TheOverclocker Issue 17 | Page 18

GIGABYTE A75-UD4H RRP: $115 | Website: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3927 Test Machine • AMD A8-3850 • GIGABYTE GTX 570 • Crucial C300 • Corsair Dominator 2133 MHz • Corsair AX1200 • Windows 7 Ultimate T he A75-UD4H is GIGABYTE’s top of the line A75 based motherboard. It features an 8+2 phase voltage regulator along with some great overclocking support; this board has all the potential of fully overclocking your APU. With support for a total of eight USB 3.0 devices, CrossFireX, HybridCrossFireX technology and six SATA6GB/s ports, this board is enriched with the latest connectivity options any APU user would demand. The board features DVI-D, D-SUB, HDMI, and 18 The OverClocker Issue 16 | 2011 Display Port as well with support for resolutions as high as 2560x1600. Analysis When you walk down the aisle at your local computer store, looking to buy a motherboard boasting the A75 chipset, what does one look for? Apart from a low price, many would most likely look for tons of features and robust build quality. This board is pretty well priced at only $115, it is impossible to find an Intel board close to that price loaded with the same feature set and that is what impresses us. Not only is this board based upon the GIGABYTE Ultra Durable 3, which guarantees 2oz copper PCB and Japanese solid capacitors, but it also has an impressive number of USB 3.0 and SATA6GB/s ports. Most of that connectivity is from the A75 chipset, which is just loaded to the brim with SATA6G and USB 3.0. The board boasts a very powerful 8+2 phase design, which is the pinnacle of high-end A75 chipset boards. We see triple slot spacing for two PCI-E 16x slots, which can be operated at 16x for single GPU configurations or two at 8x/8x for CrossFireX. The board boasts three PCI-E 1x slots and two PCI slots. GIGABYTE opted to use two third party EtronTech USB 3.0 controllers for the back panel (4 USB 3.0 back panel) and used the integrated four USB 3.0 ports for the internal headers for a front panel. We think GIGABYTE may have done this because of the EtronTech being faster than AMD’s integrated controller. AMD will have to deal with this. AMD’s chipset isn’t a bare one in terms of