Conclusion
Performance
The stock performance of the Z87X-UD3H was solid with it appearing to be evenly matched against the competing Z87 systems. The instability seen in the BIOS did not appear to have much in the way of adverse impacts on the board's performance.
Pricing
As of June 08, the GIGABYTE Z87X-UD3H was available at Newegg.com for $169.99. The board was also available from other retailers such as Amazon.com for $169.99 with Prime shipping and TigerDirect.com for $179.99.
Conclusion
Before continuing with our final thoughts on this board, we would like to take this opportunity to give our friends at GIGABYTE a hearty “Thank You” for giving us the opportunity and pleasure of reviewing the Z87X-UD3H motherboard. The board features a clean looking black, grey, and blue color theme with shiny silver and blue overlays on the heat sinks. With the exception of the BIOS hiccups, I had no issues with the board and found its performance to be on par with the other tested Z87-based boards. Two of the nicer features were the placement of the primary PCI-Express x1 slot and the CMOS battery. Both are to the right of the primary PCI-Express x16 slot, meaning that you will always have a usable PCI-Express x1 slot when running the board with two or all three of the PCI-Express x16 slots populated. Further, the CMOS battery remains easily accessible as well. Its BIOS, while flaky, was one of the most innovative designs I've seen yet with its ability to use slide bars while in Dashboard Mode.
However, the board was not without issues, centered specifically around that innovative BIOS. I was forced to switch to the backup BIOS after the board began to destabilize. This was after attempting to clear the CMOS and pulling the CMOS battery to clear the CMOS memory. Using the BIOS was easy while in Classic Mode, but became either laggy or overly sensitive using the mouse in Dashboard Mode. Mouse related issues became very apparent in Dashboard Mode when switching between the settings entry field and the sliding bars. However, keep in mind that the issues encountered, even the board instability, are most likely due to an immature BIOS version with all issues encountered easily remedied via a BIOS update. Note that the BIOS instability encountered had absolutely no impact on board performance after switching over to the backup BIOS.
Strengths
- Stock performance
- CMOS battery placement – accessible under most conditions
- Board layout and design
- Accessible PCI-Express x1 slot with all PCI-Express x16 slots filled
- UEFI BIOS design
- Motherboard manual information
Weaknesses
- BIOS instability
- BIOS usability in Dashboard Mode
“The board began to
“The board began to destabilize”
Abandon ship !
Man the life rafts !
Typo on teh last page.
Just
Typo on teh last page.
Just ordered this board on Saturday, glad there were no major hiccups in the review.
Thanks for pointing that out,
Thanks for pointing that out, its been corrected. Its a solid board, just be careful with the BIOS and make sure to update to the latest version…
Ultra Durable Meaning (for
Ultra Durable Meaning (for me.)
“Don’t worry Our capacitors wont blow up on you, again.”
I wonder if that is true & since Ultra Durable, are the capacitors good?
i head GB board capacitors swollen & 3 times blown
back at the AMD XP 1800+ days.
Morry, could pcper do in the future heat stress test for the motherboards reviews?
Good idea. We’ll see what we
Good idea. We'll see what we can do in our follow-up reviews.
Ultra-durable is the naming scheme GIGABYTE uses to collectively reference the board's power design which includes using solid Black capacitors rated for 10k hours, International Rectifier digital power circuitry, and enhanced PCB design. You should not have any issues with blown caps on this board…
Thank You.
Thank You.
I’ve had this board for about
I’ve had this board for about 5 years now, with no problems. I left it on for over a year, with no problems. It was definitely a good buy as far as mobos go. I’m currently using it with a 1070 graphics card, and am adding liquid cooling on it tonight.
I’m glad you reviewed this
I’m glad you reviewed this board. I have been eyeing the UD5H lately and this review helped push me in the direction of a Gigabyte board. I’m glad they still have the legacy parts on the board as they were something I had been seeking.
Would this be a good board to
Would this be a good board to use building a Audio Production desktop PC? With a i7 intel processor and 16 gb of ram and 128 ssd to boot and run programs(main drive)plus two 7200 rpm 1tb or 2tb hhd drives for storing music and VST programs? Does it have wifi capability too?
Question,
Can anybody answer
Question,
Can anybody answer me on this? I have a Dell 8200 Tower I know I need all new components for this Motherboard but will it fit into this Dell 8200 case?
If anybody knows what is the biggest or type of new motherboard will fit in this tower or is it just Dell proprietary motherboard specific?
What I want is a new fast cpu as cheap as possible now it does not need to be blazing fast like this motherboard but what would anybody recommend? I will run Linux for free not Windows to save money. I am a CS BA just unfamiliar with building CPU hardware/configuring. Is it possible to get a decent CPU in this Dell 8200 Tower for < 300 $? I really appreciate any help or links anything I need a CPU at home because work wont let me take home my sweet Mac Book Pro so I am stuck with no PC at home. I do have a Dell 24 inch monitor Flat panel and a small 15 flat panel so all I need to do is build a tower cheap. I know Pricewatch.com is a good site but what to all buy to create a good PC. OK one more stupid question can I build a new CPU that will run OSX with a 64 bit chip?