DFI LP UT P35-T2R - Mini Living Review.

[Clunk]

Host Slew Rate.



GTL REF Voltage Control - Also, see the second pic down.



Voltage Setting with GTL REF Voltage Control Enabled.



CPU SPread Spectrum.



PCIE Spread Spectrum.



SATA Spread Spectrum.



CMOS Reloaded.

There are four "slots" for saving your settings here.



That's the BIOS features of interest, now, onto the testing. Again, I'm going to try and keep this fairly brief


If you find the information in this review useful -

Continued below....

[Clunk]

If you find the information in this review useful -

PHP Code:

     DFI LP UT P35-T2R BIOS Template

CPU Feature
Thermal Management Control:
PPM(EIST) Mode:
Limit CPUID MaxVal:
C1E Function:
Execute Disable Bit:
Virtualisation Technology:
Core Multi-Processing:

DRAM Timing
Enhanced Data Transmitting:
Enhanced Addressing:
T2 Dispatch:
*Clock Setting Fine Delay*
CH1 Clock Crossing Setting:
DIMM 1 Clock Fine Delay:
DIMM 2 Clock Fine Delay:
CH1 Command Fine Delay:
CH1 Control Fine Delay:

CH2 Clock Crossing Setting:
DIMM 3 Clock Fine Delay:
DIMM 4 Clock Fine Delay:
Ch 2 Command Fine Delay:
Ch 2 Control Fine Delay:

Ch1CH2 CommonClock Setting:

Ch1 RDCAS GNT-Chip Delay:
Ch1 WRCAS GNT-Chip Delay:
Ch1 Command to CS Delay:

Ch2 RDCAS GNT-Chip Delay:
Ch2 WRCAS GNT-Chip Delay:
Ch2 Command to CS Delay:


CAS Latency Time (tCL):
RAS# to CAS# Delay (tRCD):
RAS# Precharge (tRP):
Precharge Delay (tRAS):
All Precharge to Act:
REF to ACT Delay (tRFC):
Performance LVL (Read Delay):
Read Delay Phase Adjust:
*Ch1 Read Delay Phase (4~0)*
Channel 1 Phase 0 Pull-In:
Channel 1 Phase 1 Pull-In:
Channel 1 Phase 2 Pull-In:
Channel 1 Phase 3 Pull-In:
Channel 1 Phase 4 Pull-In:

*Ch2 Read Delay Phase (4~0)*

Channel 2 Phase 0 Pull-In:
Channel 2 Phase 1 Pull-In:
Channel 2 Phase 2 Pull-In:
Channel 2 Phase 3 Pull-In:
Channel 2 Phase 4 Pull-In:

MCH ODT Latency:
Write to Pre Delay (tWR):
Rank Write to Read (tWTR):
ACT to ACT Delay (tRRD):
Read to Write Delay (tRDWR):
Ranks Write to Write (tWRWR):
Ranks Read to Read (tRDRD):
Ranks Write to Read (tWRRD):
Read CAS# Precharge (tRTP):
All PRE to Refresh:

Voltage Setting.
CPU VID Control:
CPU VID Special Add:
DRAM Voltage Control:
SB 1.05V Voltage:
NB Core/CPU PLL Voltage:
CPU VTT Voltage:
Vcore Droop Control:
Clockgen Voltage Control:
GTL+ Buffers Strength:
Host Slew Rate:
GTL REF Voltage Control: - Enabled ->
CPU GTL 1/3 REF Volt:
CPU GTL 0/2 REF Volt:
North Bridge GTL REF Volt:

Exit Setup Shutdown:
Shutdown After AC Loss:
Clock VCO Divider:
Clock CPU Ratio:
*Target CPU Clock*
CPU Clock:
Boot Up Clock:
DRAM Speed:
*Target DRAM Speed*
PCIE Clock:
PCIE Slot Config:

CPU Spread Spectrum:
PCIE Spread Spectrum:
SATA Spread Spectrum: 


If you find the information in this review useful -

[Clunk]

Test setup;

• E6850/Q6600
• 2x1 GiB Crucial Ballistix
• Thermalright Ultra Extreme 120
• Thermochill PA120.3+120.2/D-tek Fuzion/DD Chipset Block/DDC+Petras top.
• Nvidia E6200/8800GTX
• Corsair HX620/Enermax Galaxy 1k

Firstly, testing with the air cooling, and using the stock DFI cooling and the Transpiper fixed to the PWM heatsink.

Everything is set up on a box on the desk.

I decided to jump in with both feet and tried for the max bootable speed, without much tweaking. The problem that I have, is that the E6850 is new to me, so I'm not entirely sure what it can do, but, after a few minutes, we were at;

450x9. 4056Mhz

CPU-Z Validator Database

460x9 4140Mhz

CPU-Z Validator Database

465x9 4188Mhz

CPU-Z Validator Database

470x9 4236Mhz

CPU-Z Validator Database

I am fairly certain that I can improve on these, as, at the time of doing them, I hadn't really taken advantage of a lot of the tweak settings.

Next, I decided to see what kind of stability I could coax out of it.

It took around 4 failed attempts at priming, but, by upping the NB voltage, and the VTT slightly, and tweaking the GTL REF by one notch, I managed 3600Mhz CPU @ 1.375v (BIOS) + RAM at 1125Mhz @2.28v Which seems OK to me






One thing that I have noticed, is that the PWM heatsink doesn't really get hot, in fact, the heatsink is just a little bit warm, and the Transpiper is cold, so there was no real need to have the Transpiper in place when using a dual core, for now at least.

I'm still testing, and will add to this over the next few days, but first impressions are excellent

If you find the information in this review useful -

[Clunk]

460x8 3681Mhz @1.42v 266 Strap - RAM at 920Mhz






If you find the information in this review useful -




Continued below....

[Clunk]

A Few Findings.

A couple of days ago, I swapped over to the Q6600 G0, here are a few of my findings.

So, having had the board for a week, I have learnt that this is a board for very patient people. The reason that I say this, is because of how it tends to fail prime after 5 (seems to be it's favourite), 7, even 14 hours. This was happening with the E6850 as well.

I was getting fail after fail, and I'm currently, only at 3600Mhz, and tweaking the GTL REF was only making a different core fail, even raising/lowering both values simultaneously, which was slightly confusing as the Vcore was at 1.45v, making this much higher than the P5K Deluxe.

The other slightly annoying factor, is that this board doesn't recover well from a bad overclock, or even a mildly bad overclock. Let's say that I try to boot at 480FSB - doable, you might think?, well, sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn't. Sometimes it'll boot to windows and prime for a while, and sometimes, it will give me a black screen, no green light on the monitor, and the dreaded C1 error - This often means a CMOS clear.

Now, I had a good search for this C1 error, and there is a workaround that involves pressing the "home" key, and this resets the FSB to default, but leaves all the other settings intact, and this is great when it works, but it doesn't always do the trick - If not, a CMOS clear is needed.

I would also like to mention the Transpiper at this point. During priming with a dual core CPU, the Transpiper is not needed, at all, ever. I have tried priming at 1.65v, just to see, and it remained cold, and PWM temps didn't get past 45c, which, in my opinion is excellent.

Using a quad, I was expecting to see the PWM temps soaring, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that this wasn't the case. Although, again, the Transpiper was still cold to the touch, as was the right angled heatpipe that connected it to the PWM heatsink, and the PWM heatsink itself, was only very slightly warm, and Smart Guardian was showing 52c.

So, from that, I have concluded that DFI could have easily left out the Transpiper, and possibly even dropped the price of the board by a fair old margin, especially considering that this board will only really appeal to hardcore overclockers, who, by their very nature will want to water cool the North Bridge at the very least.

If you want to water cool the North Bridge, you will need to remove the entire heatpipe assembly from the board. As I have already mentioned, it doesn't look as if the heatpipes will separate from the heatsinks, so that means that you can't use the Transpiper either...not the end of the world, but not ideal for a lot of people.

If you find the information in this review useful -


Continued below....

[Clunk]

400x9 3600Mhz 4:5 500Mhz RAM 5-5-5-12 - Stock Sub Timings.
CPU-Z Validator Database








If you find the information in this review useful -

[Clunk]

Update.

Tonight, after it did 11 hours of prime (see above screenies), I decided to try for max FSB/Max Mhz with the Q6600 G0.

I know this G0 will do 510FSB in my P5K Deluxe, so I was expecting good things from the DFI monster.

Unfortunately, I was unable to get past 470x9 tonight, regardless of the GTL REF or Voltage applied, so I suspect that the air cooling is holding me back here, or at least, I hope that is what it is!

As a side note, the poor overclock recovery was driving me mad, and I lost count of the amount of times that I was forced to clear the CMOS, so I have turned it off for the night.

I only have two or three days left with this board, so I hope to get past the 470FSB barrier and beat the 4382Mhz that I managed on the Maximus.


If you find the information in this review useful -

[Clunk]

Final Update & Conclusion.

As I said at the start of this mini review, it was always going to be shorter than usual, because I only have a few days with the board.

After being limited to just under 480FSB, I decided to drop in the 8800GTX, just to see if it made any difference, but it didn't, and neither did trying some non D9 RAM, so I can only conclude that this particular board was FSB limited in some way, or the physical damage to the PWM heatsink that was done by the courier was affecting things. (unlikely, I know, but I can't think of anything else!). While I was removing the RAM and fitting the GTX, I realised that the GTX had to be removed to get at the lower set of RAM securing lugs. The only saving grace was that the PCI-E slot didn't have a locking clip on the slot itself, so the card could be easily lifted out to fit the RAM.

My last overclocking session gave me the results below.

CPU-Z Validator Database 4224Mhz.

CPU-Z Validator Database 4260Mhz.

CPU-Z Validator Database 4296Mhz. - Not bad going for air

So, lets have a quick summing up of my thoughts on the DFI LP UT P35-T2R.

Pro's

• Excellent bundle of accessories included.
• The on board cooling is more than enough for most people (Also see con's).
• Rock solid once the correct settings are found.
• 8 phase digital PWMs stay sensibly cool, even under priming with 1.55v (Take note Abit!).
• Looks fantastic (See also con's).
• Ultimate tweakability.
• On board power/reset switches.
• Post Code Display.

Con's

• Poor overclock recovery.
• It can be picky about RAM.
• I was limited to around 480FSB on this particular board with an E6850 and a Q6600 G0.
• The Transpiper isn't needed, at all, ever!
• The styling won't appeal to all.
• Price.
• RAM slots are too close to the top PCI-E slot, which means the GPU needs to come out to change the RAM.

So, it's been a mixed bag. Some respectable overclocks, great stability, but that C1 error really got on my nerves.

I suspect that the C1 error thing could be fixed, and it certainly does need fixing. As I already mentioned, there is a workaround that involves pressing the "Home" key to reset the FSB, but I only managed to make it work once, and the rest of the time, I had to clear the CMOS, which, on a board like this, isn't good.

But, despite the above annoyances, there was something very likeable about this board. I can't quite put my finger on why I like it either, I just do! - It might have been the rock solid stability (once you get the settings right), or the fact that the digital PWMs ran at under 55c, even with 1.55v+ under load, with a quad, in prime, or maybe it was the highly pleasing bundle of goodies?.

Whatever it was, it has made me take notice of DFI boards again, and I will definitely be checking out their upcoming X38 offering as soon as I can get my hands on one, which I hope is sooner, rather than later this time.

If you find the information in this review useful -

[death]

wooooooooooooow looking good so far love dfi boards but so meny things to set right on it

[supershanks]

Looks good, will you be trying your quad?? would be interested to see how your settings compare to the quad.

Luck