X38 Comparison Part 1: DDR2 Motherboards

BIOS And Overclocking

Gigabyte's voltage and frequency selections have a far more reasonable range than those of some competitors: Like a 50-MPH speedometer on a moped, Gigabyte realizes that an 800 MHz FSB clock is just wishful thinking. In fact, the GA-X38-DQ6's 700 MHz bus clock limit (FSB2800) is already way beyond chipset capabilities.

We reached a record-matching 4.168 GHz speed at 521 MHz FSB clock and an 8x multiplier for our E6750 test sample using Gigabyte's X38-DQ6. Dropping the CPU multiplier to 6x allowed a bus speed increase to 535 MHz, which was a middling result compared to top-overclocking P35 boards. There's no long-winded story behind how we reached 4.168 GHz; we simply set the same 1.60 volt CPU core, 1.50 volt CPU FSB and 1.50-1.55 Northbridge voltage used for testing other recently introduced P35 and X38 boards.

Accessories

Rather than include the full number of allowed internal SATA cables, the GA-X38-DQ6 provides two internal SATA to eSATA breakout plates with eSATA-to-SATA data cables and ATA-to-SATA power adapters to support four internal drives externally. Of course, the breakout plates can also be used with external devices.

Bonus software includes Norton Internet Security 2007 and Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6.0, plus a variety of system, BIOS, and overclocking utilities. Buyers will need to purchase their games separately, but that might be a better choice for anyone who doesn't want the one game included in a certain competing package.