Installation:

Top View

SATA Ports

Expansion Slots

CPU Socket Area

Installation of all hardware into the full tower Thermaltake Shark case was very simple and straightforward. The only issue I did encounter was the crazy cool back plate preventing the installation of the initial cooler I planed to use for testing(that cooler did require a back plate). The board did accommodate the very large Cooler master eclipse heatsink without any issue. It is possible to remove the crazy cool attachment with a little work if necessary, but that negates a very cool feature of the board. Even the front panel ports are color coded to simplify power button and led hookups, in case you don't have the manual in hand.

BIOS:

Full Screen Logo	Main	Standard CMOS	Advanced BIOS
IntegratedPeripherals	Power Management	PnP/PCI Config	M.I.T Tweaker
M.I.T Dram Timings	M.I.T Voltages	M.I.T Max Voltages

Gigabyte's BIOS follows their standard setup, placing the overclocking features under the Motherboard Intelligent Tweaker (M.I.T) menu. One strange but consistent Gigabyte BIOS tick is the requirement to push CTRL-F1 to enable enhanced memory settings on the main overclocking screen. This trend continues with the DQ6, so be aware of that if you wish to manually tweak the memory timings. This board also features the ability to save and load different BIOS configurations, this is an valuable feature which allows quick access to different memory / CPU multi / FSB combinations. C.I.A. 2 is Gigabyte's “Auto” overclocking feature, but most experienced enthusiasts will prefer to tweak these settings themselves. Robust Graphics Booster boosts PCIe speeds offering up Auto / Fast / Turbo as possible selections. Memory frequencies are set using a multiplier which converts to a divider based on FSB. The only real gripe I have with the voltage settings is that only Vcore is displayed as an actual value. The rest are listed as “+XX” to default, this does not indicate what value default is, making it difficult to get the exact initial values you want to select. Listed next is a quick reference of tweaking values I could manually manipulate.

Frequencies:

CPU Host Frequency: 100MHz to 700 MHz in 1MHz increments

PCI Express Frequency: 100MHz to 150MHz in 1MHz increments

Voltages:

DDR2 Overvoltage Control: +0.05v to +1.55v in 0.05v increments

PCI-E Overvoltage Control: +0.05v to 0.35v in 0.05v increments

FSB Overvoltage Control: +0.05v to +0.35v in 0.05v increments

MCH Overvoltage Control: +0.025v to 0.375v in 0.025v increments

CPU Overvoltage Control: 0.83125v to 2.35000v in 0.00125v increments

Software:

As is typical with premium GIGABYTE motherboards, there is some bundled programs, monitors and utilities. Here's a sample of what you'll get with the DQ6: 

GIGABYTES Easy Tune 5 is a handy program that allows you to monitor temperatures, voltages and tweak performance settings right from the windows environment. 

Shown above is the overclocking features that can be adjusted within Easy Tune 5. The ability to save different configurations is also a plus. 

You can also set the auto overclocking features from within this software as well. The i_cool function allows you to adjust fan speeds to help quiet the system when not under load. 

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