GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: This motherboard is still performing flawlessly after 7 months. I'm running an I7 2600K (not OC), CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10R and added a VANTEC UGT-IH203 2-Port USB 3.0 Front Panel to overcome my case's USB 3.0 deficiency.

Cons: As yet, I haven't found that this motherboard accommodates a case speaker.

Other Thoughts: I almost bought this MB again for an Ivy Bridge build but it wasn't clear that the board would support Ivy Bridge right out of the box w/o a BIOS update. I found a Gigabyte Z77 that closely approximated this Z68 for the new build.

Pros: Everything works as advertised. Very happy and impressed with the performance. This is the first board that I had, that recognized the memory sticks at the advertised speeds. Did not have to finagle with the BIOS to set up the memory. Came with the most recent BIOS already installed! I usually install the newest BIOS before I install windows and the drivers. Gigabyte makes it so easy!

Cons: No cons so far.

Other Thoughts: i7-3770
2 x 4 GB 1600Mhz sticks

Pros: Ivy Bridge compatible bios (F12) included (using with 3570k), straightforward setup if you ignore the junkware they want you to install (see other). Rev 1.3 of this board (which is what I got ordering here) seems to have solved the common problems with this board that people have been complaining about.

Oh, and doesn't look to shabby. I was leery about this board reading the reviews on here, but it's turned out great.

Cons: Bios is slow to POST (my laptop boots before this POSTs), boot loop on memory clock problems (fixable with power cycle and resetting multiplier), UEFI update is beta and buggy but I have no interest in it, Can't clock RAM to 1866 without the boot loop (could be voltages)

Price could be knocked down 20 bucks or so.. but we'll see if this rebate works out.

Docked an egg for the slow POST and wiggly heatsink

Other Thoughts: But you didn't buy this for the UEFI/touch bios, did you? I have gotten the boot loop that people mention, but it was me setting the memory to 1866mhz. I've got the "CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866" kit and I can only get it to run at 1600 max so far. I haven't tried changing the voltages yet, so it could just be me. This has been running without a crash or problem since I bought it and I have no need to push it yet.

I wish they would refine their BIOS software and remove the cruft, but if you know anything about computers you can get around it.. you're not using the driver disk that came with it anyways, are you? Just download the drivers and you'll be fine.

If you know what you're getting with the z68 chipset this is an acceptable board and solid with the new revisions, plenty of internal USB headers (4 internal 2.0 not counting the 3.0 breakout) and serial port if you need it. Kinda short on the SATA ports, but does have enough. Marvell RAID works fine for me also.

If this takes a dump on me I will report back, but so far so good! *knocks on wood*

Pros: Fast, works with all hardware I've used, great gigabyte bios support

Cons: I don't really have any...

Other Thoughts: I've been building systems for the past 12+ years. This was my first Gigabyte fan. Have been loyal to Asus, Abit and Epox in the past but after this board...I'll be buying Gigabyte again. Most boards I've owned have lost Manufacturer support only months after my purchase. Gigabyte has made bios updates and offered support now since the day I bought the board and even released a new bios last week! I haven't had any crashes, bsod's or compatibility issues ever...and I upgrade my hardware regularly as new technology becomes available...Thanks Gigabyte!!!

Pros: good layout

Cons: -after newest Bios Update it have so many Bugs, sometimes you start the pc, nothing happen. than you have to complete shut off the energy on your power supply, wait 10 seconds and than give energy and start the pc again. now it starts.
-the usb ports onbord works some times, some times they dont.
-bord make sounds when i play a game.
-touch bios you can only use behind newest bios update, before its a joke.

Manufacturer Response:

Thank you for your comments. Honest and constructive opinions are always welcome. We apologize for your difficulty with your Gigabyte product

The latest release BIOS is version F12. If you are using BIOS version U1L, please note that this is a beta BiOS. If you require further assistance, please contact us at newegg-support@gigabyte-usa.com with the case number 2013032505 in the subject line.

GIGABYTE VIP Support Team

Pros: -Great looking, functions great.

Cons: -USB 3.0 slots don't work at all.

Other Thoughts: Is probably just shipping damage by NewEgg, I do recommend this product though.
It's a shame, this would be a 5 egg product if it had arrived intact.

Pros: The board has nice features, plenty of connectors that I use. I'm not personally using the OC features (or RAID, for that matter). Great support all-around for CPU, RAM, etc...

It was fairly simple to install and set up too. Looks pretty good all around. But keep in mind this is a Day 1 review so I might run into problems later (hopefully not).

I liked the general setup save for a few things. See cons.

Cons: The board has a couple of problems I noticed when installing it. Mostly annoyances though.

Initially, I was trying to set up my video card at the bottom PCI express x16 slot then I realized it overlapped over one of the 2 PCI slots when I put the card in. Had to move it to the top one since my wireless card would conflict with it. I don't usually use SLI/Crossfire so it's not a major issue for me but this is something people ought to consider before buying it.

The HD Audio slot is set up close to the CPU instead of on the edges like the rest of the pins, forcing you to run a cable all the way across. This is an odd design decision.

And finally, no screws included. This last one is definitely annoying if you don't have a current motherboard to rely on. Had to unscrew my old motherboard one by one and that was a big waste of time when they could have simply included them like every other board I've bought.

So 3.5 / 5 would be my initial impression. I'll round up for the time being.

Pros: Working perfectly never had any problems! still running strong!

Cons: None

Pros: works good

Cons: I thought this was supposed to come with an SLi bridge? It didn't, good thing EVGA is nice enough to make up for your sloppy work and send me one.

Pros: Price to Feature set.

Cons: Horizontal sata ports.
Ultimately unstable regardless of OS.

Other Thoughts: I've had this board now for perhaps 7 months and at first it seemed good although it had issues shutting down in linux. Now it frequently BSODs in windows and gets machine check errors in linux and freebsd. It also only sees 8GB of my 16GB of 2x8GB corsair vengence ram(regardless of settings). I've spent weeks trying to track down issues and this is what i know. Its not heat, its not GPU, its not the CPU. If I stress the drives (using XHD in windows) and software raid flat sata in linux the system will slowly start to bog down and frequently crash. I don't know if this is the culprit as most of the crashes I experience are under almost idle conditions. I have contacted Gigabyte and now a week in (with frequent updates to my ticket) they have yet to even look at the ticket. I'm guessing there are a lot of bad apples in this bunch and if you get a good board you are ok but if not your effectively up the creek because gigabyte doesn't seem to want anything to do with it if it blows up in your face. This is the second gigabyte board I've purchased. The first was perhaps 15 years ago and as the best MB I have ever owned. Too bad this supposedly "ultra durable" and "highly rated" MB is such a junk. Guess I am suckered out of 150+ bucks and now the fun reinstall of windows due to incompatible hardware raid.

As a side note I have never OC'd this system and if anything tuned things down in a futile effort to stabilize it. All sensors (including the three on the MB) have never exceeded 70C and most of the time are below 40. Typically only the cpus cores and gpu get into the 60s under fairly heavy load.