More Testing:

Overclocking the GA-EP35-DS3P turned out to be pretty easy. There are quite a few BIOS CPU and memory options that made overclocking the motherboard to 1600 MHz Front Side Bus a breeze. Stock CPU frequencies were obviously stable and even the motherboard's 1600 MHz Front Side Bus settings were completely stable throughout the tests. If you're wondering what this does for the E6600 (9 x 266), it increases the CPU Bus to 400 (8 x 400) which is 3.2GHz. This has been perfectly stable for an entire week of testing.

The EP35-DS3P came with a very capable BIOS. I had great results pushing the board to 500 MHz CPU BUS, or 2000 MHz Front Side Bus. Whether the Multiplier was set to 7 or left to AUTO in the BIOS, the board didn't mind the setting. It was 3DMark06 stable, but not 100% error free without raising the Chipset voltage just a little. The board also had no qualms about letting the Patriot memory run freely at 1200 MHz 5-5-5-15 for days.

CPUZ 2000 MHz Front Side Bus

Stable @ 1200 MHz 5-5-5-15

And what about Gigabyte's new Dynamic Energy Saving (DES) Technology? You'll be happy to know that it works. Compared to the Blitz Formula, the EP35-DS3P consumed about 40 watts less on average than the Blitz. When overclocking and at full load, the board seemed to make better use of the power as well consuming about 30 watts less.

One thing I also noticed about this board is that the circuitry doesn't make any odd noises. I've had some P35s that start to emit faint and noticeable arching sounds of sorts depending on the load and overclock which is not the case here. The EP35-DS3P is a very quiet motherboard.

Conclusion:

Visually the Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3P and ASUS Blitz Formula look quite a bit different. One has loads of heat pipes and tough colors that make it look pretty bada$$ where the other one doesn't. The EP35-DS3P doesn't really look bad at all, just not as aggressive. But, when considering the performance and price tags, I would have bought or suggested the EP35-DS3P straight away without hesitation.

The results speak volumes on behalf of the motherboard. It has easily matched the ASUS Blitz Formula built with the same P35 Chipset. Whether it be CPU number crunching, memory bandwidth, or just out right gaming, the numbers are very close. Even when it came to pushing the board farther, it had quite a lot of extra room for working with the Intel Core 2.

Gamer, Budget, and Overclock Approved

I'm not accustomed to leaving voltage options in the BIOS set to AUTO and achieving the overclocked results. A strong 2000 MHz Front Side Bus is nothing to snuff at. Cranking up the Chipset, Memory, and CPU voltages manually will obviously get a little more out of the system, but at some point even I have to say "enough is enough". In this respect, the EP35-DS3P gets an "A" in my book.

Even though both the Formula and EP35-DS3P are two of a kind, the board has a few things going for it that the Blitz doesn't. For one, the board is more efficient and built with maybe a little more attention to detail that results in quieter circuitry. This attention to detail is evident in the Dynamic Energy Saver feature. Also, the use of smaller heat pipes don't encroach or take up too much space on the board.

And alas, one thing that earned the board a high mark is that the two ATI Radeon HD 3870 512MB CrossFireX graphics cards worked on the platform right away. I've had issues trying to get these two cards to work on the ASUS motherboard off and on after changing BIOS revisions. Thus far, all efforts have failed and the two cards are destined to find another system out there. Where to put the blame is a little vague, but the Blitz and Extreme are the only two boards that haven't worked with the cards.

The Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3P Motherboard is an aggressive, extreme, yet efficient platform. It's a shock to see this board do so well and do it even better at more extreme frequencies. It's more affordable than most P35 overclocking motherboards and has plenty of the top end features a power user could want. There is a large void out there for energy conscious users who still want real power. This is absolutely the best choice for those on a budget who didn't think they could afford extreme performance.

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