GIGABYTE’s DQ6 series of motherboards is their crème de la crème. Compared to the ASUS line-up, DQ6 is like the ASUS ROG series, no expense is spared. The box certainly demonstrates this. The package is huge, similar in size to the ASUS ROG boards packaging. The board is encased in a plastic blister and the accessories in a separate cardboard box that sits under the blister, very secure transport packaging. The front of the box as usual has no info which really gives any insight on the board, just the model number along with the fact that it supports Intel’s Core 2 series of CPUs.
The back of the box is where you get all the info you’re going to need to make your choice. No expense is spared on the info. Features of the board as well as some marketing hype is placed on the back along with the full colour photo of the board with box-outs pointing to the main features on the board, another nice added bonus so you know even more about what you’re getting.
GIGABYTE’s included documentation is extremely in-depth with its coverage. The hardware installation guide book is a quick install pamphlet that gives you all the location of the board headers so you can install the board into your case without having to use the manual. For a more detailed explanation of the hardware and setup features, the included manual is extremely informative.
GIGABYTE’s DQ6 series have always come with a great accessories bundle, after all if you’re paying some big bickies for a board, you would like to get a few little extras. Thanks to the ICH9R powering the board you get a total of twelve USB ports, four of which are on the back of the board through the I/O shield, leaving you eight extra ports to use in the form of headers on the board. In the accessories bundle you get 4 extra boards that you can place in any spare PCI slot covers. You get two covers with two ports on each, totalling four. GIGABYTE doesn’t provide any e.SATA ports on the board itself, to this end two PCI cover brackets are included with two e.SATA ports per cover. These have SATA data cables, if you want to use these you have to plug them into any spare SATA ports on the board, giving you e.SATA capabilities, a definite bonus.
Four SATA data cables, one IDE, one FDD and two e.SATA cables are included in terms of the DATA side of things. Two Molex-to-SATA power converter cables are included for hooking drives to the e.SATA ports. Lastly, an I/O shield is included for you to install the board into your ATX case.
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