First Look: Gigabyte GA-X38T-DQ6 - bit-tech.net Forums

Tim S · 11th Sep 2007, 06:21

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...nd_intel_x38/1

Intel's enthusiast-orientated X38 chipset arrives later this month - we have a first look at Gigabyte's top of the range DDR3-based GA-X38T-DQ6 motherboard to see how things are progressing.

Nature · 11th Sep 2007, 06:47

Is pciE backwards compatible?

And I've yet to see a board with a built in steamer for milky latte's...

Mankz · 11th Sep 2007, 08:08

That looks like one hell of a sweet board..

yakyb · 11th Sep 2007, 09:04

i'd like to see crossfire performance on this please considering its full 16x16x lanes as opposed to the 16x4x of the p35 or 8x8x on the blitz formula a comparison between them would be very useful thanks

Tim S · 11th Sep 2007, 09:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by yakyb

i'd like to see crossfire performance on this please considering its full 16x16x lanes as opposed to the 16x4x of the p35 or 8x8x on the blitz formula a comparison between them would be very useful thanks

We'll be looking at that when the chipset officially launches later this month.

wuyanxu · 11th Sep 2007, 09:10

Quote:

but the retail boards are working as expected and should be shipping very soon.

so within 1 or 2 weeks?

how is the temperature for this board? is this heat sink sufficient enough for X38 provided almost all other manufactures are putting half of a junk yard on theirs

cosmic · 11th Sep 2007, 09:10

Very nice article and a good board although I am surprised that it is only the 2 X 16 slots that are PCIe 2 Is this a limitation of the Intel ICH9R Southbridge ?

naokaji · 11th Sep 2007, 09:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by wuyanxu

so within 1 or 2 weeks?

how is the temperature for this board? is this heat sink sufficient enough for X38 provided almost all other manufactures are putting half of a junk yard on theirs

it doesnt run hot at all... atleast if logic applies.. my gigabyte p35 ds3r (and the p35 uses more power under load than the x38) "survives" without any chunky heatsink / heatpipe stuff.

Woodstock · 11th Sep 2007, 09:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by wuyanxu

so within 1 or 2 weeks?

how is the temperature for this board? is this heat sink sufficient enough for X38 provided almost all other manufactures are putting half of a junk yard on theirs

check the last page of the review

Mother-Goose · 11th Sep 2007, 09:39

To me the most important thing to look at here is how the DDR3 seems to have limited the performance increase rather than the chipset, so, as we see DDR3 evolve to the supper low latency stuff we have for DDR2, we should see a BIG jump in performance.

At least, that is what it looks like to me from those results, what do you lot think?

Very impressive board, and 8 (count'em) USB ports on the back? Cheesecake. I love it.

Woodstock · 11th Sep 2007, 09:42

hmm, is it still a limit of "10" usb ports for x38 *looks at laptops pitiful 4 ports

Mother-Goose · 11th Sep 2007, 10:55

woodstock, 12 usb for X38 according to the review.

Paradigm Shifter · 11th Sep 2007, 11:00

I can't say that I have any major gripes about the layout... which is nice. Would be good to see those SATA connectors at 90* on the edge, though.

And that many USB ports on the back...

cosmic · 11th Sep 2007, 11:15

Having thought about this board a bit more, I have to say its not a very imaginative implementation

The 32 PCIe 2.0 lines give you the performance of 64 standard PCIe 1.0 lines. So Gigabyte could have taken the opportunity to give you 4 slots @ X8 of PCIe 2.0 each with the same capacity as X16 slots we are used too. Not sure anyone actually manges to max out those X16 slots so should not be a problem. Even 2 X12 slots and 2 X4 would be good for RAID implementation.

Need to think about this a bit more, all we are really seeing is a reworked P965 implementation without thought going into why people need all the power as 2 X32 PCIe 1.0 slots.

wuyanxu · 11th Sep 2007, 11:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Woodstock

check the last page of the review

im just asking why has Gigabyte used so little cooling compared to Asus or Biostar (the external MOSFET cooler) for X38.

naokaji · 11th Sep 2007, 11:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by wuyanxu

im just asking why has Gigabyte used so little cooling compared to Asus or Biostar (the external MOSFET cooler) for X38.

because there is absolutly no need for more... even whats on the gigabyte is overkill....

chrisb2e9 · 11th Sep 2007, 14:39

12 usb? has anyone ever actually needed that many? how many stupid usb devices like a cup warmer do you need to plug in?

naokaji · 11th Sep 2007, 14:45

1. Keyboard
2. Mouse
3. Mp3 player
4. Digital camera
5. External HDD
6. Webcam
7. Printer
8. Additional Game cotroller (game pad and the likes)
9. Scanner
10. Cardreader
11. external tv tuner
12. spare to plug in your usb stick...

so.. if you belong into the category of lazy persons it would indeed be possible to use them all...

Renoir · 11th Sep 2007, 15:05

Quote:

The Realtek ALC889A is an exclusive audio codec created for Gigabyte that contains the HDCP crypto-ROM required to allow Blu-ray or HD DVD to decode and play back the full range of HD audio including LPCM (Loss-less PCM). A standard audio codec such as ALC888 or 883 will not able to do this since they don’t have HDCP which leaves it only able to generate CD quality sound.

Interesting. According to this thread on avsforum http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=892863 powerdvd downsamples any audio above 16/48 so whether the realtek codec supports hd audio or nor is irrelevant. Besides what has HDCP got to do with the transfer of audio from the app (powerdvd) to the sound card driver/DACs? HDCP is for use over HDMI/DVI. AIUI realtek having hdcp crypto rom would only be useful if they supported digital audio out via hdmi and even then the hdmi specs require that video be present if audio is to be used over hdmi. Suffice it to say I don't understand this part of the article and would be interested to know more.

Sprogz · 11th Sep 2007, 15:37

I was a little concerned by the statement about CrazyCool restricting the use of certain CPU coolers. Given the size of almost ALL third-party CPU coolers and the fact that many of them require underside brackets to take the strain how are we suppose to air cool the CPU?

I was after this mobo when it's released and already have the Coolink Silentator (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...=57&subcat=821) CPU cooler waiting in the wings for when the mobo arrives but it now looks like it might not fit this mobo as I'm pretty sure it has an underside mobo bracket.

11th Sep 2007, 06:21	#1
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	First Look: Gigabyte GA-X38T-DQ6 http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...nd_intel_x38/1 Intel's enthusiast-orientated X38 chipset arrives later this month - we have a first look at Gigabyte's top of the range DDR3-based GA-X38T-DQ6 motherboard to see how things are progressing. __________________ Tim on Twitter \| Tim's Blog \| Tim's Flickr The bit-tech Blog \| bit-tech on Twitter \| Join the bit-tech & Custom PC folding team (#35947)

11th Sep 2007, 06:47	#2
Nature Supermodder Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Jinan, China Posts: 417	Is pciE backwards compatible? And I've yet to see a board with a built in steamer for milky latte's... __________________ Peace, Love, Empathy, Respect, Generosity, Smiles, and Hugs

11th Sep 2007, 09:04	#4
yakyb CK is God!!! Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 1,069	i'd like to see crossfire performance on this please considering its full 16x16x lanes as opposed to the 16x4x of the p35 or 8x8x on the blitz formula a comparison between them would be very useful thanks __________________ Gaming Box:: q6600 @3.0 :: 9800gtx :: Abit IP35 :: 4gb :: 1.4TB :: akasa eclipse :: Win7 Development:: PhenomII 955BE @3.2 :: 4200 :: asus M4A785 M Evo :: 1.25TB ::Win7 Media Centre :: q6600 @3.0 :: x1950pro :: asus p35 epu :: 8gb :: 320 GB :: Lc17B :: Win7 server:: I7 860 :: p55 gd65 :: 3450 :: 8 TB :: 8gb :: Rebel 12 :: server 2008 R2

11th Sep 2007, 09:39	#10
Mother-Goose Tories ftw! Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: England - Surrey Posts: 3,750	To me the most important thing to look at here is how the DDR3 seems to have limited the performance increase rather than the chipset, so, as we see DDR3 evolve to the supper low latency stuff we have for DDR2, we should see a BIG jump in performance. At least, that is what it looks like to me from those results, what do you lot think? Very impressive board, and 8 (count'em) USB ports on the back? Cheesecake. I love it. __________________ Goose Q6600, Striker Extreme, 4GB 6400C4 Dominator DHX, Raptor X, 2x400GB spinpoints, BFG 8800GTX OC, Stacker 830 Evo, HX620, Nova T 500, Freezer 7 Pro

11th Sep 2007, 09:42	#11
Woodstock So Say We All Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: New Zealand Posts: 1,657	hmm, is it still a limit of "10" usb ports for x38 *looks at laptops pitiful 4 ports __________________ Hell hath no fury like a hippo with a machine gun.

11th Sep 2007, 09:10	#7
cosmic Supermodder Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 379	Very nice article and a good board although I am surprised that it is only the 2 X 16 slots that are PCIe 2 Is this a limitation of the Intel ICH9R Southbridge ?

11th Sep 2007, 10:55	#12
Mother-Goose Tories ftw! Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: England - Surrey Posts: 3,750	woodstock, 12 usb for X38 according to the review. __________________ Goose Q6600, Striker Extreme, 4GB 6400C4 Dominator DHX, Raptor X, 2x400GB spinpoints, BFG 8800GTX OC, Stacker 830 Evo, HX620, Nova T 500, Freezer 7 Pro

11th Sep 2007, 11:00	#13
Paradigm Shifter Lethargic Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 1,213	I can't say that I have any major gripes about the layout... which is nice. Would be good to see those SATA connectors at 90* on the edge, though. And that many USB ports on the back... __________________ Core i7 920 D0 @ 3.8GHz \| 6GB Corsair 1600MHz \| Gigabyte EX58-UD5 \| XFX 4870X2 2GB \| 4TB \| WUXGA

11th Sep 2007, 11:15	#14
cosmic Supermodder Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 379	Having thought about this board a bit more, I have to say its not a very imaginative implementation The 32 PCIe 2.0 lines give you the performance of 64 standard PCIe 1.0 lines. So Gigabyte could have taken the opportunity to give you 4 slots @ X8 of PCIe 2.0 each with the same capacity as X16 slots we are used too. Not sure anyone actually manges to max out those X16 slots so should not be a problem. Even 2 X12 slots and 2 X4 would be good for RAID implementation. Need to think about this a bit more, all we are really seeing is a reworked P965 implementation without thought going into why people need all the power as 2 X32 PCIe 1.0 slots.

11th Sep 2007, 14:39	#17
chrisb2e9 Dont do that... Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Alberta, Canada Posts: 3,068	12 usb? has anyone ever actually needed that many? how many stupid usb devices like a cup warmer do you need to plug in? __________________ attack life, it's going to kill you anyway. Long-term relationships are like urban tomatoes: they only grow under special conditions. - Prestidigitweeze Don't hold on to the reigns once you've fallen off the horse, your just going to get dragged to death - SNiiPE_DoGG

11th Sep 2007, 15:37	#20
Sprogz What's a Dremel? Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 2	I was a little concerned by the statement about CrazyCool restricting the use of certain CPU coolers. Given the size of almost ALL third-party CPU coolers and the fact that many of them require underside brackets to take the strain how are we suppose to air cool the CPU? I was after this mobo when it's released and already have the Coolink Silentator (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...=57&subcat=821) CPU cooler waiting in the wings for when the mobo arrives but it now looks like it might not fit this mobo as I'm pretty sure it has an underside mobo bracket.