Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H Review

Up Close

The packaging for the UD5 follows the now familiar trend of Gigabyte boards having a white box with an overwhelming array of technical highlights, features and logos.

Inside the box we have a USB 3.0 front-panel extension alongside the usual array of SATA cables and multi-GPU bridges.

When we first looked at the board back in January there was much discussion about whether the heatsinks would remain looking as they did in the preview, or if Gigabyte would replace the prototype ones with something more aesthetically pleasing. As it is they look pretty much as they did then. One of life's rules that applies to prototype motherboards as much as game demos, they always represent the finished product. Although the black RAM and PCI slots imply they intended to go to the gun-metal ones we're more used to.

As you'd expect from a higher end board, Gigabyte have understood that you are likely to use a dual-fan CPU cooler and so we have two fan headers up near the top. The ATX 8pin is in a very fiddly place, so we recommend installing the power before you do the heatsink.