Gigabytes X58-UD5 was one of the top sellers. Being very competitively priced and with a very mature bios from the start. Also Gigabyte was one of the first motherboard manufacturers that locked the Turbo multi on the X58 platform. It successor the UD7 was more enthusiast orientated. Though Gigabyte was already working hard on something special. When we spoke to  Tim Hendley at CeBIT 2010 he said friend and foe would be surprised. Without wasting anymore words here's Gigabytes X58 flagship : the UD9.

Developed to compete at the highest level. This board is so feature rich : How does 4 way SLI via 2 x NF200 chips,  a binned IOH chipset, an extremely big heatpipe, being produced in limited numbers,.. sound ?

Everything onboard is meant to be the best, biggest and most powerful. Even the box is overdimensioned :

Like the eVGA Classified 4 way SLI board the UD9 is a LATX board. This implies that you need to check first if it will fit in your case ( though to be honest I think most buyers will be benchers, and they only use benchtables/setups )

Look at the number of PCIe slots and the beefy heatsink setup with an integrated water cooling block.

CPU area is a bit more crowded then the Asus board. The PWM area is part of the secret of success according Gigabyte's engineers. It's build to withstand the power demand of a highly OC'ed Gulftown.  Loads of Mosfets on the backside too. The complete heatsink is kept in place by screws with springs.

The heatpipe is one of the most massive constructions I ever saw. Especially the extra silent heatpipe is enormous. We tested the 3 variants : stock, water-cooled and the added heat dispenser.

The heatsink for the ICH and the hot 2 x NF200 seems up to the task. The Power and reset button are located near the dimm slots.

8 x S-ATA 2.0 (6 controlled by the ICH10R and 2 by the Micron Controller) and 2 S-ATA 3.0 ports via a Marvell controller. There was still room to fit an IDE  connection. Gigabyte relies on a normal LED poster to allow for fast debugging.

As with most high end boards a dual bios feature is a bare necessity. Gigabyte also going for maximum power for the GPU's. Two 4 pin Molex connectors should keep ya GPU's satisfied.

I/O at the back allows you to hook up a PS2 keyboard and mouse ( I love it ), 6 USB2.0 ports, 2 combo E-SATA/USB2.0 and last but not least, two USB 3.0 ones. Dual LAN is also present, Gigabyte really included the max with it's UD9. Firewire and even more USB ports can be added via the onboard connectors.