Gigabyte X99-UD4P (LGA 2011-3) Motherboard Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

The Gigabyte X99-UD4P is available in the UK from Scan Computers for £192. Stock is currently unavailable in the US through a search of reputable US e-tailers. A little research shows this pricing is around 15% more than the standard X99-UD4 board and will be covered by Gigabyte’s 3-year warranty.

Summary

So today I’ve had the pleasure of testing the X99-Gaming-5P, which will be in an upcoming review, and the X99-UD4P motherboards; and being completely honest, I can’t tell the difference between them aesthetically apart from the colour. In a performance standpoint, the X99-UD4P is an excellent motherboard, with Gigabyte squeezing every last ounce of possible performance from it. The motherboards allow so much freedom for the CPU, GPU and RAM that the limitation is one or more of those components, rather than the motherboard. This new ‘P’ series will be replacing the current X99-UD4, so more bang for buck for the buyers.

Now I do like the LED accents given to these boards and the yellow/gold highlights are a little more unique, but it limits what graphics cards would look good, mainly the Sapphire Trixx series or maybe the MSi Lightning. Then again, if these are going to be more overclocker orientated, colours won’t be an issue as they’ll be thick in LN2. Performance wise, it’s slightly better than the original X99-UD4 board, which is a very good thing as it was a highly rated board originally at such a good price point.

Now there are only two things I don’t like about this motherboard; first is the lack of onboard power/ reset buttons and a debug LED. If it’s being aimed at overclockers, it’s going to be extremely likely that this board is going to be outside of a case; so onboard buttons would be ideal. Second is the size; I know Gigabyte has combined the height of an ATX motherboard with the width of an E-ATX motherboard, but this limits the potential audience to users with larger ATX cases. If you have say, the Corsair 500R, it would be a very tight fit due to the recessed motherboard tray. Other than that, this is an extremely well-equipped board, especially considering its it’s price.

Pros

• Good performance
• High quality audio
• Ambient LED is a nice feature
• Feature packed
• Great value for money compared to some similar specification boards

Cons

• Missing onboard DEBUG LED and buttons
• Limiting potential audience with E-ATX motherboard width

“For the overclocker or gamer on a budget, great compatibility for high-speed RAM and huge bandwidth for top spec processors and graphics cards to help cope with the newest demanding games and other applications. This is a serious motherboard and well worth the money.”

Thank you to Gigabyte for providing this review sample.