Conroe Buying Guide: Feeding the Monster

Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6
Basic Features

Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6
Market Segment:	High-End/Enthusiast
CPU Interface:	Socket T (Socket 775)
CPU Support:	LGA775-based Pentium 4, Celeron D, Pentium D, Core 2 Duo
Chipset:	Intel P965 + ICH8R
Thermal Design:	12-phase power Fan-less Heatpipe Cooling Crazy Cool for OC All Solid Capacitor Layout
Bus Speed Support:	1066/800/533MHz
Bus Speeds:	100 to 600 in 1MHz Increments
Memory Ratios:	Auto, 2, 2.5, 3, 2.66, 3.33, 4
PCIe Speeds:	Auto, 90MHz~150MHz
PCI:	Fixed at 33
Dynamic Tuning:	C.I.A. 2 - Disabled, Cruise, Sports, Racing, Turbo, Full Throttle
Core Voltage:	Normal, .68750V to 2.37500V in 0.00625V increments
CPU Clock Multiplier:	Auto, 6x-11x in 1X increments if CPU is unlocked
DRAM Voltage:	Normal, +.025V to +.775V in +.025V increments
DRAM Timing Control:	Auto, 9 Options
FSB Termination Voltage:	Normal, +.05V to +.35V in +.05V increments
NB Voltage:	Normal, +.05V to +.75V in +.05 increments
Memory Slots:	Four 240-pin DDR2 DIMM Slots Dual-Channel Configuration Regular Unbuffered Memory to 8GB Total
Expansion Slots:	1 - PCIe X16 1 - PCIe X4 (X16 physical connector) 3 - PCIe X1 2 - PCI Slots 2.3
Onboard SATA/RAID:	6 SATA 3Gbps Ports - Intel ICH8R (RAID 0,1,1+0,5,JBOD) 2 SATA 3Gbps Ports - JMicron JMB363 (RAID 0,1, JBOD)
Onboard IDE:	1 Standard ATA133/100/66/33 Port (2 drives) JMicron JMB363
Onboard USB 2.0/IEEE-1394:	10 USB 2.0 Ports - 4 I/O Panel 6 Headers 3 Firewire 400 Ports via TI TSB43AB23 - 1 I/O Panel 2 Headers
Onboard LAN:	Gigabit Ethernet Controller Marvell 88E8053
Onboard Audio:	Realtek ALC888DD HD-Audio 8-channel CODEC Supports Dolby Master Studio including Dolby Digital Live
Power Connectors:	ATX 24-pin, 8-pin EATX 12V, 4-Pin Molex
I/O Panel:	1 x Serial 1 x LPT 1 x PS/2 Keyboard 1 x PS/2 Mouse 1 x RJ45 1 x IEEE-1394 4 x USB 2.0/1.1 2 x S/PDIF (Optical + Coaxial) 8-Channel Audio I/O
BIOS Revision:	AWARD D27

The Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6 was one of the most talked about and hyped boards at Computex 2006. We were excited when our test sample arrived. After getting through all of the marketing spin on the box and included documentation we found a board that provided everything but the kitchen sink (we believe that to be on the bottom of the board). While the list of options is definitely impressive along with the general look of the board, it is performance that counts in this market sector. Did it deliver? The answer is yes and no, as we will discuss shortly.

Click to enlarge

The board features 12-phase power, an all solid capacitor design, an impressive silent heat pipe system, Dolby Digital Live and DTS support, eight SATA 3Gbps ports, and a very good layout considering the sheer amount of options on this board. Our one gripe is the Crazy Cool plate on the back side of the board underneath the CPU socket. While we noticed this option worked as well if not better than the ASUS Stack Cool 2 system, the plate is just thick enough to rule out the usage of several aftermarket cooling systems that require the use of a back plate. Granted, some quick and minor modifications to the attachment screw lengths worked in several cases, but for a high end board Gigabyte should expect the user to upgrade the retail CPU cooling system.

Basic Performance

Gigabyte did indeed deliver excellent performance with this board. In fact, the overall performance of the board placed it squarely in the top of our roundup. The board exhibited excellent performance and stability throughout our testing regimen while providing a certain amount of gee whiz discussion amongst the staff members when first noticing the board. What is even more amazing is that this performance occurred with a board that was not running on all cylinders at the time. We had several issues that were solved with a constant stream of BIOS updates, but there was one that neither us nor Gigabyte could overcome.

The board would at various times simply refuse to accept a voltage change in the BIOS with a guaranteed lock up when changing the DRAM voltage. After changing various voltages either together or in a singular manner, the board would enter a reboot cycle that could only be stopped by turning off the power and clearing the CMOS. We were finally able to change the CPU voltage that allowed us to overclock the board to our reported results. However, we were not successful in truly finding the limits of this otherwise impressive board. The initial street pricing of $269.99 also has us concerned. After testing with other CPUs and memory, we ruled out BIOS issues and believe our board to be faulty. We have a new retail board on its way that will hopefully fix the issue.

Overclocking

Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6 Overclocking Testbed
Processor:	Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 Dual Core, 2.67GHz, 4MB Unified Cache 1066FSB, 10x Multiplier
CPU Voltage:	1.525V (default 1.2V)
Cooling:	Tuniq Tower 120 Air Cooling
Power Supply:	OCZ GameXStream 700W
Memory:	Corsair Twin2X2048-PC2-8500C5 (2x1GB) (Micron Memory Chips)
Hard Drive	Hitachi 250GB 7200RPM SATA2 16MB Cache
Maximum OC: (Standard Ratio)	376x10 (3-3-3-9) 3760MHz (+41%)

Even with the aforementioned BIOS issues, we were able to clock this board to an impressive 376FSB. Gigabyte has sent us test results with a new B2 stepping 6 X6800 showing a fully stable system running at 6X498 with the current D27 BIOS. The board ran extremely cool during our overclocking tests indicating a well engineered heat pipe system, although the area around the CPU would need to be actively cooled if a liquid cooling system is utilized. During testing for the maximum FSB clock we ran into the BIOS issues and were not able to extend past the reported 376FSB due to our inability to set the MCH and FSB termination voltages. The only other noticeable drawback in overclocking this board is the lock on increasing the CPU multiplier when utilizing the X6800. We look forward to providing a full review of this board in the near future.