To compete with the ASUS Rampage III Extreme and EVGA's range of classified motherboards, Gigabyte have gone all out to deliver their best enthusiast board yet, the GA-X58A-UD9. As the name implies, this is based on Intel's flagship X58 platform. This particular sample is currently the only one in the UK so these are some very exclusive photos.
Gigabyte's GA-X58A-UD9
You only have to look at the board to admire just what Gigabyte have achieved here. If you read the Rampage III Extreme motherboard review, then some of the features will look very familiar such as the dual 12V 8 pin CPU power connectors behind the MOSFET cooler and the two Molex plugs onboard. One downside from my initial observation is that the lower Molex plug may interfere with the graphics card in the last PCIe slot but it is yet to be seen if it is actually beneficial. Another unique feature of the board is its sheer size. This board is larger than even the Rampage III Extreme settling for the XL-ATX form factor, a massive difference to the GA-H55N-USB3 board Gigabyte were showcasing next to it.
With 7 PCIe x16 slots, this board will have serious graphics power at its disposal and thanks to two NF200 chips onboard, the UD9 is able to have four cards running at the full x16 link width and another three running at x8. The chipset cooling is also very impressive with one whole block spanning to cool the ICH10R Southbridge chip, the X58 chip and the two NF200 chips. The MOSFETs and phase regulators have their own 'Ultra Durable' heatsinks with two heat pipes coming from the main heatsink. The chipset cooling also sports nozzles for water cooling loops. The ferrite core chokes around the CPU and RAM areas are included to ensure the best power delivery to the board.
As you would expect, the UD9 has the usual array of connectors and features including a legacy IDE connector. Unlike the Rampage III Extreme, it also has dual LAN support. Ultra Durable 3 technology makes a usual appearance on the board along with a 2oz copper PCB. This board will no doubt be popular amongst the extreme overclocking scene. The main downside to this board will be its pricing. Tipped to be £150 more than the ASUS Rampage III Extreme, it's not going to be cheap.
