Mini-review: DFI DK P35-T2RS

[Mankz_91]

This is a mini-review of the DFI DK P35-T2RS, which I'll just refer to as the P35 to save my mind. This isn't going to be as good as a Bit-Tech review and I don't claim to be an overclocking god etc. but I'll give it my best..

Box & Extras..:

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f266/Mankz_91/DSCF2856.jpg

I didn't plan on doing a review when I got the board, hence the CPU and RAM in there

The box is a basic black with some rather spangly black and grey flowers, which are actually rather nice. The big 'DARK' logo also makes an apperance later in the BIOS too.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f266/Mankz_91/DSCF2859.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f266/Mankz_91/DSCF2860.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f266/Mankz_91/DSCF2861.jpg

Diving in, you get the usual manual about installing the LGA 775 processor, aswell as a rather good manual, floppy with RAID drivers, I/O panel, spare jumpers and some very nice orange IDE, Floppy and S-ATA cables that fit in nicely with the mobo. There is also a supplied Molex > 2x S-ATA cable, but no USB or Firewire add-ons.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f266/Mankz_91/DSCF2862.jpg

Under a piece of cardboard you finally get to the board, lovingly placed in the ever present anti-static bag.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f266/Mankz_91/DSCF2864.jpg

The board. A little bit of a looker too. You get the standard PCI-E x16, two PCI-E x1 slots (only one with a dual slot card) and then 3 standard PCI slots, all in orange. In total there are 4 passive sinks on the board, 2 for MOSFET's, a fairly large northbridge one, and a rather small south bridge. For those interested in watercooling, there is a little sticker between the northbridge heatsink and the motherboard PCB talking about 'warranty void if removed'.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f266/Mankz_91/DSCF2865.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f266/Mankz_91/DSCF2866.jpg

DFI give you a single IDE and Floppy, and 6 right-angle S-ATA ports, which should be fine for most. As for power, there is the standard 24 Pin-ATX, and 8-Pin EPS, and a 4-pin floppy power connector. On the subject of the floppy power connector, I needed it to POST, while other DFI users havn't, which is wired. There are the normal 4 DDR2 ports that you get with P35, and finally, 4x 3-pin fan connectors, and one 4-pin fan connector by the CPU. Finally, there are solid state caps all over the board - some with a 8800 GT / 9600 GT etc. might have an issue with the small caps by the I/O slot of the x16 slot.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f266/Mankz_91/DSCF2863.jpg

On the back, there are 6 USB ports, an Ethernet port, a CMOS clear jumper, PS/2 mouse and keyboard ports, 6 Realtek Audio ports and some other ports that I don't really know or use. :hehe:


I'm still overclocking and tinkering, so I'll do that bit in the next post.

[Mankz_91]

Reserved

[Linchpin]

This is imo the best value for money overclocking board on the market atm.

[Parad0x]

This is imo the best value for money overclocking board on the market atm.

+1:D

[Garrett]

True... I'm selling it though, just got myself a 780i SLI board :)
But for those who are satisfied with 1 videocard, this is definitely worth a good look, I haven't had 1 strange thing with this board, absolutely nothing :) :up:

[TEDY]

so you're saying better then asus p5k-e?

[Linchpin]

so you're saying better then asus p5k-e?


:yepp:

[cantankerous]

I never understood why DFI put the CMOS clear jumper on the back of the board on their lower end models but not on their higher end models like the UT T2R. Though EZ-Clear works most of the time, I would love easier access to a CMOS clear jumper right at the back of the case rather than having to go right inside and change it when it's hiding under my long video card =/.

[begrip]

on my Abit ip35-pro there is a clear cmos on the back :)

[theclash]

Just hook up a momentary switch to the CMOS jumpers and mount it on the front of your case.

[cantankerous]

yea I hear, but for the coin spent on the high end board im not really into ghetto mods with additional cabling. Though it would work quite well. I remember doing that in my NF2 days.

[begrip]

hmm this seems to be a good budget board :clap:

[maxine]

Max VDimm, Vcore, VMch, VPll...in bios?.

[GamingDaemon]

***BUMP***

I'm interested in this board. Any more feedback. I want to put an E3110 proc on it and an eVGA 8800 GTX video card. I heard that the video card can hit the caps sometimes. Anyone experience that? Any other issues with the mobo?

[Garrett]

You won't hit any caps... first hand experience here ;)
I'm running the Asus 780i SLI board right now, I had this DFI right before it, and I must say I've never ever had ANY issues whatsoever... one of the best boards available for a single vga card setup :up:

[GamingDaemon]

Want to pick this thread up again. After a bit of research I am going to go with one of these two DFI mobos:


DFI LP LT P35 T2R (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16813136039)
DFI LANPARTY DK P35-T2RS (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16813136043)


Now the only difference I can see between the DK and the LT is that the DK has a 4-phase pwm, while the LT has an 8-phase pwm, which I understand delivers better, more stable power. I am not interested in the UT because I don't want to mess with the transpiper.

Which board should I purchase to overclock my e3110 to 4GHz? Is the 8-phase pwm worth an extra $50?

[aiya]

from what i've seen the 8-phase digital pwm is beneficial in quadcore overclocking.

for a dualcore either one would work well with that wolfdale. most users on here will tell you get the UT/LT and is worth the extra $50.

it all comes down to if your budget can permit it. if your budget is unless then get the UT/LT, if its limited get the DK.