It’s hard to write a review when the product you’re reviewing has very few, mostly negligible flaws. The Gigabyte X48T-DQ6 is further proof that the saying, “you get what you pay for” can be entirely correct — it’s a little more expensive than the average motherboard, but it’s unquestionably a premium product.
Based on Intel’s current flagship chipset, Gigabyte’s X48T-DQ6 shares many features with its X48-based siblings, the X48-DS5 and X48-DQ6. Aside from a few tiny improvements, the major difference with the X48T-DQ6 lies in its support for blazing-fast, soon-to-be-standard DDR3 memory. Not only does this make the X48T-DQ6 a more future proof product, but also gives it more performance potential as well. In the land of the hardcore hardware enthusiast and power-hungry PC user, this reason alone is more than worth the cost of entry. The rest of us, however, need a little more convincing. Fortunately the X48T-DQ6 is stacked, coming with a slew of features and offering a higher build quality than any other motherboard I’ve seen.
The list of features for the X48T-DQ6 is long, so bear with me. The Q6 in “DQ6” is actually an acronym used to label six areas of the motherboard that have four (“Q”uad) layers of redundancy or expansion. The most obvious of these features are the Quad DDR3 slots, Quad e-SATA2 ports for external HDDs, and the motherboard’s optimization for Quad-core processors. Not so obvious are the Quad Cooling, Quad Triple Phase power design, and Quad BIOS.
Quad Cooling is arguably one of the coolest aspects of the motherboard (pardon the pun). The X48T-DQ6 has passive heat-pipe cooling — dubbed ‘Silent Pipe’ — on both the North and South Bridge like most motherboards. Additionally, there are heatsinks on the power MOSFETs as well as the new ‘Crazy Cool’ cooling system designed to cool the underside of the CPU. Gigabyte (and the laws of physics) are quick to mention that this added cooling will improve the lifespan of the components, while increasing stability at stock speeds or overclocked.
While it might not be as cool as Quad Cooling, the Quad BIOS allows for worry free BIOS updates and tweaking. Using Gigabyte’s DualBIOS (two physical BIOS chips on the motherboard) along with Express BIOS Rescue Technology (to store copies of the BIOS in flash memory, the HDD, or CD) gives the X48T-DQ6 a seemingly bullet-proof BIOS backup system. Along with having a primary and secondary BIOS chip, you can save the BIOS data in multiple locations in case you ever need to restore either of the DualBIOS chips. This is a godsend for overclockers and a safety net for newer computer users.
The X48T-DQ6 also has 2-Gigabit Ethernet with both fault tolerance and receiver side scaling. Like the dual-phone line “Shotgun” technology of yore, 2GBit Ethernet uses Teaming in order to simultaneously run two RJ-45 Gigabit connections as one, effectively doubling throughput. It’s clever and undoubtedly gives you a network speed advantage, however, the real world boost may not be significant since most home users have yet to max out the standard 1Gbit/s.
Next: Feature packedFeature packed
Other unique features of the Gigabyte’s top-tier motherboards are the Ultra-Durable 2 manufacturing process and Dynamic Energy Saver software. Ultra Durable 2 uses better cooling and components on the board to ensure more stable operation and increase the lifespan of the hardware. Dynamic Energy Saver is similar to laptop throttling, essentially cutting back on power when the system is idle and giving you the right amount of juice if you need the additional power. The combination of Ultra Durable 2 and Dynamic Energy Saver (DES) is where the real magic is; not only are all the components more efficient and cooler in their own right, but when used in conjunction with Gigabyte’s DES, the difference in power consumption and operating temperature is substantial.
The onboard audio is controlled by the ALC889A with DTS Connect. By offering 7.1 + 2 channel audio and supporting the latest audio formats for Blu-Ray (and HD-DVD) playback, the ALC889A is arguably the most capable integrated audio solution available. Moreover, it works magnificently well when connected to an external audio receiver. The two additional channels are used to stream a separate stereo channel to another set of speakers… I can’t think of a practical purpose for this functionality, but it’s there in case you ever need it.
With all those features and all that praise, you may be left with the impression that the X48T-DQ6 is a quintessential, must-have motherboard. However, like all things, it’s not perfect. For example there is no built-in Wi-Fi. The fact that this is a performance motherboard and Wi-Fi can’t reach the speeds of most wired connections (never mind the X48T-DQ6’s 2Gbit Ethernet), the reason for the exclusion is understandable. That said, it still would have been nice to see some kind of built-in wireless interconnectivity.
Similarly annoying is that even though the X48T-DQ6 supports ATI's multiple graphics card CrossFireX standard, nVidia has not allowed Intel to use their SLI technology in chipsets (including the X48 Express). While this is due to Intel/nVidia and not Gigabyte, the fact remains that you will not officially be able to run two nVidia cards in tandem. The only scenario where this could really be a problem is if you’ve already got the two nVidia video cards or if you explicitly plan on using SLI.Again, both of these omissions are only minor annoyances, but not having to worry about either Wi-Fi or SLI support would have inched this motherboard that much closer to perfect… And after testing the 9800GX2 (nVidia) recently, I really wanted to partner-up a pair of them in the X48T-DQ6 just to see how fast the system could be pushed.
To think that the lack of built-in Wi-Fi and SLI-support are X48T-DQ6’s biggest weaknesses when neither of those two functions can be found on the vast majority of motherboards is a testament to the X48T-DQ6’s awesomeness. With Ultra Durable 2 design, the coolest operating temperatures around, and using the highest quality power components ensures that the X48T-DQ6 will last for years to come in even the most strenuous conditions.
Supporting DDR3 and 45nm processors, while being optimized for both Windows Vista and quad-core CPUs, the X48T-DQ6 has more future proofing than you could hope for, while pushing the current performance envelope. This is the best motherboard I’ve used so far this year and, unless Intel’s forthcoming chipset blows the X48 Express out of the water (unlikely), the X48T-DQ6 could very easily end up being my favourite motherboard of 2008.
Based on Intel’s current flagship chipset, Gigabyte’s X48T-DQ6 shares many features with its X48-based siblings, the X48-DS5 and X48-DQ6. Aside from a few tiny improvements, the major difference with the X48T-DQ6 lies in its support for blazing-fast, soon-to-be-standard DDR3 memory. Not only does this make the X48T-DQ6 a more future proof product, but also gives it more performance potential as well. In the land of the hardcore hardware enthusiast and power-hungry PC user, this reason alone is more than worth the cost of entry. The rest of us, however, need a little more convincing. Fortunately the X48T-DQ6 is stacked, coming with a slew of features and offering a higher build quality than any other motherboard I’ve seen.
The list of features for the X48T-DQ6 is long, so bear with me. The Q6 in “DQ6” is actually an acronym used to label six areas of the motherboard that have four (“Q”uad) layers of redundancy or expansion. The most obvious of these features are the Quad DDR3 slots, Quad e-SATA2 ports for external HDDs, and the motherboard’s optimization for Quad-core processors. Not so obvious are the Quad Cooling, Quad Triple Phase power design, and Quad BIOS.
Quad Cooling is arguably one of the coolest aspects of the motherboard (pardon the pun). The X48T-DQ6 has passive heat-pipe cooling — dubbed ‘Silent Pipe’ — on both the North and South Bridge like most motherboards. Additionally, there are heatsinks on the power MOSFETs as well as the new ‘Crazy Cool’ cooling system designed to cool the underside of the CPU. Gigabyte (and the laws of physics) are quick to mention that this added cooling will improve the lifespan of the components, while increasing stability at stock speeds or overclocked.
While it might not be as cool as Quad Cooling, the Quad BIOS allows for worry free BIOS updates and tweaking. Using Gigabyte’s DualBIOS (two physical BIOS chips on the motherboard) along with Express BIOS Rescue Technology (to store copies of the BIOS in flash memory, the HDD, or CD) gives the X48T-DQ6 a seemingly bullet-proof BIOS backup system. Along with having a primary and secondary BIOS chip, you can save the BIOS data in multiple locations in case you ever need to restore either of the DualBIOS chips. This is a godsend for overclockers and a safety net for newer computer users.
The X48T-DQ6 also has 2-Gigabit Ethernet with both fault tolerance and receiver side scaling. Like the dual-phone line “Shotgun” technology of yore, 2GBit Ethernet uses Teaming in order to simultaneously run two RJ-45 Gigabit connections as one, effectively doubling throughput. It’s clever and undoubtedly gives you a network speed advantage, however, the real world boost may not be significant since most home users have yet to max out the standard 1Gbit/s.
Next: Feature packedFeature packed
Other unique features of the Gigabyte’s top-tier motherboards are the Ultra-Durable 2 manufacturing process and Dynamic Energy Saver software. Ultra Durable 2 uses better cooling and components on the board to ensure more stable operation and increase the lifespan of the hardware. Dynamic Energy Saver is similar to laptop throttling, essentially cutting back on power when the system is idle and giving you the right amount of juice if you need the additional power. The combination of Ultra Durable 2 and Dynamic Energy Saver (DES) is where the real magic is; not only are all the components more efficient and cooler in their own right, but when used in conjunction with Gigabyte’s DES, the difference in power consumption and operating temperature is substantial.
The onboard audio is controlled by the ALC889A with DTS Connect. By offering 7.1 + 2 channel audio and supporting the latest audio formats for Blu-Ray (and HD-DVD) playback, the ALC889A is arguably the most capable integrated audio solution available. Moreover, it works magnificently well when connected to an external audio receiver. The two additional channels are used to stream a separate stereo channel to another set of speakers… I can’t think of a practical purpose for this functionality, but it’s there in case you ever need it.
With all those features and all that praise, you may be left with the impression that the X48T-DQ6 is a quintessential, must-have motherboard. However, like all things, it’s not perfect. For example there is no built-in Wi-Fi. The fact that this is a performance motherboard and Wi-Fi can’t reach the speeds of most wired connections (never mind the X48T-DQ6’s 2Gbit Ethernet), the reason for the exclusion is understandable. That said, it still would have been nice to see some kind of built-in wireless interconnectivity.
Similarly annoying is that even though the X48T-DQ6 supports ATI's multiple graphics card CrossFireX standard, nVidia has not allowed Intel to use their SLI technology in chipsets (including the X48 Express). While this is due to Intel/nVidia and not Gigabyte, the fact remains that you will not officially be able to run two nVidia cards in tandem. The only scenario where this could really be a problem is if you’ve already got the two nVidia video cards or if you explicitly plan on using SLI.Again, both of these omissions are only minor annoyances, but not having to worry about either Wi-Fi or SLI support would have inched this motherboard that much closer to perfect… And after testing the 9800GX2 (nVidia) recently, I really wanted to partner-up a pair of them in the X48T-DQ6 just to see how fast the system could be pushed.
To think that the lack of built-in Wi-Fi and SLI-support are X48T-DQ6’s biggest weaknesses when neither of those two functions can be found on the vast majority of motherboards is a testament to the X48T-DQ6’s awesomeness. With Ultra Durable 2 design, the coolest operating temperatures around, and using the highest quality power components ensures that the X48T-DQ6 will last for years to come in even the most strenuous conditions.
Supporting DDR3 and 45nm processors, while being optimized for both Windows Vista and quad-core CPUs, the X48T-DQ6 has more future proofing than you could hope for, while pushing the current performance envelope. This is the best motherboard I’ve used so far this year and, unless Intel’s forthcoming chipset blows the X48 Express out of the water (unlikely), the X48T-DQ6 could very easily end up being my favourite motherboard of 2008.
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