BIOS options galore
Official support for a 1600MHz front-side bus makes the X48 Express chipset a prime candidate for more extreme overclocking exploits, and Gigabyte has ensured that the X48T-DQ6's BIOS is up to the task.

Front-side bus speed options are actually available up to 700MHz (2800MHz quad-pumped), giving potential overclockers more than enough of headroom to play with. A total of eight multipliers yields plenty of memory bus speed options, as well.

The BIOS really shines in the voltage department, where users have control over seven different system voltage settings. Extreme overclockers will be pleased to note that CPU core voltage options are available up to a whopping 2.35V in ultra-fine 0.00625V increments. If you prefer to underclock, you can lower the core voltage to as little as 0.5V with the same granularity. Memory overvolting options are also impressive, allowing users to push an additional 1.55V on top of DDR3's default voltage of 1.5V.

As one might expect, the BIOS also includes all the usual memory timings. Temperature-based fan speed control makes an appearance, as well, but only for the CPU fan, and without arbitrary control over actual fan speeds and target temperatures. It's a little disappointing to see motherboard makers dedicating so little attention to an important feature like temperature-based fan speed control. Just about every enthusiast-oriented motherboard that has passed through our labs in the last couple of years has offered more than enough options on the overclocking front, but precious few give users meaningful control over fan speed profiles.

A new Dynamic Energy Saver feature that Gigabyte has rolled out in its latest motherboards suggests that the company is at least serious about reducing power consumption. This functionality isn't exposed through the BIOS (at least not yet, although it's something that Gigabyte is working on), but rather through Windows software bundled with the X48T-DQ6.

When enabled, DES dynamically scales the number of power phases used to feed the processor based on system load. A minimum of four power phases are active at all times, with additional phases activated in pairs. Since our X48T has 12-phase power, DES can choose from five different phase configurations.

Gigabyte's DES Windows app lets users keep tabs on how many power phases are in use at a given time. More interestingly, it also calculates how many watts a system's processor is using, feeding that information into a counter that tracks overall power savings. We'll see just how well DES works when we probe power consumption a little later in this review.

Specifics on specifications
If you prefer your motherboard specifications carefully compiled into a single chart, the one below details Gigabyte's X48T-DQ6. Knock yourself out.