Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L review

Budget doesn’t always mean fudged

Media centre ahoy! Gigabyte goes all Dolby Digital

TechRadar Verdict

A great value option for the more multimedia-conscious among you

Pros

  • +

    Bargain price

  • +

    Dolby Digital support

Cons

  • -

    Limited overclocking potential

  • -

    Oddly located IDE

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If we were less careful, this budget offering from Gigabyte might have slipped through the net.

The slim board doesn't support multiple GPUs and only has a four-pin power connection for the CPU and a relatively small northbridge heatsink - which should mean it's not so hot for overclocking, if you'll pardon the pun.

One for media centres

Despite the low price, though, it more than kept up with the serious contenders.

A solid capacitor design makes it stable under reasonably high clock speeds, while the shape and number of audio connectors - not many boards support Dolby Digital over optical, like this one - makes it perfect for media centres.

The IDE connector is in a peculiar place for tower cases, but don't let that stop you considering this excellent compromise option.

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