GIGABYTE GA-H77N-WIFI LGA 1155 Intel H77 HDMI USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard

Pros: I've been buying Gigabyte motherboards for 10+ years now, but this has been my first Intel motherboard from Gigabyte. I bought it as an everyday Core i3 Windows box with Mac OS X installed on a second partition.

And, as usual, it works perfectly right out of the box. Easy to install, easy to configure, 100% functionality, came with all of the parts, can't complain. It was my first experience with UEFI, so that took some getting used to, but that's about it.

Cons: I am not a huge fan of the location of the various headers/connectors, especially the CPU power connector, the front-panel audio connector, and the case fan connector. But I knew exactly where they were going to be before I bought the motherboard, so I have no right to complain.

No real overclocking functionality, but if you are looking to do that you should be looking at the GA-Z77N-WIFI.

Overall Review: For those planning Linux/Unix builds, the Wifi/Bluetooth chip is an Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2230. I personally am not using Linux, but I know Linux drivers for this specific wireless chip is difficult to find (depending on your distro).

For those planning Hackintosh builds, the Bluetooth works out-of-box but the Wifi will NOT work. That said, everything else on the board works 100% without any DSDT work.

At any rate, the Bluetooth/Wireless chip is simply a half-height mini-PCI Express card that can removed and exchanged with any other half-height mini-PCIe card on the market. I personally swapped mine with a wireless card from a Dell laptop that works out-of-box with both Windows and Mac OS X.

Pros: Small, capable

Cons: No master mode to enable Linux AP wireless hotspot. You'll have to blow the second physical port and purchase a separate AP.

Overall Review: Don't get this board thinking you'll make it into a Linux AP wireless Hotspot. The built in Wireless PCI-E from Intel doesn't support it in Cent/RHEL. See this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_open_source_wireless_drivers#Driver_capabilities under "iwlagn".