14 DAY TRIAL // The 2011 edition of the Intel Developer Forum witnessed the introduction of quite a few LGA 2011 motherboards based on the X79 Express chipset and one of these solutions was the Gigabyte-developed GA-X79A-UD3.
This is not going to be Gigabyte's most advanced board based on the X79 chipset, as this spot will be occupied by the X79A-UD7 and the G1.Assassin 2 that we have covered just a few days ago.
The first thing that one notices when taking a look at the X79A-UD3 is the unusual placement of the four DIMM memory slots, which now sit to the left and to the right of the CPU socket, since the Sandy Bridge-E processors come with an integrated quad-channel memory controller.
Right next to these, Gigabyte has placed the board's expansion slots, which include four PCI Express x16 slots, a pair of PCIe x1 slots as well as a legacy 32-bit PCI slot.
Only two of the PCI Express slots available work in an x16 mode, as the other two HAVE only 8 PCI-E lanes routed to them.
However, the motherboard is compatible with 3-way Nvidia SLI and AMD CrossFireX graphics card setups.
Storage is provided by no less than 14 SATA ports, six of them featuring support for 6Gbps devices, while four other are SAS compatible.
Other features include Dolby Home Theater audio, USB 3.0 connectivity, support for the enterprise version of Intel's Rapid Storage Technology (IRST), and an eight-phase CPU PWM with DrMOS MOSFET transistors.
Intel's Sandy Bridge-E processors are expected to debut in about two months from now and the initial CPU lineup will include three chips, two featuring a six-core design and a quad-core model. The Gigabyte X79A-UD3 is also expected to make its appearance in the fourth quarter of this year. (via AnandTech)
