The Gigabyte GA-X48T-DQ6 - Redefining the High End?
by Rajinder Gill on January 2, 2008 3:15 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Test Setup
| Gigabyte GA-X48T-
DQ6 Standard/Overclocking/Benchmark Testbed |
|
| Processor | Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme
QX6800 (Quad-core 2.93GHz 1066FSB 2x4MB Shared Cache) Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme QX9650 (Quad-core 3GHz 1333FSB 2x6MB Shared Cache) |
| CPU Voltage | 1.200V ~ 1.450V |
| Cooling | Water cooling: Swiftech Apogee GTX PA120.3 Rad 3 X Laing DDC Ultra Petra Top pumps in series 3x Panaflo 120mm Fans 7-10V |
| Power Supply | OCZ 1000W |
| Memory | OCZ DDR3 PC3-14400 (DDR-1800) Platinum
Edition 2x1GB XP, 4x1GB Vista 64-bit |
| Memory Settings | 5-5-5-12 1N (266 and 333FSB) 6-6-6-18 1N (400 FSB) 8-8-8-20 1N (450FSB) |
| Video Cards | MSI 8800 Ultra |
| Video Drivers | NVIDIA 169.09 (XP), 169.25 (Vista 64) |
| Hard Drive | Western Digital 7200RPM 250GB SATA 3/Gbps 16MB Buffer |
| Optical Drives | Plextor PX-B900A, Toshiba SD-H802A |
| Case | Lian Li -75 |
| BIOS | F3D |
| Operating System | Windows XP 32-bit SP2 |
| . | |
We decided to use our base QX6800 CPU with our standard tests run on the 9x multiplier to simulate the attractively priced Q6600 CPU and to compare against some of our previous benchmarking results. The QX9650 was used to cross-compare performance at relevant overclocks using our compact benchmark test suite. In this section of testing, we aim to remain within realistic cooling capacity temperatures and current CPU stepping capabilities. This better shows an overall picture of motherboard performance potential using widely available parts.
With such a vast array of overclocking BIOS functions at our disposal, we decided to stick with a single operating system environment for the overclocking tests. We selected Microsoft Windows XP SP2 due to its maturity, taking away some of the time burden looking for possible software level conflicts that may exist on a newer OS (though we ventured to run a compact Vista test suite for the non-overclocking benchmarks). The Vista tests were all run at board defaults, using an FSB multiplier combination of 9x333 and 4GB of memory with both processors.
We ran 1280x1024 resolution game benchmark tests in order to cross-compare CPU MHz related gains in our board specific tests. We utilize new drive images on each board in order to minimize any potential driver conflicts. Our 3DMark results utilize the standard benchmark resolution for each program. We run each benchmark five times, throw out the two low and high scores, and report the remaining score to reflect a repeatable average.
Since the Gigabyte GA-X48T-DQ6 is for the overclocker and gamer as opposed to typical internet browsing activities, we decided to take a different look at this board and focus on overclocking for this particular article. Please note the memory timings used at various overclocks are in the above table.
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hicookie - Thursday, January 3, 2008 - link
great oc ability and performance,air570fsb with e8400
http://pic.xfastest.com/hicookie/cpu/e8400/570.png">http://pic.xfastest.com/hicookie/cpu/e8400/570.png
and great in 3Ds
http://pic.xfastest.com/hicookie/HD3870/LN2/98223....">http://pic.xfastest.com/hicookie/HD3870/LN2/98223....
Rob94hawk - Friday, January 4, 2008 - link
Giver me a screenie of it being Orthos stable for 8 hours and I might actually be impressed.Gary Key - Thursday, January 3, 2008 - link
HiCookie,We could have posted similar results with the N2 BIOS, the only problem being that this BIOS will never see the light of day and is designed for one thing and one thing only, high FSB rates at the expense of everything else. Hell, we could have posted the same screenshots that Gigabyte engineering sent us, but what fun is that.
While it is nice to see those results, it is not exactly fair to post such results without notifying a potential buyer as to how and why they were obtained. Retail E8400s and the latest public release BIOS for this board resulted in max "stable" FSB rates around 520, sure we could do suicide shots and run SPi1M at 550, but try playing Crysis or encoding a movie at those settings. ;)
Googer - Thursday, January 3, 2008 - link
I am a Vintage IBM Keyboard fanatic and won't buy a motherboard that does not have PS2 ports, I know there are USB adapters out there but they don't really work as well as a real integrated controller. Gigabyte is my Hero!I am not alone. There are many, many more just like me.
takumsawsherman - Thursday, January 3, 2008 - link
Two ports for FW400? No ports for FW 800? I can hear the defense swarming now. No one uses FW800, etc., etc. Fewer people use it, true. Perhaps that is due to the fact that Motherboard manufacturers are refusing to provide it, requiring you to buy an add-on board if you don't buy a Mac.eye smite - Thursday, January 3, 2008 - link
From 2k2 to 2k4 I had 3 different gigabyte boards literally fail. Cmos would not clear them, they just physically failed. So my experiences with this manufacturer have left me with some disappointing experience, and I won't buy their products again. I'm sure other people have had better experiences, but for me 3 different boards that were 3 different models failing is enough for me to blackflag them on my money expenditures. I hope they've improved in reliability for it lasting more than a year, but from the looks of this review, they're struggling with it just functioning correctly with all of the included features. Personal opinion, asus, abit, even shuttle would be a better spend in the long run.kilkennycat - Thursday, January 3, 2008 - link
Historically, not exactly the most stellar enthusiast-motherboard vendor in terms of quality or consistent support...my personal opinion of course.Foxy1 - Wednesday, January 2, 2008 - link
I’m highly disappointed in AnandTech and its blatant disregard of its loyal readers. There is no excuse for the 9-day “holiday” break in which no articles/reviews were posted.I can already hear the writers whine in unison: “Are we not entitled to vacation time to enjoy the holidays?” To which I respond: Is everyday not a vacation for the slothful slackers that write for this site?
Rob94hawk - Friday, January 4, 2008 - link
Do you pay for these reviews or are they free? That's right you little twerp, you pay nothing so STFU NOOB!goinginstyle - Friday, January 4, 2008 - link
Foxy1,Why don't you go back to playing your Nintendo 64 and let mommy tuck you in tonight. Every single post you have around here is negative and constantly attacks the editors or readers. If you have that big of a problem, go to another site or start your own. I would love to comment on your first article. Anyway, if they want to take a vacation, so be it, everyone needs one at least once a year.