Gigabyte In The Fast Lane

Overclocking:

The 865 boards have been pretty good in the area of overclocking, and this board was no exception. We reached a 253fsb limit while overclocking 1:1 on this board. Actually, I believe this was a memory limit, since we were using OCZ 3700 Gold, and its max is right at the 253limit at CL 2.5. Here is where the ability to run CL3 would have helped on this board. So, with the 1:1 limit reached, we decided to use a 5:4 divider and see what she could do. Take a look:

That’s right! 292 fsb at a 5:4 ratio. This board was a nice little clocker!

Jason Petermann’s Thoughts

This board was a pretty nice board to work with. Gigabyte has always put attention to detail and stability into their motherboards, and the GA-8IPE1000 Pro2-W was no exception. From the rounded corners, colored front panel connectors and placement of the connectors on this board, you can tell that Gigabyte has taken the time to design a board that is functional, as well as a great performer. The wireless LAN is an added bonus, and comes in handy for those running a wireless network. One of the downsides of the BIOS was the memory timing options available. This is easily fixed though through a bios update. The PAT-like feature, called MIB puts this board just slightly behind most of the 875 chipset boards in terms of performance, which would hardly be noticeable if you decided to get this board over its 875 sibling. All in all, this board was a breeze to work with and with the reputation of Gigabyte behind it, it is a board that I could recommend to anyone.

Legit Bottom Line

Gigabyte has brought to the table a great 865PE board that will fill the bill for any family looking to upgrade, especially if they are looking to add a rig to an already existing home network. The wireless lan being included saves a few dollars, and the performance can only be beaten by the 875 boards, and only some of those at that. The board is extremely user friendly, all the way down to the documentation it comes with. This board will not disappoint anyone!