Gigabyte's Ultra Durable 3 motherboards

Gigabyte recently announced that twelve of its motherboards will be equipped with the new Ultra Durable 3 Technology. Motherboards with these technology have two ounces of copper used in the "power" and "ground" layers of the printed circuit board (PCB). According to the manufacturer, the conventional amount is a single ounce. Gigabyte claims that by doubling the amount of copper, the temperatures will stay lower, it should also provide better overclocking stability and less energy loss. 

By using more copper in the PCB, the generated heat would be spread out through the entire motherboard better. Ultra Durable 3 motherboards could reach temperatures of up to 50 °C less than motherboards that do not use the technology. Ultra Durable 2 motherboars were rated at 33 °C less. Apart from the improved heat conductivity, the resistance has also been lowered, meaning less energy will be lost, as well as less heat generation. According to Gigabyte, this should significantly enhance the overclocking potential of the motherboards.

The following Gigabyte motherboards will be equipped with the Ultra Durable 3 technologie:

• GA-EP45-UD3P
• GA-EP43-UD3
• GA-EP43C-UD3
• GA-EP45-UD3R
• GA-EP43-UD3R
• GA-EP45T-UD3P
• GA-EP45-UD3
• GA-EP45C-UD3R
• GA-EP45T-UD3R
• GA-EP43-UD3P
• GA-EP45C-UD3
• GA-EP45T-UD3LR
  

Gigabyte has also improved its Dynamic Energy Saver (DES) algorithms, a technology which is now named DES Advanced. According to the company, the new algorithms are more accurate, making it possible to save more energy than before.

Photos of three motherboards have surfaced already: the GA-EP45-UD3P, GA-EP45-UD3R and GA-EP45-UD3. The most significant change we see is the used cooling. The first two motherboards use heatpipes and blue-colored cooling blocks. The cooling of the UD3-board however does not have heatpipes and will bear a grey color. 

The topmodel, the GA-EP45-UD3P, features two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots, where the others have only one. Additional specifications can be found on the respective product pages of the motherboards.