BIOS options and tweaking software
Most motherboards are equipped with only a single BIOS chip, but in keeping with the DQ6's theme of excess, it has two. The second serves as a backup, so if you corrupt the first, there's a spare in waiting. Gigabyte also provides software that allows for easy recovery from saved BIOS files located on the DQ6's driver CD, and on your hard drive, if you'd like a copy of them there as well.

Of course, one backup BIOS should be enough. Besides, our real interest in the BIOS isn't in how many there are, but in what kind of tweaking and overclocking options are available within.

On the overclocking front, we're off to a good start. Control over the Core 2 Duo multiplier is provided, and you can set front-side bus speeds between 100 and 650MHz in 1MHz increments. The menu shows the effective DRAM clock rather than the base frequency, giving users the ability to set target memory speeds between 400 and 1400MHz. After a target memory speed has been set, the BIOS selects an appropriate multiplier from a pool of, well, plenty. The BIOS doesn't actually reveal how many memory dividers are at your disposal, but there appear to be more than enough for even extreme overclocking endeavors.

Of course, to really push the DQ6 to extremes, you'll need to start cranking on system voltages. The BIOS is well equipped here, offering CPU voltages up to a stunning 2.375V in 0.025V increments. You can also increase the DRAM voltage by up to 0.775V and tweak north bridge, south bridge, front-side bus, and HyperTransport voltages.

As one might expect, the DQ6's BIOS serves up access to all the major memory timings, including the DRAM command rate. Some high-end boards bury you under a mountain of obscure timing options that few have the expertise to tweak properly, but for most folks, the basics should be adequate.

It's tempting to call noise level control the new overclocking, so we pay particularly attention to a motherboard's fan speed control options. Gigabyte does reasonably well here, offering temperature-based fan speed control for the board's CPU and system fan headers. You can switch the CPU fan header between three- and four-pin modes, too. However, there's no provision to adjust the default fan profile's temperature targets or thresholds.

If you want to adjust the DQ6's fan speed profile, you have to bust out Gigabyte's EasyTune5 tweaking and hardware monitoring software in Windows. This app also lets you tweak the front-side bus and a few voltages, but the interface leaves much to be desired. It's just not as clean and easy to use as Nvidia's free nTune system utility, which Gigabyte hasn't fully supported with the N680SLI-DQ6's current BIOS.

nTune relies on special hooks implemented in a motherboard BIOS, and on the DQ6, the hooks necessary to monitor system temperatures and voltages aren't present.

You also lose out on nTune's voltage and fan speed tweaking options, although it is possible to tweak some memory timings and to manipulate the front-side bus speed. That's a start, but since Nvidia provides nTune for free, motherboard makers would do well to fully support the app. Besides, nTune's a much better system tweaking and monitoring utility than what most mobo makers bundle with their boards.