Gigabyte GA-EP45T-Extreme

Gigabyte keeps the hits coming with the GA-EP45T-Extreme, the latest in a series of boards based on Intel's P45 chipset.

This particular board came with the Hybrid Silent-Pipe, a large copper passive cooler that aids in keeping temperature down. Gigabyte also included DES (Dynamic Energy Saver) on this board, a function that throtles power when the CPU doesn't need to work as hard.

The EP45T-Extreme is designed for overclocking. Indeed, there are plenty of options in the BIOS for OC tweaking-enough to keep any overclocking junkie happy for hours. If you prefer to do your overclocking in a Windows environment, the board includes Gigabyte's EasyTune 6 interface.

The EP45T-Extreme has plenty of headroom: I pushed the FSB to 500MHz with no trouble or signs of instability. If you like options-having a mobo that can be both an energy efficient green machine and a powerful overclocker-buy the E45T-Extreme.

by Seth Colaner







www.gigabyte.us

Computer Power User January 2009

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Gigabyte MA790GP-DS4H

A feature-loaded motherboard for AMD media machines

ONE OF THE FIRST MOTHERBOARDS to feature AMD's new 790GX chipset, the Gigabyte MA790GP-DS4H is one of those rare jack-off-all-trades devices that offer good performance for a wide range of users.

This Socket AM2+ board can accomodate CPUs ranging from low-power-usage Athlon X2 chips to the rapid Phenom X4 9950. The 790GX chiopset offers a number of innovations, including a faster built-in GPU, increased energy efficiency when idle, and improved overclocking support with the AMD OverDrive utility's Advanced Clock Calibration feature. It can accommodate memory speeds up to DDR2 1066; its integrated Radeon HD 330 graphics processor features 128MB of dedicated DDR3 1333 memory.

In addition to ports for USB (12), FireWire (two), PS/2, a mouse, and a keyboard-as well as analog and digital audio outputs-the MA790GP-DS4H has motherboard connectors that allow you to add legacy serial and parallel ports. all that's missing is external Serial Ata (eSATA).

The MA790GP-DS4H is HDTV-ready, with an HDMI 1.3 port alongside both DVI and VGA connectors. Plus it offers full DirectX 10 (DX10) support and accelerated video playback. Audio comes courtesy of an ALC889A audio codec that supports eight-channel Dolby Digital Live sound. THe ALC889A supports Full Rate Lossless Audio for Blu-ray discs, which, along with its fanless design and power-saving features, makes the MA790GP-DS4H appealing in a home theater PC.



If you have an ATI Radeon HD 3450, 3470, 2400 Pro, or 2400XT video card, you can plug it in and enable Hybrid CrossFireX, which uses the motherboard graphics processor in conjunction with the GPU on the graphics card to boost performance. Just know that the PCI Express slots run in x8 mode, which doesn't quite deliver the performance of 790FX-based motherboards that can run two slots in x16 mode.-D.A.

Computer Shopper November 2008
www.gigabyte.us

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Gigabyte GA-EP45-DQ6

Gigabyte GA-EP45-DQ6

When I see a piece of hardware with some kind of energy-saving feature(s), I usually assume an "E" in the name is a synonym for "weak." In the case of the Gigabyte EP45-DQ6, however, the "E" stands for "efficient."
The board features two PCI-E 2.0 slots and CrossFireX supports, and with support for up to 1,600MHz FSB, 16GB of memory, and four-count`em, four-Gigabit Ethernet ports, which Gigabyte claims can be teamed together to function as a single connection to increase the overall throughput fourfold, the EP45-DQ6 wants not for power and speed.
Yet the EP45-DQ6's 65n, P45 chipset coupled with the DES (Dynamic Energy Saver) Advanced technology, with throttles power when the CPu load is low, saves energy. You can even use DES Advanced if the system's been overclocked.
The board also includes a tantalizing number of BIOS options for overclocking, including incrementals voltage boosts, which we used in conjunction with a reduced multiplier to push the EP45-DQ6's FSB to 458MHz and an impressive increase in overall 3DMark Vantage scores (14,264 compared to 10,909 with the default 333MHz FSB).
The EP45-DQ6 works smarter, not harder. It's a solid board that will satisfy enthusiasts without upping the electric bill. Game green, friends.
by Seth Colaner.

Test System specs: Processor: 3GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme X9650; RAM: 4GB OCZ Tecnology DDR2 PC2-6400 SLI-Ready Edition; Graphics: Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT; Hard Drive: 150GB Western Digital Raptor 1500.

Specs: Socket 775; Chipset: Intel P45 Express; 1,600 MHz FSB; Max memory: 16GB DDR2-1200; Audio: Realtek ALC889A 7.`; Slots: 2 PCI-E 2.0 (x16 or dual-x8), 2 PCI-E x4, 1 PCI x1, 2 PCI;Ports: 10 SATA, 10 USB 2.0, 1 FireWire, 4 Gigabit Ethernet.

www.gigabyte.com.tw

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Motherboard Review: Gigabyte GA-X48T-DQ6

Motherboard Review: Gigabyte GA-X48T-DQ6

GA-X48T-DQ6 is a Gigabyte motherboard that support DDR3. Previous motherboard product from Gigabyte is GA-X48-DQ6 that support DDR2.
GA-X48T-DQ6 with Intel X-48 chipset is physically identical with GA-X48-DQ6 with Intel X-38 chipset.

The most interesting about Gigabyte GA-X48T-DQ6 is its support for future processors beyond FSB 1333MHz with 45nm fabrication. It support FSB 1600MHz.

The other advanced feature is Intel XMP (eXtreme Memory Profiles) technology that make DDR3 work on 1900MHz. With 8 GB maximum capacity and dual channels support.

This motherboard have 8 SATA 2 ports. 6 ICH9R ports. 2 JMicron JMB363 ports.

Gigabyte use Ultra Durable 2 technology. Dynamic Energy Saver can decrease energy that give result in motherboard durability. Gigabyte claimed that this feature can result in 70% saving. The feature activity signed by a LED that fully shine when the processor is full loaded and half shine when the processor is lighty loaded.

Fail Auto Reload BIOS automaticaly load default BIOS settings when there's error on modified BIOS settings.


Specification
GIGABYTE GA-X48T-DQ6
Processor Type: Intel Pentium 4, Pentium Celeron, Pentium D, Pentium Dual Core, Core 2 Duo/Quad (Socket LGA7750
Chipset: Intel X48+ICH9R
Memory: 4 DDR3-667/800/1066/1600/1900 dual channels 8 GB max
Graphics Card: 2x PCI Express x16 (PCI Express 2.0)
Expansion Slot: 3xpCIe x1, 2x PCI
Storage: 8x SATA, 1x PATA, 1xFDD, 2x eSATA
RAID: ICH9R/JMicron SATA RAID 0,1,0+1,5, JBOD/0,1,JBOD
Sound Chip: Realtek ALC88T (8 channels)
LAN Chip: Realtek RLT8211B (dual gigabit)
I/O: 1x PS/2 Keyboard
1x PS/2 Mouse
1x Coaxial S/PDIF Out
1x Optical S/PDIF Out
2x Firewire
8x USB 2.0
2x LAN
1x 6in1 audio

TEST RESULT
Sysmark 2007 Preview
Rating: 149

SiSoft Sandra 2007
Dhrystone ALU: 27288 MIPS
Video Encoding: 10 minutes 46 seconds
Audio Encoding: 2 minutes 4 seconds
PCMark 2005 (1280x1024): 6738 PCMarks
3dMark 2006 (1280x1024): 4377 3DMarks
Doom 3 (1024x768 high quality): 132,2 fps
Maximum FSB: 465 MHz

Testing Platform:
Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 Processor, Kingston DDR3 2GB Memory, Asus GeForce 7800 GT VGA Card, Seagate Baracuda 7200RPM 80 GB Harddisk.

www.gigabyte.com.tw

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