Introduction
Close to 20 months have passed since Intel first unleashed its Core i7 processors and accompanying X58 chipset, and boards based on the latter can now be had from as little as £130.
Remaining the enthusiast platform of choice, however, it's what's available at the other end of the scale that attracts the attention of performance junkies.
If that sounds like you, there's no shortage of extreme motherboards on offer from all the usual suspects; EVGA has the X58 Classified, MSI has the Big Bang XPower and ASUS is armed with the Rampage III Extreme.
Never one to shy out of what seems like a high-end party, the other Taiwanese brand - Gigabyte - is getting in on the action with a board that it reckons will trump all others.
It's dubbed rather unfortunately the GA-X58A-UD9, and it commands a discouraging £465.99 at retail, making it one of the most expensive motherboards of all time. Can any one board warrant such a lofty price tag? Let's take a look.