The Intel BearLake chipset, also known as P35, is about to dawn upon us. We already see boards starting to pack the retail shelves. It is a mid-range chipset solution to replace the 965P chipset, with support for both DDR2 and DDR3 Memory. DDR3 Memory is still expensive, and there are even boards out that will support both RAMs to make the transition a lot less expensive at one shot. Today, we take a look at the Gigabyte P35-DS3R motherboard... one that I snuck from a retail outlet!

Now, bear in mind that the DS3 series is the value-for-money level set by Gigabyte to capture the mass consumer market. As such, we do not see the fancy heat-pipes and dual PCIE slots we see on the DS4 and DQ6 series, which are more catered for the enthusiasts market.