Test: Gigabyte EP45-UD3P

Konklusion

Artiklen er ved at være færdig, og det er nu min opgave at forsøge bedst muligt at beskrive for alle jer læsere, hvordan mine erfaringer med Gigabyte EP45-UD3P har været. Well, først og fremmest, så må jeg starte med at fortælle hvor kæbedroppende en oplevelse det var at futte op for noget vCore, sænke multiplieren en lille smule, og så ellers smække boardet op på 600 MHz FSB, for derefter se boardet boote op og lade mig benchmarke som var det standard. Måske i en våd drøm efter en hård nat med at finde et boards bristepunkt har jeg oplevet noget lignende, men at kunne knibe sig i armen og gentage forsøget, er en oplevelse jeg som overclocker sent kommer til at glemme. Hvis det er den strategi Gigabyte har tænkt sig at ligge for dagen fremover, så tager jeg hatten af og glemmer gladeligt alt om store kabelpakker, smarte poser, extra blæsere, vandkølehoveder og hvad bundkortproducenter ellers smider med deres boards i disse dage for at retfærdiggøre en højere pris, eller for at overgå konkurrenten. Og det leder mig hen til det store spørgsmål; "Hvad koster'n så"? Det kan købes for lige omkring en 1000-lap, og så er vi på niveau med Biostar's ukronede FSB-konge P45 T-Power, der dog halter langt efter EP45-UD3P i nemheds-faktoren ved overclocking.

Innovation/Teknologi - 4
P45 er ikke et nyt chipsæt, og der er både nehalem og X58 på vej om hjørnet til at tørre P45 godt og grundigt. Derfor holder P45 dog stadig som et suverænt overclocking chipsæt, og derfor skal scoren her også være derefter.

Bundle/Tilbehør - 3
Der er ikke meget mere end hvad der er højest nødvendigt vedlagt i kassen, men vi tager det ikke tungt, når vi både kan se og opleve at pengene er brugt på "noget mere fornuftigt", som f.eks udviklingen af boardets BIOS, der under alle omstændigheder ikke har været en smal sag.

Design/Layout - 4
Boardet er for et Gigabytekort faktisk slet ikke så rodet og muti-farvet, som vi kunne ha' forventet. Det ser ud til at Gigabyte måske har fået øjnene op for, at der er nogle mennesker der også godt kan li' at få en synsoplevelse, når de kigger på deres maskiners indre. Bevares, det er måske stadig et halvhjertet forsøg, men det fortjener alligevel at blive nævnt. Ultra Durable er et begreb for mig, der simpelthen er umulig at efterprøve, da det vil ta' sindsygt mange timer at slide et motherboard ned. Det vi kan sige er, at det er bevist at komponenter som Solid Capacitors, rent faktisk tager nogle flere tæv end den normale slags. Sammen med resten af salgstalen om über holdbarhed, forbarmer vi os og giver et point over middel.

Software/BIOS - 5
Som før omtalt, så er boardet her en drøm at arbejde med, simpelthen fordi det clocker så extremt højt, og til gengæld forventer så lidt af ens evner som overclocker. Enhver der er i stand til at hæve vCore, indstille multiplieren og ellers plotte 600 ind under FSB er i stand til at lege med de store drenge med dette board, da alle andre indstilliger kan efterlades på AUTO. Hatten af for Gigabytes BIOS-team.

Ydelse - 5
600 MHz FSB har vi kun opnået en enkelt gang før, og det var i denne omgang ikke engang grænsen, da det lykkedes os at få 640 MHz FSB, dog ustabilt - men stadig stabilt nok til at udføre en 1M SuperPI, hvilket igen vidner om at boardet er i en klasse hævet lang over hovedparten af de boards, der i dag sælges som overclockingboards.

Pris - 5
En lyn-hurtig copy/paste fra EDBpriser.dk, fortæller os at boardet koster kr. 1101,- Det er som før sagt i samme prisgruppe som Biostars P45 T-power, og derfor fortjener Gigabytes EP45-UD3P også samme hæder i form af et 5-tal.

Test: Gigabyte EP45-UD3P

Innovation / Teknologi	4
Bundle - Tilbehør	3
Design - Layout	4
Software - BIOS	5
Ydelse	5
Pris	5
Samlet	86%

UK summary

This review is just about done, and it's now my job to pass on my experience with Gigabyte EP45-UD3P as best as possible. Well, first of all I need to start, with pointing out how much of a jaw-dropping experience is was to raise the vCore, adjust the multiplier and plot in 600 FSB, and afterwards watch the board boot up, and let me benchmark as if it was standard. Perhaps in a wet dream after a long night of pushing a board to it's limits, have I had an according experience, but beeing able to pinch my arm and repeat the benchmarks, is an experience I will not soon forget. If this is to be the strategy Gigabyte will persue in the future, I for one am easily able to forget all about large packs of cables, fancy bags, extra fans, watercooling-parts and everything else motherboard manufacuturers are bundling with thier boards theese days, to justfy a higher price, or to surpass the competition. And this leads me to the big question: "what's the price?" The board can be purchased for around DKK 1000,- which put's it right in the pricerange of Biostars uncrowned  FSB King P45 T-Power, which however cannot compete at all in terms of easyness of overclocking.

Innovation/Technology - 4
The P45 chiset is no longer the newest, and nehalem and X58 are just aroud the corner, ready to wipe out it's predecessors. P45 is still a superior overclocking chipset, and therefore the score is accordingly.

Bundle/Accessories - 3
There's not much more than the bare necceseties bundled with this board, but it's not a major concern, since money has been so obviusly spent on "more     sensible" things, like the becoming of the BIOS, which undoubtfully has not come easy.

Design/Layout - 4
This board is actually not as multi-colored as we could have expected from Gigabyte. It looks like Gigabyte has had an revelation about people that enjoy the visuals, when gazing at the inner of their computers. Ok, so it might not exactly be a revelation, but it does need to be pointed out, so Gigabyte might go full monty next time around. Ultra Durable is for me someting there's simply impossible to put in a test. What I can say though, is that things such as Solid Capacitors, is provably better at taking a beating than the normal kind. This along with the rest of the speech on duabillity from Gigabyte, makes us end up at 4 points.

Software/BIOS - 5
As stated earlier, this board is simply a dream to work with, simply because it overclocks so high, and in return expects so little of ones overclocking-abillities. Anyone able to raise the vCore, adjust the multiplier and plot in 600 FSB, is able to play with the big boys of overclocking, since everything else can be left on AUTO. I humbly remove my hat from the top of my head, in respect of Gigabytes BIOS-team.

Performance - 5
600 MHz FSB is something we have only achived once before, and this timearound it wasn't even the limit, as we managed to boot and perform a SuperPI 1M at astonishing 640 MHz FSB, which once again bares witness to this board as being in a class of it's own, raised high above the vast majority of boards sold today as overclockingboards

Price - 5
A quick copy/paste from EDBpriser.dk tells us that the board can be purchased for DKK 1101,- This is, as before mentioned, in the same pricerange as Biostars P45 T-power, and therefore Gigabytes EP45-UD3P deserves the same honor, in form of a topscore.