Software and Included Extras
Software
Like the majority of motherboard manufacturer’s software that is bundled with the boards, it seems to be a jumble of almost-useful products that are hard to use, and rarely are. The first is EasyTune 5 that attempts to be a convenient Windows-based overclocking tool and management tool. You can use this app to overclock, adjust memory settings, set fan controls and monitor the temperatures and voltages on the board. Next up is Xpress Recovery, a tool that is used to backup and restore OS partitions. I didn’t test it out, but it looks fairly complex and easily misinterpreted; I’d recommend sticking with a well known program when dealing with something as important as your data.
QFlash and @Bios make updating the motherboard BIOS much easier by allowing you to do it in the systems BIOS without the need for a boot disk (QFlash) or even in Windows by automatically downloading the BIOS and installing it for you (@Bios). These are actually helpful applications, as finding boot floppys can be a pain sometimes. Finally, Gigabyte has some software to help configure your 8-Channel Audio.
Included Accessories
Included accessories are becoming more prominent in the motherboard business as the vendors attempt to find ways to distinguish themselves from one another. Gigabyte has done so here as well by including not only cables, but wireless networking as well.
Enough SATA data and power cables are included to support all eight possible hard drives the motherboard can support. (One SATA power adaptor not shown.)
Also included are two USB headers and a Firewire header to take advantage of the pin-outs on the motherboard. The standard IDE and floppy cable are included with the manuals and driver disks.
This is the Gigabyte Dual Power System device that we mentioned on the previous page. The heatsink cover MOSFETs for stability, and it also has a blue LED in it as well.
And finally, Gigabyte has included a PCI wireless networking card that supports 802.11b and 802.11g. A useful extra, for sure, even if you don’t use it on this board.
