OK, time for the fun stuff

This board turned out to be a real blast when pushed to the extreme with liquid nitrogen.







As you can see, I have the Kingpin Cooling F1EE liquid nitrogen pot mounted on the board. With the same CPU/memory used at the beginning of the testing, I tweaked and tuned this chip to find is maximum potential.



Current i5 750 SuperPI 1M world record!



This is currently i5 750 SuperPI 32M 2nd fastest time in the world. The first place title is still held by Massman, despite my higher clock speeds. He obviously has skills in tweaking SuperPI 32M that I lack.



Current i5 750 PiFast world record!



Current i5 750 wPrime 32M world record!



Current i5 750 wPrime 1024M world record!

WOW! Obviously this board has what it takes to compete with the best is the overclocking department!!!

So, let's wrap this up. I set out to answer a couple different questions during this testing. Does this chip compete with the AMD Phenom II series from a price/performance standpoint? And, is the i7 920 worth the 40-50% price hike? Unfortunately, I have neither the time or the means to do that completely. But, I think we can safely draw a few conclusions with this testing. Yes, the platform definitely has what it takes to compete with the best from AMD, and being that cost is about even between the two, and the fact that the Intel stuff overclocks a bit better, this is hands down the budget minded enthusiasts platform of choice right now.

Which brings us to my second question. There is no doubt that Nehalem is more powerful than Lynnfield, but is it worth a 44% price increase? In this case I'm comparing the i5 CPU, which lacks Hyper Threading capabilities. If multitasking or heavily threaded applications care common in your typical usage, you would probably benefit from Hyper Threading. The good news is, this does not mean you need to go all the way to Nehalem, thanks to the i7 860. The price advantage is not as great as with the i5 series, but the multitasking/multithreaded performance should be just about on par with Nehalem, and it'll still be less expensive. For the rest of you, the i5 is exactly what you've been waiting for, a quad core CPU with zero compromises for single threaded applications, thanks to aggressive turbo modes.

Finally, lets discuss the main subject of this review, the Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3R. I'm very impressed with the performance capabilities of this entry level board. Carrying on the UD3R series tradition of top shelf overclocking capabilities for a fraction of the price, this board carries the UD3R legacy into the current generation. Sure, it does have a few limitations; it only has 4 fan headers on board, and it lacks SLI support. But if you are looking for more features, your shopping in the wrong price bracket. This board is designed for the budget enthusiast...max overclocking potential and only essential features...with that goal in mind this board is an excellent choice. Gigabyte also offers a full range of models to address some of the features lacking here. For instance, if SLI support is essential to you, the GA-P55M-UD4 can be had for only $10 more.

Lastly, when pushed to the extreme, this board did not disappoint. It obviously was built to be a beast of an overclocker. Gigabyte has spared no expense for the enthusiast community, giving this board the best of Gigabyte technology to allow for some incredible overclocking potential! Highly recommended for those who do not need SLI.

Please feel free to post comments, suggestions for future review, and any questions about the board.

A big thanks to Gigabyte Japan for the chance to show off this awesome product, cheers!