Gigabyte X48-DQ6 (Intel X48)
Performance
It turned out that while determining the starting FSB speed, the board overstated it by as much as 2 MHz.
In our test setup, we used the following hardware:
First, let's look at the results of synthetic tests (the other boards are based on the following chipsets: ASUS P5E3-Premium (Intel P35, with the integrated DDR3 memory), and abit IX38-QuadGT based on Intel X38 (DDR2)).
Note that we have radically changed the kit of test applications. In so doing, we aimed at those programs which are either optimized for multi-threading or support the DX10. We also note that the kit of applications is not yet final, and some changes may occur. The thing is that most of the motherboards on the same chipset show a similar performance level. Therefore, the speed test is only aimed to answer the only question: haven't the engineers made any serious mistakes in the BIOS? That happens very rarely, but in the forthcoming BIOS versions the bugs are fixed and the operating speed rises to the average level. We also remind you that you can address your suggestions as to the expansion/modification of the kit of test aplications to starter@3dnews.ru.
Since Gigabyte X48-DQ6 is based on the engineering BIOS version (with the FSB overstated by 2 MHz), and we still haven't got any other boards based on X48 yet, but we decided to shift the focus and compare the performance of systems made up on X48 + DDR2-1066, P35 + DDR3-1333, and X38-DDR2-800.
Now on to the gaming benchmarks.
Tests of application software.
Video encoding (DivX, Xvid) was measured in seconds, i.e. the less, the better.
Data compression (WinRAR) was measured in MB/sec, i.e. the more, the better.
Final words
As we already stated, we would make the final conclusions regarding the Intel X48 chipset only after the official announcement of this product. As regards Gigabyte X48-DQ6, it should be noted that even with the "engineering" BIOS version it is a superb product without any serious shortcomings. Among the board's traits, we should note the powerful and well-made power converter, and the noiseless system for cooling the main components. And the cooling system includes massive radiators on the reverse side of the board. We should also note the configuration of the rear panel which got rid of the outdated ports (supported by the bracket), but on the other hand it contains a great number of USB2.0 and Firewire ports. Of special mention is the bundled software (Gigabyte EasyTune Center) which substantially facilitates the system setup and configuration tasks. However, the utility has a few shortcomings, and on the moment of release of the BIOS final version they must not be there (because 3-5 months is enough to fix whatever and write a new similar program). The overclocking tools have been well implemented. In particular, the board showed a very good result and attained the FSB = 546 MHz. In fact, the board has no shortcomings at all. The only thing what we'd like to note is that the package bundle does not meet the top-end level of the motherboard.
Conclusion
Pros:
- High stability;
- 12-phase power scheme;
- Two PCI Express v2.0 x16 (16+16) slots;
- Support for SerialATA II/RAID (8 links; ICH9R + Gigabyte SATA2);
- Support for one P-ATA link (Gigabyte SATA2);
- Integrated 8-channel audio and two Gigabit Ethernet LAN controllers;
- Support for USB2.0 (12 ports) and IEEE-1394 (Firewire; 3 ports);
- A rich set of Gigabyte's own technologies (DualBIOS, C.I.A2, EasyTune Center, FaceWizard, @BIOS, etc.);
- Passive system for cooling the chipset and the power supply module;
- Functional rear panel.
Cons:
- The board's package bundle does not meet the top-end level.
The board's specific features:
- Good results of overclocking the CPU and the memory.
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