Gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H vs. Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H

[cakemonster]

Hello,

Thanks to Tonymac I have been running two i7860/p55m-uD4 systems for almost 3 years now, no problems until one machine recently and I think that is hardware. I am starting to run into the motherboard doing some funny things and think it is time for an upgrade. I was going to wait for Haswell, but the time has come for a new mac, and it is probably 9 months to a year until we have totally stable hackintosh builds based on haswell.

You can get a 3770k for $229 at Microcenter(in USA) so that is a no brainer. I will run a graphics card with dual monitors(DVI fine, don't need HDMI audio), looks like many Nvidia cards work with GraphicsEnabler=no now, will get one of those.

My questions comes down to motherboard. I have read through the forum, looked at the recommendations from Tonymac and both of the MB are on the list.

Requirements:

1. I am looking for a stable mable, utility, home machine that works for a few years (just like my old school p55m-UD4 build).
2. I want as vanilla as possible (that used to mean stable with a DSDT, now it means NO DSDT from what I have read, AMAZING!).
3. I do some scientific computing and can peg all 8 cores for a while, but mostly do that at work, so durability matters, but I might OC just a tad (4 ghz is all I would do, don't want to boost Vcore etc). I can skip the OC if the cheaper board is much more compatible and easy to maintain.
4. I will pay a bit more for stability and long term benefit ($50-60 not worth 5 hours of rebuilding a machine) but at the same time I don't need what I don't need in terms of features.


The two motherboards I am looking at are the the GA-Gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H and the Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H.

On first glance the GA-Z77-DS3H is perfect for what I want, a 4ghz overlock (I don't care about Vcore etc), but folks have commented that it is not that durable. The GA-Z77X-UD5H is more than I need, but if it is a more durable (or more compatible) board it might be worth it.

My questions:
1. Is there any different in compatibility, or ease of build without a DSDT for these two boards (my research so far says no)? Both appear to be DSDT free with the Gigabyte UEFI, have ethernet and sound drivers that are native (don't need HDA rollback). Does the intel network adapter need a kext/driver at all in the GA-Z77X-UD5H (it has Atheros and Intel)?

2. If you don't care about the Vcore, and are just looking for a modest OC (4 ghz, very stable), is the GA-Z77-DS3H adequate?

3. Any other reasons to go with the GA-Z77-DS3H in terms of support or compatibility? Ease of maintaining Audio and Network?

4. With updates (10.8.2 etc) any difference in the compatibility with these? Do you need to reinstall the ethernet and sounds kexts after updating? Anything else? Any other issues? Again, I can skip the OC if needed if the GA-Z77-DS3H is better in this sense.

5. Any chance the Gigabyte UEFI is going to change and become incompatible with the hardware (ie, require a DSDT in the future) for either board(maybe we can't know that). Any reason to run a DSDT on these if not using HDMI audio and only using it out of the back?


Basically I want the board that is the easiest to maintain a stable system on. Sometimes that is a cheaper board (like the p55m-Ud4 was in its day with 889a audio), and sometimes that is a more expensive board.

Thank You very much for your help in advance. I posted a lot of advice on builds in 2010, now it has come full circle.

Thank You!

Cakemonster

 

[Going Bald]

If you can afford it go for the UD5H. It is the better board all around and with the DS3H, they changed the chipsets around and that caused some problems (been worked around/ new kexts and fixed, but still...). The UD5H also has onboard firewire and better update/upgrade possibilites than the DS3H. It might look like overkill now, but what about next year when you need to expand, add a card, a HDD, etc?

 

[cakemonster]

Thank You. So sounds like in terms of kexts etc, stability with updates (not just hardware quality) the UD5H is the way to go.

Any downsides with that board?

Thank you,

Cakemonster

 

[aaron97]

I have had both boards in the past month. After I had to RMA my DS3H after only 3 months I went out and bought a UD5H. I'm going to have to disagree with going bald The DS3H is just as stable and compatible as the UD5H. It worked great until I had to RMA it. The only difference is the UD5H has a ton more features is of much better build quality, the pcb is probably twice as thick and feels like a rock compared to the DS3H's flimsy pcb. I would go with the UD5H not because it's more compatible, but because for only $80 more you get a ton more features and overall is a much more solid mobo.

However, the DS3H will work just fine for you if you don't need all of the UD5H's excess # of features.

 

[Going Bald]

I'm going to have to disagree with going bald The DS3H is just as stable and compatible as the UD5H. .

I did not say the DS3H was incompatible or that the UD5 was more compatible - in fact, I did not even mention compatibility. I said the UD5 was a better board all around and had more features and better options for expansion in the future.

 

[aaron97]

I did not say the DS3H was incompatible or that the UD5 was more compatible - in fact, I did not even mention compatibility. I said the UD5 was a better board all around and had more features and better options for expansion in the future.

I'm not trying to start an argument or anything, but you said " they changed the chipsets around and that caused some problems (been worked around/ new kexts and fixed, but still...)" which is implying their are still problems when you said "but still." All I was trying to tell the OP is that he does not have to be afraid of the new chipsets, like you made it seem (regardless if it was intentional).