ECS P67H2-A2 Motherboard
While this aggressive new theme isn’t brand (we’ve seen it on the P55H-AK LGA1155 board) it’s definitely eye catching. ECS has become more serious when it comes to offering a full featured board and supporting overclocking. The board’s overclocking specs suggest it can follow suit or leave the rest of the pack in the dust. However, the limited 8 Phase VRM could be its Achilles heel when it comes to that. More on this board’s feature set in our video walk through below.
As you can see, for its design, expansion features, and generous bundle, the P67H2-A2 is shaping up to be a very good $195 USD value. It’s really hard to pack on the extra features without incurring some kind of cost. Testing will ultimately decide if the board’s artful glyphs are ready for the stage or if maybe some more technological features are needed.
GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD4
Returning to the ring is a familiar black PCB motherboard sporting a really nice new theme. It’s very similar to the P67A-UD7 we had the pleasure of reviewing a few weeks ago. The UD4 is lower end mainstream version sporting a 12 Phase VRM rather than a 20 Phase found on the pricier UD5. Since most of the main stream users don’t need a lot of extras, that tends to help cut down on the price. Plus, it’s still suppose to overclock well enough to attract budget minded enthusiasts. The video below will walk through some of the more interesting aspects of this board.
In terms of layout, the UD4 is a very simple, yet clean platform. It’s among the least busy of the round up with everything in an optimal place. There aren’t any “new” technological features either. It’s more of a refresh of last generation. Still, it continues to look like a very high quality motherboard as we’ve seen first hand. For it’s $205 USD price range, it’s missing a few buttons like the others so far and has a meager accessory bundle. Perhaps testing will offer some unseen benefits.
MSI P67A-GD65 Motherboard
MSI brings us their best bang for buck P67 platform, the P67A-GD65. There are some DrMOS updates and Military Class II components feed the OC Genie II which continues to turn any enthusiast into an overclocking Jedi with just a press of the button. The board supports up to 2133MHz DDR3 and is fitted with some familiar looking heatsinks that may have done time in a red and black tone on certain ASUS ROG boards. Our video below takes you through some of the cooler aspects of the board.
In terms of layout, the motherboard is surprisingly clean, yet offers a fuller range of expansion features like the rest of the more expensive boards in the round up. The $190 USD price tag is very appealing and has good accessory bundle. This could really be a bang for the buck choice if it passes the testing phase of our evaluation.