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Questions about GIGABYTE products => Motherboards with Intel processors => Topic started by: supershanks on January 15, 2009, 11:32:42 pm

Title: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R Living Review
Post by: supershanks on January 15, 2009, 11:32:42 pm
Hope there might be some useful stuff in here for you guys:-
 Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R Living Review  (http://www.clunk.org.uk/forums/reviews/14031-gigabyte-ga-ep45-ud3r-living-review.html)
I'm particularly pleasently suprised  at how much cooler the CPU is running see
Their not bulls***ting about that 2oz PCB running cooler (http://www.clunk.org.uk/forums/reviews/14031-gigabyte-ga-ep45-ud3r-living-review-7.html#post45481):)

cheers  ;D


Title: Re: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R Living Review
Post by: runn3R on January 16, 2009, 09:22:11 am
Hi supershanks

thanks for the info, really appreciate
Title: Re: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R Living Review
Post by: neilgl on January 17, 2009, 08:39:21 pm
Hi all,
just ordered an GA-EP45-UD3LR to repalce a failed P35C-DSR3, so I'll see how much cooler/quicker it is soon.
Regards,
Neil
Title: Re: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R Living Review
Post by: supershanks on January 17, 2009, 09:10:54 pm
Be interesting to see your opinion  ;D
Title: Re: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R Living Review
Post by: neilgl on January 18, 2009, 11:07:08 am
Yes, as I also have in the house another GA-P35C-DS3R and GA-EP35-DS3R so I can look at temperatures and performance - hehe
Title: Re: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R Living Review
Post by: supershanks on January 18, 2009, 02:15:10 pm
Be interested to see that. I'd done a few benches on mine and had noted the temps seemed low. I remembered then the review i'd done on the xigmatek cooler. and realised the only component that was different in the test was the UD3R> I have a temperature probe/gun so the ambient temps are spot on.
Title: Re: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R Living Review
Post by: neilgl on January 19, 2009, 11:50:19 am
Hi supershanks,
yes - which benchmarking tool(s) did you use - I could run the same...
Regards,
Neil
Title: Re: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R Living Review
Post by: supershanks on January 19, 2009, 12:28:11 pm
Hi Neil,
just ran Prime Blend test to check stability. ran at 4gb with 1.40v this was the test we ran to check the xigmatec cooler used
Prime95 (http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=103)
To monitor temps:-
CoreTemp (http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/)
RealTemp (http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/)
I made sure that tjmax was set to 95C on both apps as this is the official value from Intel.




Title: Re: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R Living Review
Post by: neilgl on January 20, 2009, 09:04:55 am
OK, downloaded all OK and am running them on my ASRock775 (old) system, just off to Gigabyte now to RMA the failed P35 board.
Title: Re: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R Living Review
Post by: neilgl on January 21, 2009, 07:27:31 pm
OK results so far:
GA-EP45-UD3LR, Vista 32 bit, Core2 Duo E6550, 40 minutes of running Prime95
Core 1 and 2 both at 55 degC

By contrast , the ASROCK E6300
Core 1 and 2 both at 64 degC after just 15 min.

Have not done the GA-EP35-DS3R (E6550) test yet as my son is on World of Warcraft....
Title: Re: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R Living Review
Post by: supershanks on January 21, 2009, 09:27:14 pm
Thanks for your efforts neilgl , nice to see my test wasn't a fluke. It's quite a decent reduction.

Quote
Have not done the GA-EP35-DS3R (E6550) test yet as my son is on World of Warcraft....
:D
Title: Re: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R Living Review
Post by: neilgl on January 22, 2009, 09:05:29 am
Hi supershanks,
sorry mate it was a fluke !

Just ran the tests again, not using the old ASROCK, but comparing the two Gigabyte boards:
Both using E6550 cpu, Prime95 and Real Temp 2.70, after 30 minutes:

GA-EP45UD3LR : 53 decG, 53 degC
GA-EP35-DS3R : 53 decG, 53 degC

Yes, that's right - both exactly the same temperature.

Regards,
Neil
Title: Re: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R Living Review
Post by: neilgl on January 22, 2009, 08:36:28 pm
Hi all, also note the review on Tom's Hardware Guide 22nd Jan 2009

"However, the Ultra Durable 3 technology, which incorporates considerably more copper on the inner layers of the printed circuit board paired and high-quality components, does not make any difference in performance or power efficiency. The conventional Gigabyte EP45-DS3R is just as good"

hehe
Title: Re: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R Living Review
Post by: runn3R on January 23, 2009, 05:58:08 pm
Hi neigl

the biggest advantages of 2 oz PCB design are lower temperatures and better overclocking capabilities. the other benefits include: better ESD protection, lower EMI & impedance.

And temperature being lowered was confirmed both by Tomshardware - "we still found that the Ultra Durable 3 motherboard ran considerably cooler"  (http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gigabyte-ultra-durable,review-31496-8.html) and supershanks (http://www.clunk.org.uk/forums/reviews/14031-gigabyte-ga-ep45-ud3r-living-review-7.html#post45481)

Please mind Tomshardware did not test overclocking capabilities or other benefits i mentioned.
Title: Re: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R Living Review
Post by: supershanks on January 23, 2009, 09:19:32 pm
Well Andrew i'm convinced   :D
Thanks for running the tests neilgl 
Title: Re: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R Living Review
Post by: neilgl on January 23, 2009, 10:43:36 pm
Hi all,
yes it may be better when overclocking - I have not tested that.

Presumably ESD = Electrostatic Discharge and EMI = Electromagnetic Interference
but where would the lower" impedance" be seen ?

Also, repeated the AsRock Test with a Core 2 Duo E6300 in my GA-EP35-DS3R, the temp went to 64degC on both cores after 15min. Conclusion: my E6300 is running hot c.f. the E6550 in the same board (GA-EP35-DS3R)

At the moment I'm waiting for some new RAM to arrive, one stick of my OCZ having gone west, failing on memtest86+

On my GA-EP45UD3LR I noticed the RAM  is running at 5-5-5-15 whereas it is rated at 4-4-4-15 at 400MHz, and FSB:RAM is 5:6,. I have not set anything in the BIOS
Title: Re: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R Living Review
Post by: RuiPereira on January 26, 2009, 09:27:17 am
A lot of people seem to make this same judgement, that 2oz Copper should automatically have lower temp.
This is what GIGABYTE has claimed - 2oz copper will improve power efficiency and lower temp.

GIGABYTE also did our own testing, let me explain…
We took two boards: 1x 1oz & 1x 2oz
Put them in a controlled environment, disconnected the CPU fan and started burning them  :o
The 2oz board was 50 degC cooler than the traditional 1oz motherboard.

A lot of people started questioning this, but now GIGABYTE has one of the most powerful overclocking boards around.
For example, DDR2 memory in Dual Channel reaching speeds or 1508MHz !!!
The standard should be 1066MHz (UP to 1,333MHz)
This was never possible using the 1oz boards and still maintaining the lower temp needed for stability.
Plus we not stopping here  ;)

This is all because GIGABYTE keeps focusing on quality components.

2oz
Doubling the amount of copper improves power efficiency and lowering temp

Solid Capacitors
50,000hrs Japanese Capacitors = longer lifespan for system and better electronic conductivity for excellent system performance

Low RDS(on) MOSFET
Lower power consumption during the switching process, resulting in a faster switching process and less heat generation

Ferrite Core Chock
Lower core energy loss & EMI interference and better ability of resist rust

I guess what I’m trying to say is that during standard use, the temp you getting is not a concern.
The motherboard is designed to take that heat.
Its only when you start to increase these temps by O/C’ing that you start to realise the benefits.
The board will continue to stay stable, even at higher temps.
If you not into O/C’ing, then no problem, because you still have the benefits on a high-quality build motherboard.

GIGABYTE UK
Title: Re: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R Living Review
Post by: supershanks on January 26, 2009, 11:10:35 am
Hence my pleasant suprise to find that  Their not bulls***ting about that 2oz PCB running cooler (http://www.clunk.org.uk/forums/reviews/14031-gigabyte-ga-ep45-ud3r-living-review-7.html#post4548) :lol:
It's nice when you find out that a product does do exactly  what it says on the box. Which was done running at 4.4ghz