Moving through some of the more prominent Z77 motherboards that are out right now we come to another one from Gigabyte. Here we have the Z77X-UD5H WiFi Motherboard (Model number GA-Z77X-UD5H-WB). The UD5H is typically their second in line for the top spot in Gigabyte’s food chain The Z77X-UD7 currently holds that top crown. However the UD5 boards are always very functional and tend to combine the best of both performance and features. With this review we will be covering not only the features of the Z77X-UD5H WiFi but also come of the design choices that go into the board to get you the performance you expect on the other end. So let’s get right to it and find out if the Z77X-UD5H WiFi is worth the $210 that Gigabyte is asking.
Features -
In the current market motherboard (and indeed almost all component) performance is very close. The days of a large performance advantage between boards using the same chipset are long gone. That is unless someone makes a HUGE mistake (like runs traces completely wrong). Now, the thing that differentiates different products is the features. These are things like power management, extra slots, better audio CODECs etc. It is these items that R&D teams work so hard to drop into what are really identical pieces of hardware at their most basic level.
Excellent -
WiFi / Bluetooth module
Three Way SLI and Crossfire (for the price point)
mSATA on the board
PCIe Gen 3.0
VirtuMVP
This list is pretty decent when you think about it. The WiFi/ BT Module is probably going to slide into the floor matt category pretty soon as it appears to be a stock item on boards in this price range. Still three way SLI or crossfire is a nice option even if it is only at x8, x4, x4. The mSATA option makes a nice touch as this can improve your overall performance once you drop one in. PCIe Gen 3.0 and VirtuMVP are very much icing on this cake as they both combine to make the Z77X-UD5H WB that much more tempting when comparing it to other products in the same price range.
In the middle (sort of good) -
Dual LAN
Dual BIOS
3D Power
3D BIOS
Intel Rapid Start
Intel Smart Connect
LAN Optimizer
3D Power Utility
The mid-range options are getting longer as these features become more and more common on not only Gigabyte products but also on other boards in the market. True these are Gigabyte’s implementations of them (like 3D power and 3D BIOS), but that still does not mean that you cannot find similar in the market.
Floor Mats -
On/Off Charge
On board controls
The floor mats are what they are. These are items that are still nice, but in reality are very common in the market. They do help to round out the feature set, but you are not going to make a purchase based on them.
Now this listing is not complete as many manufacturers will list literally everything in an attempt to make it sound like a feature for the board. This is not a bad thing, but there are items that are just not a feature that often get listed.
