GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R (Rev. 2.0) Motherboard Review

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

The GIGABYTE X58A-UD3R (Rev. 2.0) is a very nice motherboard no doubt. While I’m not a huge fan of how they aligned the expansion slots, everything was still laid out very nicely. The performance of the GIGABYTE X58A-UD3R was as solid as can be. It wasn’t up to what I’m used to seeing or what I saw on the ASUS Rampage II Extreme, but by any means it wasn’t a slouch. This is also one of the few X58 boards that I’ve seen that don’t have the power and reset buttons on the board itself which is not a bad thing. I think the GIGABYTE X58A-UD3R should have had more case fan headers though.

The only fuss I got from the board was with one of the e-SATA/USB ports. I plugged my Saitek Eclipse III keyboard into one of those ports and oddly enough the keyboard no longer worked. The port still works, but I’m left with a borked $80 keyboard so I can’t say I’m a huge fan of the combo. I even thought I plugged the keyboard into the wrong port since I’ve never seen these e-SATA/USB combo ports on any board before. Apparently it’s unheard of where a device shorts out on these ports but I though it was worth mentioning in case. I guess the old saying goes, “it happens”.

Other than a few issues, the GIGABYTE X58A-UD3R was a nice board to work with. It’s got a nice look with some nice features to use. Having USB 3.0 and SATA 3 definitely was a one-up over the ASUS Rampage II Extreme it was compared to. Gaming wise both boards were practically identical in performance so if you’re just doing that then spending an extra $350 wouldn’t be advised but it is your money afterall. Priced about $210 at most places, the GIGABYTE is a great board to have. As stated, it comes with USB 3.0, SATA6, decent overclockability and also a three year warranty. Even though there are other options out there now, I would still say the GIGABYTE X58A-UD3R is a worthy motherboard for your computer.

Legit Bottom Line: The GIGABYTE X58A-UD3R offers good performance and nice features for the price. It may be a tad fussy, but once it works it works well. Definitely worth considering in your rig.