One drawback that was obvious right from the start was that I was seeing lower levels of performance running at stock speeds. What I found was that the board only boosts one core up to 4.2GHz, following Intel's specification to the letter. This is something the comparison boards don't quite follow. By that I mean that the comparison boards boost up all the cores rather than just a single core. It is a point of difference at stock speeds that can easily be overcome with the push of a button. Stock performance aside, the board is fully stable and offers a lot of options for the end user. At $169 after rebate from e-tailers, it's tough to look the other way when you have a capable board in your hands. As an added bonus, you can register the Z170X-UD5 and throw your name into the hat for some serious Gigabyte gear.