Board Software

There is a huge software package included with the Gigabyte Z170X-GAming G1, and most of it begins with Gigabyte's App Center. It is the interface through which all the other board-based tools are launched.


We have a tool for onscreen display while running 3D applications, a tool to flash your BIOS, a tool to control the board's LEDs, and a board for adjusting the power-saving settings.


There's a tool to enable or disable USB functionality, a tool for cloud management, and a tool to access most of the BIOS settings, like voltages and such, called EasyTune. I had hoped EasyTune would be more functional this time around given the fancy new look, but unfortunately, all it really did was crash my system when I tried to make changes.


There's a tool for easy RAID set-up, one to boot right into BIOS and adjust Fast Boot features, a tool for home-based cloud management, a tool for board changes via your smart phone, which is useless to people like me who won't use a smart phone, and a tool for you to enable or disable platform power management.


Continuing on, we have a tool for viewing system information and adjusting fan profiles, a tool for backing up your data, a tool to enable keyboard-based commands for the BIOS, and a time-based tool to control when the system works, or not.


We see the return of the Killer Network Manager here (no Intel LAN connections!), a tool for the Creative CODEC, and finally, Intel's own XTU utility for overclocking, benchmarking, and those sorts of things.

All in all, a hefty amount of software. Be that as it may, many of these tools feel rather redundant to me, with simply single buttons offered. I understand that such an approach may make these tools most functional to users who only like to use specific parts of the platform, but when you have things like ASUS' AI Suite to compare to, Gigabyte's software options are another place where I find they should spend some time on improving things. Obviously, Gigabyte is confident that what they provide is more than adequate, but I do not agree. SIV doesn't work fan profiles right and EasyTune's auto-clocking is downright abysmal, but boy, do they look pretty!