Skylake is arguably one of the most anticipated processors of the year and not for the obvious reasons. As many hardware sites have shown the new LGA1151 processor isn't much faster than Haswell and requires that you upgrade your entire system due to the DDR4 memory requirement and new CPU package. No, the processor is anticipated because of the Z170 chipset and the features it brings to the table. Alternatively you can also consider how US based hardware enthusiasts were anxiously awaiting for Core i7 6700K processors that, somehow, were in short supply in North America.

In this review we will be looking at the Gigabyte Z170X UD5 motherboard built on the new LGA 1151 Skylake processor. Those of you familiar with the Gigabyte Ultra Durable series will recognize the UD5 as being a mid-range mainstream product designed to fill the gap between specialized boards like the G1 and SOC and the lower in products designed for OEMs and business professionals.