Question Gigabyte Z690 Gaming X DDR4 Versions ??

[kenwood850]

The Gigabyte Z690 Gaming X DDR4 has been made available in three different versions, V1 rev1.0, V1 rev1.1, and V2 rev1.0. Can anyone direct me to a Gigabyte source or URL that spells out the difference between these three revisions? I have been unable to locate one.


Is there any way to tell the difference from looking at the box which version is inside?

 

[Lutfij]

It won't be spelling out, per se, you will need to place the PCB's of all three side by side and then flux between the images to notice if and where a component or capacitor is missing on the latter revision boards;
https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/Z690-GAMING-X-DDR4-rev-10#kf

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/Z690-GAMING-X-DDR4-rev-11#kf

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/Z690-GAMING-X-DDR4-V2-rev-10#kf

Is there any way to tell the difference from looking at the box which version is inside?
You could look at the sticker on the side of the motherboard box, where the barcode resides.

 

[kenwood850]

Considering that 40% of the board is covered in heatsinks so you cannot see all the components, it is probably not worth the effort to try that approach. Even if you did compare images and find a difference, what then? How do you know what the difference means?

In thinking about it some more, I guess it doesn’t really matter if I know what the differences are. I am sure Gigabyte had a good reason to go through the trouble of changing production and issuing a revision. The real problem is how do you go about ordering a board and be sure you are getting the latest revision so as to avoid a potential problem down the road that was addressed by the revision?

Vendors do not include the version and revision of the board they are selling in their description. Even worse, many vendors make it very difficult, if not impossible, to find out by asking before you order. I guess you could order a board from a vendor that has free returns, and return it if it is not the latest. That however is not really fair to the vendor. On the other hand, perhaps it will give vendors a reason to indicate in the future which version they are selling in the description.

It would really help if everyone was more up front about it from Gigabyte on down.

That being said, thanks for going through the trouble of replying and providing the images.

 

[DRagor]

Head to head comparison of specs shows zero difference between them so most likely it is just a different PCB layout - in other words it should not matter at all which revision you get.

 

[kenwood850]

The question is, if it is only a change in PCB layout, what was the reason for the change in the PCB layout?

If a for profit organization expends funds to make a change, there has to be a reason. This is particularly true if in making that change, you add a revision number to make it easily identifiable to support which board the customer is calling about. The fact that in this case they not only called it a revision, but labeled it a new version only emphasizes the importance of the change. I do not think they would call it a new version simply because they moved a component a few millimeters or rerouted a trace.

Lastly, I would not expect the specs to change. They are not coming out with a new board, only making changes to an existing board, perhaps because the original board did not meet all the specs, or had some short coming that created a lot of support issues.

Simply put, I think it could easily matter, and I would like to know what the differences are before making a purchase where the vendor does not specify which board they are offering.

 

[kenwood850]

Is there anyone who can help me with Lutfij’s earlier suggestion that I might identify the version and revision of Gigabyte’s Z690 Gaming X DDR4 MB by looking “…. at the sticker on the side of the motherboard box, where the barcode resides”? Is it actually a statement of V/Rev. or is it simply a UPC code that you need to correlate to obtain that information. If the latter, does anyone have the UPC code for V2 Rev 1.0?