The P35-DS3P is the successor to the P965-DS3P and DS3, which coincidentally is our motherboard of choice for test setups. It's a very good stable board with lots of overclocking features and comes equipped with almost the same set of features found on Gigabyte's high end DQ6 (and to some extent DS4) boards. In fact, if you look real close, you'll notice the board practically is based on the same layout as the high end DQ6 - with some 'minor' omissions (less eletrical components here and there). This board also feature a more simple cooling soltuion not like SilentPipe and CrazyCool, one that's more easily removable and takes very little space (compared to SilentPipe). The norhtbridge chipset cooling have been slightly 'beefed up' compard to the P965 version. Here's what we saw when we remove it.
Of course, this should be no surprise since we saw the same thing with DQ6's SilentPipe cooling. Again, we think using a thermal paste would not only offer slightly cooler temperatures (depending on the thermal paste used and how you apply it), but also less hassle from having to clean the heatsink and reapply paste when you remove it. Sure, the average user will likey never do such a thing. But if you periodically clean your PC, you'll likely find it will be much more easier (and much more effective) if you were able to remove the heatsink
This is another reason why we like the Gigabyte DS3P series so much - it adheres to SPD values when set to 'Auto'. With memory prices being so low, there's a very good chance most users will choose not to buy high end memory modules. The quality of commodity - value - modules tend to vary no only from vendor to vendor, but even module to module. For these kinds of modules, it's generally accepted to always use SPD settings. A board that doesn't respect SPD settings will likely have problems with such modules. That's why we like SPD settings.
Hmmm, the P35-DS3P seems to supply more core voltage when the CPU voltage is set to 'Auto' - 1.296 volts. It does allow for more overclocking headroom, but we generalliy like a more precise setting. A slightly higher voltage than needed means core temperatures may be unnecessarily higher. Too much voltage can even be dangerous to the processor. FSB and processor clock is where it should be, but let's look what happens when we examine these clocks over time.
There's some small ripples in clocks, but generally its nothing to worry about.
Expansions and Add-Ons
This board is equipped with all the standard equipment you
expect - PS/2, serial and printer ports plus four USB ports and a
complete set of six audio ports, including coax and optical SPDIF
output. If you're upgrading your PC, you might want to retain any
internal
USB cables you have - there are three additional USB headers
in the board but Gigabyte only bundle one cable / bracket with two USB
ports to
make use of
them. Users with Firewire peripherals will have to do with the
single Firewire port on the ATX backpanel, otherwise they need to get a
Firewire add-on card.
There are more than enough PCI and x1 PCI-E slots to go around - a
total of two PCI and three x1 PCI-E slots, plus the two x16 PCI-E slots
are
available for your expansion needs. Gigabyte's external SATA brackets
are also bundled with the P35-DS3P, though it's limited to two external
SATA drives (instead of 4 on the DQ6). External SATA cables are also
included.Gigabyte made some minor layout changes with the P35-DS3P, which we think is an improvement to the P965 version You actually.have one additional usable fan header this time - the P35 northbridge fan header is nowthe standard 3 pin fan header rather than the 2 pin header. The second system fan header is upgraded to the 4 pin variety. The board's layout near the southbridge have also been changed. For one, they ditch the placement of capacitors near the IDE controller, minimizing the risk of accidentally breaking it off when pressing down on the IDE connector for leverage. The relabeled J-Micron controller moved downwards to allow for an additional USB header. However, we don't like the SATA ports alignment (it still may interfere with full length PCI cards installed on the second / last PCI slot).
The trouble with the board's layout is that it suffer from the same problems we saw with the DQ6 - DIMM and SATA ports placement. We often bug Gigabyte with pleas of using horizontal SATA ports or even slightly changing the layout so you won't lose four SATA ports if you use Crossfire (with dual slot coolers). Moving the 5th and 6th ports slightly southward (swapping the third series of ports with the J-Micron controller so the ports are vertically aligned) would have been a great improvement (you'll only lose two ports instead of four).
Tweaking and Overclocking Friendly
One area where the DS3P does not disappoint is in the tweaking and
overclocking settings - you'll get the same numerous options and
settings available on the DQ6 to push this board to the limit.
Settings such as the processor's FSB, multiplier, memory ratio,
clock and voltage tweaks are available inside the MIB Intelligent
Tweaker menu on the BIOS. Of course, the gripes we have with the DQ6
BIOS alos applies here - OK values instead of numerical ones and
'Ctrl'+'F1'
keystroke to enable advanced menu settings. In the end, we
think the Gigabyte P35-DS3P is a
very good, affordable board with a real focus on performance,
features and overclockability without breaking your wallet As you would guess, we do have some minor gripes with this board, though nothing really serious.
- DIMM placement comes on the top of the list.
- As noted before, the placement of SATA ports 3 to 6 can interfere with full length cards (especially dual slot cooling graphics cards).
- The use of thermal tape / pad on the P35 chipset and ICH9R southbridge. LIttle nitpicks, we agree but important if you plan to use the board's overclocking features.
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