14 DAY TRIAL // Usually, hardware makers do their best to reach some sort of compromise between price and performance when they develop a new product. In some instances, however, a company will completely abandon any thought of price accessibility in order to bring the highest level of performance and scalability to those speed-loving end-users for whom funds are not an issue. This is exactly what Gigabyte did when it created the GA-X58A-UD9.
The GA-X58A-UD9 is basically the most powerful motherboard enabled by the high-end Intel X58 chipset that Gigabyte has ever developed. Conversely, it is also one of the most expensive such platforms on the entire market, if not the most expensive one, demanding no less than roughly $700 in return for its services.
For $700, enthusiasts will get a mainboard with a 2oz copper PCB based on the Ultra Durable construction. LGA 1366 central processing units are supported, including new generation Intel 32nm 6-core chips. The board also boasts six DDR3-2200+ slots, a pair of SATA 6.0Gbps connectors and eight SATA 3.0Gbps ports.
What is most noteworthy, however, is the fact that, by means of two NVIDIA NF200 bridge chips, Gigabyte's product has no less than seven PCI Express x16 slots. Not only that, but even 4-way SLI multi-GPU configurations are supported, which makes this model the dream companion for four GeForce GTX 480 video cards.
Other specifications of the GA-X58A-UD9 include Gigabit Ethernet, two eSATA ports, a pair of USB 3.0 connectors, 7.1 channel audio, FireWire, DualBIOS and Reset and Clear CMOS buttons. The company also implemented a 24-phase power design, dual power switching and the Dynamic Energy Saver 2 technology, as well as an active cooling system with a waterblock over the northbridge.
The platform has started shipping in several markets, though it has yet to reach Europe, and will face competition from the ASUS Rampage III Extreme-ROG Xpander duo.