When comparing Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD5H LGA 1150 Z97 vs Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H-BK, the Slant community recommends Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD5H LGA 1150 Z97 for most people. In the question“What are the best Intel LGA 1150 motherboards for gaming?” Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD5H LGA 1150 Z97 is ranked 2nd while Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H-BK is ranked 3rd. The most important reason people chose Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD5H LGA 1150 Z97 is:
There is a built in headphone amp as well as well shielded audio components overall. This shielding allows for protection from all of the electricity running through the board which can often lead to hissing in ones sound.
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Pros
Pro Good on board sound
There is a built in headphone amp as well as well shielded audio components overall. This shielding allows for protection from all of the electricity running through the board which can often lead to hissing in ones sound.
Pro Fast storage solution
There is an M.2 port on this board which allows one to use a M.2 SSD for storage. These SSDs allow for faster read and write times over a SATA SSD (can be over 50% faster), which translates to faster boot and loading of games.
Pro Clearly labeled board with a good user manual
All of the ports and connections on the board are clearly labeled. The user manual also clearly defines every aspect of the board, which makes for an easier time when building ones system, especially if new to the whole ordeal. Some brands have manuals that read like Ikea instructions and poorly labeled boards, luckily this is not an issue here.
Pro Safe BIOS flashing
Gigabyte has created a method for dual BIOS support, so even if one install does go bad, the other install will still boot, which in turn should allow for a way to fix the badly flashed BIOS. Basically a a way to protect from bricking the board.
Pro Good multi-graphics options
This board is able to use 3 way and 2 way Crossfire as well as 2 way SLI. It has 3 PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (one runs at x8, one runs at x4), 2x PCI-Express 2.0 x1 slots as well as 2x PCI slots. This gives many options not only for PCIe devices but GPUs in particular.
Pro Fast storage solution
There is an M.2 port on this board which allows one to use a M.2 SSD for storage. These SSDs allow for faster read and write times over a SATA SSD (can be over 50% faster), which translates to faster boot and loading of games.
Pro Good multi-graphics options
This board is able to use 3 way and 2 way Crossfire as well as 2 way SLI. It has 2 PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (one runs at x8), 1x PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot (runs at x4), 3x PCI-Express 2.0 x1 slots as well as 1x PCI slot. This gives many options not only for PCIe devices but GPUs in particular.
Cons
Con Quirky with K series Intel chips
Many users reported issues with the K series Intel chips when they would clock up to their Turbo Boost range, sometimes causing crashes. The BIOS has been updated many times to address this issue, but still some quirks remain.
Con Hard to access SATA connectors
When using the 16x speed PCIe port for an installed graphics card, the graphics card will cover some of the SATA ports. While they are not unusable, they will need to be plugged in before the graphics card is installed. They will also be inaccessible after that point unless the GPU is taken out.
Con No power button on the board
Many high end boards include a power button on the board in order to test it before assembling the whole PC in its case. That is not an option here, which can cause issue if something is faulty as everything will have to be torn down to return it.
Con Hard to access SATA connectors
When using the 16x speed PCIe port for an installed graphics card, the graphics card will cover some of the SATA ports. While they are not unusable, they will need to be plugged in before the graphics card is installed. They will also be inaccessible after that point unless the GPU is taken out.