Gigabyte GA-X79-UD5 Intel X79 LGA2011 Motherboard In-Depth Review The Gigabyte GA-X79-UD5 is an awesome 'Sandy Bridge-E' motherboard for anyone in the business of content creation, yet still nimble enough to take on multi-videocard gaming and overclocking at the end of a days work.  94% Rating:    Table of Contents Filed under: Motherboards Published:  Author:  External Mfg. Website: Gigabyte Jul 27 2013   Max Page   Home > Reviews > Motherboards > Gigabyte GA-X79-UD5

As expected, the processor has received a healthy boost in PCI Express lanes, this time to 40 lanes at 1GB/s bi-directional bandwidth. The Intel X79 core logic itself is not a whole lot different than Intel Z68 and P67 chipsets, in terms of supported features, ports and PCI Express lanes. For example, the 20Gb/s DMI link between the chipset and processor remains unchanged.

Intel's X79 Platform Controller Hub supplies eight PCI Express 2.0 lanes to the computer system for devices like the SATA ports, LAN, USB and PCI express slots. The 40 PCI Express lanes from the processor go directly to graphics cards, in x16/x16/x8, or x16/x8/x8/x8 configurations.

The Intel X79 Express Chipset block diagram

Enthusiasts familiar with the storage and media capabilities of Intel's ICH10R southbridge will find a lot in common with the Intel X79 chipset. It provides 14 USB 2.0 ports, four SATAII 3Gb/s and two SATAIII 6Gb/s ports with support for RAID 0/1/5/10 modes, audio and Gigabit Ethernet.

Intel Chipset Feature Comparison Intel X79 Express Intel Z68 Express Intel P67 Express Intel H67 Express Intel X58 Express CPU LGA 2011 2nd Gen. Core i7 / Extreme LGA 1155 Core i3/i5/i7 2nd Gen. LGA 1155 Core i3/i5/i7 2nd Gen. LGA 1155 Core i3/i5/i7 2nd Gen. LGA 1366 Core i7 Chipset Code Name Patsburg (65nm) Couger Point (65nm) Couger Point (65nm) Couger Point (65nm) Tylersburg (65nm) Bus Interface / Speed DMI 2.0, 20Gb/s DMI 20Gb/s DMI 20Gb/s DMI 20Gb/s QPI 25.6Gb/s Memory Support DDR3-1600, quad channel DDR3-1333, dual channel DDR3-1333, dual channel DDR3-1333, dual channel DDR3 1066, triple channel Maximum Memory Capacity 64GB (64-bit) 32GB (64-bit) 32GB (64-bit) 32GB (64-bit) 24GB (64-bit) Integrated Graphics / Intel FDI - Yes. via CPU - Yes. via CPU - Integrated Graphics Ports - HDMI, DVI, DP, VGA - HDMI, DVI, DP, VGA - PCI Express 2.0 Lanes (chipset) 8 8 8 8 36 PCI Express x1 Lanes 0 0 0 0 6 Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RST) RST enterprise 3 Yes Yes Yes Yes Intel Smart Response Technology - Yes - - - SATA 6Gb/s | SATA 3Gb/s | IDE Ports 2/4/0 2/4/0 2/4/0 2/4/0 0/6/0 RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 0, 1, 5, 10 0, 1, 5, 10 0, 1, 5, 10 0, 1, 5, 10 (via ICH10R) Intelgrated LAN 10/100/1000 MAC 10/100/1000 MAC 10/100/1000 MAC 10/100/1000 MAC - USB 3.0 Ports 0 0 0 0 0 USB 2.0 Ports 14 14 14 14 12 PCI Masters 0 0 0 0 6 Intel High Definition Audio Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Other Intel Identity Protection Technology (IPT)

In the chart above you can see how the Intel X79 compares to Intel's previous 6-series chipsets and the Intel X58. There are not a lot of major differences between the Intel X79 and Intel P67/Z68 chipsets, save for the absence of integrated graphics capability and Intel SRT of course. The only really new feature is Intel's Indetity Protection Technology - not something most users need to rely on. Intel's RAID system - Rapid Storage Technology Enterprise 3 has been upgraded slightly, mostly to better accommodate HDD and SSD storage devices.