Gigabyte Still Holding On, Prepares DDR3 MoBos

While suffering an unforeseen breakup with the almighty Asus and embracing strange partnerships with Peugeot, Gigabyte United has plenty of time to concentrate on what it does best: motherboards. The Asians plan to launch the next generation Ultra Durable 2 series motherboards in early June. These latest designs feature a host of improved technologies that are intended to support and boost the upcoming Intel CPUs. Among the cutting edge technologies we find ferrite core choke coils, low RDS MOSFETs and all-solid capacitors for increased reliability and longevity.

According to the latest researches, the ferrite core choke coils offer higher frequency operation for improved overclocking capabilities. The OC enthusiasts will surely enjoy the lower temperatures, lower electromagnetic interference and the added resistance to rust. As for the RDS MOSFETs, these little wonders minimize conduction and gate charge switching losses while delivering lower temperatures, in a small and compact package that shouldn't overburden the motherboard layout. The revised solid capacitors included with the new line of motherboards are set to solve capacitor leakage problems that plagued previous motherboards from all mobo manufacturers, at the same time offering higher heat resistance and performance. This translates into a more environmental friendly design than that of present-day electrolytic capacitors.

The new line of Gigabyte motherboards will include the highly anticipated Intel Bearlake chipset family, being amongst the first DDR3 compatible devices.
The high-end sector of the Ultra Durable 2 line-up is represented by two powerful motherboards: the P35-DQ6 and the P35T-DQ6. Both models share similar feature sets, including dual physical PCIe x16, three PCIe x1 and two classic PCI slots. Gigabyte didn't quite manage to offer a pure PCIe x32 configuration, as only the upper slot delivers 16 PCIe lanes to the graphics card, while the second PCIe x16 slot delivers lesser lanes, typically 2-4 lanes. Other notable features for the high-end series include six SATA 3.0Gbps ports powered by Intel's ICH9R south bridge, 8-channel high definition audio by Realtek and a heat pipe chipset cooling system. Only one major difference between these two motherboards: the P35-DQ6 relies on current DDR2 memory while the P35T-DQ6 supports next-generation DDR3 memory technology.

The mainstream sector of the Ultra Durable 2 line-up comprises the P35-DS3R and the G33-DS3R models. Featuring only one PCIe x16 slot, these versions will end-up with no DDR3 support.

Gigabyte also plans to integrate the new Intel G33 Express chipset in a micro ATX package with the G33M-DS2R model. It too features one PCIe x16, one PCIe x1 and two PCI slots.

Prices for the new motherboard line-up are presently unknown, but Gigabyte is expected to officially present its Ultra Durable 2 series at Computex 2007.