Introduction

The Intel P45 chipset appears to be the hands-down successor to the venerable P35, the chipset that was the mainstay of motherboards designed for the Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad for all of 2007. The P45 has proven to be an all-around LGA 775 chipset quite sufficient for upper-end enthusiast and gaming boards, as well as economy boards. Like the P35, the P45 works well with either DDR2 or DDR3 memory along with supporting the entire FSB range of LGA 775 processors. The motherboard manufacturers have already filled the market with a wide range of P45 motherboards, and one is very likely to find a P45 board to meet his or her needs and budget.

Last month I took a look at the Gigabyte EP45-DQ6, Gigabyte's current mainstream P45 motherboard. It has proven to be a reliable, stable platform for my main rig, which sees constant use in a wide range of applications. I am well satisfied with its performance, and don't plan on replacing it for a long while.

Today, I will be looking at the EP45-DS3L, Gigabyte's economy-priced P45 motherboard. This is probably the least expensive newly released motherboard I have seen coming from either of the top two motherboard manufacturers in a very long time, and obviously marketed towards those buyers looking at buying boards from ECS, ASRock, or one of the other manufacturers that build budget motherboards. Will the EP45-DS3L meet the high standards that we have come to expect from a Gigabyte motherboard, with features found on its bigger brothers? Read on to see!

Packaging

The EP45-DS3L comes in a relatively small unsleeved box. It is very colorful, and is covered with features and specs of the motherboard within. Open the box and the bundle is separated by a cardboard divider, similar to many other motherboards. The board beneath is packaged in a static-free sleeve.

Specifications / Features

CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme, Intel Core 2 Quad, Intel Core 2 Duo, Intel Pentium Dual-Core, Intel Celeron LGA 775 processors (certain older processors are excluded, see supported CPU list)

FSB: 1600/1333/1066/800 MHz

Chipset:
- North Bridge: Intel P45 Express Chipset
- South Bridge: Intel ICH10

Memory: 4 x 1.8V DDR2 DIMM sockets supporting up to 16 GB of system memory
- Dual channel memory architecture
- Supports DDR2 1200/1066/800/667

Audio: Realtek ALC888 codec High Definition Audio
LAN: Realtek 8111C chips (10/100/1000 Mbit)

PCI Expansion:
- 1 x PCI Express x16 slot (PCI-E 2.0)
- 4 x PCI Express x1 slot
- 2 x PCI slots

SATA: 6 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors supporting up to 6 SATA 3Gb/s devices (Southbridge)

USB: Integrated in the South Bridge, up to 12 USB 2.0/1.1 ports

Internal Connectors:
-1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector
- 1 x 4-pin ATX 12V power connector
- 1 x floppy disk drive connector
- 1 x IDE connector
- 6 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors
- 1 x CPU fan header
- 2 x system fan headers
- 1 x power fan header
- 1 x front panel header
- 1 x front panel audio header
- 1 x CD In connector
- 1 x S/PDIF In header
- 1 x S/PDIF Out header
- 2 x USB 2.0/1.1 headers
- 1 x parallel port header
- 1 x serial port header
- 1 x power LED header
- 1 x chassis intrusion header

I/O Panel:
- 1 x PS/2 keyboard port
- 1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse port
- 1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector
- 1 x coaxial S/PDIF Out connector
- 8 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports
- 1 x RJ-45 ports
- 6 x audio jacks (Center/Subwoofer Speaker Out/Rear Speaker Out/Side Speaker Out/Line In/Line --Out/Microphone)

Hardware Monitoring:
- System voltage detection
- CPU/System temperature detection
- CPU/System/Power fan speed detection
- CPU overheating warning
- CPU/System/Power fan fail warning
- CPU/System fan speed control

BIOS:
- 2 x 8 Mbit flash
- Use of licensed AWARD BIOS
- Support for DualBIOST
- PnP 1.0a, DMI 2.0, SM BIOS 2.4, ACPI 1.0b

Gigabyte Unique Features:
- @BIOS
- Q-Flash
- Download Center
- Xpress Install
- Xpress Recovery2
- EasyTune
- Dynamic Energy Saver Advanced
- Time Repair
- Q-Share

O/S: Microsoft XP/Vista

Form Factor: ATX 30.5cm x 21.0cm