Gigabyte P35-DQ6
Our final motherboard is the Gigabyte P35-DQ6 – an enthusiast option if I’ve ever seen one.
Again the Gigabyte motherboard goes the route of DDR2 memory support rather than DDR3.
Rather than go after the same users with the DQ6 that the cheaper DS3R would attract, the higher-end P35-DQ6 motherboard features the dual x8 PCIe graphics slots for multiple GPUs.
The same Gigabyte-branded storage chip is being used to provide a couple of SATA channels as well as the IDE channel to the P35-DQ6.
Gigabyte even went as far as to put heatsinks on the BACK of the motherboard — and heavy ones at that!
Unlike the cheaper Gigabyte model, this one uses a high end heat pipe cooling system for the north and south bridge chips as well as the CPU power MOSFETs.
The connection diagram is the same though; a single Gigabit Ethernet connection, four USB ports and 8-channel audio.
This close up on the retention clip for the primary GPU slot shows a new and improved design; you can remove it by EITHER pushing on the knob on the back or pulling on the disc from front.
The DQ6 didn’t come with much more than the DS3R did though another set of eSATA cables were included.
