14 DAY TRIAL // We've seen Gigabyte's G1.Sniper M3 microATX motherboard and now we are looking at two other products designed to support Intel's upcoming Ivy Bridge central processing units (CPUs).
The two boards that aren't intended for gamers are based on the Z77 chipset and called GA-Z77X-UD3H and GA-Z77X-UD5H. Unfortunately, the exact prices have yet to be disclosed.
The former has four SATA 3.0 Gbps ports and two SATA 6.0 Gbps ports, plus three more of the latter via two Marvell controllers.
An mSATA is available as well, along with headers for USB 2.0 (4 ports), FireWire and UB 3.0 (six ports, enabled by VLI USB 3.0 hubs).
There are 16 lanes of bandwidth shared between two PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots, while a third x16 slot is connected to the chipset via a PCI Express 2.0 x4 interface.
Overclocking features are available as well (voltage measuring points, a SATA style power connector for extra extra power to the PCI Express, etc).
Furthermore, the rear I/O boasts two USB 2.0 ports, four USB 3.0 ports, FireWire (one), dual Gigabit Ethernet, eSATA, 7.1 channel audio with optical S/PDIF and DisplayPort, HDMI, DVI and D-sub connectors.
The other motherboard, Z77X-UD3H, is the more affordable option of this pair.
As such, it makes some design concessions, though not overly many, so prospective buyers needn't be too worried.
For instance, the PWN design is a bit simplified (the CPU still has a digital controller but analogue ones for the chipset and memory).
Another things is that the heatsinks are less complex, lacking the heatpipes present on the other platform.
Furthermore, FireWire is totally absent and only one USB 3.0 internal header exists (there are six USB 2.0 pin headers links).
As for the back I/O, a lone Gigabit Ethernet connection can be established, but gigabyte kept the 7.1-channel audio with optical S/PDIF and the video ports. There are also six USB 3.0 ports and a PS/2 port.
