Power Consumption

We measure CPU power consumption since one of our first tasks is to truly verify system stability. I isolate the power coming through the 8-pin ATX connector using an in-line meter that provides voltage and current readings, and total wattage passed through. While this may not prove to isolate the CPU power draw in all instances, it does serve as a good indicator of board efficiency and effective VRM design. Total system power consumption is no longer reported as this figure can change depending on what VGA is installed. The sole board-only power measurements possible without physically modifying a motherboard are those taken via the 8-pin CPU connector, making it the only figure of value worth reporting. I use wPrime with eight threads selected in its options since it provides a consistently high workload throughout the full length of the test and runs long enough for the VRM and CPU to produce a fair bit of heat. Most average workloads will draw far less than that, although distributed computing applications are quite similar. This is not supposed to test stability since I use several other applications to do so, but merely serves to provide repeatable power draw numbers anyone can replicate. The meter used is an off-the-shelf Zalman unit that has been on the market for some time. In my test environment, it provides results similar to a FLUKE 337 clamp meter.


Power Consumption results are as expected given the Gigabyte Z170X-Gaming G1's design. These results could be better, but are not bad.

Fan Control

*Actual fan minimum dependent on installed fan


Fan control is another area that left me with a bitter taste in my mouth. There are several different ways for you to control your fans, including by BIOS and software, but the provided options are quite limited.


I also found that the "SIV" software that manages fan controls did not remember the profiles I created, so I had to adjust the fan controls after each boot. For a $500 US board, I expect better, especially given many boards priced at less than half the cost offer some pretty amazing fan-control options.