GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD7 LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: Relatively Easy "Plug and Play" setup. Board worked 1st time on bootup. No POST or BIOS issues found. Bios was relatively simple to set up. After completion, fast bootup into Windows 7, ~10-15 secs depending on how fast you type in the password! Manual was simple and easy to follow.

Cons: Usual complaints (as per many other users):- a) Packaging very flimsy. Internal clear plastic shell was damaged in one corner upon receipt - no board damage. b) Care needed with CPU insertion as the clip can move to a position where it can put a lot of force on the back edge of the CPU. Basically check it prior to placing the lever hard down. c) PCI slots occluded with Gigabyte Northbridge cooling attachment. d) 1st memory slot (closest to CPU) occluded, due to using Noctua NH-D14 CPU cooler and G-Skill Trident RAM (tall heat spreaders - May utilize a dremel in the near future). e) Some SATA ports difficult to get access to as I used a very looong Gigabyte GV-N26OC-896I Graphics card. f) Front Panel Audio header is difficult to get to with CPU fan and Northbridge cooler in place. Carefully used long pliers.

Overall Review: I read all reviews on many boards prior to this purchase, and I have worked with many Gigabyte boards in the past. This was the easiest build I have done so far. I have not yet had chance to overclock, but have completed the functional setup and am very pleased with the results so far.

Pros: I was hesitant about switching from EVGA to something new, but that soon passed after 4.2GHz was a success after first try. 200x21 4.2GHZ with 1.280v core and 1.275v QPI/VTT. 24+2+2 phase power delivery is what sold me on this board. USB3.0 and SATA3.0 makes for a more future proof board then all EVGA boards out there currently. The led light to give a visual indicator about overclock, voltage, temperature, etc is awesome.

Cons: Chipset water cooling is pretty weak. The barbs are an odd size that ill require downsizing in tube size. The passive heat sink add-on is also pretty weak and it should come with a 60mm or 80mm fan. With the heat sink add-on installed the first PCIE release lever is hard to get at.

Overall Review: You will be amazed with the weight of this motherboard. I had to compare the difference to an EVGA 790i PWM board and it is truly amazing how much more durable the Gigabyte board feels.

Pros: I thought it had all the options to expand and grow but no good if they do not work as advertised

Cons: Marvell Raid controller or Sata2 port 9 failure after 6 weeks. Now have to be without system to get an RMA in 2-3 business weeks sucks beyond belief.

Overall Review: Built a top end system including SATA3 SSD for OS worth 2.5 K and have the MOBO start to loose functionality 6 weeks in is not good.

Pros: Great overclocker with Corsair CWCH50-1 cooler. Very easy overclocked to 4.414GHz using BIOS and EasyTune (Gigabyte). In BIOS set BCLK to 210, multiplier to 21, and Extreme settings. Tested using MemTest 86 v4.00. With web browsing/text editing it keeps 41C at 4.414GHz. OCZ Gold DDR3-1600 memory. Memory runs at 1680MHz, and 10-9-9-22, 7.5GT/s. Will test more in the future - So far Very Happy with the GA-X58A-UD7.

Cons: Windows XP_64 Pro can not be installed. There is always an "NTDLR is corrupt. The system cannot boot." error that shows right after installation (and you can not reboot). No problems installing WinXP 32, Fedora Core 12 32bit and 64 bit. Fedrora Core 12 requires some work with Relatek network drivers (need to download them from Realtek).

Overall Review: When Flashing BIOS from F2 to F5 version, you must clear CMOS (take battery out, short connectors inside battery). The Corsair CWCH50-1 cooler is hard to fit in Antec 1200 case, because Mobo uses Northbridge heat spreader that prevents installation in 2nd from top back fan. I re-drilled holes for top back fan down by 1/8" to fit H50 cooler. But H50 is great termally. *GA-X58A-UD7, BIOS updated to F5 CWCH50-1 Corsair cooler *Antec 1200 case (had to drill the top back fan holes - lower top back fan screws holes by 1/8" to fit H50 cooler) *Corsair 850 W power

Pros: Future-proofed, USB 3, SATA 3, all the bells and whistles you could possibly ask for.

Cons: As other reviewers have noted, the expansion slots seem to be a bit oddly positioned. The software that came with it (which, I should note, is easy to use for simple overclocking) seems a bit unpolished.

Overall Review: As a first time builder, choosing a mobo was easily the toughest decision I had to make. Despite a few of the reviews for this board, I bit the bullet and went ahead with it, and I couldn't be happier that I did. I made a power-related mistake in my build, but this board took it on the chin and kept right on ticking with zero adverse reaction. It's sturdy, too - again, as a first time builder I really abused it pretty badly when trying to install the aftermarket air cooler, but again, it was up to the challenge. Can't recommend this enough, unless you need to run three expansion cards, and even then I'm sure there's a way to do it.

Pros: This board has everything I wanted and more. SATA3 w/ support for RAID 0 & 1, 24GB RAM, 24 phase power, USB 3.0, XMP support, easy overclock.

Cons: If you use the NB cooler, it blocks both PCIe x1 slots. Gigabyte email support slow to respond - sometimes 3+ day's.

Overall Review: First, don't go by all the poor reviews on this board. DOA boards sometimes happen. Mine was not DOA, but I had a wierd memory problem and blamed the board/firmware. Turns out the memory was bad even though it passed mem test utilities without any errors. Also, some people complained they can't install Win 7 on Marvell SATA 3 RAID - not true, I installed just fine. Easy to overclock, my system has been stable for 2+ months, no BSOD's and I leave the system on 24x7. Overall great board!

Pros: The motherboard has ALL of the bells and whistles. It is feature packed and looks good to boot. Shame I didn't get to experience ANY of the features.

Cons: Despite all the memory problems people have been posting about on Newegg and other help/review sites I decided to go with this board...for some reason I did something I haven't done in a long time (follow a tomshardware.com manufacturer recommendation). The board came in along with the rest of my rig (i7-930, 700W Corsair PS, Corsair Dominator DDR3, Gigabyte Radeon 5850) and the assembly went very smoothly... However, upon finishing the assembly and powering powering up, the motherboard constantly powers off and then on, off, on, and repeats this forever. Each time the power-on only lasts 1-3 seconds and does not even POST, the CPU and other MB connected fans start spinning very slowly before the board restarts. The manual's troubleshooting process is a joke, the only thing it would say to look for is motherboard shorts. I've been building my own computers for near 20 years and as long as you mount it correctly... Continued in "Other Thoughts"

Overall Review: ...and don't leave a loose screw on the underside you will not have a short problem. Regardless I dismounted the motherboard, placed it on a static free insulating pad in my workshop and attempted to fire it up again, but had the exact same result. I have researched and found other people having this exact issue with other Gigabyte motherboards and everyone has had to return the board, and sometimes even the following board until they got one without this problem. I have e-mailed gigabyte twice now in the past 24 hours and haven't even got any kind of response. I'm tempted to RMA this board for an Asus (always have been stable in my experience). Long store short: You risk an RMA with this board, it has an "aw" factor as far as features but an "awww" factor as far as delivery on those features.

Pros: Board is of a very solid design. Most everything is perfectly placed on the board, minus the PCIe 1x slot. I saw another review mentioning not having enough room around processor for large heatsinks. I have to wonder what they've installed. I'm running the Cooler Master v8 heatsink (amazing, btw) which has 2x 120mm fans on it, barely fitting in my huge full size ATX case and along with the supplied NB heatsinks and 3 sticks of RAM thats got some hefty heatsinks of their own, everything fits perfectly well. Recently released new BIOS which impoved compatibility with SSD Drives. Perfect timing for me as I just upgraded for my OS Drive. Lots of USB ports with enough power to run everything, Great placing of SATA ports and configuration options, solid state capacitors and overall rock-solid performance in every way. I have a rev 1.0 board, so unable to comment on changes to 2.0 boards. From what I'm hearing, I recommmend trying for 1.0.

Cons: Unable to use SLI mode at all with my Soundblaster X-Fi Extremegamer Fatal1ty soundcard installed. PCI slot does not allow a dual-slot vid card to be placed above it. I'd use the onboard as it's great except that I use the Live Drive (front panel) for remote-control use when not sitting directly at my computer . (when watching shows/videos on my computer) *Price - But you do get what you pay for, and this is ONE SOLID BOARD that still rates as one of the best you can get even after almost a year, which says a lot in this day. *NB Cooling block is mounted strangely. The block is mounted to the top of cooling fins in the board. Should have been an optional replacement or something. I can't imagine that it doesn't adversely affect cooling by having such little contact area to the heatsinks..whereas a more solid contact would surely allow faster heat dissipation to the add-on block.

Overall Review: Strong support still in Gigabyte updating BIOS and improving compatibility and stability, and features and build that are still holding up after a year of availability. Gigabyte's always been a solid company with overall good products (of course there are issues as with any company, and we're bound to see that more since that's what'll normally bring people out to comment on them) and great support. Don't let one bad experience determine your sense of worth for a company without a chance to redeem themselves. Also, so many negative reviews on this board I'm reading on here are due to a misunderstanding of the product or a lacking knowledge of exactly WHY something's not working. Unfortunately boards with such a wide support of features aren't as simple as "Hey, i have DDR3 and an i7 processor. It should work. I know how to install and put together a system". I recommend really researching every component and know what works with what, especially when it comes to speeds and techs.