GIGABYTE Z97X-UD5H (Intel Z97) Motherboard Review

Introduction of the GIGABYTE Z97X-UD5H

Step by step, we're working our way through the line of Z97 motherboards that we have received in the last couple of weeks. We started out our look with the ASUS SABERTOOTH Z97 MARK 1, which was then followed by a look at the ASRock Z97 Extreme4.

After looking at those two, we got a chance to check out the MSI Z97 MPOWER MAX AC, which carried with it a bigger price tag than the other two but an awesome set of features. Having taken a look at options from ASUS, ASRock, and MSI, it seemed the next logical step would be GIGABYTE.

At the moment, we're sitting on a pair of GIGABYTE Z97 motherboards. The particular one we're going to be looking at today, though, is part of the popular Ultra Durable series. The Z97X-UD5H follows the UD5H name that we've seen before and has always impressed us. The UD5H line of boards tend to offer good performance at a good price point. We're hoping today that the trend continues with the Z97X-UD5H.

We don't really need to say much more here as we've already spoken about the Z97 chipset a bit. If you want to learn more about it, then I recommend you head over to our first Z97 review (ASUS SABERTOOTH Z97 MARK 1). If you've already had a chance to look at that, though, then let's just move forward and see what's going on with the bundle of the Z97X-UD5H today.

Package - What comes inside the box

Taking a look at the black and gold themed box, you can see there's not too much going on with the front. We've got a big Ultra Durable logo along with the brand across the top and model across the bottom. Apart from a couple more logos, there's not much going on. Turning the box over, you can see we've got a picture of the motherboard and some of the main features being highlighted. We'll take a closer look at all of this when we look at the board on the next page.

Across the bottom of the box, you can see a picture of the I/O panel, but again, we'll take a closer look at that on the next page. As for the left side, you can see a list of the main features that are offered, including mentions of the All New Heatsink Design, Gold Plated CPU Socket, Black Solid Caps, DualBIOS, and 2x Copper PCB.

Moving inside the package, we see it's a fairly standard bundle. Across the top, you can see our main pieces of paperwork along with a Driver CD. On the right hand side, you can see four SATA cables, with the I/O plate, the SLI bridge, and an Ultra Durable sticker all being seen to the left.