Gigabyte GA-EP45-DQ6 Motherboard Review

Installation

For those of you who are interested in seeing how exactly the components fit on the motherboard, we have included a new Installation Section which should give you a general idea of the clearance levels on the EP45-DQ6.


As you can see, our Thermalright Ulra-120 heatsink has absolutely no problems clearing the northbridge and MOSFET coolers. It also does not come in contact with or hang over the DIMM slots.

Regarding the DIMM slots, we found that the memory clips came into contact with the components on the back of our XFX GeForce 8800GT, which made it effectively impossible to remove the memory sticks without first removing the graphics card. This is a hassle that we would obviously have liked to avoid.


There are no clearance issues when a graphics card is installed in the first PCI-E x16 slot thanks to the inclusion of 90-degree SATA connector. However, when a 9-inch graphics card is installed in the second PCI-E x16 slot you do lose the ability to use one SATA port. If you use a card longer than 9 inches, two SATA ports become inaccessible.


Lastly, those who use a CPU cooler that requires a back plate will want to ensure that it does not come into contact with the small electrical components on the back of the motherboard. As you can see, the back plate on our Thermalright Ultra-120 had the necessary clearance to avoid this issue.