Strengths: Easy overclocking.

Weaknesses: FSB is limited to 400 MHz or less.

Summary: This motherboard has really good recovery features for overclockers. If you select a setting that fails, the motherboard will usually be able to recover after a couple reboots. Although this recovery is not always fool-proof it works remarkably well, and definitely helps out a lot. I was able to overclock my Q6600 to 3.55 GHz using this board. The only downside was its inability to cope with an FSB = 400 MHz. Although, you can't really complain about an overclock from 2.4 GHz to 3.55 GHz!

Strengths: Overclocks great, lots of room for expansion.

Weaknesses: No Firewire, only 1 PCI-e slot

Summary: A little lacking in features since it does not include firewire or support for dual video card, but this motherboard overclocks well, has RAID, and I didnt have any problem with the 2 different types of RAM I Tried with it.My setup:Intel Pentium Dual Core E2180 (Overclocked to 3.25Ghz)2x2gb Corsair DDR2800 RAM3x500GB WD SATA Drives in RAID5 arrayGeforce 8600GT 256MB Video CardSystem gets a 5.6 in Vista ultimate.

Strengths: Stable, Power is spot on. Installation pictures (of fans, case connections etc was great).Really simple Overclocking settings for V-core, DDRII, NB and a few others-Lots of BIOS Adjustments

Weaknesses: -No displaying of Voltages (only what incremental increases are available in BIOS).-Lack of detail on BIOS settings/Explanation-Didn't auto detect processor (BIOS V.F4)

Summary: -The board (Rev 1.0) came well packed and had a lot of extra cables. Nice feature if you buy OEM Hard Drives or DVD drives b/c they usually lack the cables.- -BIOS------------------------------------------This board runs from Intermediate to Advanced in its features. While a beginner might be lucky and get a setup to work without any BIOS tweaking, it will likely not be optimized and would be a crap shoot. ...So you have to ready to dig into the BIOS.--When adjusting voltages (in Manual over-volting settings the only Voltage readout they display is the V-Core). So you have to look in software to find settings like DDRII's V-Core. (Problematic if you Memory won't boot on systems default (1.8-1.9V). My memory Crucial Ballistix PC8000 booted right up at 1.9V, but I didn't know at what voltage until got into software (after installing OS...etc.).- -Liked the BIOS Fan settings, can alarm for any fan that shuts down, and have a variety of settings to run your CPU fan speeds to keep the noise levels as low as desired...-Gigabyte (this is my second of their boards) glosses over important settings while going into detail on un-needed settings. Not any worse than others but more detailed information on THEIR WEBSITE would be helpful. -I am running this board with an Core 2 Duo E6750. Initially with (F4 BIOS) this auto detected at 200Mhz x 8 multiplier setting me at 1600Mhz per core. I enabled manual adjustments in CPU Core and set the proper FSB/Core Clock to 333Mhz. No problems with that.--I have since Used the Windows tool @Bios to flash (upgrade) the BIOS from within Windows. I updated that from the disk provided with the motherboard (version 1.20 to 1.21) by clicking update @Bios. Then restarted. This tool is great it will search Gigabyte's websites (select your language-be careful as BIOS's are not all English-so download from US). Updated to (BIOS F9). Very simple but after downloading in the first attempt @Bios gave an error message saying Timed Out ...not the kind of thing (unstable program) that you want to see anytime you are flashing BIOS ROM. Anyway restarted the program (@Bios 1.21) and it quickly flashed just fine :-). At the time of this writing I haven't fully explored the changes to the BIOS with F9. F9-Added some more over-clocking functionality, but so far that is all I see. It did auto-detect my processor's correct default settings 8x333).-PHYSICAL LAYOUT--------------------------I couldn't stand the IDE location. If you have your IDE device way up on your case then it forces you to use a really long IDE cable in order to avoid having it drape across or blocking the SATA ports.- UPDATE-I had to temporarily use the IDE port b/c my new Samsung DVD SATA drive is having difficulties. I was unable to install XP Pro SP-1 or SP-2 until I used the old IDE drive (kept getting errors. So I am VERY GLAD that Gigabyte has not discarded this port yet (SHAME ON YOU INTEL!).The IDE port the purple SATA ports are actually controlled by a Gigabyte chip, not the South Bridge that the other SATAs are controlled by; so you can shut them off separately or enable them in the BIOS. I skipped this altogether by buying an OEM SATA DVD drive/burner.- (SEE ABOVE EDIT) -The board has a nice balance between PCIEx1 PCI slots. I don't have any PCIEx1 cards (yet), so I am thankful for the unblocked access to the PCI cards. Although the board has the Realtek HD sound chip system, I installed a Creative X-Fi card and TV Tuner.- -Fan ports (4) are nice, including the CPU fan. Unfortunately this did not link up with my Antec 900 case which has (4) case fans and they only use (2) wire molex connectors. Used a Zalman CNPS-9500LED as CPU cooler and for whatever reason their 3 pin power connector would not work in the 4 pin CPU fan connector (as it should have). But thanks to the ample connectors I simply used a SYS fan port and in the BIOS changed the detection to NOT ALARM on missing CPU fan and to Alarm instead if the SYS fan stops/fails. Another nice set of BIOS settings.- EDIT - THE CPU 3 pin Fan I have (Zalman) Does work just fine after all in the CPU FAN port...However there is an initial delay of about 8 seconds before the fan kicks on. I was too busy trying to shut it down the first time to notice. But after reading elsewhere about the delay ??Strange Gigabyte??Voltages---------So far everything seems spot on. I am in the process of running stability tests on it at stock speeds. OCCT, Prime 95, Super PI.The newer material/design of this mobo is very low temperature. With my set up, running 100% stress tests on both CPU's I am still around 28% C. NB SB are cool but I have lots of case fans.Ran into an issue with BIOS settings and the LAN/NIC port not functioning (after installed drivers from the MOBO disk).There are several drivers that you need off the mobo setup disk and a several tools you will likely want to get off of it.I am a nit picker, but I LOVE THIS BOARD!!

Strengths: quality

Weaknesses: none so far

Summary: Bought this motherboard because of the Gigabyte name. It has run solid since I've installed it. I haven't overclocked with it and I don't use RAID with it...but I could. No complaints.

Strengths: 8 SATA, NCQ,3Gbits, Raid 0,1,5, Martix, support for 1333MHz system bus compatible with 45nm Penryn

Weaknesses: Single pci-e slot. No firewire

Summary: Reliable p35 main board without the excessive cost. Overclocking potential with FSB in high 400s. The board uses very high quality components with plenty of SATA connections. The support of Matrix Raid with the multiple connectors allows for multiple internal drives plus external drives. The passive cooled northbridge may need other cooling solutions to reach higher overclocks.

Strengths: None: Bought two boards one DOA the other erratic performance.

Weaknesses: None: See above

Summary: I purchased two of these boards the first was DOA, the second would not go past the monochrome screen without shutting down. Very expensive experience (ps, mem, CPU change outs) still no joy. Took same parts and placed in ASUS P5KC works like a charm. Searched online and found the same experience on mulitple retail sites. I am attempting to RMA and purchase another ASUS board.

Strengths: All-Solid Capacitors, P35 Chipset, Intel Core 2 Multi-Core Support, FSB 1333, DDR2 1066, ALC889A Audio

Weaknesses: No DDR3, No SLR Capabilities, No IEEE Connectors

Summary: This is a high quality motherboard that can be used with the Intel Quad Core Q6600. Unfortunately, it does not support DDR3 (the GA-P35C-DS3R supports both DDR2 and DDR3 and is about $20 more). If you are looking for a motherboard and you don't need SLR and don't care about DDR3, this is probably one of the best motherboards out there (I did some research and found that DDR3 memory will increase the speed of your computer by 3-5%). Also, note that currently DDR3 ram is very expensive.

Strengths: -Installation is pretty easy-Easily overclockable-Includes nice software bundle, including an overclocking application-Very solid build, and came with more screws than I needed

Weaknesses: -Installation is fairly simple if you've done this before. Otherwise I would advise getting someone to help. The pictures in the manual are good, but don't tell the whole story.

Summary: Very good board so far. Using it with Vista Premium 32-bit and have had no problems thus far. Easy and straightforward overclocking features means this board is a must for anyone that does not want to wait for the coming of the overpriced X38 chipset. Using with Q6600, ddr2-800 ram and 8800GTS. Get it now!

Strengths: P35 chipset, solid capacitors, feature-rich, easy to overclock, lower temperature on north bridge when Overclocking

Weaknesses: Hard to install 5.25' IDE DVD-writer and 3.5' hard drive together as IDE port is at the bottom. No firewire port. Ancient parallel and COM port still exists.

Summary: I have had a GA-P965-DS3 before I purchase the board. Both boards are very easy and stable to overclock CPU and RAM. My E6320 is overclocked from 1.8 to 3.2GHZ and Crucial Ballistix 2GB pc6400 is from 800MHZ to 1066MHZ. However, I have problem installing my old 5.25' DVD-writer and 3.5' IDE hard drive together in the same case because IDE port is located at the bottom of the board.

Strengths: PRICE, solid capacitors, copper heatsink, supports my Q6600 Quad-core and can support future 45nm processors. Runs very cool compared to similar-priced motherboards. Overclocks very well.

Weaknesses: Bad placement of IDE Port, no firewire.

Summary: The Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R is a great motherboard with a plethora of overclocking features. It has great voltage controls and is easily supporting my Q6600 @ 3.2 Ghz. There is no better motherboard for the price in my opinion. I would buy this motherboard again and again for future builds. It's very futureproof and can support Intel's upcoming 45nm Penryn processors. It is part of Gigabyte's Ultra Durable 2 motherboard series, which feature quality components to make the motherboard last longer. It has enough SATA ports for most users and it also has a PCI-Express X16 port for powerful Graphics Cards. This motherboard has got it all plus more! The only thing it doesn't have is firewire, but come on, who uses that today anyway?

Strengths: Everything works, easy to install, easy to tweak, can apply non-standard memory voltages

Weaknesses: HD Audio driver installation is weird

Summary: I bought this because it had great reviews on Newegg and had all of the features I needed.. I'm using an e6550 and 2 GB of Crucial ballistix 800 at 1.9V, 4-4-4-12. The only trouble I had was with installing the HD AUdio driver - My advice: do NOT install the Microsoft HD audio driver. It prevents you from installing the Realtek driver, which is the only one you actually need.Also, it supports SATA natively so you can install Windows XP off of a CD using a SATA drive on a new build.

Strengths: P35 chipset, up to date motherboard

Weaknesses: shortage of pci slots, placement of connectors

Summary: I bought this MB for a quad core system I was building and it has the latest chipset and is upgradable. It runs with 1066 ram and has most of the connectors you will need. However, the IDE connector is placed at the far right corner of the board and you need an extra long ribbon cable and it still drapes over any pci cards and through the ram. Even the sata connectors are placed far away from most peripherals. With 3 pci slots, I find myself having to buy a usb/firewire interface card to expand instead of having separate cards. But at $131, it is a good MB for the price!

Strengths: Tons of Sata/USB ports. Love the eSata bracket. Upgradeable to new 45nm procs. Runs cool with great Overclocking Features. Recognized all of my components no problem.

Weaknesses: No Firewire. On first boot it wouldn't recognize my USB Keyboard or Mouse (had to find an old PS/2 keyboard to enable USB Keyboard in the Bios.

Summary: Running this board with C2D E4500, Crucial Ballistix 2x1GB PC2-6400 800mhz, BFG 7900gsoc. Haven't overclocked yet but feel confident with this board having Bios recovery settings. Has a nifty feature XpressRecovery2 which lets you make a backup of your Operating System (needs space on your harddrive for it to partition and backup). Highly recommended.

Strengths: ICH9R Raid for less than $150

Weaknesses: No Firewire

Summary: This board is great. I have an E4300 overclocked to 3.0GHz on stock voltage and it runs great. This board has been rock solid and is built with the best parts plus - it carries the ICH9R raid southbridge which is plain awesome.Definately a great board for the price. 4 of my coworkers have already purchased this board based on my experience.

Strengths: Price, quality components, 8 sata ports, matrix raid, compatibility with Penryn

Weaknesses: lack of firewire if you need it, single PCI-E x16

Summary: I've read many reviews before buying this board. I decided to go with this one because it had all the features that I wanted and the price was decent.Keep in mind that it lacks firewire port if you need it, and also doesn't support SLI or CrossFire. These are all features that I do not need, so I would rather pay a little less than have some features that I will never use.The board is good quality. It is supposed to OC really well, but with my e4400 I did not have to push it out of its specifications to get a good OC on the cpu.It will support the new Penryn chips when they come out.Recommended.