Nathan Davis calls this one 'Bob'.
Great features that it's kitted with is S-Video and composite out, further cementing this board for the HTPC market. Having an onboard IrDA port is the cream to this motherboard. However, it doesn't actually come with an infrared receiver - such as an RC kit.
It slams itself down as being built for the sole purpose of being the backbone to a solid HTPC. It would in fact certainly make for a powerful foundation to any system, with 800MHz FSB and four DIMM slots in dual channel, however also equipped with TV out, IR capabilities and an onboard IGP 9100 Pro, it would almost be a crying shame not to use them.
The onboard 3D video performance is relatively abysmal, but that's acceptable for its use - it wasn't made to be some virtual gaming mega-fest. Our Call of Duty time demo came in at an average of 12fps. Acceptable, but certainly nothing special for hardcore gaming. If using hefty 3D apps, the onboard 8x AGP port should be put to good use.
This mobo is a great collection of features, however there was the concern for heat levels. The onboard IGP/Northbridge was exceedingly high in temperature when in use - you wouldn't want to touch it for long under stress. Considering it has more processing power inside and it only uses passive cooling with the heatsink being smaller than the usual Northbridge chipset cooler and fan, we feel it could have been designed better.
Overall it's a kick-arse board, however there are two ways this mobo could be better.
Firstly, a decent onboard VIVO function would have everyone building a HTPC chasing after it. Secondly, better cooling's needed for the onboard 9100 Pro. Other than that, it's perfectly suited for just about any situation and price, and it's damn cheap for such a fully featured mobo. Ignoring the nasty heat issues, this is another decent ATI chipset-based board from Gigabyte.
Issue: 133 | February, 2012