Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H-B3 Review
by Brendan van Varik on July 11, 2011 7:01 AM EST- Posted in
- Gigabyte
- Motherboards
- Sandy Bridge
- Z68
3D Movement Algorithm Test - link
The first benchmark ran is actually one which was written by our very own, Senior Editor – Ian Cutress. This first benchmark uses various algorithms for three-dimensional simulation and movement of independent particles. The algorithms both employ uniform random number generation or normal distribution random number generation, and vary in various amounts of trigonometric operations, conditional statements, generation and rejection, fused operations, etc. The benchmark runs through six algorithms for a specified number of particles and steps, and calculates the speed of each algorithm, then sums them all for a final score. This is an example of a real world situation that a computational scientist may find themselves in, rather than a pure synthetic benchmark. The benchmark is also parallel between particles simulated, and we test the single thread performance as well as the multi-threaded performance.
When we tested this motherboard using the single threaded benchmark, the UD3H did well - coming in at third place at both stock and overclocked speeds.
Using our multithreaded 3D Movement test with the CPU at stock settings, this is technically one of the fastest motherboards out of our database of Sandy Bridge motherboards. Sadly, it didn’t take top spot when the system was overclocked, which is probably down to the BCLK/multiplier limit of the board but it still performed above average.
WinRAR x64 3.93 - link
With 64-bit WinRAR, we compress the set of files used in the USB speed tests. WinRAR x64 3.93 attempts to use multithreading when possible.
This is the fastest score we currently have on record.
FastStone Image Viewer 4.2 - link
FastStone Image Viewer is a free piece of software which allows quick viewing of flat images, as well as resizing, changing color depth, adding simple text or simple filters. It also has a bulk image conversion tool, which we use here. The software currently operates only in single-thread mode, which should change in later versions of the software. For this test, we convert a series of 170 files, of various resolutions, dimensions and types (of a total size of 163MB), all to the .gif format of 640x480 dimensions.
Neither a good nor a bad result - more or less bang in the middle here.
Sorenson Squeeze 6.0 - link
Sorenson Squeeze is a professional video encoder, complete with a vast array of options. For this test, we convert 32 HD videos, each a minute long and approximately 42 MB in size, to WMV 512KBps format. Squeeze can encode multiple videos at once, one for each thread.
The second slowest score recorded whilst on the Sandy Bridge platform is quite unfortunate as this motherboard does do well in other aspects of our testing.
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DBissett - Monday, July 11, 2011 - link
What is it with using plural verbs following "Gigabyte", as in "Gigabyte have...." and "Gigabyte do....". This sounds atrocious in an otherwise well written article. Verbs should be "Gigabyte has...." and "Gigabyte does...." because "Gigabyte" is a singular noun. Where's the editor?LtGoonRush - Monday, July 11, 2011 - link
Corporations are treated as plural nouns in most English-speaking countries.Death666Angel - Monday, July 11, 2011 - link
Then Anandtech isn't being consistent, because they treat Apple, for example, as a singular entity, see iPad2 and iOS 4.3 reviews ("Apple has...").As a non native English speaker, I agree with DBissett, reading "Gigabyte have..." is not very intuitive and distracts.
Otherwise, nice article. I'm still using a i7 860 and a AMD 5770 and will use those until the 28nm GFX and 22nm CPUs are around.
Snotling - Monday, July 11, 2011 - link
I noticed it too, but "an SSD" is just as bad... its "a SSD"Exodus220 - Monday, July 11, 2011 - link
Actually, you would be incorrect in stating that it should be written "a SSD." The usage of "a" vs "an" is in regards to the beginning vowel sound of a word, not if it begins with a vowel. Since SSD begins with an "es" vowel sound it requires "an" placed before it. Thus, "an SSD" is 100% correct.awaken688 - Monday, July 11, 2011 - link
Yep. 100% correct.roboray - Monday, July 11, 2011 - link
"As a non native English speaker, I agree with DBissett, reading "Gigabyte have..." is not very intuitive and distracts."As a native English speaker, I agree as well. I can count on my fingers the number of times I have seen corporations treated as plural nouns, and it's always a distraction. It makes me suspect that the editor is someone who got their Master's in English without having actually used the language much for anything other than a topic of study. "Proper" or not, it's not common practice, at least in the US.
Jambe - Monday, July 11, 2011 - link
Get over yourself.I like to go all Grammar Nazi from time to time myself, but seriously. This is a trifle.
joshv - Wednesday, July 13, 2011 - link
This is standard British usage. It's just different, it's not incorrect. You will rarely encounter it in writing by American writers, though the British usage is starting to make some beachheads. It's not at all clear to me that or the other way is more proper or correct. The British just interpret corporate entities as representing multiple people - thus plural.DBissett - Monday, July 11, 2011 - link
I disagree. I've been writing in the US for 50 years and the use of singular verbs with corporate names has only recently begun to creep into otherwise good writing. Check any publication you like. Further, AT is very inconsistent in this regard both between and within articles. The responder below points this out. Also, look in this article's summary, where Gigabyte is used with a mixture of singular and plural verbs.