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GIGABYTE: GA-EP45-EXTREME (rev. 1.0)

GA-EP45-EXTREME (rev. 1.0)
Intel® P45 Chipset

Revolution energy saving design with DES Advanced featuring hardware based Dynamic 6-Gear switching
Supports 45nm Intel® Core™ 2 multi-core processors with FSB 1600 MHz
Dual channel DDR2 1333+ for remarkable system performance
Advanced power phase design with virtual 12 power phases to provides highly efficient operation for 45nm CPU
Embedded 2 power phases for NB chipset and 2 phases for memory power to excel at power efficiency
2 PCI-E 2.0 x16 graphic interface plus PCI-E x4 with CrossFireX ™ support for ultimate graphics performance
Hardware Overvoltage Control IC Provides more voltage control options on CPU, North bridge and memory
All Copper Heat pipe/Heat sink connecting NB, SB, and MOSFET and extra Hybrid Silent-Pipe design provides 30% cooler thermal performance
Professed onboard Debug LED and OV-Alert LED, OC-Alert LED, TMP-Alert LED allows user to easily catch on to PC status
2 Gigabit Ethernet LAN with Teaming functionality
Supports Dolby Home Theater® audio to create a stunning surround sound listening experience.
DualBIOS solution gives a multiple security to the system
Power/reset/Clr CMOS onboard button for easily operation on th workbench
Maximum CPU keep out zone for extreme CPU cooling
Blu-ray playback outputs supported by high quality 106dB SNR ALC889A HD audio

(Note) This motherboard is designed with VRD11.1 power phase, and cannot be compatible with VRD10 designed CPU. Please refer to "CPU Support List" for details.

Overview



Introduction


Designed for overclocking enthusiasts with overwhelming overclocking experience, GIGABYTE GA-EP45-EXTREME is based on Intel P45 chipset, and supports the latest multi-core and 45nm processors up to FSB 1600MHz, featuring dual PCI-E 2.0x16 connectivity with CrossFireX™ supported and dual LAN with teaming for ultra bandwidth.

GA-EP45-EXTREME equipped with all-copper heat pipe from North Bridge, South Bridge, to CPU MOSFET which provides comprehensive thermal solution, and can be further optimized by a special heat pipe between North Bridge heat sink and PCI socket on your option. Additionally, enhanced with special design around CPU circuit for maximum heat reducing and top quality electronics components, GA-EP45-EXTREME brings unprecedented cool and reliable platform for overclockers.

Built with GIGABYTE patented Dynamic Energy Saver Advanced technology and Ultra Durable 2 design, GA-EP45-EXTREME delivers ultimate overclocking performance along with maximum stability and advanced power savings.

Smaller, Faster and More Efficient
GA-EP45-EXTREME motherboards paired with Intel 45nm CPUs deliver the very best platform for multitasking, multimedia and high performance gaming. Not only do GIGABYTE's latest motherboards based on Intel Bearlake chipsets all support Intel's new generation, 45nm multi-core processors.

Dual Channel DDR2 1333+
Experience the advanced technology of DDR2 1333+ memory, featuring faster speeds and higher data bandwidth, which delivers superior performance for the most demanding applications.
* Please refer "Memory Support List" for memory support information

PCI-E 2.0 Graphic Interface
PCI-E 2.0 doubles the bus standard's bandwidth from 2.5 Gbit/s to 5 Gbit/s, meaning a x32 connector can transfer data at up to 16 GB/s in each direction. PCIe 2.0 also features improvements to the point-to-point data transfer protocol and its software architecture.

ATI CrossFireX
With support for ATI CrossFireX, GIGABYTE pushes the envelope once again by delivering highly optimized performance and flexibility demanded by power users and extreme gaming enthusiasts. Designed to provide unmatched multi-GPU support with dual PCI Express connectivity, the GA-EP45-EXTREME allows users to take advantage of the ultra smooth 3D rendering, blazing-fast frame rates and enhanced visual quality possible with a dual graphics card solution.

Attention: When attempting to enable ATI CrossfireX Technology on this board. In case of unable to get Crossfire Technology working normally, please make sure to use ATI graphic cards that have hardware Crossfire bridge. (Please refer to ATI official website for more Crossfire Technology supporting details:
http://game.amd.com/us-en/content/images/crossfirex/CF_combo_chart_July08.jpg

Dolby Home Theater® - Enjoy a Rich Home Theater Surround Sound Experience
Dolby Home Theater places listeners in the middle of the action, giving their PCs a powerful set of tools to deliver a cinema-style experience in vivid surround sound.
  • Delivers vivid surround sound for music, movies, and games, using two to eight speakers or any set of headphones
  • Designed to automatically deliver the best possible listening experience



Hybrid Silent-Pipe

Hybrid-Silent Pipe is all-copper thermal solution design which combines Air cooling with Liquid Cooling to enable effective heat removal from the North Bridge, South Bridge and CPU area.

Hybrid-Silent Pipe combines liquid cooling and air cooling to provide up to 30% cooler operation



Dynamic Energy Saver Advanced

GIGABYTE Dynamic Energy Saver Advanced provides better energy saving capabilities and enhanced system performance. GIGABYTE Dynamic Energy Saver Advanced is the world’s only motherboard energy saving technology with hardware-based Dynamic 6-Gear* Switching. With support for VRD 11.1, GIGABYTE’s DES Advanced allows the motherboard to switch to 1 Gear phase switching during idle, allowing for a dramatic increase in power savings.

GIGABYTE has also retooled Dynamic Energy Saver to allow overclockers to experience the benefits of multi-gear power phase switching while overclocking, providing ultra stable, ultra smooth overclocking performance.
* The 6-Gear feature may vary by model. Gear 1 phase switching requires 45nm processors with PSI signal enabled.

Ultra Durable 2 -Designed with Top Quality Highly Efficient Components

Ultra Cooling - Low RDS(on) MOSFET Design
Low RDS(on) MOSFETs specially designed to produce lower switching resistance for faster electric current charging and discharging. .. more


Low Power Loss - Ferrite Core Choke Design
Ferrite core chokes comprised of a compound of iron oxide and other metal elements whose properties hold energy much longer than common iron core at high frequency... more

Longer Life - All-Solid Capacitor Design
Solid capacitors contain a solid organic polymer, while electrolytic capacitors use a common liquid electrolyte, hence, the terms solid capacitor versus electrolytic capacitors... more

50,000 Hours Japanese Solid Capacitors
GIGABYTE Ultra Durable motherboards are equipped with solid capacitors developed by leading Japanese manufacturers. With an average lifespan of 50,000 hours, these solid capacitors provide the stability, reliability and longevity essential to meet the power needs of high-end processors and other components running today's most demanding applications and games.

2 Power Phases for Both North Bridge and Memory
GIGABYTE P45 motherboards are equipped with 2-Phase power for the North Bridge and memory, allowing users to reach higher memory frequencies and enjoy better performance. Compared with only one phase solutions, this ensures longer power component lifespan and higher overclockability due to cooler working temperatures and better efficiency.



High Velocity 2X Bandwidth Boost

The Dual LAN with Teaming functionality enabled allows 2 single connections to act as 1 single connection for 2x Bandwidth, improving overall throughput.

Prevents network downtime by transferring the workload from a failed port to a working port.

Receive Side Scaling balances the network traffic load evenly between 2 CPU cores in order to improve performance.

Adjusts power consumption automatically according to your LAN cable lengths, up to 10% power savings.

(Note) To enable Teaming or Bonding (IEEE 802.3ad Link Aggregation) feature, it is required the connected network switch or router device supports 802.3.ad LACP function.
Please refer to your network switch or router device manual for further details.

Hardware Overvoltage Control ICs
Hardware Overvoltage Control ICs which provide more voltage control options than before for the CPU North Bridge and memory. The overvoltage controllers also provide hardware linear real-time voltage control. In addition, Hardware Overvoltage Controller ICs also allow for much finer voltage control, allowing power users to adjust voltage in as little increments as 20mV for better overclocking performance.

EasyTune6
GIGABYTE has completely redesigned EasyTune6 from the ground up to make it easier than ever to manage and monitor your hardware resources as well as tweak your system settings in order to achieve maximum system performance. Whether you are an overclocking enthusiast, or a computer novice, EasyTune6 provides the tools you need to quickly and effortlessly fine tune your system



DualBIOS™ - Patented Dual Hardware BIOS Protection

DualBIOS™ is a GIGABYTE patented technology that automatically recovers BIOS data when main BIOS has crashed or failed. Featuring 2 physical BIOS ROMs integrated onboard, GIGABYTE DualBIOS™ allows quick and seamless recovery from BIOS damage or failure due to viruses or improper BIOS updating.

Debug LED
Embedded post code LED display simplifies motherboard signals and indicates system status

OV-Alert LED
Embedded 4 sets of overvoltage LEDs which indicate the OV level of the CPU, memory, NB and SB

OC-Alert LED
The onboard OC-Alert LED indicates the level of CPU overclock, the higher the overclock level, the more the number of burning LEDs

TMP-Alert LED
The two sets of temperature indicator LEDs show the temperature level of the CPU and NB

Onboard Quick Switches
Onboard Power, Clear CMOS and Reset buttons allow for quick and easy tweaking for power users working in an in chassis environment.

Specifications
CPU
  1. Support for an Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme processor/ Intel® Core™ 2 Quad processor/Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor/ Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core processor/Intel® Celeron® processor in the LGA 775 package
    (Note) This motherboard is designed with VRD11.1 power phase, and cannot be compatible with VRD10 designed CPU. Please refer to "CPU Support List" for details.
  2. L2 cache varies with CPU
Front Side Bus
  1. 1600/1333/1066/800 MHz FSB
Chipset
  1. North Bridge: Intel® P45 Express Chipset
  2. South Bridge: Intel® ICH10R
Memory
  1. 4 x 1.8V DDR2 DIMM sockets supporting up to 16 GB of system memory
  2. Dual channel memory architecture
  3. Support for DDR2 1333+/1066/800/667 MHz memory modules
    (Refer to Memory support list for more information)
Audio
  1. Realtek ALC889A codec
  2. High Definition Audio
  3. 2/4/5.1/7.1-channel
  4. Support for Dolby Home Theater
  5. Support for S/PDIF In/Out
  6. Support for CD In
LAN
  1. 2 x Realtek 8111C chips (10/100/1000 Mbit)
  2. Support for Teaming
Expansion Slots
  1. 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16
  2. 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x8
    (The PCIEx16 and PCIEx8 slots support ATI CrossFireX technology and conform to PCI Express 2.0 standard.)
  3. 1 x PCI Express x4 slots
  4. 1 x PCI Express x1 slot
  5. 3 x PCI slots
Storage InterfaceSouth Bridge:
  1. 6 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors (SATAII0, SATAII1, SATAII2, SATAII3, SATAII4, SATAII5) supporting up to 6 SATA 3Gb/s devices
  2. Support for SATA RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10
iTE IT8213 chip:
  1. 1 x IDE connector supporting ATA-133/100/66/33 and up to 2 IDE devices
iTE IT8720 chip:
  1. 1 x floppy disk drive connector supporting up to 1 floppy disk drive
IEEE 1394a
  1. T.I. TSB43AB23 chip
  2. Up to 3 IEEE 1394a ports (via the IEEE 1394a brackets connected to the internal IEEE 1394a headers)
USB
  1. Integrated in the South Bridge
  2. Up to 12 USB 2.0/1.1 ports (8 on the back panel, 4 via the USB brackets connected to the internal USB headers)
Internal I/O Connectors
  1. 1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector
  2. 1 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector
  3. 1 x floppy disk drive connector
  4. 1 x IDE connector
  5. 6 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors
  6. 1 x CPU fan header
  7. 2 x system fan headers
  8. 1 x power fan header
  9. 1 x front panel header
  10. 1 x front panel audio header
  11. 1 x CD In connector
  12. 1 x S/PDIF In header
  13. 1 x S/PDIF Out header
  14. 2 x USB 2.0/1.1 headers
  15. 3 x IEEE 1394a headers
  16. 1 x serial port header
  17. 1 x chassis intrusion header
  18. 1 x power LED header
  19. 1 x power switch
  20. 1 x reset switch
Back Panel Connectors
  1. 1 x PS/2 keyboard port
  2. 1 x PS/2 mouse port
  3. 1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector
  4. 1 x coaxial S/PDIF Out connector
  5. 1 x clearing CMOS switch
  6. 8 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports
  7. 2 x RJ-45 ports
  8. 6 x audio jacks (Center/Subwoofer Speaker Out/Rear Speaker Out/Side Speaker Out/Line In/Line Out/Microphone)
I/O Controller
  1. iTE IT8720 chip
H/W Monitoring
  1. System voltage detection
  2. CPU/System temperature detection
  3. CPU/System/Power fan speed detection
  4. CPU overheating warning
  5. CPU/System/Power fan fail warning
  6. CPU/System fan speed control
BIOS
  1. 2 x 8 Mbit flash
  2. Use of licensed AWARD BIOS
  3. Support for DualBIOS™
  4. PnP 1.0a, DMI 2.0, SM BIOS 2.4, ACPI 1.0b
Unique Features
  1. Support for @BIOS
  2. Support for Q-Flash
  3. Support for Virtual Dual BIOS
  4. Support for Download Center
  5. Support for Xpress Install
  6. Support for Xpress Recovery2
  7. Support for EasyTune
  8. Support for Dynamic Energy Saver Advanced
  9. Support for Time Repair
  10. Support for Q-Share
Bundle Software
  1. Norton Internet Security (OEM version)
Operating System
  1. Support for Microsoft/ Windows/ Vista/XP
Form Factor
  1. ATX Form Factor; 30.5cm x 24.4cm

Driver

Audio
DownloadDateDescriptionVersionSize
Download from ...2009/01/22Realtek Function driver for Realtek Azalia audio chip (Including Microsoft UAA Driver in English edition)
O.S. : Windows 2000,Windows® XP,Windows® XP 64bit,Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition 32bit,Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition 64bit,Windows Vista x86 (32-bit),Windows Vista x64 (64-bit)
R2.0739.54 MB
Download from ...2008/12/24Realtek Function driver for Realtek Azalia audio chip
(This audio driver together with Creative Utility enableds X-Fi crystallizer, X-Fi CMSS-3D,EAX®ADVANCED HD4.0)
O.S. : Windows Vista x86 (32-bit)
6.0.1.570038.64 MB
Download from ...2008/12/23 Sound Blaster X-Fi MB utility (30-day trial version) PART1
features X-Fi crystalizer, X-Fi CMSS-3D,EAX®ADVANCED HD4.0. (Please update audio driver ver 6.0.1.5700 before install utility to enable Creative features)
Please download all 3 parts then execute part1.exe
Know more about X-Fi
http://www.creative.com/oem/technology/x-fi.asp
O.S. : Windows Vista x86 (32-bit)
9.1.0.42970.00 MB
Download from ...2008/12/23 Sound Blaster X-Fi MB utility (30-day trial version) PART2
Please download all 3 parts then execute part1.exe
O.S. : Windows Vista x86 (32-bit)
9.1.0.42970.00 MB
Download from ...2008/12/22 Sound Blaster X-Fi MB utility (30-day trial version) PART3
Please download all 3 parts then execute part1.exe
O.S. : Windows Vista x86 (32-bit)
9.1.0.42944.21 MB
Download from ...2006/10/03Microsoft UAA (Universal Audio Architecture) Bus driver (Full Multi-language version )
O.S. : Windows 2000,Windows® XP,Windows Server 2003
5.10.0.501029.87 MB

Chipset
DownloadDateDescriptionVersionSize
Download from ...2008/10/15Intel INF installation
O.S. : Windows 2000,Windows® XP,Windows® XP 64bit,Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition 32bit,Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition 64bit,Windows Vista x86 (32-bit),Windows Vista x64 (64-bit)
9.1.0.10072.34 MB

LAN
DownloadDateDescriptionVersionSize
Download from ...2009/01/22Realtek 8111/8169 LAN Driver
O.S. : Windows 98,Windows Me,Windows 2000,Windows® XP 32bit,Windows® XP 64bit
5.708.1030.20083.55 MB
Download from ...2009/01/22Realtek LAN Driver
O.S. : Windows Vista x86 (32-bit),Windows Vista x64 (64-bit)
6.213.1110.20084.16 MB

SATA RAID
DownloadDateDescriptionVersionSize
Download from ...2008/09/15Intel ICH9R/ICH10R SATA RAID Driver
O.S. : Windows® XP,Windows® XP 64bit,Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition 32bit,Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition 64bit,Window XP Media Center Edition,Windows Vista x86 (32-bit),Windows Vista x64 (64-bit)
8.5.0.103225.23 MB
Download from ...2008/09/15Intel ICH9R/ICH10R Driver (Preinstall driver)
Note: Press F6 during Windows* setup to read from floppy. (For non-VISTA operating systems)
O.S. : Windows® XP,Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition 32bit,Windows Vista x86 (32-bit)
8.5.0.10320.28 MB
Download from ...2008/09/15Intel ICH9R/ICH10R Driver (Preinstall driver)
Note: Press F6 during Windows* setup to read from floppy. (For non-VISTA operating systems)
O.S. : Windows® XP 64bit,Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition 64bit,Windows Vista x64 (64-bit)
8.5.0.10320.30 MB



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