Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6

Rob Williams · 10-10-2007, 12:18 AM

Intel's X38 is here and we have Gigabyte's top offering in-house. Key features include PCI-E 2.0, dual PCI-E 16x slots, 1333/1600FSB support along with a slew of unique features Gigabyte has become well-known for.

You can read the article here and discuss it here.

Rory Buszka · 10-10-2007, 01:04 AM

This is really a fantastic review - and the loads of comparison data make it even better. Way to go, Rob!

MakubeX · 10-10-2007, 12:41 PM

Awesome review. Looks like a solid board. Later on, a comparison with the Asus Maximus Formula would be great.

Btw, there's a typo in the Need for Speed Carbon results.

NicePants42 · 10-10-2007, 02:43 PM

I also appreciate piles and piles of comparison data - very nice.

As far as layout goes, there are two things I would change:
Backpanel: Instead of 8 USB ports on the back, how about 6 USB ports and two 2 eSATA ports. A clear CMOS switch would be nice also.
SATA ports: Use 90 degree SATA ports.

Other than that I like the layout, especially the locations of the AUX power connections. My IP-35 Pro has the 4-pin AUX connection right under the first PCI-E 16x slot.

And one other thing - what ever happened to those little front panel pin blocks where you could plug all your case front panel connections into a single connector, and then plug that connector onto the front panel pins on the motherboard? That was a great idea that just didn't seem to catch on.

Rob Williams · 10-11-2007, 12:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MakubeX

Later on, a comparison with the Asus Maximus Formula would be great.

Btw, there's a typo in the Need for Speed Carbon results.

Regarding the Maximus, stay tuned

As for NFS: Carbon, I realize I am an idiot, but I don't notice it? I won't bother fixing it though regardless, as I plan to follow-up this entire review with Quad-Core results and a slightly upgraded methodology. I wish I had more time with this board before publishing so I could have done that then...

Quote:

Originally Posted by NicePants42

Backpanel: Instead of 8 USB ports on the back, how about 6 USB ports and two 2 eSATA ports. A clear CMOS switch would be nice also.

I agree completely, although I personally have no use for eSATA. Instead of including them as separate components to plug into the board, it should be included in that location. The a CMOS clear button would be nice as well, considering they don't include a jumper for the manual method.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NicePants42

Other than that I like the layout, especially the locations of the AUX power connections. My IP-35 Pro has the 4-pin AUX connection right under the first PCI-E 16x slot.

That's ridiculous. The worst I've experienced was with the eVGA 680i board. That one locates the ATX connectors between the DIMM slots and the 24-Pin motherboard connector.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NicePants42

And one other thing - what ever happened to those little front panel pin blocks where you could plug all your case front panel connections into a single connector, and then plug that connector onto the front panel pins on the motherboard? That was a great idea that just didn't seem to catch on.

I believe this to be due to the fact that those FP connectors are not always laid out in the same manner on each motherboard. This is why ASUS includes their Q-Connector, which allows you to plug them into an all-in-one connector first, and then into the motherboard.

NicePants42 · 10-11-2007, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob Williams

I believe this to be due to the fact that those FP connectors are not always laid out in the same manner on each motherboard. This is why ASUS includes their Q-Connector, which allows you to plug them into an all-in-one connector first, and then into the motherboard.

Yes! That's what I was talking about, I couldn't remember the name of it or who made it since I've never had the pleasure of using one. Why don't more board companies do this??

MakubeX · 10-11-2007, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob Williams

Regarding the Maximus, stay tuned

As for NFS: Carbon, I realize I am an idiot, but I don't notice it? I won't bother fixing it though regardless, as I plan to follow-up this entire review with Quad-Core results and a slightly upgraded methodology. I wish I had more time with this board before publishing so I could have done that then...

Alright, can't wait!

And the typo is no big deal. The name of the mobo is wrong. It says Gigabyte X38-DQ9.

Rob Williams · 10-11-2007, 09:36 PM

Haha. Woops. That's bound to happen after typing it into Excel 14 times I guess :/

10-15-2007, 06:55 AM

Hi

I stumbled across this site by accident and must say it looks great. It isnt easy finding an uptodate hardware review website. Keep up the good work.

Many motherboards say they are Crossfire ready. Does that mean that I cant have a SLI setup on the Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6 mobo?

Regards

NicePants42 · 10-15-2007, 01:26 PM

As of now, no Intel chipset supports nVidia SLI - including X38. If you want to use SLI, you need an nVidia chipset (like 680i). Intel chipsets only support ATI crossfire.

With regard to supporting both technologies:
I have heard that Intel's somewhat-soon-to-be-released 'Skulltrail' chipset will support SLI, but it will also cost an arm and a leg.

I've also heard that Gateway's top of the line gaming machine uses an nVidia 680i motherboard (ASUS Striker Extreme) and can run ATI Crossfire with a trick BIOS.

Rob Williams · 10-15-2007, 02:37 PM

Thanks for the nice comments

The lack of SLI is so foolish, I find. It's due to the lack of a certain switch on the motherboard, which I assume costs next to nothing. I'm no business major, but I'd assume it would be a smart idea for NVIDIA to support SLI on all motherboards. All it means to them is that they will be selling more GPUs. Though the 680i boards are great, Intel has seen two chipset revisions since it's launch... it would be nice for people to be able to keep up to date and still use SLI.

And yes, Skulltrail will support SLI, but you can expect the motherboard and Quad-Core (required) to cost at least $1,500.

Daniel Vermaak · 10-17-2007, 06:46 AM

Thank you for the feedback. Much appreciated.
Unfortunately i only have one arm left after buying myself the 8800GTX.

ITO the ASUS Striker Extreme wouldnt the FSB1066 be limiting if i'm trying to build a high end gaming system? And what about 45nm processors support?

To cut a long story short, i'm have been looking for a high end mobo for several months and cant make up my mind on which on to buy.

Could you possibly, you guys being rocket scientists/geniuses and all, tell me which mobo would be able to support SLI, has a FSB of 1333 or above 1333 and supports 45nm processors?

And what do you think of the GA-N680SLI-DQ6? could it be considered a decent mobo?

NicePants42 · 10-19-2007, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daniel Vermaak

ITO the ASUS Striker Extreme wouldnt the FSB1066 be limiting if i'm trying to build a high end gaming system? And what about 45nm processors support?

To cut a long story short, i'm have been looking for a high end mobo for several months and cant make up my mind on which on to buy.

Could you possibly, you guys being rocket scientists/geniuses and all, tell me which mobo would be able to support SLI, has a FSB of 1333 or above 1333 and supports 45nm processors?

And what do you think of the GA-N680SLI-DQ6? could it be considered a decent mobo?

The ASUS Striker Extreme is an enthusiast board, and as such can overclock to well past FSB1066 speeds. 45nm support shouldn't be a problem either as long as the CPU uses the LGA775 socket. In short, the only way that the Striker Extreme could 'limit' a gaming system is with DDR2 vs. DDR3.

Just about any 680i board will support SLI, 1333FSB, and 45nm CPUs. I'm not aware of any that wouldn't do all that. Features/price should help you decide.

Daniel Vermaak · 10-20-2007, 01:07 PM

Thank you

12-28-2007, 12:39 PM

i bought a ga-x38-dq6 mobo and still waiting for my cpu to get shipped , i only knew that
it dont support sli after its too late as i have a 7950 gx2(2 gpu ) , does my mobo support my card??

10-10-2007, 12:18 AM	#1
Rob Williams Editor-in-Chief Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 13,231	Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6 Intel's X38 is here and we have Gigabyte's top offering in-house. Key features include PCI-E 2.0, dual PCI-E 16x slots, 1333/1600FSB support along with a slew of unique features Gigabyte has become well-known for. You can read the article here and discuss it here. __________________ Intel Core i7-990X EE @ 3.43GHz, GIGABYTE X58A-UD5, Kingston 12GB DDR3-1333, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD, WD VR 1TB, WD 2TB, Seagate 2TB, LG BD-ROM, ASUS DVD-RW, Corsair 1000HX, Corsair H60 Cooler Corsair 800D, Dell 2408WFP 24", ASUS Xonar Essence STX, Gentoo (KDE 4.10, 3.7 Kernel) "Take care to get what you like, or you will be forced to like what you get!" - H.P. Baxxter <Toad772> I don't always drink alcohol, but when I do, I take it too far.

10-10-2007, 01:04 AM	#2
Rory Buszka Super Moderator Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Indianapolis, Indiana Posts: 388	This is really a fantastic review - and the loads of comparison data make it even better. Way to go, Rob! __________________ Best Regards, Rory Buszka

10-10-2007, 12:41 PM	#3
MakubeX Partition Master Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 277	Awesome review. Looks like a solid board. Later on, a comparison with the Asus Maximus Formula would be great. Btw, there's a typo in the Need for Speed Carbon results. __________________ HP LP2065 20.1" S-IPS LCD \| Lian Li PC-7077A case w/window \| Asus P5Q Deluxe \| Intel Q9650 4.2GHz - 1.33v 4GB G.Skill PI PC2-8800 \| Asus HD 4870X2 \| Ultra X3 1KW PSU \| X-Fi Fatal1ty w/ Front Panel\| Logitech Z-680 THX 5.1 Speakers EK Supreme \| EK FC-4870X2 block \| Enzotech SNBW-SLI \| Swiftech MCW30 \| DDC-2 w/ XSPC Top \| Laing D5 \| Thermochill PA120.3 \| Weapon Heatercore

10-11-2007, 09:36 PM	#8
Rob Williams Editor-in-Chief Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 13,231	Haha. Woops. That's bound to happen after typing it into Excel 14 times I guess :/ __________________ Intel Core i7-990X EE @ 3.43GHz, GIGABYTE X58A-UD5, Kingston 12GB DDR3-1333, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD, WD VR 1TB, WD 2TB, Seagate 2TB, LG BD-ROM, ASUS DVD-RW, Corsair 1000HX, Corsair H60 Cooler Corsair 800D, Dell 2408WFP 24", ASUS Xonar Essence STX, Gentoo (KDE 4.10, 3.7 Kernel) "Take care to get what you like, or you will be forced to like what you get!" - H.P. Baxxter <Toad772> I don't always drink alcohol, but when I do, I take it too far.

10-15-2007, 06:55 AM	#9
Daniel Vermaak Guest Poster Posts: n/a	Crossfire and SLI Hi I stumbled across this site by accident and must say it looks great. It isnt easy finding an uptodate hardware review website. Keep up the good work. Many motherboards say they are Crossfire ready. Does that mean that I cant have a SLI setup on the Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6 mobo? Regards

10-10-2007, 02:43 PM	#4
NicePants42 Partition Master Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 369	I also appreciate piles and piles of comparison data - very nice. As far as layout goes, there are two things I would change: Backpanel: Instead of 8 USB ports on the back, how about 6 USB ports and two 2 eSATA ports. A clear CMOS switch would be nice also. SATA ports: Use 90 degree SATA ports. Other than that I like the layout, especially the locations of the AUX power connections. My IP-35 Pro has the 4-pin AUX connection right under the first PCI-E 16x slot. And one other thing - what ever happened to those little front panel pin blocks where you could plug all your case front panel connections into a single connector, and then plug that connector onto the front panel pins on the motherboard? That was a great idea that just didn't seem to catch on.

10-15-2007, 01:26 PM	#10
NicePants42 Partition Master Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 369	As of now, no Intel chipset supports nVidia SLI - including X38. If you want to use SLI, you need an nVidia chipset (like 680i). Intel chipsets only support ATI crossfire. With regard to supporting both technologies: I have heard that Intel's somewhat-soon-to-be-released 'Skulltrail' chipset will support SLI, but it will also cost an arm and a leg. I've also heard that Gateway's top of the line gaming machine uses an nVidia 680i motherboard (ASUS Striker Extreme) and can run ATI Crossfire with a trick BIOS.

10-15-2007, 02:37 PM	#11
Rob Williams Editor-in-Chief Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 13,231	Thanks for the nice comments The lack of SLI is so foolish, I find. It's due to the lack of a certain switch on the motherboard, which I assume costs next to nothing. I'm no business major, but I'd assume it would be a smart idea for NVIDIA to support SLI on all motherboards. All it means to them is that they will be selling more GPUs. Though the 680i boards are great, Intel has seen two chipset revisions since it's launch... it would be nice for people to be able to keep up to date and still use SLI. And yes, Skulltrail will support SLI, but you can expect the motherboard and Quad-Core (required) to cost at least $1,500. __________________ Intel Core i7-990X EE @ 3.43GHz, GIGABYTE X58A-UD5, Kingston 12GB DDR3-1333, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD, WD VR 1TB, WD 2TB, Seagate 2TB, LG BD-ROM, ASUS DVD-RW, Corsair 1000HX, Corsair H60 Cooler Corsair 800D, Dell 2408WFP 24", ASUS Xonar Essence STX, Gentoo (KDE 4.10, 3.7 Kernel) "Take care to get what you like, or you will be forced to like what you get!" - H.P. Baxxter <Toad772> I don't always drink alcohol, but when I do, I take it too far.

10-17-2007, 06:46 AM	#12
Daniel Vermaak Obliviot Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: South Africa Posts: 2	Thank you for the feedback. Much appreciated. Unfortunately i only have one arm left after buying myself the 8800GTX. ITO the ASUS Striker Extreme wouldnt the FSB1066 be limiting if i'm trying to build a high end gaming system? And what about 45nm processors support? To cut a long story short, i'm have been looking for a high end mobo for several months and cant make up my mind on which on to buy. Could you possibly, you guys being rocket scientists/geniuses and all, tell me which mobo would be able to support SLI, has a FSB of 1333 or above 1333 and supports 45nm processors? And what do you think of the GA-N680SLI-DQ6? could it be considered a decent mobo? Last edited by Daniel Vermaak; 10-17-2007 at 08:35 AM.

10-20-2007, 01:07 PM	#14
Daniel Vermaak Obliviot Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: South Africa Posts: 2	Thank you

12-28-2007, 12:39 PM	#15
Unregistered Guest Poster Posts: n/a	i bought a ga-x38-dq6 mobo and still waiting for my cpu to get shipped , i only knew that it dont support sli after its too late as i have a 7950 gx2(2 gpu ) , does my mobo support my card??

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