Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3R Preview

Full Review

Sandy Bridge, Intel's next offering to the mainstream segment of PCs still is about a month away. We bring you a preview of one of the motherboards capable of supporting these processors. Based on the Intel P67 chipset, with an LGA 1155 socket, the Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3R is a high-end motherboard. It will not support/activate integrated graphics on Intel's new processor line, a task perhaps left to the Intel H65/H67 chipsets.

Gigabyte figures that having 10 USB ports available at the backpanel won't hurt.

Being a high-end model for PC enthusiasts (though mainstream in positioning), this motherboard for Intel's Sandy Bridge processors is geared towards providing a good experience with plenty of features, and is not expected to be low-cost. This is a preview of the board's design and features alone.

Check back for performance details later, which we can provide only after the Intel Core i3/i5/i7 2000 series processors are available (post January 5th 2011) to test upon these motherboards.

Design

We are accustomed by now, to expect a blue-and-white color scheme from Gigabyte, but this P67 board bucks the trend. The P67A-UD3R is dominated by a dark black feel, with metal colored finishes interrupting in places. For recognisability, some flourishes of blue are still present.


Aesthetically pleasing and premium in feel.

Solid capacitors can be seen across the board. The 3 heat sinks are large and conspicuously visible across this full-ATX board. Though notably bunched around the processor socket, there still is enough space for those who'd like to install after-market CPU coolers.

One complaint we could have about positioning, is the way two SATA ports are placed in such a way as to get blocked if a large graphics card is used in the second large PCI-Express slot (x4 unfortunately). On the positive side, the headers on the motherboard (such as front audio, USB, additional fan power) are positioned in a logical manner where they are expected to be, unlike many boards that scatter headers seemingly without thinking it through. Some markings on the board are for non-existent headers, presumably because the same base is used for Gigabyte's P67A-UD7 product as well.

Rear panel of the P67A-UD3R is not quite choc-a-bloc, but does offer a lot, as is standard with upper-mainstream motherboards.


Gigabyte figures that making plenty of USB ports available at the backpanel never hurt anyone. The blue ones are USB 3.0.

Features and Specifications

Enthusiasts won't have much to complain about, with the P67A-UD3R featuring 24-phase CPU power. Gigabyte has put in some of its own technologies into this board for LGA1155 Sandy Bridge Intel processors, including Dual BIOS and Ultra Durable 3 design with 2 ounce copper within PCB. As expected, the board supports USB 3.0 (4.8 Gb/s) and SATA 3.0 (6 Gb/s).

Since Gigabyte's website does not currently have this board listed, below is a quick listing of significant details.
Processor Socket: Intel LGA1155
Motherboard Chipset: Intel P67
Power Input Sockets: one 24-pin for motherboard, one 8-pin for processor
Memory Spec: DDR3, 1.5 Volt, up to 2133 MHz, 4 DIMM slots for upto 16GB
Expansion Slots: one PCIe x16, one PCIe x4, three PCIe x1, two PCI
Sound: Realtek 8-channel audio controller, coaxial and optical S/PDIF out, 6 audio jacks
Others: ATX form factor (30.5 cm x 24.4 cm), 3 year warranty
Internal I/O Connectors: two SATA 6Gb/s, four SATA 3Gb/s, three USB 2.0 headers, one front panel audio header
Rear I/O Connectors: one PS/2 keyboard/mouse connector, one Gigabit LAN port, two USB 3.0 ports, eight USB 2.0 ports


The Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3R motherboard offers the new LGA1155 socket for Intel processors codenamed "Sandy Bridge".

Package Contents

Within the motherboard box, neatly tucked away were the standard accompaniments. These were four SATA cables, a well-marked and color coded backplate, an installation guidebook and user's manual, and a disc.

To inform both, accidental and well-intentioned experimenters, an entire laminated yellow warning page was present. In English and various other languages, the page cautions the user not to install an LGA1156 processor on this board, clarifying that it offers a different socket (LGA1155) which will work only with Intel Core i7/i5/i3 and Pentium processors that have a 4-digit model number (the 2xxx series).

The bundled disc was a simple one, labelled the "Intel 6 Series Utility DVD" version 1.01. On it were drivers for the chipset, audio, network interface, Serial-ATA and RAID for Windows 7/Vista/XP operating systems. Also included, was EasyTune (utility for overclocking, or "System Enhancement"), Adobe Acrobat Reader (to read the PDF manuals), and a trial version of Norton Internet Security.

Bottom Line

Intel's next line of 32nm processors, Sandy Bridge is coming soon. Supporting them will be the P67 chipset, among other motherboard chipsets. The Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3R is a prime contender for the title of a good enthusiast motherboard for upcoming fast mainstream processors.