Gigabyte GA-H57M-USB3 motherboard review - Introduction

In the wake of the Intel Clarkdale series of processors (Core i3 500 & Core i5 600 series) we have seen a lot of H55 chipset based motherboards out there. H55 is a chipset for your average mainstream entry level motherboards series, but there is in fact a small step up .. it's based on the H57 chipset and will bring some more features to the table.

Gigabyte was one of the first out there to ship out one of their H57 based motherboards. The Gigabyte H57 series offers a little more in the form of RAID support while it also packs a little more punch which we'll look at in this review of course. A more interesting feature on this GA-H57M-USB3 motherboard is that it also contains USB 3.0 through an onboard NEC uPD720200 host controller and very excessive display connection options like DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort.

Of course being Gigabyte the motherboard also entails Gigabyte's Ultra Durable 3 design that features quality components, 2 Oz copper and additional functions such as Smart6 PC management tools, Dynamic Energy Saver 2 utilities for power saving, and DualBIOS.

Gigabyte's GA-H57M-USB3 motherboard features a 3x USB power boost, delivering greater compatibility and extra power for USB devices. In addition, dedicated lower resistance fuses ensure reduce voltage drops, and provide more stable and plentiful power delivery, well ... according to the company that is. It's up to us to verify the facts.

Follow us through the mystic mages of the PCB, and of course an nice performance overview in our Gigabyte GA-H57M-USB3 motherboard review. Have a peek, and then head onward to the next page please.