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Gigabyte intros next-gen USB and SATA-equipped motherboards
Gigabyte has joined Asus in the race to build motherboards equipped with USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s connectivity, introducing an entire P55-based lineup sporting the next-generation I/O technology. The company has brought a host of new motherboards to the table, including the GA-P55A-UD6, GA-P55A-UD5, GA-P55A-UD4P, GA-P55A-UD4,GA-P55A-UD3P, GA-P55A-UD3R, GA-P55A-UD3.
This series of boards can be easily distinguished by the "P55A" branding, as opposed to the company's previous "P55" boards -- they also feature "Gigabyte 333 onboard acceleration." The "333" refers to the onboard third-gen SATA and USB parts, as well as USB 3.0's new voltage profile, which Gigabyte says offers triple the power to external devices.
This series of boards can be easily distinguished by the "P55A" branding, as opposed to the company's previous "P55" boards -- they also feature "Gigabyte 333 onboard acceleration." The "333" refers to the onboard third-gen SATA and USB parts, as well as USB 3.0's new voltage profile, which Gigabyte says offers triple the power to external devices.
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User Comments (36)
Post a comment| Deso on October 28, 2009 1:23 PM | I thought usb 3 was postponed until 2011 |
| Matthew on October 28, 2009 1:27 PM | See this news post for more information, Deso: [link] |
| Jibberish18 on October 28, 2009 1:30 PM | I must say, I'm REALLY digging the new colors Gigabyte has
chosen to use in some of it's motherboards. I'm not sure if
these White/BabyBlue/Blue colors represent their HTPC type
of motherboards and the usual colors represent overclocking?
I'm more of an AMD fan so I lose track of all the Intel
boards that come out. I also forgot about USB 3.0 powering capabilities. At first I thought it would be pointless to have them on your new motherboard if nothing works with it but being able to power up all of your USB products would be awesome. What I'm wondering though, is if USB 2.0 compliant cables would deliver enough power? I just tossed out a handful of USB cables I had laying around because many of them would not power my 2.5" External Enclosure properly. |
| Cueto_99 on October 28, 2009 1:34 PM | Just to clarify, that probably isn't a picture of the boards mentioned above... since it has 6 RAM Slots, it's obviously an X58 board... anyways I hope Sata 6Gp/s will make normal drives as fast as WD Velociraptors, that'll be sweet, and will be a good selling point for these new boards also. |
| nathanskywalker on October 28, 2009 1:39 PM | Sweet, I was beginning to wonder when someone would start using 3.0. I was actually waiting to upgrade my desktop until there were some real choices with 3.0. However, now I don't have any money to spend on such (heh). Oh well. I guess there will be far more variety out there by the time I have money again. |
| pravusnex on October 28, 2009 1:40 PM | What is your definition of a normal drive? Increasing the Gbps won't do anything for a standard hard drive that isn't capable of even 3Gbps. The 6Gbps provides the necessary bandwidth for drives in a RAID configuration and perhaps future SSD drives. |
| Matthew on October 28, 2009 1:57 PM | Just to clarify, that probably isn't
a picture of the boards mentioned above... since it has 6
RAM Slots, it's obviously an X58 board... The image I
used in the article is of the
GA-P55A-UD6, which
has six DIMM slots according to the official spec page:
" [link] "
|
| tonylukac on October 28, 2009 2:18 PM | I guess this is in direct competition to Intel's new fiber optic technology. Maybe that's why it was delayed. |
| Deso on October 28, 2009 2:47 PM | Matthew said: so gigabyte is using
third party suppliers for usb 3.0 instead of intel?
See this news post for more information, Deso: [link] |
| Matthew on October 28, 2009 3:05 PM | @Deso: The last sentence of TechSpot's article: "The motherboards rely on NEC's uPD720200 chip for USB 3.0, and Marvell's 88SE9128 controller for 6Gbps SATA, and bring the expected features and in-house technologies." |
| Deso on October 28, 2009 4:10 PM | @Matthew, ahh I missed that, thanks for pointing it out |
| Matthew on October 28, 2009 4:19 PM | No problem, Deso. |
| ken777 on October 28, 2009 4:38 PM | Thinking about building a new computer pretty soon. When are these boards actually going to be available at retail? |
| mailpup on October 28, 2009 5:17 PM | I would also be interested in AMD versions of these motherboards. I suppose Gigabyte will be producing them eventually. |
| Timonius on October 28, 2009 5:37 PM | When will these boards be available to the public? |
| Guest on October 28, 2009 5:59 PM | I just have a feeling the reason why Intel is postponing USB3.0 could be because Apple and their new optic light peak.... |
| whiffen on October 29, 2009 12:35 AM | mailpup said: Seconded. Looking to
upgrade to a phenom X4 and HD 5870 or 59XX soon and I think
I might get rid of this M4N-E Pro. What was I thinking
getting an Nvidia chipset @_@I would also be interested in AMD versions of these motherboards. I suppose Gigabyte will be producing them eventually. I will wait and see what ASUS has to offer also but I know almost certainly I will get a newer board with USB 3.0. |
| ET3D on October 29, 2009 1:03 AM | It's nice to see that Gigabyte is introducing this to mid-range models and not just high end. This means more people will buy them, and more add-ons will have a reason to implement USB 3 features (even just using it for power will be good). IMO it also means that AMD support is more likely (since AMD is definitely a mid-range solution). |
| razerblade on October 29, 2009 3:13 AM | I must say that board looks pretty cool! I cannot wait until USB 3.0 is released as the speeds you can get are a huge difference compared to USB 2.0! |
| freedomthinker on October 29, 2009 3:42 AM | Sweet , finally someone is starting the process of rolling
the USB 3.0 into action and normal use  Thumbs up for
Gigabyte
|
| limpangel on October 29, 2009 4:34 AM | @ET3D: Gigabyte always puts some new features here and there
in mid-range models. Can't say the same fos Asus. Too bad they did not introduce any AMD cards. Anyway, I see no point in upgrading now as there are no SATA3 HDDs and no usb3 periferals on the market yet. |
| Rig on October 29, 2009 6:54 AM | I don't think I will be upgrading any time soon. I think there’s going to be a 'war' with USB 3.0 vs. light peak. |
| JMMD on October 29, 2009 7:12 AM | My last two motherboards have been Gigabyte boards and they've worked great. When I finally build my i5 system, one of these boards will be the foundation. I use eSATA right now for external hard drives but I am looking forward to USB 3.0 |
| ET3D on October 29, 2009 7:42 AM | My board is Gigabyte, too. @limpangel, I see no reason to upgrade now, but buying new, I think it's worth going for the USB3 version, even if there's almost nothing now. |
| fref on October 29, 2009 7:50 AM | If Intel is indeed trying to push forward its own light peak technology by ignoring USB 3.0 until 2011, I have a feeling it won't work. Manufacturers will just use another chip to support USB 3.0 on their boards. Even if it adds 15-20$ to the boards' price, I'm sure lots of people will be willing to buy them anyway for the added performance. |
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