridge, apart from one PCI-E x1 and a PCI. USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s are standard features here, too. Like the Guerrilla, it features Bigfoot Killer 2100 hardware NIC. The audio, however, is different. While Guerrilla merely uses an HD audio CODEC backed by X-Fi MB software, Assassin uses an actual CA20K2 processor that can perform hardware mixing over OpenAL in Windows 7 and Vista. The audio processor has its own 64 MB of memory, and the Killer NIC reportedly having 1 GB of DDR2 dedicated memory. A rich array of electrolytic capacitors gives the audio a more natural tone. The Assassin is also expected to have overclocking capabilities on par with the X58A-UD7/UD9 leviathans.

Gigabyte's elusive LGA1366 motherboard part of the company's G1-Killer series of motherboards targeting gamers has finally seen the lens. The socket LGA1366 motherboard by Gigabyte is based on the Intel X58 + ICH10R chipset, and is given the brand name G1.Guerrilla. To quickly run you through its styling, "Guerrilla" strikes a chord with a very "jungle warfare" color-scheme, which is black+green. This seems to be the case with the G1.Guerrilla, which goes close to looking like an NVIDIA desktop board.

The CPU is powered by an 8+2 phase VRM, wired to six DDR3 DIMM slots for triple-channel memory; the northbridge heatsink looks like a modular rifle barrel, and the southbridge heatsink like a 5.56 mm magazine. There are three PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots lending 3-way SLI and CrossFireX support, the usual two-port USB 3.0 + SATA 6 Gb/s duet, but a handful of interesting gamer-specific devices, such as the Killer 2100 hardware NIC, an HD audio CODEC that uses X-Fi MB software but high-grade electrolytic capacitors. The motherboard is out and out a gamers' motherboard. Gigabyte already has motherboards for overclockers which don't look very boutique but do the job, under its existing X58A UD5, UD7, and UD9 models.

Gigabyte's elusive G1-Killer X58 motherboard has quite some task ahead of it, to compete in a nearly-saturated socket LGA1366 motherboard market, including its high-end segment. Merely sporting a black PCB (new and rare for Gigabyte), and an ammo-clip shaped heatsink, and a handful of PCI-E slots isn't going to cut it, well...much. So Gigabyte decided to load the G1-Killer X58 with a Creative X-Fi CA20K2 PCI-Express audio processor, and Bigfoot Networks Killer E2100 network processor with 1 GB of dedicated DDR2 memory.

The CA20K2 from Creative sits at the heart of sound-cards such as the Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium series, X-Fi Titanium HD, and Auzentech X-Fi Forte. It features 128 hardware channels, and handles the audio stack on-chip when applications and games use OpenAL in Windows Vista or Windows 7. Apart from X-Fi regulars such as CMSS-3D and Crystalizer, the CA20K2 gives you EAX 5.0 HD support. The audio processor is backed by Nighicon high-end audio capacitors which can be found in premium sound-cards. The Killer E2100 ASIC is Bigfoot's high-end PCI-Express network processor that can completely offload the network stack from the CPU. The G1-Killer X58 is expected to be unveiled at CES.

As reported last month, Gigabyte has been working on a premium motherboard brand targeted at high-end gaming PCs, rivaling the Republic of Gamers (ROG) series from ASUS and Big Bang/XPower from MSI. One of the first products in this lineup is called "G1-Killer", and as it turns out is a socket LGA1366 motherboard based on the Intel X58 chipset. Gigabyte continues to tease us with new "cutout" pictures of the upcoming product. The latest poster shows a portion of the motherboard revealing the heatsink over the southbridge area, which is shaped like a 5.56 magazine, with even a round sticking out. One can also faintly see the six memory slots, four PCI-Express x16 slots, eight SATA ports (probably six 3 Gb/s and two 6 Gb/s). Said to be unveiled at CES 2011, the G1-Killer range is expected to start at US $299.