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GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3

The GA-965P-DS3 is among GIGABYTE’s line touting full support for the Intel Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processor line. This is a no-nonsense version of the flagship GA-965P-DQ6 and we are hoping to see a lot of OC potential at an easy price .

Introduction

GIGABYTE is a well known computer component manufacturer, with a myriad of stable and high performance parts under its belt. Historically, the company has concentrated on making high performance stock speed products, leaving the overclocking arena to the other manufacturers. They might not agree with that statement, but that is the way we have seen it for a while. Only this year we have started considering GIGABYTE when building our own systems. This is not something that has happened for a long time, if ever. Their latest Core 2 Duo product lines seem to be setting new standards with enthusiasts. GIGABYTE seems to be making steps to dedicate itself to having the highest performance motherboard in the market.

The GA-965P-DS3 is GIGABYTE’s base level offering supporting the Intel Core 2 Duo CPU lineup, based on the LGA 775 socket. The board is designed using the Intel P965 Express Northbridge and ICH8 Southbridge chipsets. Note that the ICH8 Southbridge chipset supports only SATA devices, with no support for IDE. The P965 Express chipset supports all LGA 775 type processors, DDR2 DRAM modules operating in Dual Channel mode up to 800MHz, as well as PCI Express bases x16 graphics cards in single card mode. The GA-965P-DS3 is feature complete, requiring an Intel LGA 775 style processor, DDR2 memory, drives, and a PSU for a fully working system. The GA-965P-DS3 contains the following integrated components: 4 SATA II ports on the Intel ICH8 controller; 1 IDE ATA-100 port and 2 SATA II ports (RAID 0 and 1 capable) on the GIGABYTE ITE based controller; 10 USB 2.0 capable ports (4 in rear panel, and 3 onboard headers supporting 2 ports each); 1 Marvell Yukon GigE Ethernet port in rear panel; Realtek 8-channel audio codec featuring an S/PDIF optical and RCA component output ports; and serial, parallel, and PS/2 port support in the rear panel.

Motherboard Specifications Overview

Detailed Mainboard Specification List

Packaging

Similar to their other Core 2 Duo based boards, GIGABYTE chose a simple white reflective design for the GA-965P-DS3’s box, with the chipset and supported CPUs clearly marked in large letters across the box front. GIGABYTE includes the following with the GA-965P-DS3: IDE ATA-100 and floppy ribbon cables; SATA cables; the rear panel shield, and the normal complement of driver CDs and manuals.

Board Layout

Overall, GIGABYTE did a superb job on the GA-965P-DS3’s layout and design. All components have adequate spacing between them, including around the CPU socket and in between the PCI Express x16 slot and the left side DIMM latches. The board itself did not have any type of identifying revision or serial number marking clearly evident. While none of the capacitors have markings clearly indicating a manufacturer, GIGABYTE did chose to use all metal high quality solid state capacitors in the GA-965P-DS3’s design.

The CPU socket is clear of obstructions all around, even though it looks a bit tight to its top and right sides. The board is designed to use the LGA775 standard 4 hole mounting mechanism for CPU cooler hold-down. The P965 Northbridge chipset is located directly to the left of the CPU socket, covered by a large aluminum heat sink. The sink is held to the chipset via 2 push-pins located on opposite sides of one another. I found in testing that the Northbridge did not require active cooling under stock operating conditions. The front panel audio header is directly above the Northbridge chipset, while the 4-pin ATX12V connector is along the edge of the board to the right of the CPU socket.

The included DDR2 style DIMM slots, 4 in total, are arranged in a 2-by-2 configuration. Dual Channel memory mode is activated by placing modules across the 2 sets, in like colored slots. The 4-pin CPU_FAN header is located to the right of the upper DIMM slot set, with the 4-pin SYS_FAN header, and the floppy and 24-pin ATX power ports located below the lower set.

The ICH8 Southbridge is situated to the lower left of the PCI Express x16 port, covered by a low profile aluminum heat sink. The sink is held to the chipset with 2 push-pins on opposite sides of the chipset, very similar to the Northbridge mechanism. The SATA 2 ports tied to the chipset are to its lower left, and colored orange. The GIGABYTE SATA 2 ports (colored purple), IDE port, and controller are to the left and above the ICH8’s SATA 2 ports. The front panel header is located in the lower left corner of the board, with the power LED header and chassis intrusion header just above it. The 3 onboard USB 2.0 headers are located to the outside left of PCI slot 3.

The GA-965P-DS3 ships with 1 PCI Express x16 slot, 3 PCI-Express x1 slots, and 3 PCI slots. Notice that GIGABYTE chose to place one of the PCI Express x1 slots to the right of the PCI Express x16 slot, in order to allow room for video cards with large heat sinks. The CMOS battery and reset jumper are located between the lower portion of the PCI Express x16 slot and PCI slot 1. Note that in order to clear the CMOS, a jumper must be placed on the CMOS reset jumper pins. The S/PDIF input and CD_IN ports are located in the upper right corner of the board.

The GA-965P-DS3’s rear panel includes the following integrated ports: PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports; parallel and COM ports; 4 USB 2.0 ports; 1 Marvell Yukon Gigabit LAN Ethernet port; 6 analogue audio ports; and S/PDIF RCA component and optical output ports.

GIGABYTE EasyTune 5

For windows based monitoring and overclocking, GIGABYTE chose to package version 5 of their EasyTune software with the GA-965P-DQ6 motherboard, with revision 2006.06.14 being used in testing. From the default overclocking screen, the application offers 2 modes of operation, Easy and Advanced. Easy Mode allows for increasing the current CPU FSB by percentage using the provided up and down arrow keys. Advanced mode allows for bus speed and voltage tweaking of most of the same options allowed through the BIOS including CPU, DDR, and PCI-Express bus speed and voltage.

The button marked CIA MIB gives access to the CIA/CIA2/MIB/MIB2 selection screen. Out of the box, the GA-965P-DQ6 supports CIA2, which stands for CPU Intelligent Accelerator. The CIA2 module allows for system automated overclocking through the use of 5 preset states: Cruise, Sport, Racing, Turbo, and Full Thrust. The Cruise mode is the least aggressive setting, while the Full Thrust mode offers the most aggressive automated overclock settings.

The PC Health button gives access to a variety of submenus for monitoring various system fan header activity and voltages, as well as the ability to control alerts. The Hardware Monitor option lists current values for all monitored system voltages, fan header readings, and temperatures. The Setting option allows for configuration of minimum allowable fan speed and maximum safe component temperature thresholds. The Alert Audio Setting controls the alert action taken by the system when one of the monitored fan header's speed goes below the minimum speed threshold, or if a monitored temperature goes above the maximum temperature threshold.