Installation
I would like to again thank GIGABYTE for providing the the test bench! If you are reading this review then chances are you have installed atleast one motherboard in your time. I have to admit, while some motherboard manufacturers may have overrun the black/red theme, I believe GIGABYTE’s subtle approach lends itself to a nice looking product!
With the rest of our hardware installed, the setup is coming together nicely! I imagine that matching color themes with other components would make for an impressive display of aesthetics.
BIOS Overview
The UEFI BIOS has been one of the most drastic changes made to the PC in quite some time. And for the most part, the new format has been a welcomed change, especially with the support for mouse input!
The Z97X-SLI has a very nice BIOS layout. There are actually three different interfaces, each with their own visual treatment as well as available options. The first is the Startup Guide has the most basic user interface, with access to the most common options used for setting up a system.
The second BIOS interface is the Standard Mode which has a more familiar layout to the interfaces of the past. Available here are all of the fine tuning and overclocking options a user could hope for in a motherboard of this price range.
The third and final BIOS interface is the High Definition overlay which has the same amount of tweaking options available in a customizable experience. Important system status information is always at the forefront, making diagnostics handy while overclocking and tuning.
Now that we have had the chance to examine the UEFI BIOS, let us move on to the software installation portion of this review.
