A Closer Look
This motherboard has an ATX form factor, measuring at 30.5 x 20.5cm. Although it is a bit narrower than a full ATX motherboard, that did not stop the GIGABYTE engineers from giving the Z97X-UD3H an extremely well thoughtout layout and design. This socket 1150 motherboard also has a nice well-rounded color scheme as well. The black PCB looks wonderful trimmed out with golden highlights on the VRM and chipset heatsinks. This is certainly one of the better looking motherboards out there.
All of the motherboards expansion slots and connectivity ports are neatly organized to make installation a breeze. The six SATA ports (as well as the SATA Express port) are installed at ninety degree angles in order to face the front of your chassis and aid with cable management. This will help to make your finished installation look as clean as possible. The USB 3.0 front panel header is also located near the front edge of the motherboard which is also a bonus, making cable management much easier. The CMOS battery is also in an ideal location, allowing for desirable access, even if a dual graphics solution is installed.
Speaking of graphics cards, the PCIe x16 slots have also been properly placed to accomodate larger cooling solutions whilst in SLI or Crossfire mode alike. Another point for the smart design is the placement of the first PCIe slot with an ample amount of space between said slot and the four DDR3 memory slots. This definitely helps when swapping out memory as the latching mechanisms are not cramped at all. This placement also helps with the installation of an M.2 storage solution, which like the SATA Express interface, offers up to 10Gb/s performance! It may be some time before we actually have drives that support these speeds, however when we do, this motherboard will be ready!
The Z97X-UD3H-BK supports GIGABYTE’s patented DualBIOS (UEFI), which has always been a wonderful feature that helps to avoid frustrating crashes; and definitely helps the user when experimenting with overclocking. Notice here the seperate soldered BIOS chips; one designated as the Main and the other as Backup, of course. There is no CMOS clear button installed on the motherboard, however there is the usual header for completing such a task, when the need arises. We also find that the front panel header is color-coded to speed up the installation of your chassis available front panel features. Also located in this section of the motherboard are two USB 2.0 connectors, an TPM (Trusted Platform Module) and a COM port connector as well as the front panel audio connector.
In these next set of pictures we can get a better look at the M.2 connector with a layout that supports the standard 42, 60, and 80mm lengths. Installation of these types of storage components could not have been made easier to access and install, or vice versa. As part of the Ultra Durable brand, this motherboard is loaded with only solid-state capacitors. Even though there are many components installed onto this motherboard, it still manages a very clean look!
The rear I/O connectivity options include four USB 2.0 ports, four USB 3.0 ports, 8 Channel High Definition Audio, the Intel GbE LAN port, and a pair of PS2 ports (for those of you hanging on to your older input devices!). Video output includes a D-Sub VGA port, a DVI-D port, and an HDMI port. Depending on your CPU, 4K display support is provided here. The audio chipset, which by the way is the Realtek ALC1150, should account for some serious oomph by featuring a built-in rear audio amplifier and a 115dB SNR. The audio on this motherboard also features a separate analog and digital ground to isolate the signals and protect against Electromagnetic Interference (EMI).
The area around the CPU socket seems spacious enough, and by utilizing lower profile heatsinks for the VRMs, I do not forsee any issues with even large CPU coolers. Also of note for the overall layout is the fact that the Z97X-UD3H-BK has a total of five fan headers that are thoughtfully placed around the motherboard.
So how about installing some components onto this motherboard and firing it up for the first time? My thoughts, exactly!
