Since i got chance to play with two of gigabyte’s high end bearlake boards, i wrote this simple review to share its performance with u guys..
As we know, Gigabyte P35 DQ6 supports ddr2 only while Gigabyte P35T DQ6 supports ddr3 only.
Both boards share a same pcb, except the ram slot is coloured differently. Red and yellow for P35 and Green and pink for P35T.
Both boards also use exactly same driver, and same bundle (accessories).
And both board includes gigabyte new features, knows as ultra durable 2

P35 and P35T side by side:



P35t bios details...

*To overclock, all the settings and options can be found in MIT section. Like previous gigabyte board, we need to press Ctrl + F1 to shows the hidden function (for ram)


1) CPU Frequency from 100 to 700!
2) for P35T mem tweak only got 3 options, auto, turbo and extreme.This feature does really effect the performance for ddr3, but i didnt find any performance different between extreme and standard in P35 (ddr2)
3) memory divider is vary depends on ur cpu frequency
4) Vdimm range from 1.5 to 3.05v!
5) PCI-E voltage up to +0.35v
6) FSB overvoltage up to +0.35v
7) MCH overvoltage up to +0.375v
8) CPU vcore up to 2.35v !

Test setup:

Processor : Intel Core 2 Duo Extreme QX6700ES
Cooling: Coolermaster GeminII with Dual 12cm fans
Mainboard: Gigabyte P35 DQ6 (bios F3), & Gigabyte P35T DQ6 (bios F2c)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR2 1066 CL5, & Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1066 CL7
PSU: Corsair HX620w modular
Storage: Western Digital 300gb SATA 1 8mb
Graphic : HIS ATi Radeon HD2900XT
OS: Windows XP Sp2

P35 setup:


P35T setup:


Corsair XMS3 1066 CL7:


GeminII fits nicely on both board eventhough the northbridge heatsink is really tall..

---

Added on June 21, 2007, 7:40 pm1st test:
CPU @ Stock, Ram @ rated speed..
266x10 @ 2.66ghz + (crucial ballistix ddr2 1066 5-5-5-15 , Corsair XM3 ddr3 1066 7-7-7-20)

2nd test:
Highest RAM speed for ddr2 & DDR3
(Crucial Ballistix ddr2 1066 @ 1188 5-5-5-15 2.2vdimm, Corsair XMS3 ddr3 1066 @ 1440 9-9-9-24 1.65vdimm)

Result's table:



3rd test:
Highest fsb setting from bios:

452x8


Well this is the best result i ever got with my quad core. Previously with Intel Bad Axe xbx2 and DFI infinity dark, i could only managed to hit around 330fsb and 380fsb respectively. So i guess gigabyte claims that its p35 is optimize for quad core is true..

Pros:
Good performance with Quad core processor
Cooler board with its full copper heatsink and crazy cool 2
Complete bios setting and very easy to set
Great on board sound with latest realtek ALC889A sound controller
Compatible with most of memory type, either high performance or value ram

Cons:
NB strap change automatically at only 417fsb
PCB is too colourful, dont have elegant and professional looks
Long graphic card with dual slot heatsink fan might block sata port 1
No power or reset button to make it a perfect board to overclockers

Finally, imo this gigabyte p35 boards is the best c2d board i ever used. They have combinations of overclocking power of nforce 680i, stability of 975x and simplicity of 965p.
For DDR3 rams, while it has a very loose latency, the performance is not far behind with current top ddr2. Hence i believe that ddr3 is not far away from being overclockers and enthusiasts first choice..
As for ddr3, i dun think it is a step back if u migrate from ddr2 to ddr3 platform although i still believe waiting for a few months is a better option for now, unless u are ready to spend 'some' money on it.

Thanks to all for ur help n support in finishing this short n simple review..


* for complete screenshots of the test, u guys can visit my album here :

http://s207.photobucket.com/albums/bb283/irenicus07/

coz i'm not allowed to upload so many pics here..

This post has been edited by irenic: Jun 22 2007, 02:55 AM

Nice review!

Any idea whether this board will support Intel's upcoming 45nm CPU right out of the box?

I'm also aiming for a P35/DDR2 with a hope of upgrading to 45nm in the future....

And that is why i hate Gigabyte motherboards.

Sure support bro. I also hav same vision. Anyway, it very nice review here.

nice review there. can list down the actual spec for all? os, hdd, psu... etc. hehe... keep it going mate.

nice review man
but mind to do this for me?
since the strap change at 417fsb,can u post the 32m result for
1)418fsb boot from bios
2)416fsb boot from bios then setfsb it in win to 418fsb

anyway..from the result table..the bandwidth seem like gain alot by using 5:8 divider

thx.. actually i did

for p35:

QX6700ES
2gb Crucial Ballistix Tracer PC8500
300gb Sata I 8mb
Thermaltake Toughpower 700w & Corsair HX620w
Coolermaster GeminII
Windows XP Sp2
Panasonic DVD RW

for p35T:

QX6700ES
2gb Corsair XMS3 Platinum 1066 CL7
300gb Sata I 8mb
Thermaltake Toughpower 700w & Corsair HX620w
Coolermaster GeminII
Windows XP Sp2
Panasonic DVD RW

i'll do that for u soon.. but i did test in everest and sandra before, so let me post sandra mem bandwith + multi PI results first..

416fsb boot from bios :

416x8, ram @ 1330 turbo


418x8, ram @ 1336 turbo




This post has been edited by irenic: Jun 22 2007, 03:08 AM

hi irenic, enjoy reading your review. many good stuff here
Heard u said something about ur new RAM, glad to see u review it.

The bearlake chipset was built with the main purpose of running the fsb1333 45nm processors, of course la will support..

thx !

yeah.. sure can support..

neway yesterday while i was testing the new crucial pc8500, my xbx2 cant even boot @ 1068fsb (xbx2 cant set the ram @ 1066).. and the max bootable speed is only 1004fsb @ 5-5-5-15 2.3vdimm!

and some forumers also faced same problem with this tracer and dfi dark..

but when i test it @ gigabyte p35 dq6, it straight away boot @ 1066fsb @ 1.85vdimm only! and manage to pass PI 32m as well

Nice review bro............
keep it up

This post has been edited by rlhc17: Jun 22 2007, 04:12 AM

So sorry, me noob for DDR2. What's xbx2?

irenic@ nice review...

want to ask on this :



is the mobo come with this bios, or you downgrade the bios from F4 to F3 ??? if downgrade do let me know how much difference was there...

currently in xs,ppl suggest F3 for better performance

Intel 975XBX2 Motherboard. Called BadAxe2..

nice irenic..
Did u try tighther the timings for both the reviews? hehe..or u keep it secret?
nice results tho..

thx thx~!!

it comes with F3.. in terms of overclocking, F3 is a better bios. never tried F4 but some people said latest beta bios F5x gives extra performance from ur memory

well for crucial, i tried 1100 @ 4-4-4-10 and for corsair i did 7-7-7-20 up until 1180.. above shown only the result of both ram at rated speed + rated timing and overclocked speed + rated timing..

wow bro,u really rich enough la,really rich lo u....
anyway,nice review u've done!
How much did u pay for the DDR3?

just tested 4gigs on gigabyte dq6 p35.. no problem running up till 1188mhz 2.2vdimm 5-5-5-15



the ddr3 cost me around rm1.8k

minded

aiyo bro,no money no talk la,just like no electricity no pc....

the usage of second pcie card at pcie x16 2nd slot totally renders the 4 sata ports useless

This post has been edited by jinaun: Jun 22 2007, 09:43 PM

yup,just like the Asus P5N-E SLi,once u installed full scale card,then the sata port will be blocked.

Need people like him to show latest and greatest hardware on market.

alamak....kena jarum lagi.....
aiyo,sometime really need to think about our economy status only can afford what to buy mah....

irenic@ what are the settings you put for the P35 on these settings, when you OC:
1) FSB overvoltage ?
2) MCH overvoltage ?

now im using F5g bios and perform better and can go higher then F4

Bro, give the result of your overclocking lah, wanna see how high that Ballistix PC6400 2GB Kit that i sold to you can run on P35 chipset.

Im able to do 515 FSB on 4-4-4-12 with 2.2V (testing it as with lowest multiplier) Still wonder can it go higher, if set more FSB and MCH overvoltage, thats why im asking, until what limit / preferences...

*Will post my result after the Gigabyte Bearlake OC competition*

This post has been edited by KidsCode: Jun 25 2007, 11:34 AM

Maybe u are one of the winner. Gud Luck!

this mainboard doesnt like high voltage.. i used 0.1 for fsb overvoltage and 0.15 for mch..

yups, among all the bios, F4 is the worst performer

OTT, me Air vs majority WC how to win ler...

will give it a try...

also want to ask irenic@ what all rounder monitoring software do you used for P35, as i feel that TAT, Core Temp and Gigabyte give me different readings...

This post has been edited by KidsCode: Jun 25 2007, 11:49 AM

i used coretemp for my cpu temp, and easytuner to detect nb + system temp..

for cpu, easytuner temp is damn low.. there's no way my quad core can idle @ 28c on aircooling

TAT also isnt suitable for quad core coz it only detects 2 cores.. i dunno if there is newer version that support quad core..

btw, dont underestimate aircooling.. and not necessary wc and higher clock gives u higher score

CoreTemp does not support C2Q?

just tried pushing my quad core higher last nite after my aircond kong..

and voila.. 3.916Ghz at 1.5vcore only.. with geminII and table fan blowing to the setup..

last time with dark the highest clock i managed to hit is 3.7ghz only..



356x11 @ 1.5vcore
Gigabyte P35T DQ6
Corsair 1066 CL7
Corsair HX620w
Win XP Sp2

aik.. i said that ar? tat detects only 2 cores .. so best software is Coretemp

hmm... for me TAT and easytuner its about the same temp +/- 1, but core temp at +5

this might help u

I think we just can assume all the cores is similar in temperature.

thanz for the info man...

Nice review irenic.

Could the QX6700 be OC to 4GHz with DDR3 ?

thx! well i'm not really sure bout it, but as long as 3.9 is not my cpu wall, i'm quite optimist it can run higher than 4ghz with extra vcore..

err how come u set multi at 11 but in cpu-z showing only 10 maximum

care to clarify??

mine is xtreme one.. so unlock upward multiplier

haha... Gigabyte boleh...

yeah actually a lot of extreme overclockers from xs, indonesia, and taiwan like this gigabyte p35 boards..

i'll test this board ability further coz my new ddr3 rams will be coming very soon.. so stay tuned..

MIND TO share what brand is that?

later i share the pic once i get it.. hopefully it will be better than this corsair xms3..

another thing i also bought a new thermalright ultra 120 extreme.. but then it was blocked by gigabyte crazy cool.. i removed it but then the northbridge tower heatsink screw cant tight already coz the screws are screwed into the crazycool..
i dun have enuff screws to use like the waterblock mounting...
haihh..

This post has been edited by irenic: Jul 11 2007, 03:57 AM

Another new DDR3? What brand and specification this time?

argh tensen.. i thought this gigabyte cant use xtreme 120.. but i was wrong.. gigabyte is genius enough to know hardcore user gonna remove its crazy cool backplate and gigabyte supplies 2 nuts to tight the northbridge heatsink in case we need to remove the backplate..

my new ram rated at a lil higher frequency than the corsair..

Bro, if u wanna try G.Skill's DDR3 can PM me to order it too.

i hope the one you are getting is not corsair cm3x1024-1333c9dhx. according to OPB, it's Qimonda ES Chip on it.

http://www.ocxtreme.org/forumenus/showthread.php?t=1224

no2.. this time i gonna try other brand than corsair.. so we can know how this gigabyte perform with other ddr3 rams..

@jy14, thx for ur offer.. but i guess i wont order it in the near future coz i've spent quite lot of money in this last few days.. near to bankrupt alredi.. haha

Just read from xbitlabs DDR3 review. Seems that DDR3 value performance should be on par with high performance DDR2. Just wait until price drop.

yups its better to wait for price drop 1st.. current ddr3 price is damn expensive

Currently the price is sky high to avoid users changing to DDR3 completely. So, this will b able to help all resellers and distributors clear their current inventory of DDR2 1st. Later end of this year, can expect DDR3 prices to reason. Coz by pumping up the price of DDR2, will create a rush for the RAMs and this helps all to clear their stocks b4 DDR3 comes into affordability stage.

I kinda hate how does DIMM compony maker plays with their marketing strategy.

finally ~!!

kingston hyperx ddr3 pc11000


4gig power?






p.s : the hyperx is rated @ 1375mhz but then load optimized default set the ram to 800..



and guys, gigabyte has released a new revision of their p35 boards (rev 1.x).. i wonder what's the difference in terms of performance between this new revision and the old one..

p35t dq6
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Mother...?ProductID=2547

p35 dq6
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Mother...?ProductID=2532

p35 ds4
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Mother...?ProductID=2531

notice that gigabyte already remove the tower heatsink from this new revision boards?

p35 ds3p
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Mother...?ProductID=2533

p35 ds4
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Mother...?ProductID=2531

p35c s3
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Mother...?ProductID=2598

This post has been edited by irenic: Jul 14 2007, 02:45 AM

all these board can buy from my boss... especially Klang folks... my boss got deal wif Gigabyte...
can call him at 012-2068696 or juz drop him an sms for enquiries... Asus boards also coming... but i won recommend Asus...

do u mean the new revision? mind asking ur boss whats the improvement of this new rev over the old one?

yeah.. many ocers all around the world prefer gigabyte p35 than the asus p35.. but no doubt both are great boards..

i played with both boards, both has their cons & pros.. however in this round i definitely will stay with gigabyte

New and new revision will come as Penryn come by.

more results...

C2D E6850 @ 3.6ghz 400*9 stock vcore (intel stock heatsink)
Gigabyte P35T DQ6
2x Kingston HyperX DDR3 @ 1280mhz 7-7-7-20 1.7vdimm
1gb HIS ATi Radeon X2900XT
Non tweak Windows XP sp2

PI 1m


dual PI 8m


-----------------------------------------------------------------

C2D E6850 @ 4ghz 445x9 1.5vcore (intel stock heatsink)
Gigabyte P35T DQ6
2x Kingston HyperX DDR3 @ 1424mhz 9-9-9-24 2.0vdimm
1gb HIS ATi Radeon X2900XT
Non tweak Windows XP sp2

PI 1m


PI 4m


-----------------------------------------------------------------

C2D E6850 @ 4ghz 500x8 1.5vcore (intel stock heatsink)
Gigabyte P35T DQ6
2x Kingston HyperX DDR3 @ 1500mhz 9-9-9-24 2.0vdimm
1gb HIS ATi Radeon X2900XT
Non tweak Windows XP sp2

PI 1m


This post has been edited by irenic: Jul 15 2007, 03:30 PM

Stock heatsink already can go 4GHz.. I wonder can stable operation on my TT Big Typhoon..

Hey irenic, seems you've tested your P35 gigabytes quite well. I'm currently using a P35-DQ6 rev1.x with F3 bios. But just an e6420 and stock cooler la. At the moment when you do stock cooler testing, what kind of temp do you get on max load?

I'm just aiming for 3.2 since I'm using stock cooler. Which voltage do you increase when orthos fails? And is my load (orthos) temp at 65-66C ok? Btw C2D noob here, and I'm impressed with this board too. Overclocking is effortless. Any probs installing the GeminII? Thinking of getting either GeminII or Ultra-120 Extreme, but the price difference is huge though. I'm not a pro in terms of installation, so which of these two fans is easier to install , and any big performance difference between the two (since I assume you've tested them both).

My rig at the moment.

P35-DQ6 rev1.x (F3)
E6420 at 3.2Ghz (400x8) with stock hsf
Crucial Ballistix Tracer PC6400 at 400Mhz 4-4-4-12
Centurion 5 Standard with 80cm front and 120cm rear.
Ambient 21C Idle at 34C Max load at 66C

Stats:
MCH: +0.15
FSB: +0.1
vDimm: 2.15
vCore: 1.368

Oh, and one last thing. You think I could go further with the stock heatsink or am I dancing with danger?

maybe better~ but do note that the e6850 runs very cool, so u might see a very little different between stock heatsink and other high end aircooling.

i've tested few procs with this gigabyte p35 and p35t.. as far as i remembered, qx6700 max load is 69c (gemini), e2160 max load 63c (gemini) and e4300 max load is 70c (stock).. all are with stock vcore..

this gigabyte p35 dq6 dont really like high nb voltage.. this happens to few gigabyte boards i tried, so maybe it's the same with urs.

266-399fsb : vpcie, vfsb, vmch : normal

400-450fsb: vpcie normal, vfsb +0.10, vmch +0.15

451fsb- 515fsb: vpcie +0.10, vfsb + 0.10, vmch +0.20

i never try higher than 515fsb..

maybe u can try above voltages, and oc ur processor.. if orthos fail, increase the vcore 1 notch and run orthos again..

between gemini and extreme 120, i guess gemini is easier to install, but in terms of performance for dual core, i definitely recommend extreme 120.. for gemini, it really worked well with my qx6700 but not with e2160..

just make sure ur max load temp is not more than 70c.. and better cooling is recommended if u're aiming for higher oc

Thanks for the great tips Currently I won't be overclocking it much further, and I finally kept it running stable with orthos for 6 hours. Just needed to bump the vcore up to 1.375. So, do you recommend the extreme120? I might be going quad later too.

from my experience, the gemini is really good with quadcore, but only has average performance with dual core..
i've tested tuniq tower on quad core and the temp is hotter than with gemini.. but with dual core tuniq tower is cooler than gemini..

not really sure with 120 extreme, coz never got chance to test it with quad core.

neway for 120 extreme, u need to remove the crazycool and use the given nuts..

haha... yeah... Asus supplier already crying cuz not enough sales... bout the diff i don think u should ask the sellers... should ask the developers or reviewers... i got bad exp bout asking the sellers...

ASUS seller are crying now? That bcoz of much more expensive than Gigabyte series. Ppl just want good cheap mobo. ASUS board may be ok for entry level system.

enthusiast not really care with rm100 different .. esp oversea where RM100 just around $30 bucks different for them..

but the board itself.. u try 1st n u'll know

p/s - i'm talking bout latest generation of boards.. not including 965, 975, nforce680i or older chipset..

seem myb asus need more time to produce great mobo for this new chipset

For budget user just look for ASRock. U will see 965P chipset support penryn and other features that havent in mind now.

irenic@ on my board to get it stable i need to up the vNB... not that high as you stated in 1 of your post +0.20

all of them have enuff time to produce the mobos.. so far gigabyte has the most p35 boards.. if i not mistaken they have 9 types.. while asus so far has only launch 5-6 boards.. (2 to come)

ASrock is not bad for its price.. well its name already stand for ASus Rock wut...


do u mean vmch? yes, last time my p35 i did +0.15 is enuff.. but so far with this p35t, +0.20 seems a bit stable esp at more than 450fsb quad core..



---------------------------------------------


neway to all gigabyte p35 users, so far do u have any complaint regarding the boards? maybe in terms of layout, quality, or bios?

both vMch and vFSB...

my only complain if the vCore will able to refine more, like 1.60v then 1.65v

yups that's a concern.. below 1.6vcore, the range option is nice but then above 1.6v, it jumps 0.05 straight away..

So technomancer,

Asked your boss yet? Bout the improvements in the newer revisions?

I'm considering a new rig; C2D E6850 + P35-DQ6 + Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR2 PC2-8500 1066MHz 2GB.

Some feedback would be much appreciated.

I've asked Gigabyte on this...
u guys can check here...
don expect sellers to know all these... they are merely doing their business... and don even expect them to even do wat i did... they will most probably ignore these questions... But i will do my best to solve these probs...
as for OC E6*50 procs i haven't try yet... but i got unbelievable temperature readings wif speedfan on the newer Intel procs like Celeron 420, E2140, E2160 and E6750...
though it's proven tat Celeron 420 is the coolest of all procs in proc history... due to it's puny heat sink and it's fan movements on GA-945GCMX-S2... but bear in mind tat it's FSB is locked... tat means no OC for Celeron 420 which is y i'm using E2160 for my BT rig instead of Celeron 420(my initial plan to wait for Penryn)...

Sorry for late reply... Been bz lately...

---

Added on September 2, 2007, 7:25 pmthere are 24 actually including those C models which supports both DDR2 & DDR3...

This post has been edited by t3chn0m4nc3r: Sep 2 2007, 07:25 PM