Gigabyte P55A-UD6 motherboard main features are:

• Socket: 1156.
• Chipset: Intel P55 Express.
• Super I/O: ITE IT8720F.
• Clock generator: ICS 9LPRS914EKLF.
• Parallel ATA: One ATA-133 port controlled by an ITE IT8213 chip.
• Serial ATA: Six SATA-300 ports controlled by the chipset (RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10) and two SATA-600 controlled by a Marvell 88SE9128 chip (RAID 0, 1).
• External SATA: Two, soldered on the motherboard rear panel (shared with USB ports) controlled by a JMicron JMB362 chip (RAID 0, 1, JBOD) and two converted from internal SATA ports using the I/O bracket that comes with the board.
• USB: 12 USB 2.0 ports, eight soldered on the motherboard (two of them shared with eSATA ports) and four available through two headers on the motherboard, plus two USB 3.0 ports controlled by a NEC D720200 chip.
• FireWire (IEEE 1394): Three ports controlled by a Texas Instruments TSB43AB23 chip, one standard-sized and one miniature-sized soldered on the rear panel, and another one available through a header. The board doesn’t come with an I/O bracket to use this third port.
• On-board audio: Produced by the chipset together with a Realtek ALC889 codec (ten channels, 24-bit resolution, up to 192 kHz sampling rate, 104 dB signal-to-noise ratio on inputs, 108 dB signal-to-noise ratio on outputs). On-board coaxial and optical SPDIF outputs.
• On-board LAN: Two Gigabit Ethernet ports, controlled by two Realtek 8111D chips, which are connected to the system through PCI Express x1 lanes.
• Buzzer: No.
• Power supply required: EPS12V (ATX12V compatible).
• Slots: Three PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots (first one working at x16 when only one video card is installed but at x8 when two video cards are installed, second working at x8 speed, and the third one always working at x4), two PCI Express x1 slots and two standard PCI slots.
• Memory: Six DDR3-DIMM sockets (up to 16 GB up to DDR3-1600/PC3-12800 or DDR3-2600 through overclocking).
• Number of CDs/DVDs provided: One.
• Programs included: Motherboard drivers and utilities.
• Extra features: Only Japanese solid capacitors, serial port, 24-phase voltage regulator circuit, clear CMOS button, two-ounce copper tracks, POST diagnostics display.
• More Information: http://www.gigabyte-usa.com
• Average price in the US*: USD 250.00

* Researched at Newegg.com on the day we published this First Look article.