GIGABYTE GA-X48T-DQ6 LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: Everything - Massive processor support, 1600+ FSB, Ferrite Core Chokes and Solid State Caps, Triple Phase Power design, Smart PCI slot placement, Intel XMP memory support, silent pipe cooling, quality workmanship, nice box

Cons: These are minor but I'll mention them anyway- Single IDE connector, crazy cool plate blocks some aftermarket CPU coolers, manual overclocking only via Easy Tune Pro utility, default overclock settings need adjustment (see CPU voltage below), Easy Tune display switches the CPU and system temps

Overall Review: This motherboard rocks. Using an E6750 in the CPU socket and Corsair DDR3 1600 XMP memory the default settings are 400 FSB (1600) with the processor clocked at 3.2 GHz. The BIOS set the voltage to the CPU at 1.57V which I manually lowered. The XMP memory profile worked and shows 7-7-7-20 at 1.8V. The current BIOS does not seem to allow manual change of the FSB but I suspect this will change with future versions. To change the FSB manually you need to use the Easy Tune utility. The Zalman CNPS7000 series CPU coolers will work fine and not interfere with the crazy cool plate attached below the processor (it's removable). I've acquired some of the highest benchmark scores with this board and memory and am extremely glad I purchased it.

Pros: lots of features on the x48 chipset; i have returned it to NewEgg for a replacement; stay tuned to this futile scenario.

Cons: it doesn't work. also, mounting the Q9300 with the stock heatsink to this board was infintely hard; i had to loosen the "coolsink" or whatever it's called that Gigabyte has underneath the motherboard. Then with some help from the Lord God, I was able to attach the cooler, and then tighten the "coolsink"...

tried using it with Q9300 (intel quad core 2.5), but the BIOS would only see it as a 2.00 GHz. intel's tech support said that it was a motherboard problem; that the mb had EIST enabled. however, in the BIOS (even after re-flashing to the latest released BIOS F4) didn't show the EIST. I found a beta BIOS F5 series, which revealed the EIST, however, the problems remained. my subsequent interaction with Gigabyte's tech support was ludicrously inept and horribly lethargic on their side. I cannot find a tech support number, so the inquiries are posted through their internet portal and their responses are unhelpful and lethargic at best (the first response took 3 days).

Overall Review: the latest information from Gigabyte tech support is that 4GB of DDR3 are not supported (i have 4x1GB Crucial DDR3). keep in mind that the board has 4 slots for DDR3 memory and the maximum the board supports is 8GB. so how that works, is unknown to me; but I just spent $350 extra on 2GB of nice DDR3 that will not work with this motherboard.