Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6 (Intel X48)

Overclocking and Test Setup

Overclocking

• FSB Settings: 100MHz to 700MHz
• DDR2 Settings: Auto, 2.0, 2.4, 2.5, 2.66, 3.0, 3.2, 3.33, 4.0 (FSB Strap Dependent)
• PCIe Settings: 90MHz to 150MHz
• CPU Voltage Settings: 0.51250V to 1.60000V (in 0.00625V steps), 1.60V to 2.35 (in 0.05V steps)
• Memory Voltage Settings: +0.05V to +1.55V (in 0.05V steps)
• PCIe Voltage Settings: +0.05V to +0.75V (in 0.05V steps)
• MCH Voltage Settings: +0.025V to +0.375V (in 0.025V steps)
• FSB Voltage Settings: +0.05V to +0.35V (in 0.05V steps)
• Multiplier Selection: Yes (unlocked CPUs only)

The BIOS of the GA-X48-DQ6 also remain largely the same from its predecessor, the GA-X38-DQ6. While Gigabyte has had time to refine a few options for better granularity, overclockers will be quite familiar with the options. The overclockability of the motherboard has not changed as well, and is still as high as before. In our tests, we managed to push the FSB up to 495MHz of rock solid performance. If you're the conservative type, the board is able to reach 480MHz, without any need to increase voltages. To reach 495MHz though, we had to boost the FSB voltage a tad higher than default. Still and excellent board for overclocking.

Test Setup

Considering its heritage, we will benchmark the Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6 with its siblings, the GA-X38-DQ6, which shares its DDR2 configuration, as well as the GA-X38T-DQ6 just for good measure.

• Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850 processor (3.00GHz)
• 2 x 1GB Kingston HyperX DDR2-800 @ 4-4-12 CAS 4.0 (For DDR2 boards)
• 2 x 1GB Kingston HyperX DDR3-1333 @ 7-7-20 CAS 7.0 (For DDR3 boards)
• 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 8.3.1.1013 and AHCI 7.5.0.1017 driver set
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2 (and DirectX 9.0c)

Benchmarks

The following benchmarks will be run to determine the performance of the Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6:-

• BAPco SYSmark 2004
• Futuremark PCMark05
• SPECviewperf 9.0
• AquaMark3