Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R (Rev 2.0) Motherboard Review

👤by Sahil Mannick Comments 📅17-09-10
Packaging and Content





Front of the box

One way to describe the box is busy. Gigabyte have boldly printed the motherboard's model name on the front and the side in their customary blue and orange colour, the highlighted orange to display the Ultra Durable 3 innovation. The cardboard packaging is mostly white in colour with illustrations and small icons to depict many of the unique features that users can expect from the board. So on the corner we can see the 2 oz copper PCB peeling away and at the base, 3 way Crossfire and SLI support is listed. The fact that the board uses a 12 phase PWM power circuitry is also displayed. We already know that the UD3R packs a lot of features and Gigabyte are shying away at showcasing this on their packaging.


Power of 333

Three is a recurring theme on the motherboard and the front of the box clearly emphasises this. Thanks to the onboard NEC and Marvell controllers, the motherboard is USB 3.0 and SATA III compliant. A nifty feature is the 3x USB power and ON/OFF charge that caters for those with iPads (if you own one, go stand in a corner). The advantage of the ON/OFF charge over traditional USB ports is that they can be used to charge devices even with the system turned off (not at mains obviously).


Back of the box and features

The back of the box is crammed full of information yet again. The purpose here is to give a brief description of the features listed at the front. Again, Gigabyte uses illustrations and graphs to give a visually striking packaging. Potential buyers looking at the box in a shop will know exactly what to expect from the motherboard. We will cover the features in greater details throughout the review.


Opening the box

Lifting open the lid, we come to the inside. A cardboard cut out separates the bundle from the motherboard beneath. Everything is nicely laid out so users won't miss any of the bundled extras.


The motherboard hidden away

And below the upper compartment, the motherboard is wrapped in an anti-static bag. The packaging is very secure overall and suffered no damage in transit.


The bundle

Included in the box are:

- 1 x GA-X58-UD3R motherboard
- 1 x IDE Cable
- 4 x Serial ATA 3Gb/s cables
- 1 x I/O Shield
- 1 x 2-Way SLI bridge connector
- 1 x 3-Way SLI bridge connector
- Stickers

All the components are packaged either in plastic wrappers or anti-static bags for extra security. My one complaint is that Gigabyte merely had a post it note to hide the LGA1366 socket pins rather than a dedicated cover but thankfully they arrived intact. They further continue advertising the USB3.0 support through the use of the sticker on the expansion slot and this is easily removable without leaving behind any residue (The same cannot be said for the Biostar T-Power X58). An ATI Crossfire bridge cable is omitted but generally this is bundled with the graphics card unlike the SLI ones. Of the 4 bundled SATA cables, 2 have a right angled end connector. The choice of blue matches the rest of the motherboard but I would have preferred to see more cables available. Two complimentary stickers are provided.


The documentations

In terms of documentations, there is the obligatory manual and driver disc, a quick start manual in French, a multilingual installation guidebook and the Smart6 user manual.

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