First looks - Gigabyte P67A-UD3 Intel Sandy Bridge motherboard scrutinised

[HEXUS]

We give Gigabyte's mid-range Sandy Bridge board the once-over.

Read more.

[kalniel]

Odd that they're knocking down the x4 slot to x1 if any of the other x1s are in use. I thought p67 had enough full fat lanes they wouldn't have to do that. On the plus side I guess it means you can run your GPU at a full x16 and stick a SSD card in the x4 and have them both stay full speed (if not using the x1s), rather than other solutions which will drop the GPU to x8 if you use the other large PCIE slot.

I guess that's why they've added the extra space between the two x16s as well - you wouldn't want to use them both for graphics because one's going into the CPU, the other is into the 'southbridge'.

[BullDogg]

I thought p67 had enough full fat lanes they wouldn't have to do that.

I'm almost certain that Sandy Bridge chips based on P67 can split the PCIe lanes into two x8 lanes, so I guess this was a Gigabyte decision to go with one x16 and one x4.

Seems odd to me, but maybe one of their other boards will let you do an even split - one aimed more at enthusiasts perhaps.

[crossy]

Readers looking to go out and purchase the new Sandy Bridge/P67 combo will need to understand that, in some ways, it is a backward step from present P55 boards, especially for enthusiasts.

So does this meant that there's still an argument for looking at the current 1156 kit? Due to do a PC refresh in the next month and i7-860 (or pos 870 if Scan want to do me a good price) plus Asus P7P55D-E combo looked good, but I got kind of put off with the idea that P67 would make my new rig obsolete in about a month.

Was looking at this new rig for MP3/MP4 ripping, but if 1156 isn't the way to go then I'll stay loyal to AMD and get a hex core AM3, (and yes I know the AM3+ boards are also "coming soon").

[kalniel]

So does this meant that there's still an argument for looking at the current 1156 kit? Due to do a PC refresh in the next month and i7-860 (or pos 870 if Scan want to do me a good price) plus Asus P7P55D-E combo looked good, but I got kind of put off with the idea that P67 would make my new rig obsolete in about a month.

Nope, there's no reason to go with 1156 - it has at least as many limitations, if not more. I *think* Hexus are refering to Gigabyte's decision with this budget board to go with one full fat x16 rather than split it, and to put the second x16 slot off the southbridge instead.

[Mandyathomp]

Hi,

I am trying to find a good alternative to Paypal.

Anyone have a clue ?

[crossy]

Hi, I am trying to find a good alternative to Paypal. Anyone have a clue ?

Google Checkout's pretty good - in my experience at least. Although you still need a credit card (I think) backing it up.

You might want to try posting that question in one of the Hexus forums rather than in a news item about motherboards - you'll get more viewers.

[miniyazz]

A quick google reveals the same question posed by the same person across several dozen forums, so I don't think lack of viewers is a concern.

[jim]

Surprised he hasn't been back with a suggestion yet.

freemoneytransfers.con is a particular favourite of mine.

[crossy]

Surprised he hasn't been back with a suggestion yet.
freemoneytransfers.con is a particular favourite of mine.

I've never come across the ".con" domain before - is this one that ICANN have set up specifically for the 419/penis-enlargement/etc community?

I know it's a typo, but it made me smile (easily amused!)

Apologies that this is off-topic too...

[jim]

It's usually a typo, but in my previous post it was purposeful

[baius]

6 SATA ports seems to be the maximum on Mobos. I know it's a little bit greedy, but I'd like more. Apart from the really high-end (and high-price) X58 boards, you don't often see more.

As the review said, there's a lot of "real estate" on the board - why can't more SATA ports be added?

I also don't like the idea, on this board, of not being able to use PCIe X4 and a PCIe X1 slots at the same time. I'd possibly like an x1 TV tuner and an x4 SATA RAID card (+graphics), so I would obv. need a different board to this. (I also couldn't use my current ITX board, but that's another story...)