14 DAY TRIAL // There are two new motherboards that prospective DIY (do-it-yourself) PC buyers may want to check out, even though shipments haven't yet begun. One of them is called GA-F2A85XM-HD3 and the other is named Z77X-UD4H.
The former motherboard is a micro-ATX model powered by the AMD A85X chipset and, thus, compatible with socket FM2 accelerated processing units.
Two DDR3-1866 memory slots, eight SATA 6.0 Gbps ports and three PCI Express slots (PCIe x1, 2 x PCIe x16) make up the core specs.
Three video ports (Dual-link DVI, HDMI and D-Sub) deserve a mention as well, and the spec sheet is completed by two USB 3.0 ports, four USB 2.0 connectors, Gigabit Ethernet, 5.1-channel audio and Ultra Durable 4 Classic components.
The other motherboard, GA-Z77X-UD4H, is a significantly larger and more feature-packed LGA 1155 mainboard, though it lacks mSATA.
Four SATA 6.0 Gbps and four SATA 3.0 Gbps connectors exist, as well as a pair of eSATA 6 Gbps connectors and eight USB 3.0 ports.
HDMI, DVI and DisplayPort connectors can be found on the rear panel as well, next to the customary D-Sub output.
Buyers won't be forced to settle for whatever weak graphics their CPU has though. Gigabyte was considerate enough to design the Z77X-UD4H ATX platform with three PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots and, thus, 3-way NVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossFire X multi-GPU support.
Finally, Gigabyte tossed in 8+2 channel HD audio (Realtek ALC892 CODEC), Gigabit Ethernet, TPM, some USB 2.0/11 ports (headers really), UEFI BIOS, legacy PS/2 mouse/keyboard combo port, and some overclocking features (Ultra Durable 4 components, POST LED diagnostic display, dual-BIOS four 4-pin fan headers, etc.).
Gigabyte's F2A85XM-HD3 carries a price of £57.14 (~ $90.55 / 71.07 Euro) and the GA-Z77X-UD4H will sell for $180 / 141 Euro / £113. The former might already be found up for pre-order on some retailers, but the latter will take an unspecified time to arrive.
