Gigabyte EP45-DQ6 Motherboard

INTRODUCTION

Since Intel embraced the Overclocker community a proliferation of Motherboards targeted at the LGA 775 socket based CPU's have hit the market in a big way. Most with an extremely premium price attached to them. Many enthusiasts held on to the quickly aging P35 chip set boards as a viable alternative to the more expensive X38/X48 offerings.

With the introduction of the P45 Eagle Lake chip set end users were offered a different alternative to the P35 chipset that offers more features. In the rush of the now common X38/X48 chipset it's easily overlooked in the technology stampede that we've all become accustomed to. Unfortunately the X38/X48 chipset came with a premium price that makes it hard to justify any performance increase from a bang for buck standpoint.

Enter the P45 Eagle Lake chipset which offers many of the same features as the more expensive highbrow cousins at a more Pocket Friendly price. Our friends over at Gigabyte were nice enough to send us a Gigabyte EP45-DQ6 P45 Eagle Lake Chipset to run past our battery of tests. Then an idea of epic proportions was born. Take the newer P45 and put it against a P35 in a direct head to head fashion and see what shakes out of the Chip Sets.

Taking this idea and expanding on it from an upgrade by the "One component at a time" standpoint we further decided to keep the whole test rig the same and upgrade with the EP45-DQ6 and a couple of 160 Gig Sata 2 hard drives we had laying around the lab. So initially all the components are the same except for the motherboard and hard drives keeping the same DDR2 memory running at 800 Mhz. Then with an eye to the incremental upgrader throw a new 2 Gig set of Patriot DDR2 1200 in the mix and see how the upgrade path has helped the evolution of the platform.

Sound like your upgrade path? It's a daunting task indeed, but one that reflects a viable upgrade path for the value minded enthusiast that still wants performance and not have to sleep on the couch. (Not sleeping on the couch is a Big Plus).

About Gigabyte

Founded in 1986, GIGABYTE started as a research and development team and has since taken the lead in the world's motherboard and graphics accelerator markets. To truly reach out to all consumers, GIGABYTE further expanded its product portfolio to include more diverse digital products such as Notebook and desktop PCs, digital home appliances, networking servers, communications, mobile and handheld devices, servicing every facet of people's lives at home or at work.

Everyday, GIGABYTE aims to “Upgrade Your Life” by knitting a global network to effectively honor its commitment to world wide customers. What's more important, GIGABYTE wishes all users to see and feel the brand through its products and all the touch points from GIGABYTE to the hands of all users.