Gigabyte EP45-DS3P (P45) DDR2 Motherboard
 

Based on the P45 Chipset, the EP45-DS3P is an entry level motherboard missing some of the deluxe features that are available on its bigger brothers but be under no illusion that, despite the price and lack of those added extras, that this is a budget motherboard because it's plainly not. All the most commonly used features are still there - Dual LAN ports, Raid 0, 1, 5, 10, on-board 7.1 channel audio, Firewire as well as CrossfireX support, albeit in 8x8 configuration. So as you can see this board has more than enough for even the more demanding consumer. Being a P45 chipset based board, it should be no slouch either as all the other P45 boards we have tested thus far have been very fast and not one has been a disappointment.

I must say at this point that I have never been a big fan of Gigabyte motherboards due to some bad experiences with AMD based chipsets and therefore, perhaps without any valid foundation, have normally given them a wide berth despite the fantastic reputation they have. It has also become fashionable among the elitist geeks to cast a shadow over Gigabyte, again with little foundation - I have been guilty of this myself in the past. As a reviewer though, I have to stay objective and cannot give any prior judgement to a motherboard and I am, as always, happy to be converted should the product warrant it. Fingers crossed, Gigabyte can take pleasure in proving my previous judgemental attitude to be both incorrect and unfounded.


http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews.p..._motherboard/1