GIGABYTE GA-X48T-DQ6

Josh Collins takes GIGABYTE and Intel’s new kit for a spin around the block

The GIGABYTE GA-X48T-DQ6 feels like another chapter within a book. Very much reminiscent of the GA-X38T-DQ6 before it, as it was to the GA-P35T-DQ6. This board is the third generation and with subtle changes being made at each evolution, it’s interesting to see what’s on offer this time around.

Layout wise, not too much has changed. The board still features the same expansion slot layout, similar SATA port positioning, socket placement, memory placement and for the sub-zero guys, the socket outline for insulation is exactly the same. For the most part this is a good thing and simply banking on a known-good configuration. There are still, however, areas of concern for the layout when it comes to user friendliness and functionality.

The first such is the placement of the CMOS battery and CMOS clear jumper. These are placed in such a way that would make them difficult to access when utilising large dual slot cooled GPUs and near impossible if using additional expansion cards. Another niggling issue with the layout is the inability to effectively and easily remove the memory with a lengthy GPU, such as an 8800 series, in the primary PCI Express slot. This issue also means that in most cases – dependent on the IC and transistor placement on the back of the card – RAM coolers, such as the Dominator fan from Corsair, cannot be used due to obstruction from the GPU.

While we aren’t too fussed by the colour schemes used on the GIGABYTE motherboards, these boards certainly don’t have any claim to silicon sexiness like some of the similarly priced boards from the likes of ASUS, DFI and Abit. It is a meaningless concept for those simply after functionality and stability but none the less food for thought for those looking to make their ultimate case mod colour coordinated all the way from the silicon to the metal.

As the product name implies, the motherboard is based on the new Intel X48 Express chipset with an X48 northbridge, though still utilising an ICH9R southbridge. Much like the move from P35 to X38, there’s a new northbridge while maintaining the well worn ICH9R southbridge. The X48 chipset doesn’t bring all that much to the table for the average user; which is exactly what many have been expecting. It does however; bring with it an ever so slight increase in overclocking capability. We found this to mainly manifest itself in the form of increased overall frequency and stability within memory overclocking as well as the ability to maintain higher frequencies for a given latency set.

A nagging issue with the GA-X38T-DQ6 was popping MOSFETs when running high volts and sub-zero cooling. Although an issue only experienced by some of the most hardcore it was none the less a big issue for the board’s design. After discussions with top overclockers and internal R&D it appears that this problem has been rectified for the release of the GA-X38T-DQ6. We ran the motherboard under a number of cooling solutions including air, water, single stage, phase change, two stage cascade phase change, dry ice and even liquid nitrogen. Stability was maintained throughout testing, including two day long sessions on LN2 – certainly the hallmarks of a well developed board mixed with solid
sub-zero preparation.

Throughout these sub-zero sessions we ran a number of frequencies, including a maximum overclock of 5.4GHz on an Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 processor – it was fast, to say the least.

Rounding out the experience was the introduction of GIGABYTE’s Dynamic Energy Saver functionality; DES for short. Similar in concept to the Intel processor feature Speed Step, in conjunction with the lowering of the multiplier, DES kicks in to control the power management and functionality of the power supply to the CPU itself. The new feature manages and lowers the power supply to the socket by switching off phases within the circuitry. This, for example, could effectively reduce an eight-phase power circuit to a three-phase circuit while the system is idling and in minimal use of power draw – an interesting green option to save on end power draw from the wall.

To assure this function doesn’t do funky things to your overclocking experience, the DES feature automatically shuts down during overclocking to assure consistent and stable power supply to the socket.

During testing we utilised a number of processors, mainly with the intention of using the QX9770; however, we found early BIOS issues with the chip running anything above stock specifications – a similar issue was had with the GA-X38T-DQ6 upon the initial release of the QX9650.

All in all the first X48-based board to hit the Atomic labs has left a favourable impression. That said, if you’re already sporting an X38 platform there’s not much to gain from the X48 experience by comparison.