Gigabyte X48-DQ6

Gigabyte's X48-DQ6 board is only the second board we've seen based on Intel's new X48 Express Northbridge (the first being MSI's X48 Platinum). It supports socket LGA775 processors in 65nm or 45nm flavours, so it'll take Intel's new Penryn chips as well as cheaper models.

The board's extensive feature set starts with four DIMM slots supporting up to 8GB of RAM, with clock speeds of up to 1,600MHz. DDR2 has been chosen over the newer, and still pricey, DDR3, which is a sensible choice for the near future, as our recent tests have shown negligible performance gains with current DDR3 chips.

Expansion is well catered for too, with two PCI-E 16x slots that support ATi's CrossFireX technology, three PCI-E 1x slots and two standard PCI slots.

Storage potential is also impressive, with six RAID-capable SATA connections provided by the ICH9R Southbridge chip plus two more on a dedicated SATA2 chip. A single IDE port brings the theoretical total to ten disks - if you can find a power supply and case to cater for them.

The high specification extends to peripheral features: two gigabit network ports are included, as well as 7.1 audio with S/PDIF inputs and outputs. A generous eight USB ports reside on the backplane, with four more available on two PCI blanking plates. Three FireWire ports, two set into the backplane, are also supported.

While the X48-DQ6 offers top-end connectivity, it also tries to reduce power consumption as much as possible. Gigabyte's Dynamic Energy Saver feature claims to cut mainboard power drain by up to 70% by using more efficient components and throttling down the CPU whenever possible. Power savings are shown on a row of LEDs by the memory slots - useful for those with windowed cases. The rest of us will need to install Gigabyte's own monitoring software, which is included in the box.

By sticking with DDR2 you ensure any system you build will be significantly cheaper. But the average home user will struggle to make use of even half of the ports and slots on offer, and would be quite justified in going with something cheaper, such as our A-Listed MSI P35 Platinum board.

For power-users who demand a high-spec X48 board, however, the choice is between this and MSI's similarly equipped X48 Platinum, and we reckon the Gigabyte just about edges it.

Author: Matthew Sparkes