Gigabyte P67A-UD7 Review
Conclusion
Published: 14th January 2011 | Source: Gigabyte | Price: £276 |
Conclusion
It wont surprise anyone to discover that here at OC3D we're very high on the Gigabyte P67A-UD7.
Let's start with the obvious. It's a stunner. We just don't tire of looking at it and can't imagine that you do either. Although black and gold initially gives us bad nightmares of kitsch 80s things, it's done so tastefully here that we wonder how on earth it ever fell out of fashion. If it's good enough for a Formula One team, it's good enough for us.
It would be, especially in these "all about the bling" times, to have gone wild with the gold and perhaps made all the heatsinks gold against a black circuit board backdrop, but Gigabyte have shown that they have finally cast of the shackles of their history and can really bring a classy looking, tastefully designed, motherboard to the table.
The inclusion of all black slots across the board really deserves highlighting. How often have we, as enthusiasts, brought a board that clearly would only ever be purchased by the geeks in the audience, and found it's almost patronising in its paint-by-numbers slot colourings? Maximum kudos to Gigabyte for treating us like we have half a brain which allows them to really focus on the aesthetic.
However this is by no means a Paris Hilton board though, all looks and absolutely no redeeming qualities. No Sir. This has as much go as it does show.
Overclocking is an absolute breeze. We really can't emphasise this enough. To reach 4.5 or 4.6 GHz is so simple that unless you're either a complete technophobe, or utterly lazy and demand a one-button solution, then anyone can do it. Seriously. If you can change the clock or boot order in your BIOS, you can overclock this board.
Should you wish to go further it's still not difficult, and we managed a perfectly stable 4.9GHz out of our humble Intel i5-2500K CPU. It's not just big numbers either as throughout our testing, Crysis notwithstanding, the UD7 comfortably beat the Intel reference design board.
Pricing is fantastic too. The under-equipped and average performing ASUS Maximus IV Extreme is an eye-watering £300-odd. The Gigabyte UD7 should be available for £250, yet is superior in every respect.
When you add in the many high-end features it comes with, such as a plethora of USB3.0 ports and expansions, eSATA and SATA 6Gbp/s by the bucketload and full 16x/16x PCIe slots it's easy to see why this is a clear winner of the much coveted OC3D Gold Award. The ease of overclocking and performance that unleashes also mean it's worthy of our Performance Award too.
The benchmark has been set. The Gigabyte P67A-UD7 is the mark every motherboard, not just P67 equipped boards, should aim for.
Thanks to Gigabyte for supplying the UD7 for testing. Discuss in our forums.
Most Recent Comments
|
Originally Posted by Zeals
1.044v to get 4.9GHz???? HOLY S****!!!! |
|
Originally Posted by Zeals
1.044v to get 4.9GHz???? HOLY S****!!!! |
EDIT: But the pictures are so pretty
|
Originally Posted by Zeals
On another note, Tom do you think you would be able to go over 5GHz on this board when the bios are fully matured? EDIT: But the pictures are so pretty |
|
Originally Posted by tinytomlogan
You can now, if you bother to read the review or watch the video youll know why mate. |
I am planning to buy this board but due to the height of the NF200 heatsink, I know
that my X-Fi Titanium HD Soundcard will not fit.
Can I use the other PCIx16 or PCIx8 slots for my soundcard? Will it still be compatible?
|
Originally Posted by jsy982002
hi tom. Uhmm can you help me with one quesiton. I am planning to buy this board but due to the height of the NF200 heatsink, I know that my X-Fi Titanium HD Soundcard will not fit. Can I use the other PCIx16 or PCIx8 slots for my soundcard? Will it still be compatible? |
The improved boot times over standard BIOS seems to make it a must have on such a high end board.
It seems they can fit one on the bios chips are they are 4mb, or is it totally out there beliving they will add it later on.
|
Originally Posted by khorngor
Tom, do you know if Gigabyte will add UEFI to the board later? The improved boot times over standard BIOS seems to make it a must have on such a high end board. It seems they can fit one on the bios chips are they are 4mb, or is it totally out there beliving they will add it later on. |
|
Originally Posted by tinytomlogan
The Asus didnt boot any quicker but I have heard they will update it as a downloadable upgrade down the line |
Sounds awesome, was having second thoughts since i really wanted UEFI, but ill go ahead and buy it and hope they do that down the line.
Judging from your review i wont regret my decision
|
Originally Posted by Zeals
Your soundcard will fit and work in any PCIe slot. |
Was just scared for a moment as i tried it on my Asus Rampage III extreme but failed to work. After goind around a bit, realized that the drivers were messed up due to my previous sound card.
I will probably have this board for 3-4 years. I hate making the wrong h/w purchase - it kinda drives me nuts...
Today's review just puts it in black and white. It all takes time. It's hard work. Appreciated.
I still think it's an expensive board and if I were buying 1366/X58 I'd probably go Sabretooth. (The 1155 Sabretooth looks like a dust trap ugh.) And if I already had an 1366/X58 system I'd undoubtedly stick and wait for 2011. But that's not where I am, so this is the board for me.
If I had to nit pick, it's going to be a tight fit for 2xSLI at X16 - right up against each-other, but I'm not losing sleep over it with th HAF-X.
Thanks guys.
|
Originally Posted by sotonswan
The 1155 Sabretooth looks like a dust trap ugh. |
|
Originally Posted by jsy982002
by the way, does it not include brackets or connectors for the USB 3.0 mid board pins? Kind of dissapointing for them not to include this accessory. Does anyone know where to buy one of these? |
|
Originally Posted by THD
Great review! You mention that there seems to be some sort of cap at 4.9. I seen talk on even lower caps and argued that it could be due to the bios. You guys think that could be valid or is it much more likely the cpu itself (as you mentioned in the vid) ? |
Some other sites are saying they have lower limits but from what Ive seen its just uneducated overclockers.
|
Originally Posted by tinytomlogan
Our sample was a very early release and we had none of the accessories that a normal retail model would have sadly, so we reported what we could which was the performance |
Yet, even with the retail version of the board, USB 3.0 brackets were not included
this was really a let down as it's currently almost impossible to find a separate bracket that would fit the headers. I understand that currently there's still no standard setting for the pin headers and as such, mobo manufacturers have
been developing there own unique assignments. such a small flaw for a flagship board of this caliber
|
Originally Posted by sheroo
The only problem with this board is that its beauty is hidden underneath that ugly ass Noctua, I hope that the new H60 due out in March is a real performer, because they would compliment each other perfectly. |
You can buy it in the UK for £36.98 inc. VAT at Aria. Take a look. The only thing it leaves you wishing for is a set of black and gold LED case fans.
One other comment on that: the idea of a black anodized finish on the cooling fins themselves is a really good one. Any physicist will tell you that black bodies radiate heat much more efficiently.
|
Originally Posted by SadButTrue
I saw a cooler recently called the Titan EVO, that was in a black and gold colour scheme. |
|
Originally Posted by sheroo
noooo, that's just too blingy, its like pimp my ride on steroids. 2 images pop into my head, a duracell battery and James Bond - Goldfinger. |
On a more serious note, I was just kidding about the black LEDs, but it turns out -- they make them!
Who'd a thunk it?
CSS Valid
Continue Reading