Gigabyte GA-EP45T-EXTREME (Intel P45) - The Full Review

Copper Overload

Fads come and go and even trends may shift dramatically due to a single event or happening. In the case of motherboards, it seems that for some reasons, vendors think that all enthusiasts dabble in liquid cooling of some form or another. Is that the latest badge of honor worn by enthusiasts? We certainly don't agree but that may be the impression one gets when looking at the latest high-end motherboard aimed at the hardcore enthusiast, like this early sample we received from Gigabyte, the GA-EP45T-EXTREME.

Aptly christened with an 'EXTREME' moniker, the Gigabyte GA-EP45T-EXTREME is based on the new Intel P45 chipset and matched with the similarly fresh ICH10R Southbridge. Those who know their Gigabyte boards would tell from the 'T' in the name that this a DDR3 board. Gigabyte also has a DDR2 version that is identical except for the memory support. As it is, this board can take up to 16GB of DDR3 memory (1900MHz when overclocked). Other highlights include having three PCIe slots for CrossFireX configuration of up to three graphics cards, HD audio CODEC in the form of a Realtek ALC889A and onboard LED indicators for overclocking and POST messages. To get a quick idea on what this board is capable of and more photos of the board, you can check out our on this board and the following table for the technical specifications (do note that this board does not support any 90nm processors, please check Gigabyte's CPU support list for more information):

The main attraction for enthusiasts however is probably the extensive maze of cooling pipes and heatsinks on the board. That's not to mention the Hybrid Silent Pipe heatsink, which takes up the PCIe x1 expansion slot and resembles those heat pipe based heatsinks on graphics cards. For those on liquid cooling, this additional heatsink can act as part of the radiator and be cooled by the internal airflow of the chassis in addition to the fresh air intake from the exterior via its protruding fins. Fortunately, besides the hefty weight, losing this expansion slot is all the sacrifice required for this enthusiast board.

Gigabyte meanwhile has some nice touches up its sleeves, including handy onboard buttons for power, reset and clear CMOS. There are also LED indicators to show the level of overclocking for the memory and CPU, while the board comes with what Gigabyte calls hardware overvoltage control ICs to enable more voltage controls in the BIOS for the CPU, Northbridge and memory.

Since the layout and features (it's standard Intel P45 + ICH10R anyway) have been covered in some form or other in the preview article, we'll jump straight to the important updates that Gigabyte has added for its entire range of P45 motherboards, namely the new version of its Dynamic Energy Saving technology and the inclusion of a TPM chip.

Dynamic Energy Saver Advanced

It's fashionable to go green these days and while motherboard makers have been touting their environmental credentials for some time now, the intensity has increased recently, what with oil prices going up. Already, the latest P45 boards from major brands like ASUS, Gigabyte and MSI all come with some form of proprietary energy saving technologies.

As one of the earlier vendors to get into this trend, Gigabyte used the topical issue of oil prices as an opening to emphasize on the energy savings one could get from its newest version of its Dynamic Energy Saver (DES) technology at its Computex 2008 press event. According to the company, the new DES Advanced is the world's first dynamic 6-gear switching technology, supporting the latest VRD 11.1 specifications, which would allow the board to switch to 1-gear phase (a deeper sleep state) at idle. The caveat however is that this 1-gear phase operation only works with the newer 45nm Intel processors.

Naturally, we had to try this utility with the Gigabyte GA-EP45T-EXTREME and after we were done with the usual tests, we installed the latest version (B8.0709.2) and set about exploring this tool. Basically, the utility has indicators that measure and show the amount of power savings you're likely to get. There are three levels for the CPU voltage, along with CPU throttling and the dynamic power phase gear switching, which cannot be adjusted manually (since it works automatically). Users can only change the CPU voltage, enable/disable CPU throttling and well, turning the DES Advanced on in the first place. Changing the CPU voltage seemed to have some effect:

Gigabyte claims that thanks to the hardware chip from Intersil onboard, the settings will remain working even if the application has been turned off aka a Stealth mode. When we tried that, the DES Advanced utility repeatedly crashed on us and we have no idea whether our settings were actually saved. We'll be reporting the results of the utility in our latter section on temperature and power consumption.

Betting on Security

Another new Gigabyte feature is the presence of a 2048-bit Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2 chip on board. Such chips are more commonly found on notebooks but Gigabyte is adding it to all its latest P45 motherboards. This means that all the encryption needs for consumers can be handled by hardware, though not all users will find it useful.

However, we can't fault Gigabyte for its efforts, as it added some tweaks to make the TPM more convenient for users. This includes allowing the user to store the encryption key on a portable USB device and remove the one stored in the system. Hence, users can only access the encrypted data if they have the USB device with them. And if you're worried that you may lose this USB device with the encryption key, Gigabyte allows the user to store a backup key (password protected of course) in the BIOS of the system. While we still don't expect widespread use of encryption among mainstream users, the more security conscious enthusiasts may find these measures to be of some use.

Overclocking

• FSB Settings: 100 - 1200MHz
• MCH Frequency Strap: Auto, 200/266/333/400MHz
• PCIe Settings: 90MHz to 150MHz
• CPU Voltage Settings: 0.5V to 2.3V (in variable steps of 0.00625V and 0.02)
• Memory Voltage Settings: 1.5V to 2.5V (in 0.02V steps)
• MCH Core Voltage Settings: 0.8V - 1.8V (in 0.02V steps, variable)
• ICH I/O Voltage Settings: 1.0V to 2.3V (in 0.10V steps)
• CPU Clock Drive: 700, 800, 900, 1000mV
• PCIe Clock Drive: 700, 800, 900, 1000mV
• CPU Clock Skew: 0 - 750ps (in steps of 50ps)
• MCH Clock Skew: 0 - 750ps (in steps of 50ps)
• Multiplier Selection: Yes, 6 - 16 (unlocked CPUs only)

Gigabyte has a pretty decent BIOS (F2) for this EXTREME board, though nowadays, most top tier manufacturers have very comprehensive BIOS options for their motherboards, particularly if they intend to appeal to enthusiasts like this Intel P45 board. Besides the options listed above, there are also some of Gigabyte's own BIOS tools to enable automatic overclocking for certain components like the CPU (CPU Intelligent Accelerator 2), the graphics chip (Robust Graphics Booster) and memory while it also supports XMP memory profiles. Others like its DualBIOS option ensures that a safety net for your BIOS settings while the Q-Flash utility helps enthusiasts to update their BIOS with minimal hassle at the BIOS level.

When it came to overclocking, we could easily hit 400MHz FSB with almost no tweaks, though we had to adjust the voltages for higher numbers. The overall overclocking experience was as usual a simple and smooth affair as it has been for the last few generations of Gigabyte boards. Eventually we hit a stable operating wall at 480MHz. Not the highest we've seen for this class of boards, but still pretty decent. The board was unable to load Windows XP when pushed any higher. We're sure there is greater allowance for those with the patience to tweak the many settings for voltages and timings on this board. In fact Gigabyte has a couple of beta BIOS for those who want to go further down this path.

Test Setup

Since we had previously reviewed a P45 board in the form of the ASUS P5Q3 Deluxe, that was the first board we'll compare the Gigabyte GA-EP45T-EXTREME directly with. We also threw in a number of different chipsets, like the P35 based MSI Diamond and the X38 based ASUS P5E3 Deluxe to gauge how it compares to these more mature chipsets. To benchmark these boards, the following hardware configuration will be used:

• Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850 processor (3.00GHz)
• 2 x 1GB Kingston HyperX DDR3-1333 @ 7-7-20 CAS 7.0
• Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 200GB SATA hard disk drive (one single NTFS partition)
• MSI GeForce 8600 GTS 256MB - with ForceWare 162.18 drivers
• Intel INF 9.0.0.1007 and AHCI 8.0.0.1039 driver set (ASUS P5Q3 Deluxe and Gigabyte GA-EP45T-EXTREME)
• Intel INF 8.3.1.1013 and AHCI 7.5.0.1017 driver set (other older boards)
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2 (and DirectX 9.0c)

Benchmarks

The following benchmarks will be used to determine the performance of the Gigabyte GA-EP45T-EXTREME:-

• BAPco SYSmark 2004 (with Patch 2)
• Futuremark PCMark05 (ver 120)
• SPECviewperf 9.0
• AquaMark3

Results - BAPco SYSmark 2004

Starting with the comprehensive system benchmark suite from BAPco, we found the Gigabyte's overall score to be slightly lower than the rest of the boards here. When we looked at the two different sections, the Gigabyte remained lowest though the margin was more significant for the Internet Content Creation section. Considering that this relatively fresh Gigabyte board was up against the better and more mature representatives (on the other chipsets), it was a decent result.

Results - Futuremark PCMark05

Despite falling behind the ASUS in the System score of PCMark05, the Gigabyte was ahead of the other two boards. This is a sign of the potential of the newer P45 chipset, though both the ASUS P5Q3 Deluxe and the Gigabyte were behind when you looked at the breakdown. This is likely due to the better graphics subsystem of the Intel P45 boards which come into play in the System suite test, and thus the new boards fared better. Peering into the breakdown, the ASUS P5Q3 Deluxe generally had a slight lead over the Gigabyte, except for the hard drive performance, which favored the Gigabyte narrowly.

Results - SPECviewperf 9.0

There was little to separate the boards in these two tests within the SPECview 9.0 suite for the graphics and memory subsystems.

Results - AquaMark3

The graphics segment in AquaMark3 showed that all the boards were too closely matched to have any discernible real-life performance difference, though for the CPU section, the Gigabyte board was marginally slower than the ASUS P5Q3 Deluxe.

Temperature

Now, we come to a section that's hotly contested among the top motherboard vendors currently. Even with the relatively cool temperatures that we have seen on P45 boards, vendors are still hard at work trying to improve it further, which is exactly why this Gigabyte board is packed with a massive albeit optional radiator. While those who use liquid cooling will appreciate having such an array of fins to tap into, in our opinion, the average overclocker would probably not notice the slight difference in having the Hybrid Silent Pipe heatsink installed.

Here, we compare the Gigabyte GA-EP45T-EXTREME to the ASUS P5Q3 Deluxe. The temperatures taken are the average readings from the rear heatsink fins for both boards when idling at desktop and also when running four threads simultaneously in SPECviewperf 10.0 to replicate a full load.

Power Consumption

To find out which board had the edge when it came to power consumption, we ran Gigabyte's DES Advanced and also ASUS' EPU-Six Engine utilities and set them both to maximum energy saving. Then we measured the peak power draw of the system when idling at desktop and also when it was running a full load of four threads in SPECviewperf 10.0.

At idle, both boards were comparable, with the Gigabyte using an almost negligible 2W less than the ASUS. However, this was the reverse once we loaded the system, with the ASUS significantly drawing less power than the Gigabyte. Therefore, it would appear that the ASUS board has the edge but then this test was about the peak power draw at full load and we all know that doesn't happen too often in the real world. What would the average power consumption be under varying conditions?

For that, we had to turn to SYSmark 2004 for a rough approximation of a more varied workload spanning multiple applications, including idle times. We set our power meter to measure the average power consumed within a specified time frame of 1.5 hours (which is the approximate running time for SYSmark 2004 on such a system configuration) and the following was what we got:

The result would appear to be a draw between the two boards at 0.21kw/hr once the energy saving technologies were enabled (maximum setting) for both. However, if you're one that do not bother with such utilities, then the Gigabyte would be the better choice, since even without installing DES Advanced, it consumed 0.22kw/hr, only marginally more than having DES Advanced enabled. This was not the case with the ASUS, with its difference of 0.03kw/hr that will probably sum up to a substantial amount over time.

Obviously, these results could change with a different workload; one with heavy workloads may favor the ASUS. The granularity of the results could also be improved with a power meter that measured to a finer degree. Hopefully, as we accumulate more results from other brands, we may come up with a more definitive answer.

Besides power draw matter, from what we saw, enabling these power savings came with a slight penalty to performance. There is however probably a distinct reason why the results are such on each board. On the ASUS motherboard, the utility actually manipulates the system's FSB bus up and down depending in the power profile selected; essentially overclocking or underclocking it. With the most aggressive power profile selected in this trial, the ASUS board was actually running underclocked somewhat (which we verified on CPU-Z). The Gigabyte board however didn't use such tactics with its DES Advanced and was running at the required clock speeds. Even so, the board produced lower results in SYSmark. Since it apparently works by sending the processor to a lower power state along with reduced power phases in operation, it is a possibility that the threshold of system loading levels whereby the system toggles a heightened operational state, are set higher than usual.

Below, we have the SYSmark scores with the two power saving technologies enabled. As you can see, the SYSmark scores dipped between 5 - 9% on these two boards.

Conclusion

When Gigabyte launched its full range of Intel P45 motherboards at Computex 2008, we were dazzled by the number of models available. Obviously, within that comprehensive list, the company has a high-end version targeted at the 'extreme' overclocking enthusiasts. While the P45 chipset itself is one of the cooler chipsets from Intel thanks to its 65nm manufacturing origins, motherboard vendors have gone all out to produce elaborate cooling systems that appeal to a small niche of users. Hence, there are boards from DFI and Foxconn, which either have giant heatsink towers or liquid cooling copper blocks.

With the Gigabyte GA-EP45T-EXTREME, the manufacturer has the best of both worlds, with a full copper block for liquid cooling together with an additional wall of radiating fins that takes up an expansion slot. Additionally, overclocking enthusiasts should be delighted with the extensive BIOS options on the EXTREME, along with the various LED indicators that have been added. Existing features like DualBIOS, XpressRecovery 2 and Q-Flash are all useful for enthusiasts.

Since our overclocking ventures turned out tame by comparison what the board was actually catered for, we can't say firsthand about the thorough effectiveness of this cooling system but just going by the weight and the design principles, it is a considerable addition. As it is now, at default clocks, the temperatures of the heatsinks on this board were in the 30 - 35 degrees Celsius range, with the higher temperatures recorded on the heat pipes. It compares favorably against ASUS' P5Q3 Deluxe, which uses a relatively simple heatsink for the North and Southbridge chips.

In fact, we were more interested in the performance of Gigabyte's new Dynamic Energy Saver technology, which is now an 'Advanced' version, along with its much touted dynamic multi-gear phase switching technology. While we had no way to accurately test if the gear switch is as smooth and energy efficient as Gigabyte claims, we did try to replicate a real-world situation using SYSmark 2004 and found out the average power consumption of the Gigabyte board. The end result showed that even without DES Advanced, the Gigabyte board was already doing quite well compared to the ASUS P5Q3 Deluxe, though they were more or less tied once the respective energy saving technologies from both sides were implemented.

In terms of overall performance however, this Gigabyte did not stand out from the other boards compared and was actually one of the slower ones. However, this being an early sample running on the first retail BIOS revision, we think there's probably room for further improvement and the differences were not sufficient to raise any alarms (yet).

For all the bells and whistle, you can expect this Gigabyte board to be one of the more expensive components you can get for a system. Presently, online retailers have it at around US$250, which is a good 30 to 40 dollars more than ASUS' P5Q3 Deluxe, which is not exactly a slouch feature-wise. By contrast, Gigabyte's own mainstream P45 boards like its DS3 series are around US$110 - 119. However, other recent enthusiast boards like Foxconn's X48 based Blackops will set you back by US$349 at least so that should put this pricey Gigabyte board into perspective. We certainly won't recommend it to the casual user or even the typical enthusiast. As for those who can fulfill the overclocking potential of this board, we're sure you have been eying the GA-EP45T-EXTREME for a while now and nothing we say about its value and price will stop you from trying it out.

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