Gigabyte EP45-DS3P (P45) DDR2 Motherboard
Well I hate to say it but I was wrong. There I said it! Apart from my distaste for the colour scheme, the Gigabyte board impressed me throughout. From the packaging to the board layout, and from the overclocking options to its ability in the benchmarks. Almost every aspect of the motherboard deserves praise as it is without doubt a very good motherboard. All of the above however has to be taken relative to its price. A top of the range, flagship motherboard this is not. For that you would be looking at the Gigabyte DQ6 range. So for the price, it is a very hard product to fault. As always, I have managed to do just that.
The colour scheme… I know it’s a personal preference thing but seriously, how anyone can find the motherboard attractive or pleasing to the eye is simply beyond me. Bright,? Sure. Eye catching? Certainly! Stylish…er….NO! The design may appeal to a fan of the Tweenies but to an enthusiast, I think not! If it were not for the colour scheme then I would happily consider buying this board if I were wanting a fast, modern, feature packed budget board as it is certainly the latter. If I had a solid case without a window then sure – it could well be on my list of potential buys. Sadly I don’t fall into either of these catagories so I won’t be queuing up for one.
However, if you can live with colour and let’s face it, it is only a minor point for most, then I can’t think of another board at the same price point that would be better. It clocks well, it runs cool, it even matches and occasionally beats motherboards almost double its price so there is no doubting the boards abilities. For those reasons then, I find myself bowing my head in shame as I pride myself on my recommendations and up until now, I have never recommended a Gigabyte board. The Gigabyte EP45-DS3 has now changed that.
The Good
– Price
– Connectivity
– On board Switches and LED’s
– Solid caps
– BIOS
The Mediocre
– 6 Phase power
– Due to the above Vdrop/droop could be troublesome
– Aluminium Heatsinks
The Bad
