Closer Look:
 

Going Green

Many Features

Contents

The GA-EP35-DS3P has every current top of the line feature with a few that exceed the standard. The most obvious Gigabyte feature that should interest every kind of user from continent to continent is DES, Dynamic Energy Saver technology. Gigabyte was very quick to see just how "Green" the world has been moving.

GA-EP35-DS3P Motherboard

While the media and every money hungry environmentalist is looking for ways to shock you in to saving all forms of energy, Gigabyte decided to take a leap forward and offer a more efficient form of computing. DES can't be obtained without the best, most efficient components within their circuitry which is called, Ultra Durable 2. Everything is solid state caps along with Low RDS MOSFETs for cleaner power. This is part of Gigabyte's success in producing some shocking overclocking motherboards.

Front DIMM & Connetor Area

Is it possible for DES to actually improve your system and power bill? Well, to put it in the simplest answer, yes. Instead of your computer wasting power by simply consuming it to no end, DES will consume up to 70% less power and provide 20% more efficient power to Intel processors. The board's multiphase VRM is where all the magic happens creating better power efficiency and lowering PWM temperatures. And if you've played around with some of the NVidia 650-SLI, then you may have seen just how high PWM temps can reach.

Back I/O Area

The next two great features are something that I can really appreciate. You'll find DDR2 1200MHz support assuming you have a very, very capable DDR2 memory kit like the Patriot Extreme PC2-9200 set. Of course, to reach these frequencies, you'll have to administer a little overclocking. But, knowing that the system is tuned to handle the fastest DDR2 modules without question, is a very assuring sign for the overclocker.

Bottom Perpheral Area

The second features is that it supports native 800/1066/1333 MHz Front Side Bus processors. This means you can also enjoy extra overclocking head room no matter which of the latest Intel processors you have. Ideally, you would use any Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad. With a little extra BIOS managing, the board will reach 1600 MHz Front Side Bus. Between all the Core 2 Duos and Quads to cross this test bench, every one of them operated at 1600 MHz FSB without issue. To get it there requires a reliable motherboard like the one we have here.

Top CPU Area

If you happened to purchase a QX9650 Penryn 45nm processor, feel free to plug that bad boy in this motherboard. It fully supports these 12MB L3 Cache processors and all their capable frequencies which should exceed the first Core 2 Duo and Quad series. Intel processors just keeps getting better.

1333/1600 MHz FSB & 1066/1200 MHz DDR 2

Everything else on the motherboard is exactly what you'd expect from an extreme performing motherboard. There are 8 SATA 3GB/s ports, 1 IDE, plenty of USB, 2 PCI slots, 2 PCIE X1 slots, and integrated Realtek ALC889A High Definition Audio. While the rest are standards these days, the Realtek ALC889A is the latest upgrade which supports Blu-ray and HD DVD formats.

PS2, SPDIF, Optical, eSATA, FireWire, USB 2.0, 7.1 HD Realtek Audio

The board has 2 x PCI Express X16 slots for your choice of Crossfire graphics cards. Some of the latest HD 3870 vanilla and X2 versions have been crunching some serious 3DMark06 scores. If you have an NVidia based graphics card like the 8800, it'll also find the PCI Express X16 slot to be a snug, perfect fit.

Very Colorful...

I wouldn't mind seeing a little more organized colors. The light green PATA and yellow-orange SATA, and PCI Express sockets don't really say this is a more extreme platform. But, then again, "Green" users probably aren't all that concerned about what kinds of color sockets were used to build the board. Read on and you'll see why it just seems more like an extreme platform.

The Cable Bundle

eSATA Power & Cable Port Kit

Most of the time, cables are just cables. Other than the antiquated flat FDD and PATA cables, the cable bundle is decent. There are four yellow SATA cables with two straight connectors and two 90 degree connectors. The eSATA Cable Kit includes an external power cable, eSATA conversion bracket, and a decent grade eSATA cable. The eSATA bracket allows a user to use two onboard SATA ports for external SATA storage drives. It's a very useful cable bundle.
 

Got News? Send 'em in!