|
|
Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P Review
[Abstract]
Opening a New Front The intense competition between the top tier motherboard vendors means that you're likely to find manufacturers touting new features with every chipset refresh or introducti...
[Content] PCDigitalMobileGame
Conclusion
Of the features that Gigabyte has added to its motherboards in the past, having more copper content in the PCB will probably not spark a wave of similar moves by other vendors. The benefits of having the extra copper are hard to quantify, though Gigabyte naturally considers the Ultra Durable 3 series of motherboards to be more premium than its usual mainstream offerings. Lest you're worried that this means a more expensive board, you may be glad to know that at around US$137, the UD3P is still safe in mainstream territory compared to what one may expect to pay for Gigabyte's high-end motherboards. To compare, the Gigabyte EP45-DS3R is selling for around US$127.
Our overall experience with this board was smooth and trouble-free. For someone venturing into DIY for the first time, we recommend this polished board. |
So the question is, does the extra copper bring any value to this motherboard? The performance that we saw from the Gigabyte EP45-UD3P was ordinary if competitive. At its best, it was on par with the competing DFI board in our benchmarks. The few occasions that it slipped behind, it was probably no doubt due to the slightly slower memory timings used on our standard DDR2-1066 memory modules. Even considering this, this Gigabyte board appears to be no extraordinary speed demon.
If there was one aspect that seemed to be better than usual, it was that our overclocking experience showed that the maximum FSB achieved on the Gigabyte to be on par and slightly better than the high-end boards we had tested previously. These high-end boards had superior cooling options so the fact that this UD3P board could be on the same level could either be luck or the design of the board. It was definitely cool enough during our temperature testing despite a very small heatsink for the Southbridge.
Finally, our overall experience with the board, from the fuss-free installation and BIOS update, to the testing and overclocking, has been generally positive. There were no problems encountered and the board worked flawlessly. This alone is worth the extra cost of the Gigabyte EP45-UD3P compared to other brands who may be more powerful but at the expense of user friendliness. However, since these are characteristics of Gigabyte's current generation of motherboards, one may even opt for the DS3R model mentioned earlier if the extra perks are not attractive enough.
|
|
|
