# Gigabyte 880GMA-UD2H Review



## The Sorcerer (May 13, 2010)

Matx boards have come a long way since they were  introduced.

Buyers at times (even now) are skeptical when they get a  system with a matx board because of their  “limitations”. But there are  certain features that the users don’t even require. End users deem that  limitations will always be there because of size (lesser expansion  options compared to atx form factor), but manufacturers work really hard  to change that state of mind.

Gradually when manufacturers started to expand their  ideas using a MATX form factor, a lot of things have been implemented  since then- more expansion option (sata  connectors, PCI/PCI-E, memory  slots), better layout, implementing all bare essentials that a basic  user will need but it didn’t stop there-  power saving options, better  quality capacitors, resistors, phase power, much better onboard graphic  and audio chipset & the list goes on to  entice enthusiasts and  gamers. 
*img94.imageshack.us/img94/5986/s6301438.jpg​Gigabyte 880GMA-UD2H is a newly  launched matx board with a new northbridge and southbridge. Like its  predecessor (785GMT UD2H), this board comes with  the same message- size  isn't everything. Can it pack more turbo than its  predecessor? This  remains to be seen as we progress with the review.​
*Motherboard specs, BIOS and layout
* 

*img153.imageshack.us/img153/1066/specsu.jpg
*img72.imageshack.us/img72/4725/s6301531.jpg*img511.imageshack.us/img511/1452/s6301533.jpg*img88.imageshack.us/img88/133/s6301535.jpg​
The board supports dual bios and comes with 2 8Mbit  flash and it uses AWARD Bios. All the needed overclocking/tweaking  options are neatly organized (no surprises from a Gigabyte motherboard)  are under one window- MB Intelligent tweaker (M.I.T.). Unlike certain  bios from other brands, one wouldn't require to go through different  options to access CPU/NB clock, Ram freq/latency  setup, PCIE frequency,  HT link and voltage setups. Newbie/experienced  overclockers will be  busy experimenting here and have a good time with the board.​


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## The Sorcerer (May 13, 2010)

*img100.imageshack.us/img100/4791/layoutu.jpg
*img203.imageshack.us/img203/1451/s6301407.jpg​ The board comes with   an onboard ATi Radeon 4250 DX 10.1 clocked  at 800 MHz with features   that RV620 has. HTPC buyers  might take a look at this board as it comes   with Unified Video Decoder  2, a dedicated hardware that supports  H.264, VC-1, MPEG2   decoding.  It also supports DVD   upscaling upto 1920x1080 and  HT 3.0. But dual digital output support is (still) not   yet available  and therefore you will end up pairing either HDMI or DVI   with a VGA  output (like the previous chipsets from AMD) for dual   display- ouch! It  would have been nice to see the new chipset to   support dual digital  display, especially in this day of age. ​ 
Based on the roadmap, the northbridge can be paired with   SB  750 or SB 850. Gigabyte decided to stick with SB 850 for very good    reasons as it supports SATA 6Gb/s, upto 14 USB 2.0, gigabit Ethernet  and   supports good old IDE. 

This board support 1800mhz+ DDR3 rams. But as mentioned on the manual,   to use any rams with more than 1600mhz you will  have to use 3rd and 4th   DIMM slots.

Gigabyte has given its best to implement everything in their arsenal and   yet  they have made sure that the layout stays as simple as possible.   The board shares a similar layout what 785GMT UD2H has. At the end of   the  day, there’s no doubt that this is another UD2H with a NEC chip,   updated  features, a new northbridge and southbridge. They even manage   to fit in and  FDD and IDE connector.

The board comes is based on ultra durable 3 features- all  solid caps,   Low RDS(on) MOSFETs and 2oz copper PCB layer. These 3 features help the   motherboard to be more energy efficient, higher longevity and hence   being cooler even when overclocked.These features are pretty generic by   Gigabyte standards and all of the newer boards come with them. 
*img532.imageshack.us/img532/4672/s6301502.jpg​ This board uses 8 pin EPS connector and   is equipped with 4+1  phase power design with mosfets and solid caps   neatly arranged so that it will not be an obstacle for aftermarket   heatsinks- especially the  large ones with different types of heat pipe   designs. Other than that, the board comes with a 7.1 channel Realtek   ALC892 with Dolby Home theater support. The board has with 1 Ethernet   port, powered by Realtek 8111D chip. 
*img231.imageshack.us/img231/3421/s6301414p.jpg​ Usually manufacturers install a low   profile mosfet sink to protect it from heat  but this board does not   come with it nor does it have mounting holes to install any aftermarket   mosfet sink. One might give a second thought about installing a tall   heatsink, but the mosfets are very well away  from its reach so there's   nothing to worry about. 
*img265.imageshack.us/img265/531/s6301503.jpg​ The board comes with 1 pcie x1, 1 pcie   x16, 1 pcie running on x4 mode and a pci slot. If you are using a single   card then the pcie x16 will run on x16 mode but when you decide to   crossfire, the pcie x4 slot will share the bandwidth with pcie x16,   therefore both slots will run  on x4. The x4 mode is the limitation of   the chipset, but Gigabyte has done the needful and made sure one doesn't   require using any pcie switch card like in certain boards. There is   also a CMOS clear header below the pci  slot. If people just "happen" to   keep a spare Power/Reset header wire, they might just plug it in and   manage to get the switch to be out of the case, this way one can clear   CMOS by pressing the button rather than opening the case and removing   the CMOS battery or using the jumpers.

Most of the mid-to-high end cards, especially the non reference models,   occupy dual slots easily. Despite the option to crossfire, one will be   skeptical to do so unless the card is a single slot card. Also, if one   wants to crossfire, they might take a look at one of the 790FX/890FX   chipset boards. S/PDIF,  serial, 1394, USB and front panel headers are   arranged nicely, although I  wish I could say the same for the front   audio headers, especially since many matx/atx cases don't come with long   enough cables.
*img96.imageshack.us/img96/4418/s6301512n.jpg​ Except the addition of 2 usb 3.0 ports powered up with a   help of NEC µPD720200 host controller chip, the I/O panel is as same  as  785GMT UD2H. Users who do end up getting this board will eventually  buy  usb 3.0 storage devices, enabling them to transfer large volume of  data  much faster compared to  usb 2.0. Gigabyte (and NEC) advertises  that  this chip transfers upto 10x faster. Unfortunately, due to non   availability of USB 3.0 devices  (for now), its not possible to test the   USB 3.0's actual speed. 

 The board comes with D-SUB, DVI and HDMI output, with a p/s2 support for   mouse or keyboard, 6 audio jacks, one optical S/PDIF connector, 1394   and an e-sata port. 
*img62.imageshack.us/img62/8821/s6301525.jpg​ Despite the size, the  area around the socket has good   amount of free space for a matx board. To give you an idea, the above   heatsink is a Noctua u12p-se2. Despite how it looks, the heat pipes are   away from the DIMM slot. Still, one would prefer to install it on the   3rd and 4th DIMM slot.
*img101.imageshack.us/img101/1279/s6301517.jpg​ To give a pretty good idea (especially for gamers) of a   discrete sound card+ graphic card setup, I  installed Asus xonar DX on   the pcie x1 slot and Evga 9600gt 1GB DDR3 on the x16 slot.

 You install the card on the first slot and  cards longer than 10 inch   will cover up the 5th sata port. The dual slot  cards will be nearer to   the second slot.

 Speaking of the  second slot, certain cards that are long will cover   about 2 sata slots  easily so the user will end up with a bit of a   struggle. Gigabyte tried to fight away the SATA port placement problem   that the 785GMT UD2H had by changing the placement of one of the sata   port towards the corner of  the board, but it would have been a lot   better if they just used right  angled SATA ports and be done with it.

 Below the slot has S/PDIF, serial, system fan, 1394, 3 USB 2.0, front   panel and 5 sata connectors. However there's only one system fan header   which doesn't make sense-irrespective of the cost. Motherboards should   have atleast 3 system  fan headers- this way one can control the fan   speed via bios or using  software like speedfan. Users will end up using   a fan with a molex  connector or a Fan Splitter Cable.
*Test setup and benchmarks*
*img526.imageshack.us/img526/472/testsetup.png​AMD quiet n cool is disabled and to make  sure that the   benchmarks are as accurate are possible a fresh copy of  windows 7 and   the new 10.4 catalyst drivers are installed.
​  Benchmarks
 Cinebench 11.5
*img291.imageshack.us/img291/7719/cinebench115.png​ Call of juarez
Resolution: 1440x 900 ; Details: low ;  shadows:   none ; AA: 2x MSAA​ *img87.imageshack.us/img87/8089/coj.png​ Dirt   2
Resolution: 1680x 1050 ; AA: 2x MSAA ;  Night   lightning, shadows, mirrors, distant vehicles, objects, trees,  vehicle   reflection, water, post process: medium ; particles, crowd,  ground   cover, cloth: low. Skidmark: on​ *img688.imageshack.us/img688/5240/dirt2.png​  S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat 
Resolution: 1680x 1050 ; preset: Medium  ; Renderer:   enhanced full dynamic lightning (dx10 mode) ; MSAA/SSAO:  off.

*img532.imageshack.us/img532/6811/550be880gmaud2hcop.png*img530.imageshack.us/img530/6339/550be790gxbecop.png
x264 HD Benchmark
The frames/second that is shown on the graph is   from Run 3 as it did put the system on 100% load most of the time   compared to previous 2 runs and other runs gave pretty much the same   frames/seconds as Run 3.
*img693.imageshack.us/img693/8568/x264bench.png​ 
*Conclusion
*​ *Please do note:* The board which I got from  Gigabyte is Rev  1.0 whereas the rev version mentioned on their website  is Rev 2.0.  Judging by the pictures alone there  are about 2-3  significant  differences between the 2. One could assume that rev 2.0  will be  available on retail, but I wasn't able to confirm that yet.  They are: 
  #  Core boost
  # On/off technology
  # A possibility of one more system fan header which could be present   between the 2 pcie x16 slots.

 Rev 2.0 has core boost feature which unlocks the cores for you. This is a   neat feature especially for those who want to unlock their processor    (assuming it is a potent chip) as buyers are tempted to pick up Phenom    II x2 550/555 BE and even x3 720BE for the same reason. Whether there  is  a switch on the board which will unlock the cores or is it something    that can be enabled on the bios and if it works as it should is  unclear  as I got a board without one and there is no option on the bios  where I  could unlock the cores. Whether an 880GMA-UD2H owner will grab  an x2   550BE/x3 720 is another story.

  It also has a USB header with the newly introduced ON/OFF technology   which not only charges your apple products (i phone/i pod/i touch/i pad)   about 40% faster compared to charging via standard usb ports and your   apple product still getting charged after system shut down/standby   (unlike charging via ordinary usb port where it stops charging after   system shut down/standby). While  this is not a feature that one will   buy this board for, but it’s something that apple product owners will   appreciate if they buy a Gigabyte board with this feature. It was only   at April 23, 2010 that Gigabyte showcased this new feature on their video, but Gigabyte didn't hesitate to   implement on their newer boards. That explains why rev 1.0 is available   for reviewing and rev 2.0 is mentioned on their website which will be   put for retail.

  Third is a possibility of one more  system fan header. Just so that   everyone knows, the rev 1.0 comes with 2  fan headers- one for being CPU   fan.
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 The good: The board is good and packs with all the   features one will ever need. M.I.T. packs everything to keep an   overclocker satisfied. Core boost will unlock the  extra cores, assuming   it’s a potent processor. The board comes with a  metal backplate with   plastic pad- exactly as thermalright am3 backplate. The soldered points   which come under the plate are flattened.
 The annoying:   Installing sata connectors especially with a long card like gtx 260   core 216/5850 connected will be annoying and one might  have to   sacrifice front audio if the case cables are short.
 The   bad: No dual display when using both the digital output.    Enthusiasts who are interested for a fully loaded crossfire setup would    look at 790x/890x.
 The wishlist: Diagnostic LEDs.
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 So who will buy this  board?


     If one needs a HTPC setup, he would consider an H55/H57    chipset board paired with an i3 530 or with an x2 550/620BE with a   785GMT-UD2H. You want USB 3.0 with sata 6Gb/s connectors, you can grab a GA-H57M-USB3 for a street price of approx 8.6k and    you still end up getting all features/goodies of the 880GMA-UD2H. But    you end up losing an opportunity to unlock your processor, assuming one   is enticed to do so and one can get his hands on a potent (or who have a   good luck in getting one by randomly picking on up unknowingly). When   the price for this board falls down a bit, 880GMA-UD2H will be   considered by many.
If one simply needs for gaming, many would   still stick to grabbing a Gigabyte 785GMT-UD2H board, pair it up with a   good graphic card and grab an x2/x3/x4 processor. None of the games out   there can take advantage of more than 4 cores- yet. But it has taken a   long time since a quad core can be properly utilized by a game since  the  time of first quad core releases. Again, in the present/future when   this board is comes with a reasonable street price, many would  take a   look at this board.
A user with generic needs  (occasional   archiving, HD movies, music, etc.) will be more than happy with a x2   paired with Gigabyte 785GMT board and call it a day.
Enthusiasts   who need a good board for overclocking with support for usb 3.0, sata   6Gb/s, auto unlocking option and/or out of the box support for Thuban   will grab this board. However, enthusiasts would end up getting a   discrete graphic card and would consider an 890FX board provided he can   afford it- or look towards the Intel i3/i5  way.
 Users who  want  a good system for x264  HD Video Encoding/   transcoding and to use multi-threaded  applications, one will consider   to buy AMD x6 1055T and an 880G board. x6 are really good overclockers   and if they can't afford a decent/good  890GX/FX board, 880GMA UD2H will   be picked by many whereas others might consider an 890GX/FX with a   quad/hexa core or p55+ i5 750 setup, again depending on their   needs/desires/budget. 785GMT-UD2H doesn’t support hexa core, not any   bios update is available. The only Gigabyte 785GMT board from their   stable that supports x6 with newer bios is GA-785GMT-USB3. But most   might save the hassle and grab the 880G+ to pair with an x6.
 Its   a classic UD2H board with the classic layout, classic bios, classic   expandability options, with  a classic set of goodies with newer   chipsets and features. At the end of the day, you pay for the 5x sata   6Gb/s, USB 3.0, support for 1800 MHz+, certain additional features (like   core boost, on/off feature) and for a out of the box hexa-core    compatibility. There's no surprise that 880G has no significant    improvement over the previous generation chipsets as far as onboard GPU    is concerned. I've being told by Gigabyte India that this board will   cost about Rs. 9650. If this is going to be the street price, then some   people with certain needs will look the Intel way rather than buying an   AMD board for this price. If the street price of this board is pretty   reasonable, many will consider grabbing this board, unless a good    890GX/FX board is competitively priced.

I thank Gigabyte for giving me the privilege to   review this board before its release.​


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