In the world of popular high-tech components, brand names and marketing messages might be a good way to get the attention of enthusiasts, but unless companies can back up their slogans and specs sheets with solid
hardware that delivers tangible results, power users will quickly move on to the next big thing that’s courting their favor.
GIGABYTE clearly has this figured out and has taken it to heart, as it has maintained a strong brand loyalty with its Ultra Durable brand of motherboards. Six years since the release of the first Ultra Durable motherboard, GIGABYTE now has released Ultra Durable 5. The Ultra Durable brand has remained strong, something that isn’t easy to do in the enthusiast market over a period of more than half a decade. The company estimates that it has shipped as many as 100 million Ultra Durable motherboards, and there’s no
sign GIAGBYTE has any intention of letting up. Ultra Durable 5 includes the best features of the previous versions of Ultra Durable motherboards, as well as one significant new feature aimed at providing strong and consistent power delivery to the motherboard, which leads to a cooler overall system and greater overclocking capabilities.
“Each new iteration of Ul t r a Durable technology improves the quality of our motherboards, but Ultra Durable 5 is the first that has such a strong overclocking performance flavor,” says Raymond Tseng, vice president of research and development at GIGABYTE.
Introducing The IR3550
The IR3550 PowIRstage IC (integrated circuits), which is rated for up to 60 amps of power, is the key new
component in UD5. Ultra Durable 5 motherboards’ use of components in the Ultra Durable 5 motherboard that are rated for higher amperages lets the overall system to be more resistant to high temperatures, as well as being more power efficient.
“We are moving to Ultra Durable 5 now because we are finding that many of our system builder partners are selling overclocked gaming systems with closed-loop liquid-cooling,” Tseng says. “While closed-loop CPU coolers are great for CPU cooling, they don’t provide any airflow over the CPU VRM, hence the need for 60A low-heat, PowIRstage ICs.”
The addition of the IR3550 PowIRstage ICs creates a single package power stage, which makes the IR3550 different from the traditional MOSFETs that you’ll find in other motherboards. (The MOSFET, or metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor, handles the switching and amplifying of electronic signals in a circuit board. See the “Single Package vs. Multi-Chip” sidebar for more information.).
With most cutting-edge hardware designed with overclockers and other hardcore users in mind, GIGABYTE motherboards packing UD5 technology (currently, the company has announced a handful of X79-based and Z77-based boards, although availability was yet to be confirmed at press time) won’t likely be available at entry-level prices. Still, power users looking at putting together high-end systems sporting a UD5 motherboard will be more than willing to pay for the quality.
