Introduction:

When I was first introduced to computers, Gigabyte was considered a budget friendly manufacturer. At the time when Socket A was was a good choice, Gigabyte was the popular alternative at nearly every local PC store. If you purchased any other cheaper motherboard maker, you were taking a big risk. I can see that there are a few of you reading this that remember those days with a slight grimace like expression.

Well, unless you've been under a very large rock in the middle of the most remote waste land some where on Mars, then you already know Gigabyte has under gone many great changes in the last couple years. If you have your doubts, allow me to put them to rest.

Gigabyte took a far more serious approach to how they design and fabricate their entire product lines, especially when it comes to motherboards and video cards. Not only do their latest circuit boards contain the best solid state capacitors, they've also proven to be quite stable. Everything has been designed to operate more efficiently.

What else you ask? Try, overclocking on for size. Past motherboards were rarely anything to brag about. But, nowadays, they have extremely, reliable, and stable budget boards as well as some extreme overclocking models. Gigabyte has been trading top overclock records with the likes of Abit and ASUS for the last year. Nicely, done!

Today's motherboard is no exception to the rule. The Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3P (Rev 2.1) not only offers the best quality components and circuitry, it also offers very powerful overclocking features with improved power management for extreme efficiency.

Specifications:

GA-EP35-DS3P (rev. 2.1)

     Intel^® P35 + ICH9R Chipset

1. Supports Intel^® Core™ 2 multi-core and Intel 45nm processors

2. Supports DDR2 1200(OC)* memory for outstanding system performance.

3. Revolution energy saving design with GIGABYTE Dynamic Energy Saver(DES) technology.

4. Ultra Durable 2 motherboard features High Quality CPU Power design with Ferrite core chokes, Low RDS (on) MOSFET and Solid Capacitors.

5. Ultimate graphics performance with dual PCI-E x16 interface

6. Integrated SATA 3Gb/s with RAID function

7. Features high speed Gigabit Ethernet and IEEE1394

8. Unique Silent-Pipe with outstanding cooling performance

9. Audio controller from ALC 889A codec, featuring 106 dB Signal to Noise ratio and supporting for both Blu-ray and HD DVD formats.

* Please refer “Memory Support List” for memory support information.  

Specifications

CPU Support for an Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme processor/ Intel® Core™ 2 Quad processor/Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor/ Intel® Pentium® processor Extreme Edition/Intel® Pentium® D processor/ Intel® Pentium® 4 processor Extreme Edition/Intel® Pentium® 4 processor/ Intel® Celeron® processor in the LGA 775 package (Go to GIGABYTE's website for the latest CPU support list.) L2 cache varies with CPU 1600 (O.C.)/1333/1066/800 MHz FSB Chipset North Bridge: Intel® P35 Chipset South Bridge: Intel® ICH9R Memory 4 x 1.8V DDR2 DIMM sockets supporting up to 8 GB of system memory Dual channel memory architecture Support for DDR2 1200 (O.C.)/1066/800/667 MHz memory modules Please refer "Memory Support List" for memory support information. Audio Realtek ALC889A codec High Definition Audio 2/4/5.1/7.1-channel Support for S/PDIF In/Out Support for CD In LAN Realtek 8111B chip (10/100/1000 Mbit) Expansion Slots 2 x PCI Express x16 slots (The PCIE_16_1 slot supports x16; the PCIE_16_2 supports x4.) 3 x PCI Express x1 slots (share with the PCIE_16_2 slot) 2 x PCI slots Form Factor ATX (305 x 244mm) Storage Interface South Bridge: 6 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors (SATAII0, SATAII1, SATAII2, SATAII3, SATAII4, SATAII5) supporting up to 6 SATA 3Gb/s devices Support for SATA RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10 GIGABYTE SATA2 chip: 1 x IDE connector supporting ATA-133/100/66/33 and up to 2 IDE devices 2 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors (GSATAII0, GSATAII1) supporting up to 2 SATA 3Gb/s devices Support for SATA RAID 0, RAID 1, and JBOD iTE IT8718 chip: 1 x floppy disk drive connector supporting up to 1 floppy disk drive IEEE 1394 T.I. TSB43AB23 chip Up to 3 IEEE 1394a ports (2 on the back panel, 1 via the IEEE 1394 bracket connected to the internal IEEE 1394 header) USB Integrated in the South Bridge Up to 12 USB 2.0/1.1 ports (8 on the back panel, 4 via the USB brackets connected to the internal USB headers) Internal I/O Connectors 1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector 1 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector 1 x 4-pin PCIe 12V power connector 1 x floppy disk drive connector 1 x IDE connector 8 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors 1 x CPU fan header 2 x system fan headers 1 x power fan header 1 x North Bridge fan header 1 x front panel header 1 x front panel audio header 1 x CD In connector 1 x S/PDIF In header 1 x S/PDIF Out header 2 x USB 2.0/1.1 headers 1 x IEEE 1394a header 1 x parallel port header 1 x serial port header 1 x power LED header 1 x chassis intrusion header Back Panel Connectors 1 x PS/2 keyboard port 1 x PS/2 mouse port 1 x coaxial S/PDIF Out connector 1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector 8 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports 2 x IEEE 1394a ports 1 x RJ-45 port 6 x audio jacks (Center/Subwoofer Speaker Out/Rear Speaker Out/Side Speaker Out/Line In/Line Out/Microphone) I/O Controller iTE IT8718 chip H/W Monitoring System voltage detection CPU/System temperature detection CPU/System/Power fan speed detection CPU overheating warning CPU/System/Power fan fail warning CPU fan speed control BIOS Supports DualBIOS Plus 2 x 8 Mbit flash ROM Use of licensed AWARD BIOS PnP 1.0a, DMI 2.0, SM BIOS 2.3, ACPI 1.0b. Unique Features Support for @BIOS Support for Download Center Support for Q-Flash Support for EasyTune Support for Xpress Install Support for Xpress Recovery2 Remark Due to different Linux support condition provided by chipset vendors, please download Linux driver from chipset vendors' website or 3rd party website. Due to most hardware/software vendors no longer offer support for Win9X/ME. If some vendors still has Win9X/ME drivers available, we will publish on website. Duo to chipset limitation, Intel ICH9R RAID driver does not support Windows 2000 operating system.

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