The front of the box looks near identical to other X79 or indeed Z77 motherboard packaging designs save for a few key details. Most obvious is the product title. Perhaps the most important detail though is are the awards given for using the new 60A PowIRstage. The usual 3DPOWER, 3DBIOS and Intel monikers are found below the product title.



Flipping the box over it is clear that GIGABYTE have gone to great lengths to rectify mistakes of the past as they (rightly so) are making a lot of noise about their redesigned VRM. This is depicted in great detail along with a diagram of the motherboard and explanations of their 3D Power and 3DBIOS features. We do like it when manufacturers detail what makes their motherboard special rather than just dreaming up a name to make it sound better than it really is. The new Ultra Durable 5 components are not only highly specified but the package also explains the differences between its components and that of the competition.



The accessory list is very well catered for too thanks to the 3 SLI bridges (2x, 3x and 4x SLI) and Crossfire bridge which is an unusual addition considering most if not all Crossfire capable graphics cards comes with its own bridge. There's a well written motherboard manual, a couple of multi lingual guides, 4x SATA cables (2 with 45 degree connectors at one end), a colour coded I/O shield and obligatory driver and utilities DVD.