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  Gigabyte GA-P55-UD6

  Jayesh Limaye, Nov 25, 2010 1718 hrs IST

  Gigabyte's P55 offering with SLI and CrossFireX support

  Good performance, supports all LGA 1156 Intel processors, CrossFireX and 3-way SLI, excellent overclocking support, good choice of components, powered eSATA, excellent software bundle

  Very expensive, no additional brackets for additional ports, possibly wasted PCIe x1 slots

  Expert Rating :

  

  

Page 1 - Intro, Bundle Page 2 - Layout and Features 1 of 3 Page 3 - Layout and Features 2 of 3 Page 4 - Layout and Features 3 of 3 Page 5 - Software Page 6 - BIOS & Utilities Page 7 - More Utilities 1 of 2 Page 8 - More Utilities 2 of 2 Page 9 - Performance: Synthetic tests 1 of 2 Page 10 - Performance: Synthetic tests 2 of 2 Page 11 - Performance: Real-world tests Page 12 - Power consumption, Overclocking Page 13 - Verdict

Gigabyte has been one of the popular motherboard manufacturers since the past few years and is currently one of the top three manufacturers worldwide (according to volumes). The last Gigabyte motherboard reviewed by us was based on the Intel X58 chipset, and this time round, we have an Intel P55-based motherboard - the P55-UD6.

The board supports the latest Intel processors with LGA 1156 socket and has multi-GPU support for ATI CrossFireX and NVIDIA SLI. This sports a Gigabyte 2-Ounce Copper PCB version, which is said to be even more energy efficient than the previous version (1-Ounce Copper PCB). Just like the one before, this one has got power saving DES Advanced feature, which makes it even better at saving power. We will try to find out how this motherboard performs and whether the newer power saving features are really as good as Gigabyte claims them to be.

The Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P comes packed in a nice looking box.

Bundle

• IDE cable
• 4 SATA cables (2 with right-angled SATA connectors)
• eSATA bracket with 2 eSATA ports and a 4-pin Molex
• 2 eSATA cables
• eSATA power cable
• SLI bridge
• I/O Plate
• User's Manual
• Quick Installation Guide
• Smart TPM User's Manual
• Driver and Utilities Disc
• Two case badges
  

There are so many ports already on the rear panel that there is really no need of any extra brackets, and Gigabyte has not provided any.

Gigabyte provides eSATA brackets with this motherboard. These provide two eSATA ports in addition to the two already present on the rear panel. There are some good things and some bad things about this. The good thing is that you can connect not just eSATA devices but even normal SATA devices to this bracket, thanks to the 4-pin Molex power socket that is just right for the SATA power adapter cable that is also included along with the SATA cable in the bundle. The bad thing is that internally you have to connect the SATA cables to the ports on the motherboard. Therefore you end up with less number of ports for internal SATA devices and also have one less 4-pin Molex power connector.

Page 1 - Intro, Bundle Page 2 - Layout and Features 1 of 3 Page 3 - Layout and Features 2 of 3 Page 4 - Layout and Features 3 of 3 Page 5 - Software Page 6 - BIOS & Utilities Page 7 - More Utilities 1 of 2 Page 8 - More Utilities 2 of 2 Page 9 - Performance: Synthetic tests 1 of 2 Page 10 - Performance: Synthetic tests 2 of 2 Page 11 - Performance: Real-world tests Page 12 - Power consumption, Overclocking Page 13 - Verdict

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