Thanks for the excellent review, however I was wondering as to what extent the high speed memory issue shows up. It shows on your test bed that you used 1866 MHz DIMMs, but what about 1600 MHz?

This is a question I have as I tend to power off my computer regularly and I'm interested in the UD4P model and hope it won't have a similar issue.

I finished building my I7&Antec 902 rig a week ago. I have this mobo because it was 'apparently' the best bang for the buck. As your article says, the bundle is not rich but it covers the essentials. Setting it up is not difficult and my Noctua had no problems fitting it.

Problems with the mobo:

1. Turn computer on, go into BIOS, PC Health, I7 idle temp 50 degrees.
2. Go into windows, run Easy Tune, I7 idle temp 29 degrees.

What is this all about???

1. Turn on computer, BIOS, 48 degrees.
2. Go into windows, Real Temp, Everest, Core Temp, what ever, 37 degrees.
4. Easy Tune, 29 degrees.


Easy Tune and the BIOS report erroneus temperature values.


Lets move on to another "excellent" feature in Easy Tune. CPU Frequency!!! It shows the stock frequeney 2.66 or the 2.8X due to turbo mode, a few seconds this becomes 26666 or 28800!!! Everything gets multiplied by 10!!

Let's turn now to @Bios a very useful option. You run @BIOS and it proposes a new version. Because this is my first Gigabyte mobo and I am not used to the nomeclature, I click okay and wait for the update o finish. I reboot and run @BIOS again to confirm I have the latest version. What do I see? Another version for me to download. Then I notice the in start-up, i have FA and not FB? So how did this software "update" my BIOS to a previous version? ... and why?


The normal FB BIOS is not very good and I had to flash it to SLI in order to solve a few kinks.


XBIT, a more extensive review next time. It sounds like a commercial rather than a professional opinion. Don't get me wrong, I love the motherboard but please stress more on its drawbacks!

Is 1280x1024 really a popular gaming resolution? I would imagine with all the 22" panels under $200, 1680x1050 might be more common among gamers. Just wondering...

I actually have the cold boot problem on a EP45-DS3R as well, but worse than that, the RAID system included in the ICH10R southbridge would actually kill my overclocking, and i'd have to redo all my settings.

Some more input on this Mobo,

1. Do not install the latest BETA BIOS, even though temps are fixed. Your computer with shut down on its own at random intervals. You need to stop the power supply and turn it back on in order for it to start.

2. I purchased a second XFX HD4890 XXX card. I currently have CrossFire X with two HD4890s and I can say that the space between cards is non existent. The upper card is 7 degrees hotter than the lower one both on idle and full load. I tried mounting a side fan but my NOCTUA cooler does not allow to close the case anymore.