Intel Motherboard | AMD Motherboard

The ECS 790GXM-AD3 is an AMD motherboard based of the 790GX/SB750 chipset and supports both CrossFire and Hybrid CrossFireX with the integrated HD 3300 graphics and onboard video memory buffer. To keep the A790GXM-AD3 AM3 board cool while operating, ECS has placed a large amount of copper in their heatsinks. There is one over the voltage regulators, one over the Northbridge to cool the NB and the Sideport memory, and one over the Southbridge. ECS A790GXM-AD3 mainboard has two PCI Express x16 slots which support both CrossFire and Hybrid CrossFireX with the onboard ATI HD 3300 graphics. There are also two PCI Express x1 slots and two legacy PCI slots for additional expansion card such as networking, audio, and more. Back panel of this AMD motherboard offers a whole lot of connections to get you up and running with minimal fuss. There are a PS/2 mouse and keyboard port, a clear CMOS button, a VGA port, an HDMI port, six USB 2.0 ports, an eSATA port, one LAN port, and the audio ports which supports 8 channel HD audio and SPDIF. A few things of note is the inclusion of an eSATA port is almost necessary with external storage having high capacities these days, so it is nice to see ECS keeping up with current and future technology. Although ECS 790GXM-AD3 motherboard has a VGA port and an HDMI port, there is no DVI port on it.

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Labels: AMD, ECS

Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD4P is an Intel motherboard based on Intel's P55 Express chipset and carry Gigabyte's "Ultra Durable 3" branding. Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD4P works with both LGA 1156-based Core i7 and i5 processors, and its six DDR3 slots support up to 16GB of system memory. Although the Lynnfield-based processors only feature dual-channel memory controllers, Gigabyte is able to expose four slots on one channel and two on the other, giving you a little more room to upgrade. You’ll also find a boatload of ports and slots on this Intel motherboard. Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD4P includes three x16 PCI Express slots, two PCIe x1 slots, and two conventional PCI slots. You can use the motherboard with either ATI CrossFire or Nvidia SLI (Remember that slot one will slow to x8 signaling and USB 3.0/SATA 6Gb/s interfaces run at half-speed, but it is still significantly faster than USB 2.0). There are six SATA 3Gb/s connectors, and two 6Gb/s SATA connectors. Those who need to use legacy devices will appreciate continuing support for an IDE connector that handles ATA-133/100/66/33 for one or two drives. Not only that, you’ll also find an integrated floppy disk controller as well. The Realtek ALC889 audio codec supports up to eight channels (7.1) of high-def audio, including Dolby Home Theater. The dual Realtek RTL8111D GbE LAN chips support teaming and Smart Dual LAN to boost your bandwidth above 1Gb/s on switched Gigabit Ethernet networks. Another nice touch about Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD4P Intel motherboard is there are six fan headers, including a power fan, three system fans, a chipset fan, and a CPU fan. Rear panel connectors include a single PS/2 mouse/keyboard port, coaxial and optical S/PDIF audio outs, two FireWire ports, six USB 2.0/1.1 and six USB 3.0/2.0 ports, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, and a full complement of analog audio outputs.

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Labels: Gigabyte, Intel

Not like Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3, the Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2 has micro ATX form factor. Like another Gigabyte Ultra Durable 3 series, GA-P55M-UD2 motherboard comes with 2 ounces of copper for both the Power and Ground layers, delivering a dramatically lower system temperature, improved energy efficiency and enhanced stability for overclocking. As an entry-level and budget board for Intel's i5/i7 series, this Intel mortherboard has everything you need. Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2 Intel motherboard has plenty of ports, including 7 SATA and a PCIe 16x for a graphics card. A second PCIe slot at 4x speed exist for other peripherals, and there's two legacy PCI slots. Tons of USB ports on the back, and two internal pins for ATX case USB panels and your internal Memory Card reader. FireWire connector is both placed on the back and a connector for your case panel. ATX pin connectors (power switch, HDD light, reset switch, etc) are all easily labeled and color-coded. You don't even need the manual to install the pins. The Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2 motherboard is equipped with the Gigabyte Ultra Durable signature features including Japanese Solid Capacitors boasting an operational life time of more than 50,000 hours, Lower RDS(on) MOSFETs and Gigabyte patented DualBIOS technology. The Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2 motherboard promises to provide the stability, reliability and longevity essential to meet the power needs of high-end processors and other components running today's most demanding applications and games.

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Labels: Gigabyte, Intel

The Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 motherboard is an Intel Motherboard which designed to offer a stable, high-speed platform for delivering amazingly fast data transfer via the Gigabyte 333 onboard acceleration technologies. Supporting the latest Intel Core i7 and Core i5 processors for the LGA 1156 socket, the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 motherboard sets a new standard in high performance computing. With the memory controller integrated directly into the processor die, the motherboard supports dual channel DDR3 memory for blazing fast memory performance up to 2200MHz and above. Featuring the world’s first USB 3.0 logo certified host controller uPD720200 from NEC Electronics, the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 allows users to take advantage of super fast USB transfer rates of up to 5Gbps, delivering 10x faster data transfer compared to USB 2.0. However, the PCIe lane limitation is a known factor of the P55 chipset, not a fault of the motherboard. The P55 chipset is not built with the intention of making a hardcore gaming system with SLi or CrossFire. You can run it, but you run into some limitations, namely that the second slot will clock down in speed, or you will lose the functionality of devices that are sharing the lanes.

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Labels: Gigabyte, Intel

Asus Rampage II GENE is an Intel X58 motherboard used a MicroATX form factor and packaged in a square box. The initial impression is of a smaller, cuter version of the Asus Rampage II Extreme Intel Motherboard. Asus Rampage II GENE's PCB is dark brown and the coolers are matt black with a red Republic of Gamers logo and the incredibly funky micro buttons that we first saw on Rampage II Extreme are also present. The big difference between this Intel motherboard with Asus Rampage II Extreme is its multi VGA support. While the Asus Rampage II Extreme mainboard has triple graphics slots (16x8x8x), Asus Rampage II GENE are reduced to a pair of x16 slots but you get full support for CrossFireX and SLI. The build quality of the Asus Rampage II GENE Intel mainboard is superb and the worth mentioning is the memory slots, as they only use a retention clip on the end of the module at the top of the board. The other end -- the one near the graphics card -- has no clip yet there is a distinct sound as the memory snicks firmly into place. This means that you don't need to remove the graphics card in order to release a module of memory, which is very considerate of the designer. The passive coolers on the chipset look great but they are rather small and the Southbridge cooler isn't even connected to the coolers on the Northbridge and the power regulation hardware. The result is that the temperature of the coolers hit a steady 60 degrees Celsius. The Asus Rampage II GENE Intel mainboard offers superb performance at a considerably lower price. Add in the potential to stuff all that power into an even smaller space than is usually possible and you have a motherboard we really rather like.

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Labels: ASUS, Intel