Gigabyte EP45C-DS3R comes with other important features. As previously mentioned, all electrolytic capacitors used on this motherboard are solid from a Japanese manufacturer, which avoids the infamous leakage problem. The CPU voltage regulator circuit is equipped with ferrite chokes, which offer 25% less energy loss compared to iron shokes, and MOSFET transistors with low RDS(on) (low current leakage), that consume less energy and generate less heat. Furthermore, this circuit uses a six-phase design, which generates less heat, has greater life-span and offers a cleaner voltage to the processor than "common" regulators that use three phases. For a better understanding of the importance of such design, read our Everything You Need to Know About the Motherboard Voltage Regulator Circuit tutorial.

click to enlarge
Figure 7: CPU voltage regulator circuit.

The set of accessories that comes with this motherboard is relatively simple: in addition to the manual, installation guide, driver CD, SATA, IDE and floppy cables, rear plate and a pair of stickers, the only thing that really drew our attention was an adapter that lets you transform a regular SATA port into an eSATA and a set of cables that allows you to connect a SATA hard disk on your computer without opening the case.

 
click to enlarge
Figure 8: Accessories.