Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD4-B3

[cadaveca]

Supporting Intel Core Generation 2 processors, the Gigabyte P67A-UD4-B3 not only sports a new color scheme, it also attempts to match the sleek new look with serious performance. Built for some serious overclocking, the P67A-UD4-B3 comes ready to reach the finish line first; will it win the race?

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[DanishDevil]

Nice review I wanted to love this board, but mine squealed like a pig, so I had to take it back. Did you notice any whine from the board?

 

[cadaveca]

No, I did not notice any noises, and the choice of a Noctua cooler really lets unexpected things like that stand out.

The first few days the board spend on an open bench, when testing stock speeds for stability, and overclocking. I repeat alot of those same tests once it's in the case, to see if thermals have any effect, and through all fo that, I cannot say I heard anything other than the low-noise cooling fans.

 

[DanishDevil]

I've always loved Gigabyte boards, so I figured it was just a fluke. Keep up the reviews!

 

[caleb]

Thanks for a nice read. So is this better than the Asus P8P67 PRO ?

 

[PaulieG]

Thanks for a nice read. So is this better than the Asus P8P67 PRO ?

I've always been a huge Gigabyte fan, and luke warm with Asus. However, I have the P8P67 Pro, and I'm very impressed, particularly with the well developed EFI bios. I think the Pro is really hard to beat in the price range, but the UD4 is probably right in the same neighborhood for price to performance. I think the build quality may be slightly better on the Giga, but the Bios seems better on the Pro.

 

[bogmali]

Have the same board and love it.

 

[cadaveca]

I've always been a huge Gigabyte fan, and luke warm with Asus. However, I have the P8P67 Pro, and I'm very impressed, particularly with the well developed EFI bios. I think the Pro is really hard to beat in the price range, but the UD4 is probably right in the same neighborhood for price to performance. I think the build quality may be slightly better on the Giga, but the Bios seems better on the Pro.

I'm working on that ASUS now. Review will be up next week.

I'll comment on the two of them then.

Have the same board and love it.

I was really impressed, as I said in the review. The clocking and volts needed are a bit disappointing, but at the same time, although volts are higher, overall power draw to reach any specific clock is actually less.

They lost .5 points for missing USB panel, .5 for not including a set of SATA 6 Gbps cables, .25 for the high voltage required overclocking, and .25 for limited software. Otherwise, the board is pretty damn good. It's FAST, clock for clock.

 

[bogmali]

The clocking and volts needed are a bit disappointing, but at the same time, although volts are higher, overall power draw to reach any specific clock is actually less.

This is my first 1155 board so I cannot really comment on the voltage, although it needed a healthy 1.3v to get to 4.4Ghz on my 2600K

 

[cadaveca]

This is my first 1155 board so I cannot really comment on the voltage, although it needed a healthy 1.3v to get to 4.4Ghz on my 2600K

Yeah, maybe I did get a bit lucky with my CPUs, but at the same time, I did buy 13, and keep the two i liked best.

Voltage scaling on these cpus is quite the thing; so varied. However, at the same time, there are only 2 CPUs in Intel's line-up that have HT, so I guess that's kinda expected.

I've had the CPU I'm using for testing in 8 different boards now. It'll do 4.7ghz @ stock volts, on the right board. Although it seemingly requires very little volts, it also doesn't go very much past 5Ghz, with 5.35ghz being the absolute max, and that 5.35ghz is far from stable on air cooling.

My other CPU requires more volts, kinda like yours, but still is slightly better, reaching 5.75Ghz as an absolute max. On stock volts it does 4.4ghz.


It really does seem that the board you use really does affect clocks on the high-end, but on aircooling, it's temps that will set the limit. The power the board provides is going to affect temps too, but I notice only slight difference between boards, a multi or two, between 4.3 Ghz-5.0 Ghz.

That said, I use relatively low voltage for OC'ing in a effort to show you guys what's really going on. Seems to be working, so far.

 

[DanishDevil]

Just FYI, it should be a dock for not including 2 additional SATA cables, not for failing to include SATA 6Gbps cables, because those are a joke. All SATA cables are compatible with all speeds of SATA, so a SATA 6Gbps cable is a regular SATA cable with some fancy letters on it

Great to have you here doing mobo reviews for us. I tried reviewing here with the little spare time I have, hoping to one day step up to motherboards, but just couldn't dedicate the time. We appreciate all the time and effort!

 

[cadaveca]

Not all SATA cables are equal. Typically, SATA 6Gb/s cable does need to be of a certain quality to ensure maximum speed transfers. There are actual specifications for what qualifies as a SATA 6Gb/s cable, and many cables on the market do not meet that spec. I do expect manufacturers to use cables that meet this spec, at least in one pair of cables, in the box.

 

[caleb]

Thanks. Looking forward to the PRO review then.

 

[DanishDevil]

Not all SATA cables are equal. Typically, SATA 6Gb/s cable does need to be of a certain quality to ensure maximum speed transfers. There are actual specifications for what qualifies as a SATA 6Gb/s cable, and many cables on the market do not meet that spec. I do expect manufacturers to use cables that meet this spec, at least in one pair of cables, in the box.

Maybe we should take this to another thread.

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2282476#post2282476

 

[cdamax]

Very nice review, thx.

 

[JesterZA]

Excellent review. Thanks for the great work!

I'm looking to get this board with the same Noctua cooler and Dominator GT memory.

I have a question though, just on the setup.. Now, I'm not sure which way you mounted the cooler, but I'm going to assume it was anyway except with the C shape of the cooler pointing up.

Did it fit without any hassles? Like having to remove the top heat spreaders on the memory for example if you mounted it facing the right, or with poor clearance between the cooler and graphics card if mounted facing down.

Thanks in advance. This info will be a massive help to me.

 

[cadaveca]

I only use the top fan, as the "underside" fan does interfere with the ram heatsinks. I typically have the radiator part overhanding the modules, but it could be used in the opposite way, but this will block the first DIMM slot.