Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6
revision 2.0

     Now THAT is improvement! Even with 5-5-5-15 timings and being forced to use Option 2, the memory bandwidth is astronomical! But is the system stable enough to complete a run of 3D Mark 06?

     With that accomplished, it's time to see what the performance would be for a more 24/7 style overclock. Being a gamer, I want an overclock that offers the best blend of memory and CPU performance. While a 500Mhz front side bus sure sounds nice, the CPU is only running at 3Ghz. So, it's back into the BIOS to try and find a set of parameters that will allow for a more robust system.

     Conclusion....... 

     Finding the right motherboard for a stable system is important if you're an overclocker or someone just looking to build a better system.  In the world of brand names, Gigabyte has always been a very reputable company, and the P965-DQ6 is a stand-up to their legacy. When Intel first released the Core 2 Duo based processors, companies had a very difficult up-start getting boards to market. Most required many BIOS flashes in order to be considered stable. While many companies chose to do the bare minimum, Gigabyte revised the motherboard to ensure not only system stability, but to grant the enthusiast more overclocking success.

     Obviously, the heart of the GA-P965-DQ6 revision 2 is the Intel P965 chipset. For as long as the Allendale CPU's have been around, this chipset has been the "go to" for overclocking, simply because of the high front side bus yield that has been demonstrated here. With the new blend of CPU's coming out, the chipset and this motherboard is still a very viable solution. The only true complaint that has been voiced across the community was Intel's decision not to include native Parallel ATA support for older optical drives. Since then, the market responded to the push by releasing more optical drives with a SATA interface. So while the initial adoption of the board was a little painful, cutting edge enthusiast are used to the pain. Now, buyers can still enjoy a great board with more market support and not pay the cutting edge prices. Total win-win for the consumer.

Innovation:	N/A
Performance:	9.5 out of 10
Quality:	9.5 out of 10
Stability:	9.5 out of 10
Overclocking:	9.5 out of 10
Software/Drivers Pack:	8.5 out of 10
Value:	8.5 out of 10
Overall Rating 9.0
Project Skill Level (10 being most difficult)	4 out of 10