Gigabyte Z270N-Gaming 5 Motherboard Review

1. Introduction2. Gigabyte Z270N-Gaming 5: Packaging and Bundle3. Gigabyte Z270N-Gaming 5: Board Layout and Features4. Gigabyte Z270N-Gaming 5: UEFI5. Gigabyte Z270N-Gaming 5: Software6. Testing Methodology7. Tests: CPU Related8. Tests: Memory Related9. Tests: Gaming Related10. Overclocking & Power Consumption11. Tests: Motherboard Features Performance12. Closing Thoughts13. View All Pages

Intel's Z270 platform reigns supreme for compact mini-ITX motherboard builds. This isn't just because Intel is a clear leader in power efficiency terms, even after AMD's significant leap forward with Ryzen, but also because there is considerably more choice for Intel's mainstream platform.

Motherboard vendors have been releasing mini-ITX motherboards for Intel's Z-Series platforms for many years, enabling mini-ITX to achieve almost mainstream status. Gigabyte's Z270N-Gaming 5 is another example of a motherboard championing the mini-ITX form-factor with a well-rounded combination of connectivity and features that consumers have come to demand from all mid-range and high-end motherboards.

While considerably smaller in stature than ATX equivalents the Z270N-Gaming 5 still manages to pack away USB 3.1, M.2 NVMe, Intel Gigabit and AC Wireless Networking, Realtek ALC1220 audio and a high quality power delivery system.

Gigabyte has shied away from bold colour schemes more recently but the Z270N-Gaming 5 brings back a bold orange and still offers end-user customisation with a fully configurable RGB LED lighting system. There are some other neat touches too like a shielded PCIe lane, up-rated power components, a heat pipe to cool the CPU VRM and a metal rear I/O shield. Build quality is comparable to high-end motherboards of higher price points.

On test today the Gigabyte Z270N-Gaming 5 goes up against mini-ITX rivals such as the MSI Z270i Gaming Pro Carbon AC and ASUS ROG Strix Z270i Gaming.

	Gigabyte Z270N-Gaming 5
Form Factor	mini-ITX, 17cm x 17cm
CPU Socket	LGA 1151, 6+2 phase VRM
Chipset	Intel Z270
Memory	DDR4, 2 DIMMs, up to 32GB, up to 4266MHz+ with OC
Onboard Graphics	Intel HD Graphics (supported CPUs), up to 1024MB of video memory
Discrete Graphics	Single Graphics Card Configurations only
Expansion Slots	1 x PCIe 3.0 16X electrical (wired to CPU)
Storage	4 x SATA III (via PCH) 1 x M.2 SATA (6Gbps) or NVMe PCIe 3.0 X4
USB	2 x USB 2.0 (2 Front, via PCH) 6 x USB 3.0 (4 Rear, 2 Front, via PCH) 2 x USB 3.1 (2 Rear, 1 Type-A, 1 Type-C, via ASM2142)
Networking	1 x Intel I219-V Gigabit LAN Intel Wireless-AC8265 (8265NGW) 2T2R 802.11ac with Bluetooth 4.2 (populates a second M.2 slot)
Audio	Realtek ALC1220-based 7.1 channel HD audio
Fan Headers	3, all support 3/4 pin fans (1 x CPU, 2 x SYS_FAN)
Rear I/O	1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse port 2 x SMA antenna connectors (2T2R) 1 x DisplayPort 1 x HDMI port 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A port (red) 1 x USB Type-C port, with USB 3.1 Gen 2 support 4 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports 1 x RJ-45 port 3 x audio jacks (Line In, Line Out, Mic In)
UEFI	UEFI AMI, 1 x 64Mb Flash

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