What are the differences? (Gigabyte boards)

Kenai · 2 Jun 2009 at 20:03

What are the actual differences between the:

EP45-UD3L
EP45-DS3L

?

From what I can see on Gigabyte's site they have same specs but surely Gigabyte aren't making two boards the same but that look a bit different? (edit - hopefully this link will work - http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products...ComparisonSheet.aspx?ProductID=2843,2844,2952)

Also, the closely priced DS3 seems to have a couple more features (XFire, Firewire) for not much more money, is it compromised in some other way i'm not seeing?

I'm thoroughly confused as to quite why they have so many boards out at such small price differences and what the differences are between them.

I suppose last question - how would they be clocking a Q9550?

Kenai · 3 Jun 2009 at 10:17

no one?

pastymuncher · 3 Jun 2009 at 11:10

UD3L is built using a 2oz copper pcb and is supposed to be Ultra Durable (UD). DS3 has a pair of PCI-e slots while the DS3L only has one.

Kenai · 4 Jun 2009 at 10:35

So the UD3L and DS3L are pretty much the same except the UD3L is more durable?

Seems a bit of a waste of time having two such similar boards at virtually identical prices on sale at the same time...

Greebo · 4 Jun 2009 at 11:39

the 2ox copper pcb is supposed to help with keeping everything cooler and better overclocking (and in reviews it does seem to be the case).

The comparable mobo to the DS3L in the UD range is the UD3-R.

Oh, and although I can;t comment on the DS3L, the UD3-R,P and L boards have some of the best overclocking results with q9xxx often reaching 500fsb+ which most boards can't do with 45nm quads.

This is exactly why I am about to buy a UD3R or P board to replace my Asus formula as it maxes out at 440Mhz (some only so 425 so I am lucky) and I know my q9650 is good for 4.4Ghz.

Kenai · 4 Jun 2009 at 11:51

Ouch, the UD3R is a good chunk more expensive though.

I was looking at the Biostar TP45 HP but was just looking around similar priced Gigabyte models to see if any presented a better option, those seeming to be the UD3L, DS3L and DS3.

Would you say the Biostar would be a better board to go for or the UD3L? I'll be hoping to clock a Q9550 with it, though I doubt i'll be going insane with it, I would like to get something half decent from it.

The Biostar I45 is similar in price to the UD3R so I suppose that would have to be taken into consideration if I jumped up to that price level.

Phatjayunoi · 4 Jun 2009 at 16:23

Taken from Wikipedia.

Might be more confusing than it really helps, but at least you can see what the model letters and numbers mean.

GIGABYTE use a special system for naming their motherboards. For example the GA-P35-DS3R. The first segment, GA, simply denotes that it's manufactured by GIGABYTE. The second segment indicates what chipset it is using, in this case Intel's P35. The third part shows what features the motherboard has. This segment mostly contains a number of abbreviations.

Available 1st segment abbreviations:If "M" appears behide the chipset code, it is a mATX board.

Available 2nd segment abbreviations:

* E - (Dynamic Energy Saver) - Energy saving features
* T - Only DDR3 SDRAM support
* C - Both DDR2 and DDR3 SDRAM support
* No T or C abbreviations mean that the motherboard only has DDR2 SDRAM support.

Available 3rd segment abbreviations:

* D (Durability) - Indicates that the motherboard uses only solid state capacitors.
* UD (Ultra Durable 3) - Introduces 2 ounces of copper for both the Power and Ground layers.
* S2 (Smart, Safe) - Various features such as Q-Flash BIOS etc.
* S3 (Smart, Speed, Safe) - Same as above, but includes overclocking features.
* S4 (Silent Pipe, Smart, Speed, Safe) - Same as above, but uses heat pipe cooling.
* S5 (CrossFire, Silent Pipe, Smart, Speed, Safe) - Same as above, but with CrossFire support.
* Q6 (Quad BIOS, Quad Cooling, Quad E-SATA2, Quad Triple Phase, Quad-Core Optimized, Quad DDR2 Slots) - Indicates quad-core optimiziation.

Available 4th segment abbreviations:

* R - 2 extra SATAII ports and possibly RAID support. No FireWire ports. No ATI CrossFire support. (i.e GA-P35-DS3R)
* G - Solid capacitors for the CPU Volt Regulator Module.
* H - HDMI port.
* L - Probably "Lite". Less SATAII ports. No RAID support. No FireWire ports. No ATI CrossFire support. Heatsink cooling. (i.e GA-P35-DS3L)
* P - Silent Pipe, RAID, Extra PCI Express slots, extra SATAII ports. (i.e GA-EP45-DS3P)

As for which one to go for, even though are more expensive but then they are newer, I would go for the UD3 series motherboards.

I have the EP45-UD3R motherboard myself (As I don't need CrossFireX) and can say that it is great for stability and easy overclocking. It used to be a lot more cheaper back when I bought it, but I would still say they are worth it.

Kenai · 4 Jun 2009 at 16:38

Is the R likely to overclock any better than the L?

Feature wise there is nothing to tempt me into wanting the R over the L, but if the L is a rubbish overclocker then i'd probably move up to the R. I'd aiming to keep the price relatively down if I can.

From the looks of the Wiki it would seem in all likelihood the core of the board is very similar, just feature differences. I might download the manual in a bit to check it's overclocking features though.

Phatjayunoi · 4 Jun 2009 at 17:44

Well the most obvious features between the UD3L and UD3R is that the "R" model has a slightly different layout, better MOSFET and Northbridge heatsinks, and because of the "R", there are two extra SATAII ports (Purple ones) and all of them support RAID.

Overclocking wise, both are pretty much just the same. It's really down to if the better heatsink cooling in the UD3R makes more difference for you and it is also depended on how good the other components are like the CPU and RAM. The BIOS and features are the same across all the UD3 boards anyways. The DualBIOS feature does helps a whole lot.

So yeah, if you have have much need of the extra features, then go for the UD3R, otherwise the UD3L is still very good for your basic needs, especially since it is a lot cheaper.