Gigabyte GA-EP45-DQ6 Motherboard Review

Conclusion

At the start of this review we asked whether Gigabyte had created the complete package with the EP45-DQ6…a fast, fully-featured, overclockable, stable motherboard with no show-stopping faults. Now, after our exhaustive review, we can state that they have mostly succeeded. There are still some faults like the blocking a SATA port when the second PCI-E x16 slots is in use, or the minimal temperature & voltage readouts, but no product as complex as a motherboard will ever be perfect.

For your $280, you are getting one of the most fully-featured P45 motherboard on the market, sporting two physical PCI-E x16 (8x electrical) 2.0 slots, two PCI-E x4 slots, one PCI-E x1 slot, two PCI slots, ten SATA-II ports, four Gigabit LAN ports, twelve USB 2.0 ports, eSATA and FireWire connectivity, unparalleled RAID capabilities, 8-channel High Definition Audio with Dolby Home Theatre technology, TPM hardware-encryption chip, Dynamic Energy Saver (DES) Advanced, diagnostic LEDs, onboard power/reset buttons, a highly capable cooling system, and more. While the specifications list was impressive enough, what really stood out and won us over was the EP45-DQ6’s stability, solid performance, excellent overclocking capabilities, and awesome BIOS.

It is worth restating that the BIOS really has everything that we would want and expect from a high-end motherboard, which is to say enough features and options to satisfy all but the most fanatical DFI users. At the same time, it is also simple and versatile enough to allow novice users to achieve respectable overclocks without needless BIOS fiddling.

Although not a fault per se, we would have gladly traded 1-2 Gigabit LAN ports for some onboard WiFi capability. Yes, any self-respecting power user still uses a wired connection to ensure the highest bandwidth and lowest latency, and Gigabyte quite possibly ran out of PCB space, but when you are building a product that is the Jack of All Trades it’s better not to leave anything out.

Overall though, Gigabyte has created a product that is perfectly suited for a home media server, a budget workstation, or simply in a highly-clocked gaming rig. Yes, it is expensive but the best always is, and Gigabyte offers a wide variety of more budget-friendly P45 motherboards for those who don’t require all that the EP45-DQ6 has to offer.


Pros:

• Longest features list in the history of features lists
• Excellent overclocking capabilities
• Great cooling system
• Quad VGA Support
• Fantastic BIOS
• EasyTune6
• Good layout

Cons:

• Expensive (but worth it if you need all of the features)
• Wish there was an option to disable the onboard LEDs in the BIOS
• Not enough temperature and voltages readouts/sensors
• Some SATA ports blocked when a graphics cards is installed in the second PCI-E x16 slot

Our thanks to Gigabyte for making this review possible!