Here is the first picture of GA-X79A-UD3, the first Gigabyte-branded socket LGA2011 motherboard. Based on the Intel X79 Express chipset, the board supports upcoming Sandy Bridge-E enthusiast processors in the LGA2011 package. Mind you, this is just the cheapest LGA2011 board from Gigabyte, there is a higher-end line of X79 motherboards, so don't let the unspectacular looks of the UD3 get you.

The GA-X79A-UD3 is a standard ATX sized motherboard. Its main VRM is spread all around the large CPU socket, in what appears to be a 6-phase design, with an unknown number of memory and uncore phases. LGA2011 processors feature a large quad-channel DDR3 memory controller, along with a northbridge uncore component with a 40-lane PCI-Express 3.0 controller. Those amount to the socket's insane pin-count of 2,011 pins. Memory slots are located in pairs of two on either sides of the socket. Each slot is its own 64-bit wide memory channel.Expansion slots include five PCI-Express 3.0 x16, from which we suspect four are wired to the processor, and one to the X79 PCH. There's a legacy PCI slot, too. The X79 PCH is loaded with a 10-port SATA 6 Gb/s RAID controller, all 10 ports are internal, an additional 2-port SATA 3 Gb/s controller is also integrated into the PCH, with its ports being assigned as internal.

Since this is the UD3 (entry level) model, its connectivity is rather skimpy, with 8+2 channel HD audio, a number of USB 3.0 ports, USB 2.0, and a single gigabit Ethernet.