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DFI LANPARTY UT X48-T2R Review
[Abstract]
IntroductionIntel's enthusiast grade X48 chipset slipped into retail channels with a conspicuous lack of fanfare. A cursory search of the major board vendors showed that they have not issued an...
[Content] PCDigitalMobileGame
Introduction
Intel's enthusiast grade X48 chipset slipped into retail channels with a conspicuous lack of fanfare. A cursory search of the major board vendors showed that they have not issued any press releases about their X48 products and we doubt that they will ever do so. At least their websites are updated with their X48 models. While we are unsure why Intel and its board partners have kept the X48 on such a low profile (the fact that the X48 is essentially identical to the X38, with only a minor update to make 1600MHz FSB official, could be a reason), the boards themselves have been available in the market for a little while now (though slow to trickle into retail).
So far, we have seen the Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6, which retained DDR2 memory while being identical to the manufacturer's X38 version. Next up is DFI's take on this chipset, the DFI LANParty UT X48-T2R, featuring a rather unique and 'exterior' extension to the usual passive heatsinks found on a motherboard. This is none other than a Thermalright Flame-Freezer cooling solution, which you'll see more of later in this article.
A distinctive black and green board from DFI. As usual with the LANParty series, the green slots on the board are UV reactive and will glow against the black PCB under ultraviolet light. This is complemented by the included cables which are also UV reactive. |
Like other DFI motherboards, this black and green X48 board glows under ultraviolet light, the better for it to stand out in a LAN party, where everyone will be presumably be toting their PCs proudly. We found the following accessories in the package:-
4 x SATA data cables
4 x SATA power converter cables
1 x 80-conductor Ultra ATA data cable
1 x floppy drive data cable
1 x Bernstein audio module with cable
1 x Transpiper kit (with metal pipe and thermal paste)
1 x copper plate with mounting screws
RAID driver diskette
I/O shield
Driver CD
User manual
DFI LANParty UT X48-T2R Technical Specifications
| CPU Support | - Supportsall 90/65/45nm Intel LGA775processors
- Quad-Core ready
| | Chipset | - Northbridge:Intel X48
- 800/1066/1333/1600MHz front side bus
- PCIExpress 2.0 x16 forgraphics
- Southbridge: IntelICH9R
| | Memory | - Supports fourunbuffered DIMM of 1.8 Volt DDR2 SDRAM
- Supports up to 8GB memory size
- 667/800/1066dual channelDDR2 memoryarchitecture
| | Storage | - Intel ICH9RSouthbridge
- 6 x SATA3.0Gbpsinterface
- Intel MatrixStorage Technology
- Supports RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1 and RAID 5
- JMicron JMB363 PCIe to SATA and PATA host controller
- 2 x UltraATA33/66/100 (data transfer rate up to100MB/sec.)
- Supports 2SATA devices
- RAID 0 andRAID 1
| | Audio | - Bernstein audio module (Azalia)
- Realtek ALC885 HD Audio CODEC
- 2 x coaxial S/PDIF connectors
- 1 x optical S/PDIF connector
- DAC SNR/ADC SNR of 106dB/101dB
- Full-rate lossless content protection technology
| | Networking | - 1 x Marvell88E8052 PCIeGigabit Ethernet
- 1 x Marvell88E8053 PCIeGigabit Ethernet
| | IEEE 1394 (FireWire) | - VIA VT6307FireWire controller
- 2 x 1394aports @ 400 Mbps speed
| | I/O Interface | - 1x Floppy connector
- 1 x Ultra ATAIDE connector
- 8 x SATAconnectors
- 12 x USB 2.0ports (6 x rear, 6 x header)
- 2 x FireWire-400ports(1 x rear, 1 x header)
- 2 x RJ45 LANports
- 8-Channel Audio I/Oports
- 1 xOptical S/PDIF output (on Bernstein audio module)
- 2 xCoaxial S/PDIF I/O jacks(on Bernstein audio module)
- 1 x COM port header
- 1 x Bernstein audio module connector
- 1x mini-DIN-6 PS/2keyboard port
- 1 x mini-DIN-6 PS/2 mouse port
| | Expansion Slots | - 2 xPCIe x16slots(PCI Express Bus specification v2.0compliant)
- 2-way CrossFire at x16/x16 bandwidth
- 2-way CrossFire + Physics at x16/x16/x4 bandwidth
- 1 x PCIe x 4 slot (PCIExpress Bus specification v1.0compliant)
- 1 x PCIe x 1 slot (PCIExpress Bus specification v1.0compliant)
- 3 x 32-bitPCI slots(PCI 2.3 compliant)
| | Special Features | - EZ Clear (Clear CMOS function)
- Thermalright Flame-Freezer cooling system
| | PCB | - 6 layers PCB
- ATX FormFactor, 12"x9.6"(30.5cm x 24.5cm)
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Due to the presence of the extended Thermalright heatsink, the usual number of I/O ports at the rear have been reduced to the more important Gigabit LAN, USB 2.0 and PS/2 ports. Don't fret, DFI has a separate audio module with all the necessary ports. |
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