Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H-B3 Motherboard

Conclusions

The Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H-B3 is a very attractive mid-range motherboard based on the new Intel Z68 chipset for your socket LGA1155 processor. In fact, we think it is a far better option than the Gigabyte Z68X-UD5-B3, which is, in theory, a “better” motherboard.

The Z68X-UD3H-B3 supports Lucidlogix Virtu, a technology that the Z68X-UD5-B3 doesn’t support. The Z68X-UD3H-B3 has two SATA-600 ports more than the Z68X-UD5-B3, because on the Z68X-UD5-B3, Gigabyte decided to use these extra SATA-600 ports as eSATA ports, not as regular SATA ones. The audio quality of both is identical (high-end codec, with very high signal-to-noise ratio), the same occurring with the overclocking options, both allowing you to increase the CPU base clock using 0.1 MHz steps, which is unbelievable. (Actually, the Z68X-UD3H-B3 has an advantage here; it allows voltage adjustments in smaller increments.)

The advantages of the Z68X-UD5-B3 include the presence of a third PCI Express x16 slot, eight USB 3.0 ports (even though there are only two “real” USB 3.0 ports; read our article on this motherboard to understand), one additional FireWire port, an on-board coaxial SPDIF output, and a voltage regulator circuit with more phases (20+2 against 4+2+1). Honestly, these extra features don’t justify the extra price you must pay (USD 270 vs. USD 170).

Costing USD 100 less than the Z68X-UD5-B3, we believe the Z68X-UD3H-B3 is the best offering Gigabyte has for the educated user who wants a good-quality socket LGA1155 motherboard, full of additional features, based on the new Intel Z68 chipset.