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GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3L Intel Motherboards
Customer Reviews for GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
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Review Summary (172 Reviews): Rating + 4
OverallLast 2 WeeksLast 6 Months
Excellent Rating + 5 87ReviewsExcellent
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newegg
26%
Average Rating + 3 11ReviewsAverage
newegg
6%
Poor Rating + 2 8ReviewsPoor
newegg
5%
Very Poor Rating + 1 21ReviewsVery Poor
newegg
12%
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Reviewer Product Review
N/A
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/23/2009 4:20:49 PM

Rating + 4


Pros: Meets all stated specifications and performs as it should.

Cons: None

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/23/2009 7:57:24 AM

Rating + 5 Awesome


Pros: Fantastic and fast. My first Intel chip build. Painless.

Cons: I'm shocked that I am actually running out of USB ports.

Other Thoughts: The mobo will dynamically over and underclock to respond to better performance or for power saving. You can adjust the intensity at which it changes these settings. I accidentally change it too high and the machine became unstable (this is the same as overclocking a CPU). Find the right setting and enjoy.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

DannyMac
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/21/2009 8:47:54 AM

Rating + 5 Great mobo


Pros: The board works! Great for OSx86...

Cons: You may need to update the BIOS for it to recognize more recent processors properly, but it isn't a big deal to do and has fail-safes in place in case something screws up during the flash.

Other Thoughts: This was my first LGA 775 processor install and it was nail biting at times, but nothing got broken and everything works!

My rig: E7300 C2D, 8GB of RAM (Maxed out), 2 x 640GB WD, Geforce 7900GS 256MB (need a better card someday...)

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

K
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/20/2009 6:33:40 PM

Rating + 5 Works Great


Pros: If it meets your specs than it will do its job well.

Cons: None

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Richc
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/17/2009 10:29:18 PM

Rating + 5 Great Board Great Price


Pros: Price and ease of install. Installed it with a Q9400 Quad CPU with 4gb memory. Went extremely smooth and painless. Booted 1st time and haven't had any real problems since. Getting $15.00 rebate was a nice benefit too. Thanks Newegg!

Cons: None Really. Only problem has been the F-Audio, but I really don't use headphones.

Other Thoughts: For the price, I don't think I could have gotten a better deal. So far, I am really pleased on how it has been going. I have built several systems in the past, and this one has gone the easiest so far.

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shikkie
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/11/2009 8:42:38 PM

Rating + 5


Pros: Paired with a Q8300 and 4GB of OCZ Reaper DDR2 1066. BIOS has a recent revision so it saw the processor just fine.

Haven't bothered/tried to overclock but has been perfectly stable at stock speeds.

Cons: None

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Zac
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/11/2009 2:24:42 PM

Rating + 4 Finally


Pros: Good size
Supports everything i purchased
installed vista 64 like a champ

Cons: first one came DOA
dose produced alot of heat

Other Thoughts: The computer that i built is having some difficuties starting up not sure if power suppy is dead or Motherboard

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victrix
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/10/2009 9:59:47 PM

Rating + 5 great board


Pros: A very nice budget OC'able board. I have been using Gigabyte boards for about 6 years and they have all be excellent quality.

Cons: NB gets rather hot, if you are pushing the board at all i would suggest a better NB cooler, or at the very least a fan on the stock cooler.

Other Thoughts: Stock Core2 mounting assemblies scare me, all those poor motherboards being bent into oblivion.

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N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/10/2009 6:12:33 PM

Rating + 2 DHCP on network adapter broke


Pros: Seems like a generally well made board

Cons: Poorly attached chipset heat sync. On board LAN mysteriously stops working. The device shows up but it won't get DHCP or talk to the lan with a static. gigabyte support very hard to reach.

Other Thoughts: I have tested this on Vista, OSX and Linux 64. Card just stops working but still shows up. link light etc. Tried with different switchs and same behaviour in all os's. Then sometimes resolves his self.

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N/A
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/10/2009 8:16:32 AM

Rating + 5 Check Support before RMA!


Pros: Great features for price. Supports tools for BIOS updates and settings from Windows. Good online support.

Cons: None so far.

Other Thoughts: Be sure to check CPU compatibility! I was experiencing problems like those described by people saying the board was DOA, then I discovered my existing CPU was not supported. With a new CPU everything has worked perfectly so far. Gigabyte's online support was very good.
You can view the board compatibility list here:
http://www.gigabyte.us/Support/Motherboard/CPUSupport_Model.aspx?ProductID=2844

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N/A
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/10/2009 2:23:12 AM

Rating + 4 Works right out of the box


Pros: Pretty much plug and play. If you know how to plug something in, this motherboard should work for you

Cons: Non

Other Thoughts: Didn't touch anything in the bio; plugged everything in and booted up without any problem.
Intel Q6600
Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3L
Nvidia GeForce 8600gt
4Gb OCZ DDR2 800MHz

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Sheph
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
3/9/2009 5:03:30 PM

Rating + 1 Bad deal


Pros: It's cheap, and allows overclocking.

Cons: I've actually got the EP35 implementation of this board, but judging by the comments not much has changed in the new edition. I was having problems with it not rebooting properly. It would hang, and I'd have to power it off, and then back on to get it to come up. I flashed the BIOS hoping it would resolve the issue. I used the QBIOS utility, and it said it was successful, but when I rebooted it wouldn't come back up. no video, no post, no beep. Done. RMA = no workstation for 2 weeks.

Other Thoughts: Buyers remorse is in full effect. For what it's worth, I bought two, and my wife's works fine. If I had it to do over again I think I might have gone with Asus, or Intel.

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HMiller
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/7/2009 8:36:05 AM

Rating + 5 Nice Board


Pros: Sturdy, reliable, excellent board layout. Color coding on most connectors is a nice refinement. This is my first Gigabyte board in several years, and after putting this one into a system I plan to buy Gigabyte for my next board.

I would call this board extremely stable, with no bios tweaking required to work perfectly with the components I was using. I bought this because I was unhappy with an Intel board (DG45ID) I had purchased and I vastly prefer the Gigabyte.

Cons: Minimal cables and accessories in the box. AHCI BIOS POST Screen is kind of ugly and takes a few seconds to get past POST, but not a big deal.

Other Thoughts: For the price, one of the best boards I have used. I assemble approximately a dozen PCs a year, and work in IT so regularly deal with problem components. The gigabyte show no sigh of being one of those, it just works great.

I bought this because of positive recommendations on the web, and they are not wrong!

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Erik harris
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/5/2009 4:04:15 PM

Rating + 1 You get what you pay for


Pros: Very inexpensive P45 motherboard, has all the essential features, seems very well constructed. BIOS setup is more straightforward than a lot of motherboards, and has lots of tweaking features for one so inexpensive.

Cons: Extremely finicky on RAM. Out of three different brands of RAM, only one works (others are specifically on Gigabyte's compatibility list). Frequently reboots itself upon startup with two different power supplies, indicating that it has some internal power problems. I've RMA'ed this motherboard, and the new one has the same problems as the one I sent back to Gigabyte, so these problems are unique to this model, not to this specific motherboard.

Other Thoughts: Between the ridiculously unstable hardware and some compatibility problems I'm having with its onboard audio and MythTV (Linux DVR software), I've basically given up on this motherboard. I'm not sure what to do with it, though, because it's such a poor motherboard that I wouldn't feel right selling it to someone else!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Andrew
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
3/4/2009 4:06:35 PM

Rating + 5 Excellent


Pros: Price. Lots of room for expansion in the form of many SATA ports, USB ports, and PCI/PCI Express ports. Flexible overclocker. Has just enough features - not too many, not too few. Updating the BIOS was a very simple and quick process.

Cons: Was a bit finicky to work with out of the box; namely, it required a BIOS update for it to recognize and allow proper usage of my video card (an NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX+), which took me about 15-20 minutes to figure out. Aside from this, there are no other cons - keep in mind that this initial problem of mine may not affect everyone.

Other Thoughts: I purchased this motherboard over six months ago (I did not purchase it from this website, however) and, apart from the single anomaly described in the "Cons" section, it has not caused me a single problem. As I said before, it has just enough features, making it the perfect beginner's motherboard, or even just the perfect motherboard for someone who doesn't need all of the features offered by much more expensive motherboards. All in all, highly recommended.

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
3/3/2009 5:56:03 PM

Rating + 5


Pros: Great board at this price-point. Good driver support from Gigabyte. Easy interface and instructions helped me do my first build and overclock.

Cons: Heatsinks on the board are a little cramped. I had to flip the sink just under the cpu in order to get my cooler installed

Other Thoughts: great buy. I'll definitely be sticking my gigabyte for my next board

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Rugged
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/27/2009 9:08:07 AM

Rating + 5 Gigabyte


Pros: Nice and speedy simple motherboard for a basic machine.
Will give you a nice mild overclock. Many SATA & USB ports.

Cons: Nothing! I have had absolutely NO problems with this motherboard at all.

Other Thoughts: This is a great motherboard for a simple machine for basic computer use. It is not a gamer or a huge overclocker. It is obvious that some people below do not know what they are doing. It is a good idea to KNOW what you are buying before you buy it.

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Retireman
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
2/24/2009 5:40:41 PM

Rating + 1 Failed after 6 months


Pros: Good price and features. Easy setup, however bios had to be updated before video card would work. Ran great and stable for 6 months. Was used at default speeds for processor and memory - no overclocking.

Cons: Memory slot #3 failed after only six months. Computer would not POST with memory module in slot #3. Computer would boot if only slot #1 or slot #2 & 4 were used, but was not stable in games. Gigabyte tech support suggested sending for RMA. Gigabyte RMA facility did nothing - sent same board back. Gigabyte sent no emails or paperwork with MB indicating what they did or why they sent the same board back.

Other Thoughts: I have had many other Gigabyte boards in the past and was surprised that this one was not as reliable.

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N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/23/2009 3:30:45 PM

Rating + 1


Pros: looks like a great motherboard if you just get it to work.
most the people who got it to work seem to be satisfied, and its a cheap one too

Cons: got it twice, both times it was dead on arrival. so I gave up and ordered GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P instead. only 30 dollars more and a lot better. def worth it!

Other Thoughts: I dont recommend this motherboard because a lot of people have trouble getting it to work, and I got it dead on arrival twice, as posted above. If you get it to work then nice for you, otherwise I recommend GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P instead. Cheap upgrade and far better. Much more stable and it's awesome for its price class

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Holle
Tech Level: high
Ownership: less than 1 day
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/23/2009 9:56:05 AM

Rating + 1 DOA


Pros: It looked nice?!? Hard to say anything good, board was DOA.

Cons: Board was DOA. I've always stayed away from Gigabyte cause I've heard many bad things about them. Guess I should've stayed with a brand I trust.

Other Thoughts: Newegg's RMA process could be a little bit faster. And UPS didn't help. I paid for 3 day ground and it took 6 days to get out to Newegg. I got my refund but all in all, the process had taken over 2 weeks.

On the other hand, newegg's ordering process was excellent on the initial order. Ordered Monday morning, it shipped 3 day ground from NJ warehouse, I had it on Tuesday afternoon.

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Zac
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/22/2009 4:13:54 PM

Rating + 1 Aggravated


Pros: Came Quickly
Look Cool
Nice Design

Cons: It Keept on restarting wouln't post couldn't get any os on it :(

Other Thoughts: Was angry that i got it and it didn't worked hopefully when the replacement comes back it will work Fingers Crossed.

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: less than 1 day
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/18/2009 5:22:46 PM

Rating + 5


Pros: This motherboard is one of the best with dual bios backup and other great features

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: HOT!

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dox
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/18/2009 1:27:14 PM

Rating + 4 On board audio


Pros: Great board that has everything I need but the cool energy saving program I really liked doesn't work on my new install of Vista 64.

Cons: Who still uses PS2 ports?

Other Thoughts: If you are using the onboard audio MAKE SURE you use the drivers from the realtek sight and not the ones on Gigabyte's site.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Kickapzz
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/16/2009 2:43:11 PM

Rating + 5


Pros: Great mobo as a system nuilder I have used 10 of these and not a single falure Great OC board also.

Cons: Not enough SATA cables only comes with 2 I need 4 for all the builds I do 2 for disk drives and 2 for HDD

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hardball
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/15/2009 7:24:24 AM

Rating + 3


Pros: Works OK now that latest BIOS was updated. Newegg's fast shipping always a plus.

Cons: Still have not received my rebate. Contacted the rebate center numerous times with excuse blaming Gigabyte for the non payment. Rebates should be outlawed! WILL NOT ever buy anything with Gigabyte name on it again.

Other Thoughts: If you purchase a Gigabyte product w/rebate, don't expect to receive the rebate.

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Chewie
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/14/2009 7:28:58 PM

Rating + 3 Not bad for the price


Pros: Sturdy, BIOS is userfriendly

Cons: The software that came with the Mobo is quirky at best, and some applications just plain old didn't work with Vista 64 bit. The onboard sound is sub-par.

Other Thoughts: I used this mobo for my first build. If I knew then what I know now I prob would have bought a different mobo. For the price it is great. I bought it for the onboard digital sound, which I have not used yet, but the 3.5mm jacks are managed by a pretty poor tool provided by Gigabyte. I'm sure I will work out the kinks in the coming weeks. Just make sure this board offers all the thing you are looking for now and into the future.

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MrVining
Tech Level: high
Ownership: less than 1 day
2/12/2009 1:40:36 PM

Rating + 3 Single network port


Pros: GIGABYTE makes some great products.

Cons: ONLY ONE NETWORK PORT. This is listed as having dual network ports. I contacted newegg about the listing, and the response was "we get our information from the manufacture please contact them at http://www.gigabyte-usa.com/."

Other Thoughts: Eggs taken off because of the false data regarding multi networking ports.

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Min
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/12/2009 7:28:32 AM

Rating + 4 good


Pros: good cooler

Cons: small

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/10/2009 8:38:27 AM

Rating + 5


Pros: Solid, basic motherboard for overstocking. Optical and coaxial audio out are rare features at this price point.

Cons: 8(!) USB ports on the back panel but no Firewire ports for some reason.

Other Thoughts: Vdroop is about average and voltage regulation is good. The Bios is easy to use and the options are great for overclocking. I had no trouble getting a 54% 24/7 overclock from my E5200 (2.5 to 3.83ghz)while running DDR1066 ram async from FSB speeds.

Nice layout, everything is where it should be though certain coolers may not work well with the board such as an Artic Cooler 7 if you try to face the fan towards the back of the case exhaust.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Sullys lookalike
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/9/2009 1:23:11 PM

Rating + 2 Needed a new bios to run properly.


Pros: It was recommended by someone that did not have a problem with his.

Cons: I kept doing unrequested restarts. Sometimes after coming out of the sleep mode it indicated that it had experienced an unrequested shutdown. Sometimes the screen would go black and a fan would kick into a high speed, the temperatures were well within the limits. or the screen would be all gray and black vertical pinstripes. All drivers on the computer are up to date. The Gigabyte online support was of limited help. Visontek support suggested that I check for an updated bios. I looked on the Gigabyte site and one of the descriptions of a newer version of the bios seemed like it might help my problem so I loaded the newest bios and have not had a problem since. It came with version F5 and I replaced it with F10. The Q-flash utility to install new bios versions is easy to ues.

Other Thoughts: It seems to work will now but I will buy another brand next time.

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rcybergeek
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/9/2009 7:23:00 AM

Rating + 1 Too Problematic


Pros: None - system would not work.

Cons: Seems to have memory problems, even with good memory.

Other Thoughts: 1st board arrived with broken pin on N-bridge cooler. Used a spare pin to attach. System had several problems during disk imaging and XP reinstall (blue screen, IRQL error). Issues seem to be memory related, so I tested the new memory in another system and they were fine. RMA'd the board figuring damage to N-bridge based on the loose cooler.
2nd board arrived and had same blue screen during XP reinstall. Tried to tweak voltage, buss speed, memory freq and timing. Nothing fixed the issue. Tested memory with that system and showed errors. Test the same memory in a different system and passed more than 15 tests over several hours. Also tested new video card and hard drive. Every thing tests fine in my other system. I am sending 2nd board back for refund.
Bottom line - this board has memory issues. Online searches find many with similar problems. Good luck if you purchase this board...it's a roll of the dice apparently.

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bunky
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/7/2009 7:14:24 PM

Rating + 1 Boo.


Pros: Arrived quickly.

Cons: This board remained somewhat stable for about a full day. During that day it crashed during games until it completely died. It now gets stuck in a loop powering up, almost getting to the post beep but never reaching it. I would recommend against buying this board. Hopefully the UD3L will raise my opinion of Gigabyte.

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Eddie
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
2/7/2009 3:58:52 PM

Rating + 5 Very Pleased - Great Value MB


Pros: I've seen comments about dead boards and/or stability issues, but this MB exceeded my expectations.
I've not had a single issue with H/W, S/W or BIOS. I used Q-FLASH to flash revision F10 before doing a clean install of XP SP2 - 32bit. I had no issues with OCZ memory on auto settings except voltage, which I manually set to 1.92v.

Running rock solid at 422FSB, but have also operated at 444FSB with no issues (E8500 @4.2Ghz).

Quick MB Specs:
CPU =1.25v @4.2Ghz (all settings set to NORMAL)
NB [Core] =1.2v [MANUAL]
NB [Ref] =0.76v [AUTO]
SB [ICH] =1.55v [AUTO]
CPU temp = 38 - 47
System temp = 45 - 55

I was concerned about the smaller MB footprint, but the size turned out to be an advantage. I now have more space to run cables, and airflow improved.

The price is unbeatable for the level of performance.
I'm a gamer, but don't believe in spending mega bucks to get top of the line stuff. Technology changes too quickly.

As always, Newegg rocks!

Cons: 1 Firewire header would have been nice.

Be careful with CPU voltage. I found that the BIOS AUTO setting was way too high at 1.35v. The NORMAL setting worked great, even with a mild OC (1.25v @4.2Ghz)

Other Thoughts: System Specs:
Windows XP (32bit) SP3 Home Edition
Gigabyte 3D Aurora Case
Seasonic S12-600 (600W) PS
E8500 (running 422FSB x 9.5 @1.25v)
Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
4GB (2GB x 2) OCZ2P10664GK running at 1013Mhz
WD1500 Raptor (SATA)
WD1600JS (SATA)
Samsung SH-S223F DVD-Burner (SATA)
EVGA 8800GTS 320MB
X-Fi Platinum Soundcard
Gateway FHD2400 24" LCD

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

eddy
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/4/2009 3:21:23 AM

Rating + 5 Nice product IF yours is stable


Pros: A lot of BIOS options

Cons: First board I received was unstable, my computer would freeze when playing games and sometimes on the desktop. First I tried changing the OS, then swapping the ram, and then the video card. Finally I RMA'd the board and now the system runs perfectly.

Other Thoughts: These boards being unstable seems to be a pretty common problem.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Thedog
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/3/2009 9:30:24 PM

Rating + 5 Nice board


Pros: Was easy to assemble, no issues with compatabilty, on-board sound and network were not an issue, running smooth.

Cons: Issues with getting the on-board sound hooked up to my case front audio connectors. Still not working.

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/2/2009 3:28:30 PM

Rating + 1 Useless Customer Service


Pros: decent slot support
tons of usb

Cons: ram slots too close together
no firewire (if that's your thing)

the biggest con is there tech support. Absolutely useless. I build high end rigs for OC, gaming and rendering, client insisted on this board. Dead within 32 days so newegg could not help. Gigabyte customer service was completely useless and tied down in bureaucracy.
NO TWO WAY SHIPPING LABEL
NO ADVANCED RMA

if you like being treated like a worthless customer or are feeling lucky by all meens buy this board
but GOOD luck if it ever fails

Other Thoughts: do not even bother with customer support it works better as a frisby

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

moblin
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/2/2009 9:35:47 AM

Rating + 5 Great mobo for the money


Pros: Solid, stable operation. Great design & features.

Cons: If the USB front panel headers could be a little closer to the middle...

Other Thoughts: Gigabyte motherboards continue to impress me. On par with some of the higher end manufacturers.

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Aneurysm
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/31/2009 5:48:20 PM

Rating + 1 Buy at your own risk!


Pros: None.

Cons: Bought this motherboard 10/08. Crashed constantly in 3D games and apps; after RMA'ing the video card and RAM I narrowed down the mobo as the culprit. Tried 3 different versions before I found one that ran stable. At this point it's Christmas; ran stable for ONE WEEK and then would not POST. Reseated all cards and cables, turned power on, and the motherboard literally caught on fire. In 20 years of integrating systems I've never seen anything like it; transistor literally in flames. Contacted Gigabyte RMA and they offered to "repair" it.

Do not buy this board.

Other Thoughts: Ended up purchasing an EVGA board that has been solid as a rock out of the box.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Sarge
Tech Level: high
Ownership: less than 1 day
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/27/2009 5:37:48 PM

Rating + 1 Second DOA


Pros: None that I can tell because I didn't get to use it.

Cons: Board number 2 arrived DOA, same revision of the board (1.0), same problem: constant power cycles every 3 or 4 seconds. All items used in the build are currently in THIS running system, so it is definitely the board. Google reveals this is a common fault with this and other similar Gigabyte boards. I am sure they make decent products, I just ended up getting burned.

Other Thoughts: I have always bought ASUS before and never had a problem. I should have bought ASUS this time. I was not at all impressed with the quality of the Gigabyte board, but if it had actually worked, that would have been fine. I am very disappointed with this entire experience. The 4 gigs of RAM I bought with the board are now useless because they are not eligible for a refund. Craig's List, here we go...

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

In For One
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/26/2009 12:28:09 PM

Rating + 2 1 Good board, 1 bad board


Pros: - Good cost/feature balance
- Comes with recent FW - F9
- Stable at stock CPU/Mem settings

Cons: - First board had IDE HD/DVD drive instability led to frequent crashes; fixed by RMA to get second board.

Other Thoughts: - Newegg is a good reseller and helpful in RMA processing. RMA response was fast but shipping from/to east coast took a long time.
- Low score to reflect receiving bad first board. Perhaps expecting higher quality control from Gigabyte.
- Fits well in Antec 300 case with large CPU cooler Zerotherm ZF120 even with fan pointing toward the top fan mounting scheme.

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T.O.S
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/24/2009 8:37:48 PM

Rating + 5 Sweet MB you MUST GET IT!!


Pros: Ok, first i must say that this MB does not support Pentium Processors so New Egg really need to edit that part in the specifications. Continuing, it only supports Intel core 2 duo and Up it says so on the out skirts of the box. Concluding, its really sweet, dual bios support, MB automatically updates the bios without you even noticing and much more!!

Cons: it does not carry an integrated video port, just in case you may want to trouble shoot if you run into any probs.

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Erduk
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/23/2009 6:24:44 PM

Rating + 3 Good enough


Pros: Motherboard works great

Cons: The onboard audio drivers don't actually output any kind of digital channels. It only gives you options for headphones, 2 channel, 4 channel, 6 channel... No true 5.1 or such. I tried an optical and coaxial spdif direct connected to my reciever and no luck.

Other Thoughts: If you're going to buy this, make sure you have a sound card handy if you want digital audio.

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socalkevin
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/20/2009 9:24:39 PM

Rating + 5 Flawless!


Pros: First Gigabyte M/b for me...I'm usually all "asus"..Must say this board is great..everything fired right up ...Drivers installed flawlessly...running new system for 48 hours now and all is well..Thx New Egg for the lightning fast delivery. :)

Cons: No firewire but..since i don't own any firewire devices..no biggie.

Other Thoughts: lots of sata hookups ..even one on the front of case (nice)...seems to be a well thought out board and very nice for overclocking..

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Faloku
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/19/2009 8:34:51 PM

Rating + 1 More unstable than the Middle East


Pros: Eight USB ports is pretty good. It also has six SATA ports.

Cons: This motherboard restarted itself three or four times on every other boot. The attempt to install Windows was too much for it, and it crashed every time. The attempt to boot an EXISTING Windows would cause it to either cut power to the USB ports, or crash.
Also, it has no FireWire support, you can't even connect a front panel FireWire port.

Other Thoughts: I do NOT recommend this motherboard.

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N/A
Tech Level: average
Ownership: less than 1 day
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/18/2009 2:01:30 PM

Rating + 1 Read the reviews before you buy this one. Then go order ans Asus board instead.


Pros: Solid capacitors. Nice if the board works for you. Mine didnt so I wouldnt know if theyre any good or not.

Cons: Dead out of the box with weird pulsing type when powered up. Asus started up without issues like this one had.

Other Thoughts: Like the title says. read the reviews. Then go get an Asus board.
I expected alot from this board because of the features it has. But I am very disappointed. Wish I could give it zero eggs because thats what it deserves.

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Grymm
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/18/2009 1:13:00 PM

Rating + 4 great mobo!


Pros: Gigabyte makes a hell of a good board. Excellent quality, support, and overclocking utilities.

Cons: its not the UD model.... this is ALMOST the same board as the UD3L, but not as "durable".. this matters mostly to overclockers.

Be sure to update the BIOS, as there have been MANY updates since mine was boxed.

Other Thoughts: Get the UD3L instead if the price is similar and its available... almost the same board but a little better. Also the UD3L hasnt had all the BIOS updates this has.

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Robocop5626
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/18/2009 9:59:10 AM

Rating + 4 Throwing in towel


Pros: Previous Gigabyte boards performed well.

Cons: After a hard reset MB would not reboot with 4 sticks of memory. Removed two sticks then it would reboot in single channel. Was unable to burn anything usingmy Plextor 760. It saw the drive but it never finished. Flashed the BIOS with no improvement. Reinstalled Vista 64 and added 4 new sticks of memory. It still refused to boot. I am unhappy with the MB performance. I installed Win XP Pro and the problems persisted.

Other Thoughts: Guess I'll spend a little more and try another ASUS board.

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Alexander B.
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/17/2009 4:36:40 PM

Rating + 5 Nice


Pros: Great motherboard. It has better wire management than my other Biostar board, and it actually works. Plus, the board is pretty durable.

Cons: The board bent a lot though when I put my Q6600 on it. Not really a con, it still performs wonderfully.

Other Thoughts: I wonder when I should get a new motherboard for a new CPU.

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videoismylife
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/15/2009 7:41:42 PM

Rating + 4 Basic MB


Pros: - Cheap
- Fast
- good OC potential, with fine, detailed controls in BIOS.
- up to 16 GB RAM, 1600 FSB.

Cons: - No RAID at all. Too bad, it would have made it a decent all-round basic system board for the price if it were present.
- Only one PCI-Express 16X slot - so no SLI or Crossfire.
- Only two vanilla PCI slots - They get used up quick.

Other Thoughts: Very decent, fast, reliable basic board for a business workstation or something like that. Not for gamers, or for people who want to protect data with RAID 1.

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/g/eek
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/13/2009 6:40:50 PM

Rating + 5 Outstanding Board


Pros: This board offers everything I could ask for. It offers a PCI-E slot supporting today's graphics and a sturdy, durable design that will last for years to come.

Great price.

Cons: None. I couldn't ask for anything more at this price range.

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Sargek
Tech Level: high
Ownership: less than 1 day
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/13/2009 6:01:09 PM

Rating + 1 Gigabites


Pros: None

Cons: DOA. Power cycles on and off every 3 or 4 seconds. I find out now by Googling, this is a common problem with these boards. Would have been nice to know that before I bought it.

Other Thoughts: RMA'd board - hope the new one works.

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
1/13/2009 9:16:25 AM

Rating + 4


Pros: Not a "Pros" but giving everyone a heads up. If installing XP you have to install SP2 or higher!!! XP alone will NOT INSTALL! You will get a pci.sys BSOD. Find an XP disc w/ SP2 or 3 or slipstream your own installer.

Good price, seems stable to me.

Cons: One mounting hole didn't line up w/ the brass standoff on my Antec 300 case. Drilled my case so the mobo could be supported on the outside edge.

Other Thoughts: You have to install a newer version of XP with SP2 or higher. SP2 has the pci.sys device driver needed to get past the hardware configuration portion of the install.

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Anonymous
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/12/2009 9:26:28 PM

Rating + 3 It's ok


Pros: Have the ability to use a lot of different types of equipment.

Cons: Not sure if it's the board or my memory, but I can't overclock this for anything. Bios seems to lack ability to customize an overclock, and the install disc that came with it wouldnt work for jack. Onboard sound is junk... Having major feedback issues with my microphone and the GUI for the Realtek sound is poorly put together...

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HarveyBar
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/12/2009 6:47:10 AM

Rating + 4 Works Well


Pros: Uses the P45 Chipset, does what I need it to, didn't come broken.

Cons: Only one IDE input, No firewire (I never used firewire much anyway), Can take only 1 graphics card.

Other Thoughts: I don't know a whole lot about motherboards in general so I really can't compare one from the other and this is the first computer I have built in 6 years so I wasn't sure what to expect.

If you are trying to put together a ultimate gaming machine this wont be your board. If you want a pretty good machine on a budget then I don't see any reason why this wont be your board.

It has a good price (at expense for some options (firewire)), it isn't an ungodly huge board and it isnt tiny either a pretty normal size that would fit in most cases I would think.

Works with my Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz LGA 775 and my Corsair Ram. Worked first time I fired it up.

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hey
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/10/2009 11:09:17 PM

Rating + 4 Great stuff


Pros: Well it was just about plug and play for me. A wealth of options in the bios. No frills just the features I need. Does everything it is supposed to do well. Some energy saving features (though I don't know how well they work). Cheap.

Cons: Pretty large Vdroop 1.1375 becomes 1.050. I still use IDE dvd burners and the plug is poorly placed, but I ought to get some sata burners. ***MOST IMPORTANT*** It will have a tough time getting those super high fsb speeds. I can only get about 450 without going crazy on voltage. Lack of fsb headroom makes many of the other tweaking controls extraneous. Some of the settings if abused can physically damage board/cpu. Maybe too many options for beginners.

Other Thoughts: q9550 at 3.4 at all stock voltages took 1 minute to do. P95 about 12 hours intel burn test 15 passes will do more stability testing. I wish these things came with screws.

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Guinness
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/10/2009 3:15:53 AM

Rating + 5 Great Motherboard


Pros: Good design, good feature set, low price. Enough options for anyone but extreme overclockers. Being rated for 1600MHz FSB and 1200MHz DRAM is awesome. Running my E8500 at 3.8GHz and DDR2-800 RAM and 960MHz isn't even running this board past spec. Is still stable as a rock with room for more.

Cons: Initially it detected the wrong multiplier for my CPU. Picked up 8.5x when it was supposed to be 9.5x. Not a big deal though, only took a second to fix.

Also, this board doesn't support more than one video card. Personally I don't care, but it's something to be aware of.

Other Thoughts: Fantastic board and unbelievably low price. Highly recommended for the value-conscious builder.

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Macindude
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
1/9/2009 6:41:16 PM

Rating + 5 Great motherboard.


Pros: I bought the motherboard OPEN BOX, and it works perfect (I haven't tried anything faster than DDR2 800 though)... I chose the board because of it's reported compatibilty with an UNSUPORTED OS (X-ceptional MAChine :P ) It runs wonderfully using the Vanilla Kernel. In comparison, Vista runs SO slow, but I have to keep it around for gaming (I can't wait to see if Windows 7 is better).

Cons: No firewire :(

Excessive text on boot (I'd prefer *NO* text, just a bios splash screen)

Other Thoughts: My configuration:
GA-EP45-D3SL
Core 2 Quad Q6600 (stock)
4GB Corsair DDR2-800 (2x 2GB)
ASUS 9600GT Silent 512mb
750GB Seagate SATA Hard Drive
LG SATA 22x DVD Burner (+ LightScribe)
80GB Seagate ATA-100 Hard Drive
Thermaltake 500 watt Powersupply

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Santiago
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/9/2009 9:50:19 AM

Rating + 5 Solid, Durable Budget P45 Board


Pros: P45 features on a budget. Gigabyte doesn't skimp on the quality components either. Plenty of PCI-Express x1 slots for newer hardware and two PCI slots is more then enough today. Robust BIOS for overclocking and the Energy Saver software is decent.

Cons: A little confusing on updating the BIOS unless you know how to dig around for @BIOS or have a floppy drive. I still have an IDE optical drive from ages ago. It works just fine but the IDE plug on the board is rather low. It should be where the floppy connector is. I'm surprised they still include the floppy connector.

Other Thoughts: I like having PCI-Express 2.0, better overclocking over my G31, and you can use custom RAM timings.

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dfgjk
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/6/2009 11:30:52 PM

Rating + 1 do not buy this


Pros: it came unharmed?

Cons: this is the worse mobo I have ever bought. It is not worth the trouble trying to get it to work right. Even after lastest bios it has problems with most memory. Forgett 1066 memory because it will not be stable. Don't waste your time.

It doesn't even have ONBOARD VIDEO..

Other Thoughts: The GIGABYTE GA-EP35C-DS3R LGA 775 is an excellent board that I have used for many builds. I tried this one because of the newer chipset but was nothing but headaches. Reboots and blue screens are the norm.

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Max
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/6/2009 7:06:30 AM

Rating + 4 OK


Pros: Cheap

Cons: Didn't have enough screws -_-; wth, no onboard video, felt very fragil, other than that its a solid board for the price.

Other Thoughts: Yes there is still ppl that use onboard chipset.

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MrEMan
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/5/2009 4:22:55 PM

Rating + 4 Hackintoshism


Pros: I bought this board specifically because it is supposed to work great with Mac OSX (OSX86). I would have gone with the P35 but it's no longer being sold.

I haven't tried it w/ OS X yet but Linux works fine (but see cons). I'm using a Quad 6600 overclocked to 3ghz. Geekbench score is around 4700ish but I can probably get it up to 5000 if I optimize.

The board is much smaller than my DFI LanParty board, and it looks nice, if you care about that.

Cons: One weird problem is that my Blitzz wifi card (PCI, Atheros chipset) didn't work in Linux with this board. It worked perfectly in my previous (DFI) board, but it hangs with every single driver I've tried. I'm pretty sure it's NOT a Linux problem, but I can't confirm if the card works or not in Windows. I'm now using a Linksys USB wifi card, which is working great.

Some more cons: Only 2 PCI slots, only 1 IDE slot, which will probably be taken up by your burner.

Other Thoughts: I'm bummed because I missed the $15 rebate by a few days.

If you're reading every review and can't decide between what motherboard to get for your LGA775 processor, just buy this board. Definitely worth the $85 if the board meets your requirements.

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pantograph
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/5/2009 1:54:02 PM

Rating + 2 Shaky Board


Pros: Many USB ports in rear, solid looking construction

Cons: Picky with memory, too many unnecessary settings, auto settings overclock too much

Other Thoughts: Built a computer with this motherboard and was not impressed. I had problems getting it to work with 1066MHz Corsair Dominator RAM. First, the board wouldn't POST because the RAM is 2.1V and I had to manually change this setting. The only way I could get in to do this was to use another stick of RAM from another computer. Once the voltage was changed, the computer booted up.

Soon after, I began to get many BSODs and random restarts. Figured it to be a memory problem. I ended up having to reduce the RAM speed to 800Mhz to get it to be stable. I would not recommend this board unless you enjoy playing with hundreds of settings in the BIOS for hours and hours until you find one that *might* work.

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N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/4/2009 2:52:19 PM

Rating + 5 The board of mine


Pros: Solid, easy to set up board. superb choice for the price.

Cons: wooops forgot firewire.

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herothezero
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
1/1/2009 2:20:54 PM

Rating + 5 Awesome, inexpensive board


Pros: Easy setup without issues under Vista 64, lots of ports, excellent layout, clean BIOS interface. Gigabyte is pushing out some great enthusiast boards.

Cons: It's not free? The northbridge/southbridge heatsinks don't seem to be very tightly mounted, not that it matters much in a P45 system.

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N/A
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/30/2008 9:17:47 AM

Rating + 5 Good motherboard


Pros: Easy to work with, overclock, install. Everything is labeled, and the instuction booklet is great.

Cons: The front panel installation is kinda annoying, the labels are small on the board, so it is hard to read.

Other Thoughts: Great board for the price.

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/28/2008 5:43:19 PM

Rating + 4


Pros: Good price, nice set of features.

Cons: Memory slots placed too close together. Virtually any kind of heat sink will have the sticks almost touching.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/28/2008 12:08:47 PM

Rating + 4 perfect board for hackintosh and Overclocking


Pros: works perfectly with hacintosh
overclocking is easy with q6600
good price

Cons: if HD is plugged into USB, it reboots - and reboots. A strange bug

Other Thoughts: I love Gigabyte MB's.
I got this board specifically because of its compatibility for a hackintosh build. I have not been disappointed - it works great. I've had no problem with overclocking and everything is as stable as can be.
The only strange issue is if a USB Hard drive is plugged in on boot up, the system will not boot - it simply endlessly reboots. Plus - everything will default down to the lowest clock settings for safety sake. you have to go back into the bios-setup, then exit to get back your OC settings. It's a minor problem, just kinda strange.

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IOC
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/27/2008 9:23:30 PM

Rating + 5 Solid, stable board. Well worth it.


Pros: Quality construction on the board itself, and a good layout for everything. Enough room for my Xigmatek S1283 to clear everything on the board. Very nice overclocker - I cranked my Q8200 to 3.1GHz without even touching the core voltage. I suspect there's more in there, too, but I went with DDR800 and as a result I'm pretty sure it's RAM limited. Shipped on 12/11/08 with F9 BIOS, updated to F10 BIOS easily after installing Vista x64.

Cons: None yet.

Other Thoughts: I should've splurged a bit for some faster RAM, oh well :)

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Frustrated
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/27/2008 8:39:11 AM

Rating + 4 Soft on Software


Pros: Hardware wise I am very impressed and pleased, so far, with this product.

Cons: Hardware wise it only lacks a firewire port.

Software wise, many of the programs contained on the disc that came with the motherboard would not install. I kept getting "missing dll file," etc. When I did all of my Windows XP 32 updates I was able to install some of them. The "@Bios" utility looked interesting but it would not download the correct bios from the internet as it was suppose to (!!!--fortunately it gave me an error message). I had to manually download the file and then use the utility to install that downloaded file. Bios setting must revert to reset after flashing--a pain in the rear as you must customise the bios again every time you update it.

Other Thoughts: I am still trying to find and download the utility that displays the motherboard temp, fan speeds, etc. in Windows.

Who writes Gigabytes software?

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JD Huskey
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/26/2008 11:28:14 AM

Rating + 4 ep45


Pros: Does everything I need for a low price with great functionality.

Cons: Picky with memory, had to use one stick and try different slots to get it to post, then changed memory timings to something more appropriate then it worked fine. By default it set the timings more aggressive which didn't fly well with the memory I got.

Other Thoughts: Check for the proper settings for your ram and have it on hand before you put the system together.

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N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/22/2008 8:17:57 AM

Rating + 5


Pros: I have to admit after reading a lot of these reviews i thought i was going to be in for a challenge... But the it booted up perfectly, no BSOD, it seems to be giving everything the right amount of power. I thought i would need to flash the BIOS 4 sure but, seems to run just fine outta the box.

Cons: maybe a 1394 on MBO? N/ bridge sits a lil close to the heatsync when it's all said and done....

Other Thoughts: Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16gb
OCZ 4gb (2x2gb) DDR2 1066
GeForce 8500GT 1gb
Gigabyte GA EP45-DS3L

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allanmejia
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/20/2008 12:09:24 PM

Rating + 5 Excelent Board, Flawless installation!


Pros: This was one of the best boards i have ever bought!!!, came with F9 Bios (updated to F10 after installing windows with no problems) it auto detected and configured my Intel Quad Q9300 2.5GHz CPU at 1333FSB and RAM with the correct timings, plenty of overclocking options (Overclocked at 3.0GHz at 1600FSB, ultra stable, no crashes) plenty of USB ports (8 on the back), 6 SATA, 1 PATA for legacy HDD CD/DVD-ROM-RW

Cons: No FireWire port. However, I have yet to have the need to use FireWire ever, USB 2.0 is pretty standard on everything.

When OverClocking a CPU you obviously should consider a good Cooler, which they tend to be BIG, this board provides limited space to accommodate that need, i recommend the "ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler", it sits just above the P45 chipset Heat Sink, and barely enough space next to the Memory Banks, that got me scared a little, but they did fit without a problem.

PATA port is all the way at the bottom right side of the board, so you will require a long IDE cable to reach you optical drives or hard drives.

Other Thoughts: Overall this was a great buy, will definitely recommend this board!!!.

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Unclebuck
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/20/2008 11:20:03 AM

Rating + 5


Pros: Works as advertised and booted right up.  No problems at all.

Cons: None.

Other Thoughts: Great shipping Newegg!  Stock intel CPU cooler will hit P45 chipset if not orentiated correctly.

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Evilbull
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/18/2008 12:11:38 PM

Rating + 4 Not Bad


Pros: Price, 8 usb ports, 16 gb ram

Cons: keeping reboot at startup when I mixed the ram in different sizes, 2x2gb(mushkin 4GB) with 2x1gb (CORSAIR XMS2 2GB). turn back to normal when I keep only 2x2gb.

Other Thoughts: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P45
XFX GX260NADBF GeForce GTX 260
mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
RAIDMAX HYBRID 2 RX-730SS 730W

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Rangita
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/17/2008 8:37:22 PM

Rating + 5 A great motherboard


Pros: Has all the features the average person would need all in a very stable and well built package.

Cons: The sticker they put on the RAM slot tore as I removed it (which I did carefully with foreceps) -- I had to delicately scrape a bit of adhesive off the socket. It's utterly stupid to put adhesive stickers covering a vital part of a complex circuit board, especially given the static discharge that could occur trying to delicately remove it.

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Sam
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/17/2008 1:39:00 PM

Rating + 5 No problems nice


Pros: Loaded the hardware and the chip and it booted right up. PATA and SATA all listed correctly. 4 gb of ram. Rebooted itself after running five minutes post window install. have had no hitches since. Heavy use on in house network.

Cons: except for the odd reboot mentioned above, none.

Other Thoughts: I had problems with Gigbyte several years ago with faulty capacitors and they were no help, but decided that I would give them a try again. So far I'm delighted.
Running E8600 dual core with 4gb of OCZ extreem, 650w ps 250 wd ide, 1tb SATA, anad sata HDDVDRW

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John Midnight
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/12/2008 10:41:00 AM

Rating + 5 Not bad, Despite one Review I read.


Pros: Its worked right out of the box, no problems except one problem. Other than that, all is good. System is performing top notch.

Cons: The disc with the drivers on it. Do NOT tell you that it will automatically reboot your computer when complete with one driver. A notice would of been nice. Freaked me out their.

Other Thoughts: Regardless of that con, that is a very minor issue, as everything works as expected. This Motherboard was a key peice in my upgrade kit. The one I wanted I had plenty of valid reasons to get, but it was out of stock, so I went for this P45, instead of Gigabytes P35. Good choice I will admit.

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N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/11/2008 1:44:06 PM

Rating + 5 Good, reliable motherboard


Pros: Good price, respectable brand, PCI-E 2.0, up to 16GB of memory, P45 chipset

Cons: I get different readings on the memory speed. The two 2GB sticks I have are 1066MHz sticks, but read as 800MHz in some applications. The BIOS reads them as 1066MHz. Mind you, the motherboard defaults to 1.8V on the sticks even though they are rated for 2.2V. Performance with the rest of the system is good though, so not tinkering with it now.

Other Thoughts: I have not had the chance to use any of the "special features" on the motherboard yet, like the qFlash, @BIOS or XpressRecovery. However, the board has been running great for 3 months now. Have not had any issues with it.

System specs: this mobo, Intel Core 2 Duo E8500, 4GB (2x2GB) OCZ RAM, ATI 4870, DVD-RW, 250GB SATA HD, Windows Vista Business x64.

System usage: CS:S, BF2, CoD4, Q3A, and general day-to-day use

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Eighth-1der
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/10/2008 8:46:03 PM

Rating + 4 Performance Value


Pros: First I should say that I am a Mac user; so, this was a Hackintosh build.

OOTB this was an easy set and go. BIOS tweaker is simple and intuitive. Anything that's not is well documented in the manual.
PATA for legacy devices.
More SATA than you could ever need
CPU area of board is clear for plenty of cooling options and airflow.
I haven't needed to use the Dual BIOS, but it sounds reassuring.
USB keyboard and mouse are plug and play, and still has PS2

Cons: PATA connection is at the far end of the board. The only PATA I still wanted to support was optical drives. And don't we all usually put opticals at the top of the case?
CPU slot is centered between several standoffs. Installing the "click-in" heat sink was a little nerve racking as the mobo bent. I suggest installing CPU and heat sink before installing mobo in case.

NO MOUNTING HARDWARE INCLUDED. I was stripping a old board out of an old mid tower. Before the newegg box arrived my Dyson vacuum ate the old mounting hardware and I had to spend almost $3 for new standoffs and screws.

Other Thoughts: GA-EP45-DS3L
Intel Q9300 (2.5/1333 stock, 3.0/1600 stable)
ASUS EAH3450/DI/256M Radeon HD 3450
OCZ Platinum 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 1066
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W Power Supply
left over case
MacOSX 10.5.2 installed with Kalyway

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Danger
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/9/2008 1:01:27 PM

Rating + 5 Everything done right.


Pros: Perfect for overclocking.

Has all the essentials.

Plenty of USB ports and any other port you could need.

Standard and simple BIOS.

Cons: Nothing so far.

Other Thoughts: Perfect for most gamers.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

terry_l
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/9/2008 7:05:33 AM

Rating + 5 flawless


Pros: Every experience I've had with this board has been positive. I placed the Q6600 CPU on this and both applications and games load very fast. Installing OS was easy, no glitches, no need to load any firmware. Everything I connected to the board was recognized instantly.

Cons: None...as in zero. My opinion is, if you're having problems, it's either a 1 in 1,000 bad board that slipped by Gigabyte quality assurance, or your overclocking scheme isn't right (if you're doing that).

Other Thoughts: I game online and don't believe in overclocking when you already have a reasonably fast setup, especially considering all the other variables in gaming over that net, but that's just me. Thanks Gigabyte for an excellent board!

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N/A
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/9/2008 5:45:04 AM

Rating + 4


Pros: This board is fast and has plenty of SATA ports. It can handle 45nm CPUs, FAST ram and should be a nice board for a lot longer than most that come from the Bulk producers.

Cons: Make sure you update your BIOS asap or you may have some odd shut downs when booting into Vista or XP. Also, make sure your timings and speeds are correct on your ram in BIOS.

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DirtyD
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/7/2008 5:32:47 PM

Rating + 5 Nice board


Pros: Very nice. No probs recognising everything. Nice. Bios is good for OC'ing. 4.0Ghz in minutes from an e86000.

Cons: Form factor is small - 6 mounting points not 9. Couldnt fit my Zalman in place without obstructing the heat pipes on the OCZ RAM. Flipped the mounting hardware on the cooler and it worked. No probs for anyone not using a HUGE cooler and crazy looking RAM.

Other Thoughts: I really like this MB. Newegg Rocks.

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/5/2008 11:53:14 AM

Rating + 1 Headache


Pros: Nice Layout

Cons: like other reviews getting memory to work is a real chore. You can manually setup memory timings and still crash.

Other Thoughts: Gigabyte is a big name manufacturer, boards in the past I haven't had any problems. The problem may lie in the Intel chipset!

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Jim
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
12/4/2008 1:32:35 PM

Rating + 5 Excellent Motherboard


Pros: Very easy to setup and use. Board is very stable.

Cons: None I have found

Other Thoughts: I have been using Gigabyte motherboards for over 10 years and have never had a failure or issue. The EP-45-DS3L is just another example of another great product from Gigabyte. It has been my experience that while there are always defective products in whatever one buys, the trouble people report about this motherboard being unstable and flaky are usually attributable to user inexperience and error. The EP-45-DS3L is Stable and Fast. I am using the Intel Q9450 with 4GB Corsair XMS DDR2 Ram. I DO NOT OVERCLOCK my equipment and have good results always. Is it possible OVERCLOCKING is a real bad idea? Hmmmmmmmm .........

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isaac004
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/3/2008 2:02:47 PM

Rating + 5 Tons of slots, great deal


Pros: Supports 45nm, plenty of PCI and PCIe slots, lots of SATA plugs too.

Cons: Could have 1394 pins at the very least, but I wouldn't hold this against it.

Other Thoughts: Tons of options for the money, which was $105 minus a $15 rebate ($90 total) when I bought it. I like how it has plenty of PCI and PCIe slots for many add on options. Tons of USB ports. Could use firewire, but can't complain for the cost and features. Got it to POST first try, had no issues with the mobo. Well I did have to tweak a few BIOS settings, because when I powered down with XP Pro 32, it would turn back on 3 seconds after everything shut down. I just turned off all the remote wake options and it fixed it.

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shock
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/25/2008 8:55:10 AM

Rating + 3 Hard to work with


Pros: This board has forced me to learn so much about overclocking, voltages, timings and bios. Pretty solid parts for such a cheap price, good layout, over-clockable, dual bios for flashing safety. Energy saver (nonsense - saves like 5 dollars at the end of the year) and 100% solid japanese capacitors, which is pretty nice. 16x PCIe 2 for non-crossfire for superior single VGA card performance.
It works... eventually... most of the time...

Cons: THE MOST finicky board you will find on the market right now. The auto settings SUCK. You'll have to manually set almost every setting, because auto always messes up. 2x2 gig ram for my system freezes up unless I lower MCH voltage from 1.10 to .95V, manually set all timings for memory (because auto doesn't know what it's doing) and under-clock for stability with such low voltages. Also the Bios doesn't always manage to recover from bad flashes (from what I've seen on other people's systems).

Other Thoughts: If you wanna put your stuff together and have a system up and running in 2 hrs, THIS IS NOT YOUR MOTHERBOARD. If you wanna cry for a month, not knowing what's wrong and learn a bunch of stuff you didn't before, then go ahead. Personally I would not buy this board again and I can't wait to build a new system and get an ASUS board or something. But then again I guess you get what you pay for.

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Lobster
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/24/2008 9:55:56 AM

Rating + 5 Full featured at a great price


Pros: - Great price.
- Tons of USB ports.
- PCI-E 16 2.0 slot.
- Lots of features for the price.

Cons: - Somewhat limited expansion space.
- One PCI slot is blocked.
- Can be finicky.
- No Firewire.
- No CrossFire.
- Bundled software/drivers are buggy.
- @BIOS can BRICK your board!

Other Thoughts: Gives you a little of everything. There's a PCI-E 16 2.0 slot for newer graphics cards, but it can't support CrossFire. There are two PCI slots for your old devices but one of them is more or less blocked by the front-end USB sockets. It's surprisingly compatible and capable for its price, but serious gamers looking for a board with long legs will probably want to look elsewhere.

The software bundled with it was glitchy (but what else is new?) and actually crashed during driver installation (the program crashed, not the system). It did recover gracefully. Be warned, do NOT use the @BIOS flashing software! I've heard of this destroying boards. Instead, use VFlash through the CMOS/BIOS setup.

People kept telling me this board is finicky and requires a lot of tweaking to get running well. Mine worked on factory default settings just fine. I guess I'm lucky. Still, you'll want another computer on hand while you build your system as you will probably have questions.

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Steadybright
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/19/2008 7:37:53 PM

Rating + 5 Very Happy


Pros: 1. No hassle install; no conflicts or problems; works great.
2. Really like that the FPAUDIO header can be configured as either HD or AC97.

Cons: 1. Automatic or manual control of CPU fan (good). The board has three additional fan connectors (4 total), but you'll need other means to control their speed, if needed (bad).
2. Gigabyte's download center is non-functional. Not a big deal I suppose; you can get all updates manually.

Other Thoughts: No RAID, which I don't need, so not an issue.

System: Intel Q6600 CPU, G.SKILL 2 x 1GB DDR2 1066 (PC 8500) SDRAM, PNY 8800GT 512MB video, Windows XP home SP3, 1 SATA2 HDD, 1 SATA DVD Drive

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Selsaral
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/13/2008 5:30:15 AM

Rating + 4 I like it


Pros: The board is well made. It has a ton of rear USB ports. The retention clip on the PCI Express slot is superior to many other designs. The online bios update function worked great for me and was very easy. The motherboard has been very stable once I figured out a few details.

Cons: I must be very, very old because I accustomed to motherboards knowing what voltage the RAM wants to be run at. Several recent motherboards, including this one, have not done that for me. I had to manually set my RAM to 2.2 volts to get it running with stability (it thought that 1.8 was the correct setting).

The driver install CD does not work well and I am scared everytime I have to use it. It takes over your computer through several reboots and if something goes wrong, you're in trouble. I had much more success with it when I had installed windows XP SP3 before trying to install the motherboard drivers.

Other Thoughts: Not many high-end features like RAID or Firewire, but since I don't need that stuff I don't mind. Let's see how many years this thing lasts.

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Samuel
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/13/2008 3:34:11 AM

Rating + 5 Gigabyte is the best motherboard ever!


Pros: It is the best. It got everything you need, 8 USBS in the back! Dual Bios! VRM 11.1! 6 Sata! It is the best! You won't regret with this board. It supports quad core and good for overclocking.. OVERCLOCKING!

Cons: None!

Other Thoughts: It is the best motherboard, period.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/12/2008 12:36:23 PM

Rating + 5


Pros: Gigabyte boards RULE. I was a long time user of ASUS, but I've made the switch. My last four boards have been Gigabyte and I've had ZERO problems. They run like a champ. All the features, performance you want and no problems. Highly recommended.

Cons: None.

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nomas
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/11/2008 1:42:04 PM

Rating + 5 good even if you don't overclock!


Pros: very good price, especially after rebate and i like gigabyte. Good OC capability. Energy saver utility

Cons: sometimes i get a little buzzing through the speakers if they're at min volume. Could be my $5 junk speakers but I never heard it before. Very intermittent and only if speakers are at min volume.

Other Thoughts: Was going to buy gigabyte's P35 mobo based on recent Toms Hardware article but it was sold out. Then i found this board for only a couple of dollars more after rebate and it comes with P45 chipset

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dijit4L
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/11/2008 7:46:04 AM

Rating + 5 I'm really happy with it!


Pros: Great board! Everything is placed nicely on this board. Easy to update the BIOS.

Cons: This is my first non-AMD motherboard I bought. I am not a fan of having the pins on the motherboard and the way the heat sync mounts either... If you've never installed a CPU/Heatsync in this manner before, you'll be in for a surprise. Many people favor it this way, I am not one of them, but everything works, nonetheless! It took me 3 tries to get the Heatsync on properly and evenly.

For some reason, the BIOS underclocked my E7300. This might have been because of the outdated BIOS (which was several revisions out of date, BUT from the dates of each revision on the website, it has been updated several times in the past 6 months). So, I updated my BIOS and cleared the CMOS and it still underclocked my E7300. It's no big deal, however, to get it running at its intended speed. ACHI takes forever (like 5-7 secs) to initialize before POST, so I disabled it. If I ever get an external drive with eSATA, I will have to re-enable it.

Other Thoughts: I tried to enable ACHI then boot Vista and I get a BSOD. To fix this problem follow the instructions here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976

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dstavros
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/9/2008 8:02:39 PM

Rating + 5 excellent mb


Pros: very nice motherboard. very stable. makes it very easy to overclock. first board ive had that keeps the usual bios settings saved while you fool around with the oc'ing. glad i purchased the p45 over the p35.

Cons: the AHCI controller takes several seconds to initialize after the bios posts. annoying to wait for in my opinion but not enough to lose an egg

Other Thoughts: using this bios makes me think that even a novice could overclock without seriously messing something up.

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Toleraen
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/7/2008 11:09:33 AM

Rating + 5 Great board


Pros: Plenty of options, runs perfectly. Easy to flash the bios.

Cons: Came with a bent pin in the CPU socket. BIOS is several revisions behind, wouldn't boot until it was updated.

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graylens
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/7/2008 9:11:12 AM

Rating + 5 Fast...stable...inexpensive


Pros: Worked out of the box with no problems with my Q6600. Has 6 SATA onboard just like its DSR3 big brothers. Solid caps, low temps. I even had a BIOS flash go bad from a floppy and the "Dual BIOS" recovered without a problem.

Cons: AHCI drivers were not on Gigabyte's website with this particular model, had to go to the "Extreme" product to find them. They were probably on the Driver CD, though.

Other Thoughts: Sounds great over the optical out on my receiver.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: less than 1 day
11/7/2008 3:08:56 AM

Rating + 4 Pretty good board


Pros: Like every other Gigabyte board I've bought, it booted right up on the first try without any hassle or need to update the BIOS (Mine came with F8.)

With 4 GB of DDR2-1066 and an E8400, this thing screams. Installing Windows XP x64 took less than 15 minutes and grinds through updates like nothing else.

Cons: The BIOS in this board is far more configurable than the P35 boards before it which can be both a good and bad thing. You can easily get lost trying to get your RAM settings right if you haven't had prior experience with Gigabyte boards and due to the extremely poor English in both the manual and tool tips in the BIOS, half the time you have no idea what some of the more exotic options do.

The driver CD and instructions were confusing due to the fact that the CD is generically made for a wide range of boards making it a pain to get the right drivers onto a floppy for Windows installs.

Other Thoughts: This thing is going to need some breaking in time for testing the overall stability of the system. I've had a few freezes which I think were caused by not having the Intel INF drivers installed, but otherwise everything is grand.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/6/2008 6:42:24 AM

Rating + 4 Good Motherboard.... for your mom.


Pros: bought this motherboard over the more expensive feature packed 780i. this motherboard booted right up without a fail. it shipped with an outdated bios. That was easy to fix though. pretty solid. lots of usbs. small in size.

Cons: mysteriously died on me. might have been the overclock. if you plan to overclock do not buy this board. the memory controller is not nearly as strong as some nvidia chipsets.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

WombRipper
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/5/2008 6:16:12 PM

Rating + 1 Bad board..very disappointed


Pros: None

Cons: This was a brand new system and based on the board reviews, I picked this one, huge mistake.
1. Board never seemed 100 percent stable.
2. At about 3-4 weeks, blue screen reboots and application must terminate errors.
3. Suspected ram and ran mem test and it turns out that mem slots 1 and 3 were bad.
4. Installed mem in slots 2 and 4 and system seemed stable.
5. RMA'd the board with Gigabyte and will have to wait 2-3 weeks for return.

Other Thoughts: Unfortunately the board died after the 30 day return period with Newegg.

Will probably buy an Asus and use this board in a back-up in the old box.

2 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

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