Gigabyte Announces Ultra Durable 4 Motherboard Construction Technology

[btarunr]

Gigabyte is one of the oldest motherboard manufacturers that made component choice, PCB construction, and the resulting durability as a selling point, with its Ultra Durable moniker. Each succeeding version of Ultra Durable denotes a higher grade of durability, with the introduction of newer classes of components that add to the durability. Ultra Durable started off as denoting motherboards with all Solid-state capacitors (conductive polymer), that are more durable compared to electrolytic ones. Ultra Durable 2 upped it with Ferrite Core chokes that have lower energy loss to noise and head, and lower resulting RDS(on) MOSFETs. Ultra Durable 3 further upped that with a PCB that has additional copper layers that help improving signalling, grounding, and cooling.

Today, Gigabyte added the fourth version of Ultra Durable, that addresses more elements that threaten the durability of a motherboards. Ultra Durable 4, as it's called, is a set of technologies that are layered on top of Ultra Durable 3, and addresses the problems of humidity, electrostatic discharge, high temperature, and power surge. Humidity is a natural element, moisture eats into components that have pure metals such as aluminum and copper, over time. Electrostatic discharge has a devastating impact on sensitive electronics, while power surges, usually caused after recovery from a power outage, can fry power conditioning electronics of the motherboard. And then we all know what high-temperature can do to tiny capacitors and FETs.



Gigabyte plans to address humidity using a new fiberglass PCB material, that provides a level of insulation. While not exactly addressing condensation, it will reduce corrosion of PCB contacts against moisture. Moving on to ESD protection, ICs used on Ultra Durable 4 motherboards will be so chosen to be highly resistant to ESD. Addressing power-surges, Gigabyte is going to use an active surge protection system that goes beyond fuses. There will be a surge-protection IC. Ultra Durable regulars such as high-grade solid-state capacitors, ferrite-core chokes, and low RDS(on) MOSFETs address the problem of temperature.

One of Gigabyte's very first Ultra Durable 4 motherboards is the GA-H61M-DS2, a micro-ATX socket LGA1155 motherboard based on the Intel H61 chipset. This board features PCI-Express 3.0 slots, is ready for upcoming 22 nm Ivy Bridge processors, and uses HybridEFI BIOS that lets you boot from volumes bigger than 2.2 TB in size. Gigabyte chose to feature this board on its poster because this segment is where the most money is, where there's the most fierce competition between motherboard manufacturers.

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[Frick]

Do all that stuff make an actual difference? Has anyone ever tested it?

 

[[H]@RD5TUFF]

Do all that stuff make an actual difference? Has anyone ever tested it?

no but it makes for good press, I mean the copper in the pcb I can see, but the rest is all meh, plus it's Gigabyte sooo . . .. yeah it's crap.

 

[Onenutleft]

So because of the G.I.G.A.B.Y.T.E letters it must be crap? HA

 

[tnn500af]

Isn't that direct answer to ASUS's SABERTOOTH TUF series?

 

[Fourstaff]

no but it makes for good press, I mean the copper in the pcb I can see, but the rest is all meh, plus it's Gigabyte sooo . . .. yeah it's crap.

Wouldn't call them crap, they are one of the biggest manufacturers out there, and none of my gigabyte stuff have crapped out yet, even the decade old stuff.

 

[Frick]

Wouldn't call them crap, they are one of the biggest manufacturers out there, and none of my gigabyte stuff have crapped out yet, even the decade old stuff.

I had some low end slot 1 boards that was pretty crap and then they died on me, but that was way back. ^^ The modern boards I've had have been pretty darn good, AND pretty cheap (some P35 boards).

With that said, it would still be cool if someone could test motherboards for these features. Maybe especially the surge protection thingies.

 

[fusionblu]

Here is a link to that GA-H61M-DS2 motherboard:
http://il.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3970

Performance wise I do not think that Ultra Durable 4 will improve general performance or overclocking, but it does appear to make the motherboard more tougher to break under poor conditions (such as a hot humid room which regularly has power cuts) and I believe it will be interesting when this will become available to high-end Z68 motherboards or at least that is what I would like to think.

 

[Melvis]

Wouldn't call them crap, they are one of the biggest manufacturers out there, and none of my gigabyte stuff have crapped out yet, even the decade old stuff.

Agreed, I have used there boards for 10+ yrs and built countless computers with them and i have only had 1 ever die on me. Heck still got my old Skt A GA-7DXE here working perfectly fine still and that wasn't a high end board ether.

 

[Jegergrim]

I only ever bought a Gigabyte board once, and it was faulty from stock, but it's most likely my bad luck, one thing I know is I won't be buying another again.

 

[NC37]

Wouldn't call them crap, they are one of the biggest manufacturers out there, and none of my gigabyte stuff have crapped out yet, even the decade old stuff.

Same here. I've been with MSI and Asus and had failures. ASrock, failed. But every Gigabyte board I've owned has been solid, still works. Quick responses from their support when I've asked a question too. Although their BIOS hasn't been as full featured as others. But they have gotten better on that.

Last 2 builds I did for people were Gigabyte. AM3 and an FM1 A8. Course I wasn't satisfied with the other offerings, specially for the price. It was either, buy older crap, pay more and buy enthusiast grade, buy from a boardmaker I never dealt with for the same price, or buy Gigabyte again. Picked whats been reliable for me.

Marketing or not, I do appreciate all these companies at least trying to fix the results of years of cutting costs. Now if only other companies would listen too. Not everyone wants to buy new hardware every year or two. Sigh...went from days of making products to last and be proud of, to days of making products to just work long enough to beat the warranty. Well as long as the tech industry doesn't go the way of the Chinese microwave...we'll be fine. Don't think anyone would buy a PC that only lasted two months, if they did..hehe.

Tho all the talk of these companies going back to Japanese caps and such make me want to ask them..."how about just going back to making them in Japan again?" Really, I'd pay the premium. All my made in Japan tech parts are still working!

 

[werez]

"Ultra Durable regulars such as high-grade solid-state capacitors, ferrite-core chokes, and low RDS(on) MOSFETs address the problem of temperature. "
Not really ...

 

[blu3flannel]

In reference to the poll, while I do upgrade my rig fairly often, I still want my motherboards to be durable. I'm not paying for them to cut corners on quality.

 

[Frizz]

no but it makes for good press, I mean the copper in the pcb I can see, but the rest is all meh, plus it's Gigabyte sooo . . .. yeah it's crap.

What is so bad about Gigabyte? I've owned the X58 UD7 and P67 UD5 B3, they have both done more than I need and both have surprisingly lasted through my abuse .

 

[craigo]

It has been my opinion that Gigabyte produce strong reliable products with good features.
I built on gigabyte in the 478 era when i didn't have much money so strong boards where required for my builds so i could torture the Celerons as i couldn't afford p4 The best 478 celly build i had was on a board with "GT" in the title it was all sorts of colours on a royal blue pcb and clocked like a demon. if Gigabyte did a limited run of new stuff in those colours i would purchase one at the drop of a hat. although the superfaggot "ooh look how esthetically pleasing my mainboard is!" cable management crowd wouldn't buy it i am sure there is some real hardware enthusiasts left....right?
I applaud Gigabytes commitment to their manufacturing of quality hardware.

 

[brandonwh64]

I applaud their will to make a better board. I wished EVGA would do the same. I have used many EVGA boards that shorted or warped due to heat and pressure.

 

[[H]@RD5TUFF]

Wouldn't call them crap, they are one of the biggest manufacturers out there, and none of my gigabyte stuff have crapped out yet, even the decade old stuff.

What is so bad about Gigabyte? I've owned the X58 UD7 and P67 UD5 B3, they have both done more than I need and both have surprisingly lasted through my abuse .

Out of the seven board of theirs I have bought only my 890FX-A UD5 actually worked out of the box, all others were DOA or had some other problems their QC is by far the worst I have ever encountered (or I have the worst luck in the world), then there is the whole certian mobo's being sent in for service and getting the same dead board back 2-3 times issue, so yeah their crap in my experience.

Also they need to smarten up and add UEFI already!

 

[happita]

Gigabyte is a reputable company. This newest version of Ultra Durable line of MBs seems ok. I honestly think its more for marketing. They make it sound real good too, congrats to their marketing department for issuing such a press release But I also think they do make quality boards. I've done a few customer builds using Gigabytes and I haven't gotten any phone calls complaining about anything in their systems. I like Gigabyte, they are like the underdog so to speak in the battle with ASUS for being top dog of MBs. Price/performance is close between the two.

 

[lilhasselhoffer]

Defective Gigabyte boards?

Bought: 6 in the past 12 months
Faulty: 1
Reason for fault: PCI-e x1 slot was bad


Given my experience with others (2 ASUS boards, 1 failed; 1 ASRock board, DOA), Gigabyte has an excellent record. I can't speak for the high end, but their medium end boards are absolutely awesome.

 

[v12dock]

I applaud their will to make a better board. I wished EVGA would do the same. I have used many EVGA boards that shorted or warped due to heat and pressure.

That's funny I bought a 760i off B-stock from EVGA and it was severely warped. Only lasted 2 weeks

Anyways I have bought 3 Gigabyte boards and I have never had any problems with them.

 

[jpierce55]

I don't like Gigabyte either, but a mobo does need to be strong. Some of the newer heatsinks, coupled with huge gpu's= a need for a strong board.

 

[dieselcat18]

Wouldn't call them crap, they are one of the biggest manufacturers out there, and none of my gigabyte stuff have crapped out yet, even the decade old stuff.

Agreed, I have used there boards for 10+ yrs and built countless computers with them and i have only had 1 ever die on me. Heck still got my old Skt A GA-7DXE here working perfectly fine still and that wasn't a high end board ether.

I think people have experienced issues, good and bad, with one mfg. or another (Gigabyte, ASUS, MSI, ASRock etc.) and have had much success with each of these and others also. So where some will swear by this or that mfg. and others are not happy for many reasons, most people will support what has worked well for them.

My first custom build was with an ASUS P5W DH Deluxe when it first came out about 5 years ago. It worked well but after a year and a half I started having problems with the system, though I don't believe it had anything to do with that board.
My next build was with a Gigabyte X48-DS4 with the Ultra-Durable stamp on it. Still running that board on my current build today and it's rock solid.

I also built a PC back in '05 for my wife which she's also currently using with a Gigabyte GA-K8NSNXP-939 nForce3 and that's still running great.

I guess my point is that the Ultra-Durable feature may or may not be a marketing ploy to promote Gigabyte's product and how much truth there is to it improving what they make, but in my experience with using their boards, I have found their claims to being a durable product justifiable through my own personal experience with them and it would make me purchase more of their products in the future. It doesn't mean I wouldn't look at other mfg. to see what they also offer and my feelings may change if I ever had a seriously bad experience with one, which to this point I never have, and it was not taken care of properly. So I guess when I see Gigabyte's claim of a more durable product I'm apt to believe it from the positive experiences I have had with them.

*+

 

[Disruptor4]

I've got 1 computer my dad built and it's over well over 10 years old. It's an ASUS and still going strong.
I've built 1 computer for myself, it's an ASUS. Works like a dream. No issues.
I've built 2 computers for 2 separate friends and they were both Gigabyte's. No issues for them either.
I'm thinking of getting a Gigabyte for myself in my next build due to their claims of durability. If I find an ASUS of same or better features/quality etc I would buy that as I have had a good experience with ASUS.
In saying that, it all comes down to experiences with the products.

Now, curiously, does anyone think they will be bringing something of this equivalent to the AMD boards?

 

[Jetster]

Love Gigabyte...Never have had an issue. 5 boards so far

 

[nINJAkECIL]

wouln't any company always test their products before releasing them to the public?
while users/customers never had any experienced with the new products,I think it's safe to say this Ultra-Durable 4 mobos will have the features works as it should be.