GIGABYTE GA-N650SLI-DS4 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: BIOS provides plenty to play around with. 2-way SLI support. 8 channel audio. Has 2 4-pin fan headers and 2 3-pin fan headers. Can control fans without PWM control.

Cons: Can only control 3 out of the 4 fan headers. The northbridge heatsink becomes quite hot very fast due to the fins being packed to closely. Some larger heatsinks such as the Cooler Master V6 GT don't fit because of the angled position of the Northbridge heatsink.

Other Thoughts: It's kind of a pet peeve of mine that I need to be able to monitor every aspect of my systems hardware, and if the need arises, alter settings to suit my requirements. This being said I must point out that of the 4 fan headers, only 3 can be controlled. the fan header labeled PWR_FAN cannot be controlled. I know this is similar to many other boards like it. I just expected GIGABYTE to be able to overcome this problem.

Pros: Excellent Feature Set, Board Layout and Included Cables and connectors

Cons: The quality control on the last batch of 7 boards purchased yielded 4 DOAs. The units would not post, even in a minimal configuration. We have been users of Giga-Byte products for years, without these issues.

Other Thoughts: NEWEGG was excellent in allowing a reutrn of the units. And is sending replacements.

Pros: No pro's since it arrived dead. I have ordered parts for at least 40 builds from Newegg over the years and this is my first DOA so I guess I cannot complain too much. Wasted hours troubleshooting it though since all parts were new.

Cons: Board powered up but wouldn't output any video and no beep codes. Board was DOA. Another board solved the problem.

Pros: SLI, All Solid Capacitors. Looks nice under UV lights? Work very well for the first six months.

Cons: Sigh.....where to begin. Board worked well to my expectations (as i wasn't really expecting alot from a 650 board) and then after 5 months of used motherboard just flat out shut down It all of a sudden stopped posting. Thought it was my RAM CPU GPU PSU tested all those components in a seperate system and all worked. Which puts the problem on the Motherboard. RMA'ed it Got a second board and what do you know POST failures again. Kept on trying then it posts work 2 days then it went on to endless cycle of the MB Rebooting itself not posting and THEN it would post Windows XP would load then BSOD the Rebooting and No Posting........and that isnt even the begining. There is an FSB Wall on this Mobo and i cannot go past 3.2Ghz (356 x 9) with an E6600 when i overclock. Anything above that and windows would not load. Northbridge gets hots........im going to stop right now before i go nuts.

Other Thoughts: Honestly there was something inside me saying that this would happen prior to the first time i bought it. I gave it a chance i got lucky and my luck ran out. If anything the F7 revision of the BIOS made it worse.

Pros: Great specs; if only the system would boot.

Cons: Quality is horrible. DoA is too common. Memory support is also VERY strict. I wouldn't recommend buying anything that they haven't tested.

Other Thoughts: This is the 2nd bad board I've received from Gigabyte. I won't be ordering another.

Pros: Awesome board

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: I wrote a review for this board the other day, but I made a mistake. You need to hit Alt + F1 to change memory timings in BIOS.

Pros: LPT and COM ports allow me to still use my Palm Pilot cradle and HP LaserJet 4 (without JetDirect card). Yet, HD audio gives today's sound quality. Thus, this board gives the high quality and speed of today while maintaining compatibility with some of your older equipment.

Cons: I freaked when Windows wouldn't allow me to suspend or hibernate. Default/recommended BIOS setting was for S1, but needs to be S3 and video card manufacturer drivers needed to be installed.

Documentation says UAA audio drivers only needed for Windows XP SP1 and older OS. Had no audio until found mention on Gigabyte support site about fixing audio problem by installing driver for SP2. So, apparently, UAA driver is needed.

Other Thoughts: Bear in mind when dealing with Gigabyte tech support by email that they aren't native english speakers. They do intend well, though!

Pros: I have had this board since early May and it hasn't given me a single problem. I have had multiply CPU's in this board and I never once had an issue with it. I would buy this board again in a second.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: To adjust memory timings, hit F1 when you get into the BIOS. You will now have the option in the "MB intelligent tweaker" section to adjust mem timings.

Pros: great board with lots of goodies.
quad core, dual channel, sli,
SLI only works in 8x mode....
get 680 board if u want 16x16sli

Cons: became unstable after 6 months of normal use. sent to gigabyte in california for repair or replacement. thank goodness for 1 year guarantee

Other Thoughts: maybe i will have more luck out of the next one. the north board did get hot but didnt seem to be problem. probably just a bad capacitor.

Pros: My first board was defective (see below), but the great thing is this board works perfectly fine. Again, I'm quite happy with the layout, everything is easily reached connectivity-wise (even in an Antec P180), solid capacitors are useful for longevity, the better-than-average six-phase power design helps with stable power delivery to the CPU, and I have to say I love the retention clips for the PCI-E graphics cards (you can release a graphics card from either the top-side or bottom of the slot, perfect if you have a long graphics card installed in either slot). Overclocked past 400 MHz with DDR2-800 RAM without having to make any adjustments to voltage or timings.

Cons: The northbridge gets very hot (56C at idle according to SpeedFan and EasyTune utility programs); strapping a fan on it doesn't help much. Only the CPUFAN and the SYSFAN headers are adjustable in the BIOS, which means any fan connected to the NBFAN header is on full tilt all the time. EasyTune software is good for basic monitoring, but practically useless for everything else (I'm comparing it to Abit uGuru software and Asus AI Suite, both of which allow excellent control over system amenities, even for the expert user).

Other Thoughts: Glad this works; I'll bet there was a bad run of these and I was an unlucky recipient of one. Overall, I'm satisfied with this board, considering the cost and the performance.