Gigabyte GA-EP45-DQ6 Motherboard Review

Voltage Regulation

Our voltage regulation testing will focus on the various voltages and the differences encountered between what is selected in the BIOS, what is reported by EasyTune6 (when available), and what is reported by a digital multi-meter (DMM). We have found five voltage read points on the motherboard so the vCORE, PLL, CPU Termination/VTT, vNB, and vDIMM will be recorded with our DMM. Both vCORE and vNB will be read from the underside of the motherboard at the output side of the corresponding inductor for each voltage supply. PLL and VTT voltages will be read from points on the top of the motherboard. vDIMM will be read directly from an open DIMM slot using the VDD pin closest to the key. The ground point used for all readings will be a screw hole. Here are a few photos showing the various read points used.


Now that we have established where the read points are, let’s have a look at the results. These measurements were taken at 9x400Mhz, the highest officially supported FSB, and the setting that will most likely be used by those seeking mild overclocks. Everything else in the BIOS is set to auto. So with further ado, here are our extensive findings:


Overall, we are quite pleased with these figures. What you select in the BIOS is nearly always what the board actually outputs, which is great to see. The vDIMM overvolts a tiny bit, but it is almost not worth mentioning. The NB, PLL, and VTT voltages are flawlessly stable, showing no variances between idle and load. There is some line droop (vDroop) on the vCORE when going from idle to load, but it is not substantial enough to negatively affect stability nor overclocking. Nevertheless, let's take a closer look at the vCORE line's characteristics with a one hour OCCT stress test.


The slight vDroop is noticeable once the stress test actually kicks-in, but otherwise the vCORE is rock solid and there are zero worrisome spikes. Evidently, the "virtual" twelve-phase power design works quite well, even when only eight-phases are in-use.

Heat & Acoustical Testing

As has become the norm, the EP45-DQ6 does not have a fan and thus has no acoustical footprint.

Although this high-end motherboard is bursting at the seams with features, it surprisingly does not come with temperature sensors for the northbridge and southbridge. Therefore, we had to rely on our trusty digital thermometer for all temperature measurements. We set the system to its overclocked configuration, and then OCCT was run for two hours. The temperatures were recorded at twenty minute intervals throughout the two hour test and the results averaged out.


The northbridge cooler reached 45°C/113.0°F and the southbridge cooler measured 43°C/109.4°F. Both of these temperatures are a little hot, but considering the 500Mhz FSB, they are very good results. The MOSFET coolers hovered around the 37°C/98.6°F mark, which is surprisingly cool. None of the above components benefited from any direct cooling, so all these figures essentially represent a worst-case scenario. In a regular case with one or two 120MM fans, temperatures should be a bit lower. Overall though, the EP45-DQ6’s cooling system proved to be very effective during our battery of tests.