The Gigabyte GA-P55-UD6 doesn't boast a fancy cooling system or bright colored components, but it's packed to the gills with features that any enthusiast would kill for. This beast of a motherboard offers all features that the feature-rich P55 chipset offers-dual¬channel DDR3 memory support up to 16 GB, CrossFire in dual-x8 mode, 14 USB ports for all your peripherals and storage devices, 8-channel audio (Realtek 889A codec) and six SATA ports. In addition to these, Gigabyte has thrown in a slew of features that makes this board the ultimate choice for super high-end workstations and gaming machines. The P55-UD6 also supports SLI and has two additional SATA controllers that support two eSATA ports on the rear panel and four additional SATA ports. The SATA controllers are fitted with a heatsink and connect to the chipset heatsink via a heatpipe. The chipset heatsink also interconnects with the heatsinks for the voltage regulators around the CPU area.

The list doesn't end here. Gigabyte has also included a TPM chip for securing your data with a 2048-bit key and a FireWire controller. The motherboard has all-solid capacitors and the power supply for the CPU features a 24-phase design for extreme stability during overclocking.

The software bundle adds to the value of the motherboard. The P55-UD6 comes bundled with utilities for backing up and updating the BIOS, backing up and restoring data, overclocking your PC from Windows, conserving power, and configuring the dual-Ethernet adapters.

After going through the never-ending list of features, we were wondering how Gigabyte must have managed to layout the components. But the motherboard sports an excellent layout and doesn't look cramped at all. The power connectors, headers and ports are placed such that minimal cable routing would be required. On-board buttons for power, and reset are also present for enthusiasts who prefer open setups.

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