Gigabyte Z77X-UP4 TH motherboard review

Oh boy, does the new UP series from Gigabyte have a few tricks on show. First off, let’s get stuck into the new PWM, and more specifically the new MOSFET design. Packed into this new IR3550 MOSFET is the traditional four-stage design, consisting of the Driver IC, High Side MOSFET and two Low Side MOSFETs.

Essentially what the IR3550 does is combine the traditional four-chip design of a traditional MOSFET layout, into a single chip. Some would think this would increase thermal output, as the chip itself would control the flow of higher amperage and voltage, when compared to the individual components previously used. This, however, is not the case, thanks to the very low-loss copper used for the power connections between the MOSFETs.

What this means is lower power usage (due to less energy lost as heat), less space occupied on the PCB, less space occupied by large heatsinks (due to cooler operating temperatures) and, lastly, a reduced cost. For this reason the UP series will be available not only to the high-tier boards like the  traditional UP4,5 and 7, but will also flow down to the 3 series and M-ATX boards too.

What we should now be seeing from Gigabyte (if it hasn’t already done this with the Z77 UD series) is an age where a low-tier motherboard can overclock just as well as a high-tiered board. Of course there are still other technologies and features setting them apart, but for pure power delivery and CPU overclocking, the new IR3550 MOSFET should bring low temperatures and high overclocks to models previously brushed aside by enthusiasts.

In our testing we took a temperature probe and compared the old Z77X-UD4 to the new Z77X-UP4. What we discovered was nothing short of amazing. Under peak loads with a stock clocked i7 3770K the traditional MOSFET assembly was reaching temperatures of 91C on average, while the new IR3550 chip sat happily on 62C. Remember of course that this is without a heatsink; but what if we put the heatsink back on? (Or, at least as best you can over the top of a flat probe). While the traditional MOSFET did fall to 76C, it’s still rather warm when compared to the 41C of the IR3550.

On to the next big change over from the UD4 to the UP4 TH, and that’s the inclusion of Thunderbolt ports. It should be mentioned that Gigabyte will be launching quite a few UP series motherboards with Thunderbolt ports, and the fastest way to identify which bards come with Thunderbolt is simply by the ‘TH’ letting at the end of the motherboard name. We don’t yet have a price for the non-TH version of this board, but we’d assume it’s going to be reasonably cheaper, and instead come with additional USB3/2 ports.

Obviously the benefit of Thunderbolt is the increased bandwidth, and the ability to daisy chain devices. Given that Gigabyte has included two ports, it’s possible to daisy chain up to 12 Thunderbolt devices from one to another, and also two monitors. Of course with the cost of Thunderbolt devices and cables, you’d be looking at a couple of thousand dollars to set all that up, but we appreciate the effort put in by Gigabyte to offer a motherboard that can happily remain as the backbone of your PC well into the future.

As for the standard features the board officially supports both 2-way SLI and Crossfire, though the Thunderbolt ports take the rest of the bandwidth so a third card is out of the picture. Things like LED diagnosis screens, CMOS reset buttons and OC buttons have all been scrapped, and instead Gigabyte has focussed on the essentials. Overall we think it’s a good move as Gigabyte has managed to include truly useful features, an innovative design and most important of all, a competitive price tag, at least in terms of Thunderbolt connectivity. The UP series is definitely one to watch.