Hardware Gigabyte GA-EP45-DQ6

Well for a start you're plugging a line output into a mic input, which is... wrong?

The usual way to determine noise would be to have the device process (that is, record or loop through) test tone from an external device. That clears up any common grounding issues and gives you a better idea.

P

 

True, I could use the Xonar as an external playback and recording devise since it'll always be higher quality but this is how RMAA describes the simple test to be run: http://audio.rightmark.org/downloads/RMAA%206.0%20User's%20Guide.pdf

 

Here is how things stand. You buy a motherboard and you get no performance improvement or features you would ever use. Why do they do it.keep refining there products with no actual technological improvements is because they want people to keep buying. Same old same old. Frankly what i have now is pretty much what i need in todays digital world. I can play all the latest games, do work, make movies, edit photos etc. Motherboards the the most overated piece of junk in all PC components.

Heres to all of you who read the whole article.:

Will crysis improve by a larger percentage as a result of buying this.?Will any game?
Will your computer be any more powerful? Will you use the add-on features as essentials in your everyday life?
Is it worth the price in todays age where GPU,CPU, and Motherboard are the same price?
Why bother make it big news on Bit-tech?

There indulge your selfs in these questions. Have fun

 

@xtremeownage
The answer to your questions is very possibly, yes. Now, if I had a decent last gen board (which I do) and only run one graphics card (which I do) and don't need 4 network holes (ditto) then there would be little point in an upgrade. However, if I was trying to squeeze every last MHz out of a processor, it might be worth a change (hence why the overclocking results are included) and if I were using an old board then this review would be very helpful.

As it is, I am left thinking "Good, no need for an upgrade then" but If I was trying to run Crossfire on a P35 motherboard, or had an AMD setup and wanted to change to an Intel setup or any one of thousands of possibilities then this review would have been extremely helpful.

As it was, I still enjoyed the read!

Oh, and the answers to your questions:
1)Crysis? Possibly, depending on what you are upgrading from/choosing between
2)Extra feature. As it says in the article, they are there for those that need them. You can buy a cheaper board if you don't need them
3)Possibly, yes. If I was running a nice new quad core processor with a 9800GX2 on an old NF4 motherboard (very possible) then it probably would be worth the upgrade.
4) It is a hardware site. A top of the line motherboard for a major manufacturer has been released. It wouldn't make sense for them not to review it and it would probably cost them financially too.
edit2: and yes I did have fun writing that. A very good way to put off chemistry revision

 

Nice review.

What is the deal with two different sata chipsets? 4 on one and 6 on the other . Does one have hot-swap capability for e-sata (and yes I know you need a bracket)? My Nf4 680i does not allow hot-swap :-( or I could not get it to work.

 

looks like the p5q pro, will be the way to go for me still

 

Whats all this hating. I love gigabyte, they seem to just do things that other manufacturers wont. Putting on 4 lan ports, why the bloody hell not? I wonder how much cheaper the board would be without them, probably not at all, they would have just made more profit. I am sure someone will find some use for them.

And the colours, get some UV light in your box, and your gigabyte motherboard will literally brighten up your day.

Also they use both straight and right angled sata connectors to cater for more people, some cases and set ups might require the right angled, and some the straight. As you can get right angled sata cables and people chance cases and set ups all the time it makes sense to cater for the most people as possible.

But floppy, floppy can bugger right off.

 

The Gigabyte GA-X48T-DQ6 beats this thing in nearly every catagory so why would I want this one I'm confused?

 

Because that's DDR3, therefore, very expensive.

EDIT: Thank you Matticus and Cupboard.

 

I just love that the COM port is labeled COMA
Great humor!