Gigabyte – GA-G41M-ES2H Micro ATX motherboard

Conclusion:

After getting everything installed and working, ( which I might add was painless ) I gave the system a 48 hour burn in running both cores through a punishing prime 95 session, the machine remained completely stable even in a pretty enclosed case with a  small single fan and stock Intel cooler. I was pleasantly surprised that this motherboard remained cool and stable even after heavy use. Unfortunately my enjoyment of this board is tempered by the poor graphics performance. While a PCI-e slot running at 4x is more than enough for most cards to function it is pretty noticeable next to the same card running at 16x. That being said for a SFF ( Small Form Factor ) motherboard, this board does surprisingly well for LAN parties where small size and only moderate graphics performance are required,  this board would really excel for a home theater PC where cramped conditions and low ventilation are common place.

One of the big surprises of this board was just how customizable it could be. The GA-G41M-ES2H could very easily be  overclocked to you heart’s content, just remember when you raise the voltage on something your increasing its heat output as well, increased heat can mean serious trouble for form factor cases common with micro ATX boards. If your in the market for a low cost small form factor motherboard, either for a cheap LAN box or a powerful home theater PC you will find the GA-G41-ES2H a great deal with a solid bang for your buck value.

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