HardwareLogic: Reviews - Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R Motherboard

Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R Motherboard

Author: Paul Lilly

Editor: Aron Schatz

Posted: September 7, 2008

Views: 2139

Gigabyte has come up in the world, emerging as a top-tier contender rather an also-ran. Today HardwareLogic looks at one of the company's newest mid-range offerings, the GA-EP45-DS3R.

Tags Motherboards

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Gigabyte didn't always have the reputation it enjoys now, and it's not uncommon to see the company's motherboards being used in overclocking records and other high-end endeavors. Equally impressive to its growth in the enthusiast sector is Gigabyte's commitment to power savings. Nearly every new slice of silicon from Gigabyte's headquarters comes decked out with energy saving technologies, an area of increasing concern among consumers looking to both take the edge off the power bill and remain environmentally conscious.

Today we look at one of Gigabyte's newest mid-range boards, the GA-EP45-DS3R motherboard. Like many before it, the EP45 touts Gigabyte's Ultra Durable 2 nomenclature, a set of technologies the company claims "can deliver dramatically lower temperature and longer system lifespan." Combined with several power saving features, Gigabyte has built up quite the spec sheet. Can the EP45 also deliver the performance?

PRODUCT	Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R Rev. 1.0
CPU SUPPORT	Socket Supports 45nm Intel Core 2 series multi-core processors. See full list here 1600/1333/1066/800MHz FSB support
CHIPSET	Northbridge: Intel P45 Express Chipset Southbridge: Intel ICH10R
MEMORY	4 x 1.8V DDR2 DIMM slots
EXPANSION SLOTS	1 x PCI Express x16 1 x PCI Express x8 3 x PCI Express x1 2 x Standard PCI Slots
STORAGE	Southbridge 6 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors supporting up to 6 SATA 3Gb/s devices Support for SATA RAID 0/1/5/10 JMicron 368 Chip 1 x IDE connector supporting ATA 133/100/66/33 and up to 2 IDE devices iTE IT8718 Chip 1 x floppy disk drive connector supporting up to 1 floppy disk connector
AUDIO	Realtek ALC889 Codec High Definition Audio 2/4/5.1/7.1-channel Support for Dolby, S/PDIF In/Out, and CD-In
LAN	2 x Realtek 811C chips (10/100/1000 Mbit) Support for teaming
REAR I/O PANEL	1 x PS/2 Keyboard 1 x PS2/ Mouse 1 x coacial S/PDIF Out connector 1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector 8 x USB 2.0/1/1 ports 2 x IEEE 1394a ports 2 x RJ-45 ports 6 x audio jacks
INTERNAL I/O HEADERS	1 x ATA 133/100/66/33 1 x FDD 1 x IEEE 1349a header 2 x USB 2.0/1.1 headers 1 x serial port header
SYSTEM BIOS	Award BIOS Dual BIOS
FORM FACTOR	Standard ATX
WARRANTY	Gigabyte Service and Support
CURRENT PRICING	Price

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Bundle

We're not overly picky when it comes to motherboard bundles, but we do expect more than the bare minimum. We've seen budget boards try to get away with tossing in a single SATA cable and very little other amenities, and while we understand the projected price point, skimping on a bundle never sits right with us.

Gigabyte's bundle represents a mid-range effort in line with a mid-range board. Included are four SATA cables, rear I/O plate, installation CD, a detailed motherboard manual, floppy and IDE cables, power cable, an external eSATA connector, and a pair of case stickers/badges.