Just bought and setup a new GA Z87X-UD3H mobo with i7-4771 CPU with Windows 8.1.
First off let me say, without the crashing issues this is a nice Mobo, and I really don't want to swap it for something else.
Ok, the first problem I had was intermittent BSOD lockups. Which were strangely helpful because at least I got to see the issue, as in: BAD_POOL_HEADER _ PAGE_FAULT IN NON PAGED AREA _ KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK ERROR etc. Anyway I uninstalled all the drivers I downloaded from the GA Z87X-UD3H homepage and let it run without them, then the thing went to BSOD and rebooted so I couldn't see the cause...! I called the supplier and was told to change the RAM speed settings, which I did, and the thing seemed to stay stable until I tried to reinstall the drivers at which point, you guessed it, BSOD to reboot. So, I guess the big question is, do I need to use the Gigabyte drivers with Windows 8.1..? Can I assume that it will install the MS version of the required drivers..? Are there drivers which must be Gigabyte versions..?
As an aside, this board has the quirk of not being able to connect to the internet until windows is installed, then installing them manually. This seems a rather strange thing to do, I have installed many Mobos's over the years, and it's been a long time since I had to do this. Usually Windows can connect to the net on it's own. Is this something I can fix during instal, as in pointing the startup to a driver on a USB. I did actually extract the driver to one and pointed Windows at it from the start but no joy..!
Windows 8.1 64
GA Z87X-UD3H
i7-4771
8 Gig DDR3 1600
Radeon HD 7970
