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In addition to the P45 chipset's inherent PCI Express 2.0 and dual videocard Crossfire support, Gigabyte's EP45-DQ6 motherboard boasts no less than four gigabit network ports, ten SATA channels, three IEEE1394 Firewire and twelve USB2.0 ports!
83% Rating: 
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Gigabyte GA-EP45-DQ6 |
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Gigabyte EP45-DQ6 Highlights Gallery
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The Gigabyte
EP45-DQ6 motherboard has one PCI Express x1, two PCI Express x16 slots for
videocards (one card gets you x16 mode, two in Crossfire operate in x8/x8
mode), two PCI Express x4 slots and two legacy 32-bit PCI slots for older expansion cards. Running along the bottom
of the board are physical power/reset/clear CMOS buttons and headers for Firewire/USB and other assorted
expansion options.
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This region of
the Gigabyte EP45-DQ6 motherboard is busy. Here we find the front
panel IO connections, (10) SATAII headers, IDE and passively cooled IDT and Intel ICH10R southbridge
chipsets.
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With the passive
heatsinks removed from this corner of the board you clearly see the
IDT, Intel ICH10R southbridge and dual Silicon Image 5723 chipsets
which bring four extra SATA2 channels
to the EP45-DQ6 motherboard over what the Intel ICH10R
provides.
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The two SIL5723 connect to the
Gigabyte SATA 2 (really a
JM363 chip) to handle four SATA ports and the BIOS-based RAID system on the
Gigabyte EP45-DQ6 motherboard. The Gigabyte SATA 2 is connected to the
Intel ICH10R chipset by a PCI-e
x1 path. The RAID system is driver and OS
independent.
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Four DDR2 DIMMs
support up to 8GB of 667/800/1066/1200 MHz memory. The EP45-DQ6
motherboard requires a 24pin power connector as well as 8-pin auxiliary power.
Just to the right of the DIMMs are the row of
LEDs lights which indicate how many CPU power phases are in
use.
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Gigabyte Silentpipe
is a passive heatpipe chipset thermal solution which connects the
southbridge to northbridge to MOSFET chips that surround the socket 775
Intel CPU. There is enough space around the LGA775 socket for large
after market coolers. This form of passive cooling makes use of exhaust air
flow from the CPU heatsink, so if
you go watercooling be sure to point a fan in this direction. Also
not the use of solid state capacitors throughout the Gigabyte EP45-DQ6 motherboard.
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Next PCSTATS will dive into BIOS and overclocking options, but first let's
touch on the Intel P45 Express chipset and what it has to offer mainstream
computer enthusiasts!
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