The Gigabyte GA-X48T-DQ6 - Redefining the High End?

Conclusion

Our journey with the GA-48T-DQ6 has been challenging over the last few weeks. Although Gigabyte has been extremely diligent in providing BIOS releases to address our reported problems, we still have not found the everyday overclocking stability we "expected" from this board on any of the beta BIOS releases we have received. This includes cross testing with three separate processor types, all providing varying levels of load to the X48 chipset. What we have found is that basic overclocks that most users will use on this board seem to work at first and then fail at will. For example, using a basic 3.6GHz overclock with any of the newer processors and 400/450FSB, we can boot the motherboard up, play games, surf the web and run stability testing software.

When we go to reboot the board using these previously stable settings, the board greets us with non-boots requiring either a CMOS clear or a complete power-down (until power has drained completely from the board). The board will then reset itself to stock, so that we must re-enter the BIOS and re-apply our previous settings. This is a little disappointing to us at this stage in the game, as Gigabyte has used top-level components in every location on this motherboard. In fact, the engineering behind this board is truly impressive. This shows that using the best hardware is fine, but a solid BIOS is a must if a board is ever to realize its true potential.

We understand it's a little early for a final judgment call, as this board is not yet available in the channel. Thus, we are eager to keep testing the board over the coming weeks to see how things progress. Gigabyte tells us they are working on a new BIOS spin this week, which should address most of the issues we have noticed. In time, we are confident that Gigabyte will deliver this board as the killer product we expect upon delivery to the users - especially when we consider just how good the smaller sibling GA-X38-DQ6 has become with maturity. The GA-X48T-DQ6 has shown us flashes of brilliance, only to let us down when pushed or even nudged into overclock settings that most buyers of this board will try. On the positive side, peripheral compatibility is excellent; we found all ports and expansion slots worked perfectly throughout our testing with a variety of peripherals.

We admire Gigabyte moving forward into the high-end arena; competition is always healthy and helps keep other companies on their toes. We must stress that perseverance prevents us from tossing this board back in the box, meaning we are confident that Gigabyte will have this product fully polished before release. For now though, we would say that at least a few more BIOS spins might be required before we can fully recommend this board to the end-user. A good BIOS will see this board become the product that all X38/X48 boards are judged against. Look out for blog updates as we continue testing new BIOS releases in the coming weeks.