Gigabyte Z97-HD3 Intel Z97 Motherboard

For those looking towards purchasing a new motherboard with an Intel Z97 chipset that's compatible with Haswell Refresh and Broadwell processors, the Gigabyte GA-Z97-HD3 is a nice option and will set you back just over $100 USD.

The synopsis of the Gigabyte GA-Z97-HD3 is that it's an ATX motherboard that has support for fourth and fifth generation Intel Core CPUs, multi-graphics support, exploits all of the Intel Z97 features, and has the usual Gigabyte extras like a UEFI DualBIOS, GIGABYTE LAN Optimizer, etc.

Specifications:

CPU
- Support for Intel Core i7/i5/i3, Pentium, Celeron CPUs with LGA-1150 package.

Chipset
- Intel Z97 Express Chipset

Memory
- 4 x DDR3 DIMMs up to 32GB Dual-Channel Memory
- Supports DDR3 3100(O.C.) / 3000(O.C.) / 2933(O.C.) / 2800(O.C.) / 2666(O.C.) / 2600(O.C.) / 2500(O.C.) / 2400(O.C.) / 2200(O.C.) / 2133(O.C.) / 2000(O.C.) / 1866(O.C.) / 1800(O.C.) / 1600 / 1333 MHz memory modules
- Supports Extreme Memory Profiles (XMP)

Graphics
- 1 x D-Sub up to 1920 x 1200
- 1 x DVI-D up to 1920 x 1200
- 1 x HDMI 1.4a up to 4096x2160@24Hz / 2560x1600@60Hz
- Support to drive three displays simultaneously
- Maximum shared memory of 1GB

Audio
- Realtek ALC887 Codec
- HD Audio

LAN
- Realtek GbE LAN chip

Expansion Slots
- 1 x PCI Express x16 @ PCI-E x16
- 1 x PCI Express x16 @ PCI-E x4
- 2 x PCI Express x1
- 2 x PCI

Multi-Graphics Technology
- Supports 2-Way AMD CrossFire

Storage
- 6 x Serial ATA 6Gb/s
- Supports RAID 0/1/5/10

USB
- 6 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports
- 8 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports

I/O Controller
- iTE i/O Controller

BIOS
- 2 x 64 Mbit Flash; Supports DualBIOS
- AMI UEFI BIOS

Form Factor
- ATX Form Factor; 30.5 x 19.0 cm

Contents:

Included with the GA-Z97-HD3 motherboard was the user's manual, two Serial ATA cables, Gigabyte Windows driver CD, and the I/O panel -- about the normal amount of accessories we would expect to find out of a $100 motherboard. When it comes to official operating system compatibility with this Gigabyte Z97 motherboard, just listed is Windows 8.1, Windows 8, and Windows 7. However, on the Gigabyte product page it also lists, "Due to different Linux support condition provided by chipset vendors, please download Linux driver from chipset vendors' website or 3rd party website." But for Linux users of any modern Linux distributions, you should be in good shape out-of-the-box with a recent kernel release.