Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R Living Review

[supershanks]

Hope there might be some useful stuff in here for you guys:-
Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R Living Review
I'm particularly pleasently suprised  at how much cooler the CPU is running see
Their not bulls***ting about that 2oz PCB running cooler

cheers 

[runn3R]

Hi supershanks

thanks for the info, really appreciate

[neilgl]

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

[supershanks]

Be interesting to see your opinion 

[neilgl]

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

[supershanks]

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.

[neilgl]

Hi supershanks,
yes - which benchmarking tool(s) did you use - I could run the same...
Regards,
Neil

[supershanks]

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
To monitor temps:-
CoreTemp
RealTemp
I made sure that tjmax was set to 95C on both apps as this is the official value from Intel.

[neilgl]

OK, downloaded all OK and am running them on my ASRock775 (old) system, just off to Gigabyte now to RMA the failed P35 board.

[neilgl]

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....

[supershanks]

Thanks for your efforts neilgl , nice to see my test wasn't a fluke. It's quite a decent reduction.

Have not done the GA-EP35-DS3R (E6550) test yet as my son is on World of Warcraft....

[neilgl]

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

[neilgl]

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

[runn3R]

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.

[supershanks]

Well Andrew i'm convinced   
Thanks for running the tests neilgl