Introduction - Gigabyte P67A-UD7 Motherboard Review | [H]ard|OCP

Introduction - Gigabyte P67A-UD7 Motherboard Review | [H]ard|OCP

Gigabyte P67A-UD7 Motherboard Review

Gigabyte is one of many manufacturers on the Sandy Bridge and P67 chipset bandwagon. We examine its latest offering, the P67A-UD7. A high end solution designed for the gamer and the hardware enthusiast. With so many P67 boards already out there to choose from, just how does the P67A-UD7 stack up?

Introduction

Gigabyte is one of the largest motherboard manufacturers operating today. Gigabyte itself was founded over 20 years ago. While best known as a motherboard manufacturer its product portfolio is actually larger than you might imagine. Its list of products encompasses everything from motherboards, notebooks, server and data center oriented solutions and even video cards. This list doesn’t even stop there continuing on into consumer electronics such as cellular phones.

The company advertises many first including the first USB 3.0 equipped motherboard, first motherboard equipped with all Japanese manufactured all solid electrolytic capacitors and more. This solidifies their position as innovators and even as one of the industry's leading companies.

The Gigabyte P67A-UD7 is based on Intel’s P67 Express chipset and LGA1155 socket. It is therefore compatible with Intel’s Core i5 / i7 2xxx series parts. Like the P55 Express chipset before it functions such as the memory controller and PCIe controller have been moved into the CPU’s die. Thus simplifying the chipset design. Like Westmere based Core processors, these new Sandy Bridge based Core i5’s and i7’s have integrated video. Though you need a motherboard with the actual monitor port to use it. Additionally there have been some improvements to the chipset, most notably is support for SATA 6G devices. Two of the six ports are SATA 6G capable and the rest are only 3G ports. Memory support has been increased to 32GB using 8GB DIMMs.

Gigabyte seems to have pretty much abandoned its blue and pastel color scheme opting for basic black. This board is also equipped with NVIDIA’s nForce 200MCP. Love it or hate it, it's here. Actually having it isn’t all bad as it allows for more devices to be connected to the PCIe controller integrated into Sandy Bridge based processors than normal. This board also therefore supports SLI, 3-Way SLI and even Quad-SLI using dual GPU cards. Support is much the same on the AMD side as it supports Crossfire and CrossFireX as well. The board’s design touts 24-phase power and full VRD 12 compliance. Unlike what we saw with ASUS’ latest boards going to fully digital power circuitry the P67A-UD7 appears to be a "hybrid analog / digital" design. The board has the same Driver MOSFETs used in earlier designs. Like earlier designs the P67A-UD7 also features a 2oz copper PCB, ferrite chokes and all Japanese solid electrolytic capacitors.

The most standout feature here though is that this board is well prepared for USB 3.0 as it has at least 8 USB 3.0 ports. It does this through the use of multiple USB 3.0 controllers. The manual is somewhat confusing in regard to which USB ports are which in terms of USB 3.0 or 2.0 capabilities. There are a total of 18 USB ports on the board however. That’s by far the most I’ve ever seen. This is also the first board I’ve ever seen with proper USB 3.0 headers on the PCB. A USB 3.0 bracket is included so that you may make use of them.

Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3 and GA-PH67A-UD3: Two Inexpensive LGA1155 Mainboards for New Processors - X-bit labs

Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3 and GA-PH67A-UD3: Two Inexpensive LGA1155 Mainboards for New Processors - X-bit labs

Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3 and GA-PH67A-UD3: Two Inexpensive LGA1155 Mainboards for New Processors[01/20/2011 12:48 PM | Mainboards]
by Doors4ever

It makes perfect sense to choose lower-end mainboards for the first benchmarks: these products will be very popular. Moreover, each mainboard is unique in its own way and differs from the regular Intel P67 Express and H67 Express based products, which makes them especially interesting.

Table of Contents

• Packaging and Accessories
• PCB Design and Functionality
• Testbed Configuration
• BIOS Setup, Operational and Overclocking Specifics
• Performance Comparison
• Power Consumption
• Conclusion

Pages: [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 ]

The launch of the new Intel platform is always a significant event, which will eventually affect the entire computer industry. It is especially encouraging, when everything comes together OK, when the first processors and chipsets for them make only positive impression. We already know that the new LGA1155 processors are almost flawless. I believe you have already checked out our Intel Sandy Bridge Microarchitecture Preview, where we talk about theoretical prerequisites for high performance, low power consumption and other distinguishing features of the new platform. Our second article called Intel Core i5-2500, Core i5-2400 and Core i5-2300 CPU Review already had some numbers and demonstrates using real examples why LGA1155 processors may become a preferred choice in most applications. As for the new chipsets and the new mainboards built around them, checking out their features and performance is still something we haven’t yet done.

The launch of the new core logic sets is a great reason for all mainboard makers to remind the world about themselves by launching new product lineups. As for us, it indicates that a new series of articles is about to hit the pages of our site. The top flagship models are particularly interesting for review, because they have the most extensive functionality; these mainboards boast all the features that are available to the manufacturers today. However, in practical terms, low-end and mainstream products seem to be of greater interest for the end-users, because these solutions will be the most popular ones in the market anyway. Therefore, we decided to start our new review series with two inexpensive, but definitely unique mainboards for the new processors - Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3 and GA-PH67A-UD3. These two boards are very similar, the major differences lie primarily in the chipsets, however, we end up having two products with very different functionality. In fact, it would be fair to say that we are going to discuss three mainboard models, because there is one more mainboard, which is very similar to the ones we will discuss today. However, you are going to learn all the exciting details in just a minute, so let’s get started.

Packaging and Accessories

The packaging design is a classic example of Gigabyte’s style. There is a mainboard photo on the back of the box accompanied by a brief description of its features and supported brand-name technologies. The front panels of both boxes are almost the same: besides different mainboard names, you can also notice that GA-PH67A-UD3 is missing the “Unlocked Performance” slogan, though we didn’t pay any attention to this at first.

Inside the box you find the boards as well as the following items:

• I/O Shield for the back panel;
• User manual;
• A booklet with brief assembly instructions in 18 languages;
• DVD disk with software and drivers;
• “Gigabyte” logo sticker for the system case.

GA-P67A-UD3 mainboard also comes bundled with four SATA cables with metal connector locks: two with L-shaped locks and another two with straight ones. Gigabyte GA-PH67A-UD3 has only two of those cables.

ZOTAC - It's time to play! - ZOTAC® Raises the Performance Bar With New GeForce® GTX 560 Ti Graphics Cards

ZOTAC - It's time to play! - ZOTAC® Raises the Performance Bar With New GeForce® GTX 560 Ti Graphics Cards

New ZOTAC® GeForce® GTX 560 Ti deliver best-in-class features and performance for a superior gaming experience

HONG KONG – Jan. 25, 2011 – ZOTAC® International, a leading innovator and the world’s largest channel manufacturer of graphics cards, motherboards and mini-PCs, today raises the performance bar with a new performance-class graphics card – the new ZOTAC® GeForce® GTX 560 Ti. The new ZOTAC® GeForce® GTX 560 Ti delivers best-in-class features and stunning visuals to create a superior gaming experience that goes beyond the traditional frames-per-second metric.

By pairing 384 unified shaders with an ultra-wide 256-bit memory interface, the ZOTAC® GeForce® GTX 560 Ti is capable of rendering phenomenal hardware-tessellated visuals with Microsoft® DirectX® 11 technology and deliver unprecedented gaming interaction realism using NVIDIA® PhysX® technology – all while delivering best-in-class frame rates for a smooth lag-free gaming experience.

“ZOTAC® continues to raise expectations of gamers all over the world. Our new ZOTAC® GeForce® GTX 560 Ti delivers the performance gamers crave and the power they need to play the latest DirectX® 11 titles with maximum details,” said Carsten Berger, marketing director, ZOTAC® International.

Gamers ready to step into the third-dimension can connect the ZOTAC® GeForce® GTX 560 Ti to 3D-ready monitors or televisions using the available dual-link DVI or HDMI 1.4a outputs to experience immersive 3D content. When multi-display gaming is desired, up to two ZOTAC® GeForce® GTX 560 Ti graphics cards can combine to unlock NVIDIA® 3D Vision™ Surround technology for stereoscopic triple-display gaming that takes immersion to unprecedented heights.

To help gamers take advantage of the graphics processing power available from the ZOTAC® GeForce® GTX 560 Ti, a download voucher for Assassin’s Creed™: Brotherhood is included in the box to let gamers download the game immediately on release day. Assassin’s Creed™: Brotherhood is the latest third-person action-adventure that takes gamers on an epic quest in a beautifully rendered Italy.

It’s time to play with the ZOTAC® GeForce® GTX 560 Ti.

View Product

General details

• New ZOTAC® GeForce® GTX 560 Ti graphics card
• Engine clock: 822 MHz
• 384 unified shaders
• Shader clock: 1645 MHz
• 1GB DDR5 memory
• 256-bit memory interface
• Memory clock: 4000 MHz
• Dual dual-link DVI-I, HDMI 1.4a & DisplayPort outputs
• PCI Express 2.0 interface (Compatible with 1.1)
• Microsoft DirectX^® 11 & OpenGL^® 4.1 compatible
• NVIDIA^® CUDA^™, 3D Vision™ Surround & SLI™ ready
• ZOTAC® Boost Premium software bundle included
• Assassin’s Creed™: Brotherhood download voucher bundled

Specifications:

Product Name	ZOTAC® GeForce® GTX 560 Ti
GPU	NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 560 Ti
Engine Clock speed	822 MHz
Unified Shaders	384
Shader Clock	1645 MHz
Memory Clock speed	4000 MHz
Memory	1GB DDR5
Memory interface	256-bit
Display Outputs	Dual DL-DVI-I, HDMI, DP
HDCP	Yes
Cooling	Active (with fan) (dual-slot)
DirectX® version	DirectX® 11 with Shader Model 5.0
Other hardware features	8-channel Digital Surround Sound, HDMI 1.4a compatible, hardware accelerated Blu-ray 3D ready, NVIDIA® SLI™ ready, NVIDIA 3D Vision™ Surround ready
Software Features	nView® Multi-Display, Hardware Video Decode Acceleration Technology, NVIDIA® CUDA™ technology, OpenGL® 4.1,
Windows 7 capability	Windows® 7 with DirectCompute support

GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1GB SOC Video Card :: TweakTown USA Edition

GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1GB SOC Video Card :: TweakTown USA Edition

Introduction

You throw the x60 name on a new video card these days and you're going to expect big things from it. Let's be honest, I was going to say that the GTX 460 kicked ass, but we shouldn't be using past tense. Instead, the GTX 460 kicks ass.

It offered great performance from the second we saw the model. Sure, lots of cards offer great performance; look at the GTX 580, but that model carries with it quite a large price tag, like most high end cards do. The GTX 460 broke the mold, especially for NVIDIA, a company we tend to expect to pay more for when compared to its AMD competition who seems to focus strongly on value.

We saw it all from day one as well with the model; strong out of the box overclocks, awesome custom cooling designs and heaps of potential when it came to overclocking even further. When we got word that the GTX 560 Ti was coming, the first thing I thought was; is the card going to be as much of a game changer as the GTX 460 was?

Before I even tested it, though, I knew it wouldn't be. It couldn't be. While the GTX 460 was being looked at against the GTX 470 and GTX 480 which were plagued with problems in the sense of heat and noise, the GTX 570 and GTX 580 don't have that problem. They're significantly cooler running and quieter than their predecessors.

The GTX 560 Ti ultimately has two jobs to do; one is to help make sure that NVIDIA offer a broad range of pricing options for people wanting to get into the GTX 500 series, while the other is to lay the smack down on AMD. Priced under $250, the model clearly sits well with the GTX 570 costing $100 more, and the GTX 580 costing another $150 more on top of the GTX 570 for a price tag that's pretty much double of the GTX 560.

So there's only one more question; can it lay the smack down on AMD? Well, before we tell you that, let's check out the card itself that GIGABYTE is offering us. Once that's done we'll get into the fun stuff that we call benchmarking.

Because we got the card nice and early from GIGABYTE, we didn't get a package, so instead we'll be just getting stuck straight into the card itself on the next page. Quickly, though, we do know what's inside the package. We've got a mini HDMI to HDMI cable, DVI to VGA adapter and two 6-Pin PCI-E power connectors. We would assume the normal line-up of paperwork and the standard driver CD is there as well.

Overclocking : Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti Review: GF114 Rises, GF100 Rides Off

Overclocking : Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti Review: GF114 Rises, GF100 Rides Off

I tend to avoid overclocking comparisons in launch stories because they’re disingenuous. It’s humorous to think that the card we receive ahead of an embargo with the note to “check out the amazing overclocking” hasn’t already been binned for above-average headroom.

Zoom

This time around is different, though. Gigabyte sent me its GV-N560SO-1GI, which it is proud to admit isbinned for headroom—a process that helps the company guarantee its 1 GHz operating frequency (up from 822 MHz) and 1145 MHz memory clock (up from 1 GHz). Representatives from Gigabyte say this board will sell for $269, a $20 increase from the $249 reference suggested price.

As you can see, the GeForce GTX 560 Ti running at 1 GHz is substantially faster than the board Nvidia sent over. It’s not quite as fast as a GeForce GTX 570, like Gigabyte claims, but the fact that it’s close, for $80 less, is pretty darned crazy.

Now, like I mentioned, Gigabyte uses its own binning process to sort the GF114 GPUs capable of hitting 1 GHz. Not all of them make that grade. However, it’s a fair bet that a majority of GeForce GTX 560s will reliably hit speeds somewhere in the middle. Nvidia confirms that core clocks around 900 MHz are fairly typical from what it has seen so far.

Gigabyte's Respone to Burnt Pins on Their P67 Motherboards by VR-Zone.com

Gigabyte's Respone to Burnt Pins on Their P67 Motherboards by VR-Zone.com

Gigabyte has responded to the reports that their LGA1155 motherboards are experiencing the same socket burn issues that we saw in with LGA1156, not really what one would expect from their “Ultra Durable” line-up of motherboards. They say that they sent the wrong (read “damaged”) boards out to reviewers.

Gigabyte's US team sent TechReaction two boards: a P67A-UD7 which was brand new and a P67A-UD4, whose box was apparently already open. However, Gigabyte has explained that the UD4 was already a faulty before it was sent out to TechReaction, and that it shouldn't have left the company's building.

According to the company,

'We suspect that we messed up and sent him a board that we had damaged during our own testing and have sent him another new one,'

'Our testing involves overclocking and other various tests to which no motherboard should normally be exposed – we’re basically testing durability, and durability is determined when the board dies.

We’re still waiting to check the board and trace where it has been, to try and figure out how a damaged board was sent as a media sample and prevent this from happening again.'

Gigabyte didn't detail the exact limits of its boards' durability, but it did claim that there were no reports of retail boards exhibiting the same problems and that they believe this is an isolated case.

Gainward GeForce GTX 580 Phantom 3072MB Review by VR-Zone.com

Gainward GeForce GTX 580 Phantom 3072MB Review by VR-Zone.com

Gainward has been in the graphics card business for a very long time and are famous for their Golden Sample series. Golden Sample cards come pre-overclocked but are still able to provide ample overclocking headroom, making them a hit with enthusiasts. Those who started getting their hands dirty building their own computers since the early 2000s would have heard of, or perhaps even used one of these cards.

These days, users are looking beyond raw performance; they want a card that is not only fast, but also cool-running and quiet. Gainward has taken that task to hand by introducing the Phantom series of graphics cards. And today, VR-Zone.com takes a look at the Phantom second card that they have launched - the Gainward GeForce GTX 580 Phantom 3072MB.

A quick run through of the specifications: the GeForce GTX 580 Phantom is clocked at just 783MHz for the graphics core, 1566MHz for the shader and 2010MHz for the memory. As a comparison, the reference NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 operates at 772MHz, 1544MHz and 2000MHz for the core, shader and memory respectively.

Gainward has decided to stay away from the flashy boxes of many other manufacturers by opting for a clean packaging design.

The inside of the box has been doused in red - the color used for packaging its higher end cards.

The box contains:

• the card itself,
• a DVI-to-VGA convertor,
• a dual 6-pin to single 8-pin PCI Express power adaptor,
• a quick start guide,
• a driver CD, and
• a discount coupon for Loiloscope.

Hello there, nice looking one! The GeForce GTX 580 Phantom has a black metal bracket placed over the bare aluminium heatsink. We're pretty sure many of you think that the heatsink resembles a mini radiator.

Gainward has provided two DVI outputs, one HDMI output and one DisplayPort output. A vent on the rear PCI bracket allows some hot air to be exhausted out of the casing.

Zotac H67-ITX & ECS H67H2-I motherboards review | t-break: Tech @ Its Fastest

Zotac H67-ITX & ECS H67H2-I motherboards review | t-break: Tech @ Its Fastest

So the new Intel Sandy Bridge processors are out in the market in you’re thinking this is probably the best time to work on that HTPC you always wanted to have (or upgrade). Well, look no further as today I’ll be reviewing the Zotac H67-ITX WiFi and the ECS H67H2-I Mini-ITX motherboards.

The first thing to note in the motherboard models is that both of these are H67 boards, so they’re obviously targeted towards the HTPC market, i.e. forget about overclocking anything. Neither is there any space on these motherboards (as you’ll see soon enough) nor in a regular HTPC case for such an endeavor. Heck, even the BIOS of these motherboards doesn’t allow to change the CPU multiplier settings or FSB for that matter. These are simple motherboards designed for the singular purpose of providing acceptable performance in a small form factor and keeping the budget well under control.

Before I begin with the benchmarks, let’s look at the specs and features of these boards. Both of the boards are expected to perform about the same since they are based on the H67 chipset, so I was more interested in seeing which motherboard had more value for money.

PC Perspective - Gigabyte K8100 Aivia Gaming Keyboard Review

PC Perspective - Gigabyte K8100 Aivia Gaming Keyboard Review

ntroduction and Specifications

Gigabyte debuts Aivia gaming keyboard

Courtesy of Gigabyte

Gigabyte has a reputation of being one of the industry's top motherboard and graphics card manufacturers and now they are focusing their efforts on expanding their product line to include more PC components aimed at the PC gaming crowd. One of their newest additions to accommodate PC gamers is the Aivia K8100 gaming keyboard. This keyboard comes in red, yellow, and black and includes LED backlight keys and Gigabyte's Ghost Macro Engine to create 100 custom macros. We'll see if this $79 keyboard stacks up against other gaming keyboards available today.

Courtesy of Gigabyte

The Gigabyte Aivia's main features include red backlit LED keys that can be switched off and on at the touch of a button on the back panel of the keyboard. It also features a long, slanted wrist rest, five macro keys, and two USB 2.0 ports to connect a USB mouse or other devices. There is also a unique "touch and slide" volume indicator that changes the main volume settings by moving your finger across the volume arrows at the top of the Aivia.

Courtesy of Gigabyte

Lastly, Gigabyte included extra WASD keys and a handy keycap puller to swap out these heavily-used keys after extended periods of use. They also threw in a silicone keyboard protector, braided cord, and a two-way cord holder.


Gigabyte K8100 Aivia Gaming Keyboard Technical Specifications (taken from Gigabyte's website)

Interface	USB 2.0
Support OS	Windows 98/2000/ME/XP 32bit Vista/Win7 32/64bit
Switch life	10 million times
Travel distance	3.5+/-0.5mm
Travel to peak	1.0+/-0.05mm
Weight	1300g
Operating humidity	10% to 90 %
Dimension	490(L)* 263(W)*32.8(H) mm
Certification	CE, FCC, BSMI, KCC
Color	Black, Yellow(USI Layout only) , Red(USI Layout only)
Peak force	50gr, 60gr, 70gr +/- 10%
Operating temperature	-5oC to 40oC