Difference between GA-P55A-UD3 and UD4

emtoucan · 22 Oct 2010 at 17:15

Am I correct in thinking that the main difference between these boards is that the UD4 is SLI?

Big price difference and that seems to be the only main addition.

1Day · 22 Oct 2010 at 17:34

That is quite correct. The UD4 and up support both crossfire and Sli.

stulid · 22 Oct 2010 at 17:35

emtoucan said:
Am I correct in thinking that the main difference between these boards is that the UD4 is SLI?

Big price difference and that seems to be the only main addition.

thats about it, The UD4 runs both pci-e slots at 8X speed with two cards inserted.

The UD3 runs the second slot at a reduced 4X speed while the first slot gets 16X.

oh and Intel chipsets do crossfire and sli.

Liampope · 22 Oct 2010 at 18:15

Also better cooling, 1394 and e-SATA spring to mind. But then you'd be crazy to get the UD4 when the UD5 is the same price and offers yet more features (that you probably dont care about) - another x16 size slot, still better cooling, dual LAN, on board power/reset buttons and maybe more.

emtoucan · 23 Oct 2010 at 22:30

Thanks guys, just looking into upgrading from my Q6700 to an i5 or i7 and trying to balance costs on the i5 or just blow an i7 on my credit card

emtoucan · 25 Oct 2010 at 12:25

Liampope said:
But then you'd be crazy to get the UD4 when the UD5 is the same price and offers yet more features (that you probably dont care about) - another x16 size slot, still better cooling, dual LAN, on board power/reset buttons and maybe more.

But the UD5 is micro-ATX? Doesn't work for me as I've got a watercooled TJ-07 so need a spacious MB.

Not bothered about SLI/Crossfire, I tend to upgrade the 1 card each time rather than opt for a second.

Interested about the cooling though. As I'm watercooling, would the better cooling on the UD4 make a hugh difference to my overclocking ability?

Liampope · 25 Oct 2010 at 13:29

emtoucan said:
But the UD5 is micro-ATX?

Er... nope. Look again

If you dont need the features, I wonder if it's really worth going for a £150 P55 board? Part of the advantage of i5 vs i7 is cost saving, so makes sense to maximise that. I'm really not sure how much difference the better cooling of the UD4 or 5 makes over the UD3 - slightly bigger heatsinks and a heat pipe or two. Best try to find some reviews. I'm sure plenty of UD3 level boards are supporting 4 GHz just fine. How high do you intend to push with your water cooling?

emtoucan · 25 Oct 2010 at 16:15

Liampope said:
Er... nope. Look again

Too many boards! OK, I've gone for the UD3, like you said the idea is to maximise the savings with an i5 and I doubt the difference is noticable regarding the cooling.

Not sure how much I'll push it. The case has got plenty of air flowing through it so we'll see.

1Day · 26 Oct 2010 at 23:10

The UD3 board will clock (CPU depending of course) to 4GHz and above with ease. The main thing is to let temperatures be your guide when over-clocking. If you are going the water route it is a good idea to have a low noise fan moving some air (cooling) over your motherboard too. That will help keep the other bits and pieces less toasty.

emtoucan · 27 Oct 2010 at 16:59

I still have 5 case fans running even though it's watercooled so there's plenty of air passing over the MB.

1Day · 27 Oct 2010 at 18:02

emtoucan said:
I still have 5 case fans running even though it's watercooled so there's plenty of air passing over the MB.

Outstanding

AiiR · 27 Oct 2010 at 18:18

stulid said:
thats about it, The UD4 runs both pci-e slots at 8X speed with two cards inserted.

The UD3 runs the second slot at a reduced 4X speed while the first slot gets 16X.

oh and Intel chipsets do crossfire and sli.

How much difference does x16 and x4 crossfire make?