Z97 Motherboard Round Up: EVGA, MSI, Gigabyte

Name: Intel Z97 Motherboard Round-Up: EVGA, MSI, Gigabyte
Brand: Intel

by Marco Chiappetta — Sunday, May 11, 2014, 12:01 AM EDT

Next up we have the Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H. Like the other motherboards featured here, the Z97X-UD5H is an enthusiast class, Z97 based motherboard for socket 1150 Haswell-based 4th Gen Core processors (and future 5th Gen Core processors), though the Z97X-UD5H isn’t quite as loaded up with the numerous bells and whistles of the others.

Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H

Specifications & Features

The Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H offers all digital voltage regulation and the board is part of Gigabyte’s “Ultra Durable” family of products. As such, it is reportedly outfitted with double the amount of copper within the layers of the PCB and a newer fiberglass fabric in the PCB which offers better humidity protection. Ultra Durable branded products reportedly offer enhanced electrostatic and thermal protection as well.

In terms of more tangible features, the Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H offers a total of 14 USB ports (eight USB 3.0 and six USB 2.0), eight SATA 6Gbps connectors, CrossFireX and SLI support, DualBIOS technology, and On/Off USB Charge support. The Z97X-UD5H also offers DVI, HDMI and VGA display outputs. We should mention that the board sports both Intel and Killer E2200-series LAN controllers.

Other noteworthy features of the Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H include on-board power and reset switches, newly designed heatsinks, a POST code error reporter, and a new, totally redesigned BIOS / UEFI. Gigabyte’s new UEFI is much smoother and quicker to navigate than its older “3D BIOS”, but still give’s users the ability to navigate through the menus via mouse. We should also mention that the Z97X-UD5H offers Gigabyte’s Dual-BIOS feature as well, which gives users the ability to quickly recover from a bad flash.

Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H Rear IO Cluster

The Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD5H doesn’t have a very extensive bundle. The board comes with a couple of user's manuals, an installation disc, a case badge, four SATA cables, and SLI bridge, and a custom IO shield.

Tags: Intel, MSI, Gigabyte, evga, Motherboard, Haswell, Broadwell, Z97, 1150

Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com