GIGABYTE GA-EP45T-USB3P LGA 775 Intel P45 USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: Does clock memory well. I really cant stress it does clock memory well (otherwise Id be really upset about the x8 slot operation. The gigabyte utilities are useful. Its not NVIDIA. Higher USB power seems nice. Stable. No driver problems. The end of the 775 socket ...

Cons: Must disable 3.0 USB to get x16 (see cryptic notes in the manual in the BIOS settings section), though even then both slots ARE x8 as reported by GPU-Z. Must select IDE to get Win7 installed on Intel SATA. Older USB hids lock up the board at RAM test phase (that was fun to figure out.) Bridge heatsinks prohibit adding a fan on top to cool, almost require downflow CPU fan.

Overall Review: Use task scheduler to bypass UAC on the power saver feature. I really wish newegg would update the listing to remove the USB 3.0/and or list both PCI 2.0 slots as x8 until they (hopefully) correct the initial release BIOS. Its really false information and something of a scam. When I get time (which means a few months have passed by) this is the end for me on 775. There really are not any high end boards. Wish I would have looked into other posts regarding the x16 operation more, but I trusted Gigabyte who has been great in the past, sigh ...

Pros: Wow. Where to start?! The board looks very well designed, at least on the surface. My large cpu cooler fit no problem, and my gtx 260 fit snug with space to spare next to the SATA ports. -Includes 6 sata cables!!! SIX!!! 2 of them are black, other 4 are yellow. -Heatsinks seem pretty well designed, chipsets are staying 35C and 27C idle (in a 19.5C room). They have a 120mm fan pulling air over them. -USB 3.0 ports can be set to Gen1 or Gen2 speeds -Color-coded & labeled I/O panel! -PCI express slots are 1 lower than usual, which means one extra slot above them. -4 onboard fan headers, including cpu. 2 are PWM. -Pretty blue PCB and matching heatsink covers -BIOS is very full featured.

Cons: (My wattages' are measures with a Kill-A-Watt -Takes 5W when turned off (but psu is on). My PSU takes <1W when it is turned off. Previous board took 2W. -S/PDIF header for the gpu (there are 2) is directly underneath the card (if you have a dual slot card). my S/PDIF cable managed to just make the height requirement. -BIOS is a bit chintzy, and even had occasional lag while changing memory settings. (waiting for update? It is brand new, give it a year.) -Memory slots are a bit close together, my heatsinked ram is touching one another. -Had lots of issues setting up memory first time through. Absolutely make sure you set the DRAM performance to "Standard"! Turbo just got me a ton of BSOD's, and it is a default setting! Also worth noting, the board got my rams' 7-7-7 timing right but messed up the 20 (it assumed 16), and it also ran it at the wrong voltage (1.5V instead of 1.65). -Memory voltage goes by evens, not odds. I can't set my memory voltage to exactly 1.65V, has to be 1.66

Overall Review: -LOOOVE not having fans on the heatsink! My last board (680i LT) had a twin set of whiny jet engines (that didn't do Jack Schmidt!) This board is staying much cooler, and it looks much cooler -Do not like the USB 3.0 advertisement in the main BIOS boot screen. You'll see what I mean... It's not for everyone. -I was not able to get my USB keyboard to work during the post-bluescreen boot menu for windows 7. The board (razer) just flashed whenever I pressed a key. Donno if that is the keyboards' fault or the mobo, but it worked fine in all cases on my 680i LT. : / Always keep a spare PS/2 keyboard around for any computer. Overall an amazingly fantastic board.

Pros: Easy to install, worked out of the box.

Cons: For some reason if you do a hard reboot on your computer you will get a DES is not turned on error. This has somethign to do with the software included with the mobo that needs to be installed. If you hard reboot then you have to clear your CMOS to be able to get back into your system. Press F1 on the default settings to get back into your computer.

Overall Review: Everything is fine just hate the annoying DES is not turned on error.

Pros: Tons of Sata ports that I most likely will never get the chance to use, DDR3 support is pretty great. And it pretty much supports all LGA775 socket processors which is a plus considering it's getting zoned out by the "i" series sockets. Setup: Intel Pentium 6300 @ 3.5Ghz GIGABYTE GA-EP45T-USB3P (duh) Evga 9800GT Patriot Gaming Series 2x2 DDR3 1333 (at 1066) And a Cooler Master 212+

Cons: None as of right now, But GPUz reports the PCIex16 is running at 8.20, I could of possibly done something wrong but who knows.

Overall Review: Besides the PCIe X16 running at 8.20, the motherboard is pretty great and I'd recommend it.

Pros: Great Mobo, easy to overclock, DDR3 memory for 775 CPUs, looks great and very durable. Fits my ATI 5870 card w/o blocking any SATA ports

Cons: The Bios stock settings are bad, make sure to turn "Turbo" setting to "Standard" or you'll get bsod, USB 3.0 cuts the PCI-E x16 to X8. Hopefully there will be a Bios update that fixes this since the board is relatively new.

Overall Review: Kingston HyperX KHX1600C9AD3K2/4G 1600 works well with this motherboard and matches it's metallic blue color. Currently using this memory with an old Q6600 OC'ed to 3GHz w/ a 1333 FSB

Pros: This board looked good enough to put into my own machine. I was not ready to jump to an i7 (yet) and this board was a perfect choice for me. I've been running it 24/7 for about 5 months now. I have not had one bit of an issue. I have been using Gigabyte 2Gb x 4 DDR3 (F3-12800CL8D-4GBTD) and the intel Q9550 CPU & ATI 5770 Video.

Cons: No Cons - it's a good board I have not had a chance to test the USB 3.0 that comes with this board, perhaps someone has.

Overall Review: I have some horrible CORSAIR XMS3 DHX 4GB DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 that would not run stable in any machine (I tried several different brands) The memory had a flaw that it incorrectly defaults to 1.5v when in reality it runs at 1.7v. I put the memory into this board, switched it to 1.7v and cannot get it to crash. I trust this board enough to buy more. (money talks)

Pros: Best points: - USB 3.0 - LGA 775 for those that are waiting to jump on the i7 bandwagon - several USB ports, 2 firewire, 2 "plugin" external e-sata - position for internal cables were PERFECT - my old mobo had a weird positioning for SATA/IDE... they seriously improved this on this mobo.

Cons: The only thing that I didn't like is that this motherboard won't let my PC start if my Bluetooth USB stick is inserted; it has an incompatibility upon restart... I need to remove it, start the computer, then plug it back in. Weird, huh?

Overall Review: Easy install, excellent BIOS, if you want it, go for it, I'm very satisfied.

Pros: Would buy again 100%, came with more than enough screws and fasteners, etc. Looks sexy, not gonna lie, I got excited opening the box, never mind actually using it

Cons: Fan screw holes made for the foolish Intel clip thing (give me a break), so you may have to run out to a hardware store and pick up a few screws

Overall Review: Works great, easy tune is awesome. Next board I buy will be gigabyte again 100%