DFI Lanparty UT P45-T2RS - Living Review

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DFI Lanparty UT P45-T2RS - Living Review.

DFI have come to market quite late with their flagship P45 motherboard, less than a month before the next generation of Intel CPUs are due to be launched and around 4 months after their hugely successful DK P45-T2RS (& Plus) models.

The UT P45-T2RS is a high end board with a newly redesigned PCB and a new kind of BIOS chip (more on that later). There are Volterra 8 phase digital PWMs and three 16x (physical) PCI-E 2 slots that can be run in a number of configurations (see below).

DFI's ABS technology is also present and as with all the UT series boards, there is some hefty on board cooling, although this appears to be very similar to the UT P35-T2R, but without the Transpiper.

So, as the other DFI P45 motherboards are breaking records, how will their top of the range product perform?...Read on to find out...

Index.

1. Intro & Index
2. Official Specs
3. Packaging & Contents
4. A Closer Look At The DFI Lanparty UT P45-T2RS
5. The Genie BIOS
6. The Genie BIOS Part 2
7. The Genie BIOS Part 3
8. Test Set Up & Notes
9. First Overclocks & Initial Thoughts
10. Disk Performance
11. More to come...

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DFI UT P45-T2RS - Official Specs.

Check the DFI website for more details as they emerge.

Chipset

• INTEL® P45+ICH10R

CPU

• Socket-775 for Intel Core TM2 Quad, Core TM 2 Duo, Core TM2 Extreme
• Socket-775 for Intel Pentium® D
• 8 Phase digital PWM

FSB

• 800/1066/1333 MHz

Memory

• 128-bit Dual-channel memory architecture
• 4 240-pin DDRII DIMM sockets max 8GB
• Supports unbuffered, single/double-side DDR2 667/800/1066 DIMMs
• Supports x8/x16, non-ECC and up to 1Gb DDRII devices

Expansion Slots

• 1 x16 or 2 x8 Gen2 by IC switch +1 x4 Graphic Slots with Crossfire
• 1 PCI Express x1
• 3 PCI slots

Storage

• 1 Floppy port
• 1 parallel IDE ports with up to 133Mbps UltraDMA
• 8 serial SATAII ports with up to 3Gbs
• Supports INTEL SATAII with RAID 0/1/0+1/5
• JMB 363 supports 2 SATAII ports and 1 IDE port with RAID 0/1

USB

• 12 USB2.0 ports

Audio

• Realtek ALC885 for 8CH HD audio in Bernstein card

LAN

• 2 GbE LAN by Marvell 88E8052+8053 with teaming

Dual GbE LAN with teaming:

• Teaming allows dual LAN to work together to provide up to twice the Ethernet bandwidth for transferring large amounts of data from home file servers to other PCs. It also provides network redundancy through fail-over capability

IEEE 1394

• VT6307 with 2 IEEE1394 ports

Legacy

• I/O IT8718F-S

Hardware Monitoring:

• CPU/System temperature sensing w/ overheating alarm CPU
• overheating protection during system boot-up
• 12v/5v/3.3v/Vcore/Vdimm/Vnb/Vbat/5Vsb voltages sensing
• Current drive CPU temperature sensing
• 3 Fan speed sensing and 1 Linear fan speed control for CPU fan

Back panel I/O

• 1 x PS2 mouse, 1 x PS2 keyboard
• 2 USB2.0 ports, 1 x IEEE-1394
• 2 USB2.0 ports, 1 x RJ45
• 2 USB2.0 ports, 1 x RJ45

Other Onboard Connectors

• 3 USB header for 6 USB2.0 ports
• 1 2x5-pin header for IEEE 1394 port
• 1 2x6 connector for Bernstein audio module
• 1 COM
• 1 5x1-pin for IRDA header
• 1 4-pin FAN connectors for CPU, 2 3-pin FAN for Chipset, 3 3-pin FAN for system
• Piezo-buzzer
• 24-pin ATX and 8-pin ATX power connectors
• Standby LED, S3 LED
• EZ-On and EZ-Touch switches for onboard power on and reset
• 10x2-pin front panel headers (IDE LED, Power LED, Power switch, Reset button,
• PC speaker)
• Software Debug LED
• PCB Size ATX, 305x245 mm, 6 Layers, PCB in Black
• BIOS features 8 Mb flash ROM
• CMOS Reloaded
• ACPI; PnP; Hotkey flash; Wake on Ring/LAN/USB/Keyboard and Mouse
• Manageability DMI 2.0, WOL by PME; WOR by PME; PXE2 Boot

Excellent Over-clocking Capability

Voltage tuning：

• Vdimm ; Vnb ; Vcore,Vsb,VHT
• 1MHz frequency subtle tuning：Fsb
• Adjustable CPU Multiplier

EMI Regulations

• FCC, CE, Class B

Bernstein Audio Module

• Realtek ALC885 for 8CH HD audio CODEC 6 audio jacks; CD-In connector; front audio connector, optical S/PDIF connector, coaxial RCA S/PDIF-in/out jacks

Special Feature

• Digital PWM provides stable voltage to the CPU and avoids damage to capacitors

Auto Boost System

• The ABS technology system provides the convenience of saving and loading several OC settings. ABS allowing you to use the best OC setting to optimize your system’s performance.
  
• You can “Auto Boost” your system by simply pressing the [F1] Hot key.
• See DFI Auto Boost Guide for more detail.

Smart connectors

• The Smart-Connector makes your connection between front panel and cables of chassis become easier. Smart connector terminates the troubles of plugging all the chassis cables to motherboards front panel.

OC shut down free

• The issue of automatically shut down while overclocking. No matter you tweak the CPU FSB or ratio of memory, the system will not power off by itself again

EZ-CLEAR

• Bypass the manual process by simply pressing the rest and power buttons at the same time. The CMOS will restore the clock settings back to their default values.

Accessories

• User’s Manual
• Auto Boost Installation Guide
• Realtek ALC885 for BERNSTEIN Audio card
• 1 Parallel IDE flat cable, 1 FDD flat cable
• 2 SATA cables, 2 SATA power cables
• Driver CD
• 1 Floppy diskette for SATA RAID ICH10R and JMicron 363 driver
• I/O shield
• Smart Connector(Front panel, USB, IEEE1394)
• Mini Jumper

I have included a three way comparison with P35/X48/P45 to illustrate the differences between the chipsets.

Immediately, we can see that the P45 is similar to the P35 in many ways, although there are a few key changes.

P45 supports up to a massive 16GB of memory officially, whereas the X48 and P35 support 8GB each.

Curiously, Intel don't list any support for their own Extreme processors, something which I suspect is an error in their literature. There appear to be more errors in the table of supported FSB/memory configurations too, once I find out the correct details, I will update this part.

Surprisingly, there is no official support for 1600FSB CPUs, just like the P35.

PCI-E 2 is limited to either a single 16x slot, dual 8x slots or 16x + 4x.

Another error in the table appears to show that the ICH10R has less features than the ICH9R - I will find out more on this and update as needed.

Next, The Package & Contents...

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The Packaging & Contents.

A much smaller box than previous UT series motherboards, but it is reassuringly heavy.



Inside the box we have the board in an anti-static bag and a box of accessories (see below).



Next, the accessories.

• User Manual
• Quick Start Guide
• Auto Boost Manual
• Warranty Info
• Driver / Utils CD
• Driver Floppy Disk
• 2x UV Green SATA Cables
• 1x UV Green PATA Cable
• 1x UV Green Floppy Cable
• 1x SATA Power Cable
• 1x Bag Of Smart Connectors
• 1x Bag Of Jumpers
• 1x I/O Shield

Next, a closer look at the DFI UT P45-T2RS...

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A Closer Look At The DFI UT P45-T2RS.

There's no doubt that the UT P45-T2RS is a fine looking motherboard, but DFI have taken a rather unusual step backwards with the cooling solution and have used the same kind of set up as their original UT P35-T2R. The main disadvantage with this kind of cooling is that if you want to add any kind of after market cooling to the North Bridge, you will have to remove the entire heatpipe assembly and then buy extra cooling for the PWM and South Bridge.

The entire board is decked out with high quality Japanese, solid capacitors and the PCB actually looks more black than previous models.

Click image for full size, high resolution.



The observant among you will probably have noticed the apparent lack of BIOS chip - All previous LT and UT models have had a removable BIOS chip and this model is slightly different. Instead of the old postage stamp sized chip and cradle, we now have a tiny little clam shell design, which is just over 10mm square and it is located directly below the South Bridge heatsink, just to the right of the red and blue jumpers. Simply lift open the "shell" to reveal a tiny BIOS chip - marvellous! This same design will be implemented on the forthcoming X58 boards and will no doubt free up some valuable PCB real estate.

One thing that almost scuppered me today was that I had left the clam shell case open and I forgot about it - I was finishing off the photography and I flipped the board over and the BIOS chip was catapulted across the room, luckily, I saw it land, otherwise I would have been up the proverbial creek without a metaphorical paddling device.



To give an idea of the size, here's the BIOS chip sat on a UK .20p coin.



The North Bridge heatsink is a fairly large cast aluminium affair and has a slightly dirty look to it - I remember that the P35's heatsink was the same as this.



The South Bridge heatsink is quite large and relatively flat - There's not a huge amount of heat generated here, so this will be fine.

Also of note in this area are:

• 8x SATA II sockets
• 3x Dual USB 2
• 1x PATA
• LED/Power jumpers
• LED post code display
• EZ Clear switches (more on these later)
• Buzzer

An overhead shot - You can see the new BIOS chip holder in it's closed position.



Next we have the rear I/O panel and nestled in between is the PWM heatsink which is machine cut from a single block of cast aluminium. We already know that this PWM heatsink design works well and only really needs a bit of a breeze across it when under load.

• PS2 Keyboard
• PS2 Mouse
• PWM Heatsink
• 1x Firewire
• 6x USB 2
• Dual Gigabit Lan

Here we can see the other side of the PWM heatsink and we can also marvel at the uncluttered CPU socket area. As I always mention at this point, this is great if you are going to be using sub zero cooling as the low profile round the socket makes it easier to lay your insulation.



An overhead view of the CPU socket area and PWM heatsink.



The now familiar green and yellow memory slots can support up to 16GB of RAM in the form of 4GB modules. There are a couple of heatsinks for the memory power circuitry at the top right and bottom centre of the picture and also a 24 pin ATX socket and a single PATA connector. There's not much else out of the ordinary here, but it's worth pointing out that the heatpipe coming from the North Bridge heatsink will obstruct one of the board's mounting holes.



Next, we have the PCI/PCI-E 2 slots.

Click image for full size, high resolution.



There are three physical 16x PCI-E 2 slots, the top one runs at 16x, the second at 4x and the third can run at 2x. Alternatively, you could run the top two at 8x each for Crossfire and the bottom one at 2x for Physics if required. The entire switching process is automatic and is controlled by the six oblong IC's between the first two 16x PCI-E 2 slots (see the pic below).

We also have three PCI slots and a single 1x PCI-E 2 slots.



Another new feature on the UT is the on board power and reset switches - the previous kind were quite pointed and not very aesthetically pleasing. I'm happy to report that the new switches look and feel great....they remind me of something though....



Ahem.



Finally, a shot of the entire board.


Click image for full size, high resolution.



Next, the Genie BIOS...

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The Genie BIOS.

The Main genie BIOS screen.



CPU Feature (s)



DRAM Timing (s)



In the DRAM TImings sub-menus we have:

Enhance Data Transmitting



Enhance Addressing



T2 Dispatch



Clock Setting Fine Delay - Top



Clock Setting Fine Delay - Top



Flex Memory Mode



Now the memory sub-timings:

CAS Latency Time (tCL)



RAS# to CAS# Delay (tRCD)



RAS# Precharge (tRP)



Precharge Dealy (Delay) (tRAS) - top



Precharge Dealy (Delay) (tRAS) - bottom



All Precharge To Act



Continued below...

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The Genie BIOS - Part 2.

REF to ACT Delay (tRFC)





Performance LVL (Read Delay)





Read Delay Phase Adjust



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 Write To Read (tWRRD)





Read CAS# precharge (tRTP)





All PRE to Refresh

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Genie BIOS - Part 3.

Voltage Settings Main page.



Next are the voltage settings menu sub pages:

CPU VID Control





CPU VID Special Add





DRAM Voltage Control





SB Core / CPU PLL Voltage



NB Core Voltage





CPU VTT Voltage





Clockgen Voltage Control



CPU GTL 0 REF Volt (There is a page like this for cores 0-3)





FSB Vref



FSB Vref



Boot Up Clock





CPU Clock Amplitude



CPU Clock0 Skew





CPU Clock1 Skew





DRAM Speed - AKA Dividers - AKA Multis - AKA Straps





PCIE Clock

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The Test Set Up.

The test set up is as follows:

• DFI UT P45-T2RS - Stock cooling on the North Bridge
• E8600 - Watercooled - Thermochill PA120.2, Laing DDC, D-Tek Fuzion Mk1
• Gainward 8800GT
• Western Digital Raptor 74GB
• Lian-Li 750/850w Silent Force PSUs

When I built up the UT to start testing, I was getting an error code 88 when I powered on. There was also a smell of hot plastic and after some panicking, I realised that I had put the BIOS chip back in the wrong way round.

The tiny BIOS holder had become quite hot to the touch, so I let it cool down and refitted the chip the opposite way round and it fired up first time. Phew!

On further inspection, there is a tiny dot on the chip and a small notch of plastic cut out from the lower left hand side of the chip holder and if you match those up, you will be fine, see pics below.





The rest of the set up went without a hitch and both XP and Vista x64 playing nicely with no problems.
Please Digg

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First Overclocks & Initial thoughts.

After the breath of fresh air that was the JR, I was keen to see if the UT P45-T2RS could match it clock for clock.

I was slightly disappointed to find that the UT failed on the first overclock - I set a simple clock of 360x10 with 1.12v Vcore - It failed to post. The JR did this and was stable.

3.6GHz @ 1.2v 333/667 5-5-5-15



Click image for full size.



Thermal Management Control.....: Disabled
PPM(EIST) Mode.................: Disabled
Limit CPUID MaxVal.............: Disabled
CIE Function...................: Disabled
Execute Disable Bit............: Disabled
Virtualization Technology......: Disabled
Core Multi-Processing..........: Enabled

CPU VID Control..................: 1.2v
CPU VID Special Add Limit........: Enabled
CPU VID Special Add..............: Auto
DRAM Voltage Control.............: 2.19V
SB Core/CPU PLL Voltage..........: 1.55V
NB Core Voltage..................: 1.2V
CPU VTT Voltage..................: 1.1
Vcore Droop Control..............: Enabled
Clockgen Voltage Control.........: 3.45v
GTL+ Buffers Strength............: Strong
CPU GTL 0 REF Volt...............: 67
CPU GTL 2 REF Volt...............: 67
CPU GTL 1 REF Volt...............: 67
CPU GTL 3 REF Volt...............: 67
NB GTL 0 REF Volt................: 67
NB GTL 1 REF Volt................: 67
FSB Vref.........................: AUTO

Exist Setup Shutdown: Mode 2
Shutdown after AC Loss...........: Enabled
O.C. Fail retry Counter..........: 1
O.C Fail Cmos Reload.............: Disabled
CPU Clock Ratio..................: 10x
CPU N/2 ratio....................: Disabled
Target CPU Clock.................: 3600 MHz
CPU Clock........................: 360 MHz
Boot Up Clock....................: Auto
CPU Clock Amplitude..............: 800mV
CPU Clock0 Skew..................: 0ps
CPU Clock1 Skew..................: 0ps
DRAM Speed.......................: 333/667
Target DRAM Speed................: 720 MHz
PCIE Clock.......................: 100 MHz
PCIE Slot Config.................:
CPU Spread Spectrum..............: Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum.............: Disabled

Not to be defeated, I upped the voltage to 1.2v and there it was stable. Oddly, with the same voltage, I was able to hit 4GHz, which is an exact match with the JR, so things were back on track.

4GHz @ 1.2v 333/667 5-5-5-15



Click image for full size.



CPU VID Control..................: 1.2v
CPU VID Special Add Limit........: Enabled
CPU VID Special Add..............: Auto
DRAM Voltage Control.............: 2.19V
SB Core/CPU PLL Voltage..........: 1.55V
NB Core Voltage..................: 1.2V
CPU VTT Voltage..................: 1.1
Vcore Droop Control..............: Enabled
Clockgen Voltage Control.........: 3.45v
GTL+ Buffers Strength............: Strong
CPU GTL 0 REF Volt...............: 67
CPU GTL 2 REF Volt...............: 67
CPU GTL 1 REF Volt...............: 67
CPU GTL 3 REF Volt...............: 67
NB GTL 0 REF Volt................: 67
NB GTL 1 REF Volt................: 67
FSB Vref.........................: AUTO

Exist Setup Shutdown: Mode 2
Shutdown after AC Loss...........: Enabled
O.C. Fail retry Counter..........: 1
O.C Fail Cmos Reload.............: Disabled
CPU Clock Ratio..................: 10x
CPU N/2 ratio....................: Disabled
Target CPU Clock.................: 4000 MHz
CPU Clock........................: 400 MHz
Boot Up Clock....................: Auto
CPU Clock Amplitude..............: 800mV
CPU Clock0 Skew..................: 0ps
CPU Clock1 Skew..................: 0ps
DRAM Speed.......................: 333/667
Target DRAM Speed................: 800 MHz
PCIE Clock.......................: 100 MHz
PCIE Slot Config.................:
CPU Spread Spectrum..............: Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum.............: Disabled

Meanwhile, I had noticed a rather irksome BIOS problem - When I entered any settings and then hit save and exit, the board just shut down. Normally, I would expect it to start back up again, but it didn't. A manual switch on was necessary each time.

Another thing that appears to be much improved is the overclock recovery. In the past, I have had problems with pretty much every DFI board as far as overclock recovery goes, but the UT seems to have this pretty much fixed and through all my testing, I have only needed to manually reset the CMOS once.

Next up, 4.4GHz - Again, this was a simple overclock with only a touch of Vcore added.

4.4GHz @ 1.31v 333/667 5-5-5-15



Click image for full size.



CPU VID Control..................: 1.31v
CPU VID Special Add Limit........: Enabled
CPU VID Special Add..............: Auto
DRAM Voltage Control.............: 2.19V
SB Core/CPU PLL Voltage..........: 1.55V
NB Core Voltage..................: 1.2V
CPU VTT Voltage..................: 1.1
Vcore Droop Control..............: Enabled
Clockgen Voltage Control.........: 3.45v
GTL+ Buffers Strength............: Strong
CPU GTL 0 REF Volt...............: 67
CPU GTL 2 REF Volt...............: 67
CPU GTL 1 REF Volt...............: 67
CPU GTL 3 REF Volt...............: 67
NB GTL 0 REF Volt................: 67
NB GTL 1 REF Volt................: 67
FSB Vref.........................: AUTO

Exist Setup Shutdown: Mode 2
Shutdown after AC Loss...........: Enabled
O.C. Fail retry Counter..........: 1
O.C Fail Cmos Reload.............: Disabled
CPU Clock Ratio..................: 10x
CPU N/2 ratio....................: Disabled
Target CPU Clock.................: 440 MHz
CPU Clock........................: 4400 MHz
Boot Up Clock....................: Auto
CPU Clock Amplitude..............: 800mV
CPU Clock0 Skew..................: 0ps
CPU Clock1 Skew..................: 0ps
DRAM Speed.......................: 333/667
Target DRAM Speed................: 880 MHz
PCIE Clock.......................: 100 MHz
PCIE Slot Config.................:
CPU Spread Spectrum..............: Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum.............: Disabled

4.5GHz, same story, only Vcore added.

4.5GHz @ 1.36v 333/667 5-5-5-15



Click image for full size.



CPU VID Control..................: 1.36v
CPU VID Special Add Limit........: Enabled
CPU VID Special Add..............: Auto
DRAM Voltage Control.............: 2.19V
SB Core/CPU PLL Voltage..........: 1.55V
NB Core Voltage..................: 1.2V
CPU VTT Voltage..................: 1.1
Vcore Droop Control..............: Enabled
Clockgen Voltage Control.........: 3.45v
GTL+ Buffers Strength............: Strong
CPU GTL 0 REF Volt...............: 67
CPU GTL 2 REF Volt...............: 67
CPU GTL 1 REF Volt...............: 67
CPU GTL 3 REF Volt...............: 67
NB GTL 0 REF Volt................: 67
NB GTL 1 REF Volt................: 67
FSB Vref.........................: AUTO

Exist Setup Shutdown: Mode 2
Shutdown after AC Loss...........: Enabled
O.C. Fail retry Counter..........: 1
O.C Fail Cmos Reload.............: Disabled
CPU Clock Ratio..................: 10x
CPU N/2 ratio....................: Disabled
Target CPU Clock.................: 450 MHz
CPU Clock........................: 4500 MHz
Boot Up Clock....................: Auto
CPU Clock Amplitude..............: 800mV
CPU Clock0 Skew..................: 0ps
CPU Clock1 Skew..................: 0ps
DRAM Speed.......................: 333/667
Target DRAM Speed................: 900 MHz
PCIE Clock.......................: 100 MHz
PCIE Slot Config.................:
CPU Spread Spectrum..............: Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum.............: Disabled

As with the JR P45, 4.6GHz is where the CPU voltage started to rise sharply, so I'm going to leave it there. Hopefully I will revisit this part of the review at a later date armed with phase cooling.

4.6GHz @ 1.40v 333/667 5-5-5-15



Click image for full size.



CPU VID Control..................: 1.41875v
CPU VID Special Add Limit........: Enabled
CPU VID Special Add..............: Auto
DRAM Voltage Control.............: 2.19V
SB Core/CPU PLL Voltage..........: 1.55V
NB Core Voltage..................: 1.246V
CPU VTT Voltage..................: 1.1
Vcore Droop Control..............: Enabled
Clockgen Voltage Control.........: 3.45v
GTL+ Buffers Strength............: Strong
CPU GTL 0 REF Volt...............: 67
CPU GTL 2 REF Volt...............: 67
CPU GTL 1 REF Volt...............: 67
CPU GTL 3 REF Volt...............: 67
NB GTL 0 REF Volt................: 67
NB GTL 1 REF Volt................: 67
FSB Vref.........................: AUTO

Exist Setup Shutdown: Mode 2
Shutdown after AC Loss...........: Enabled
O.C. Fail retry Counter..........: 1
O.C Fail Cmos Reload.............: Disabled
CPU Clock Ratio..................: 10x
CPU N/2 ratio....................: Disabled
Target CPU Clock.................: 4600 MHz
CPU Clock........................: 460 MHz
Boot Up Clock....................: Auto
CPU Clock Amplitude..............: 800mV
CPU Clock0 Skew..................: 0ps
CPU Clock1 Skew..................: 0ps
DRAM Speed.......................: 333/667
Target DRAM Speed................: 920 MHz
PCIE Clock.......................: 100 MHz
PCIE Slot Config.................:
CPU Spread Spectrum..............: Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum.............: Disabled

Cinebench R10 @ 4.6GHz.

Click image for full size.



Nuclearus Multi Core Benchmark @ 4.6GHz.

• 16424

Continued below...

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Disk Performance.

To give an idea of the disk performance, I ran three popular disk benchmarks.

Sisoft Sandra:

• 76MB/sec
• Random Access Time 10ms

Click image for full size.



HDTune V2.55

• Minimum - 33.7 MB/Sec
• Maximum - 82.7 MB/Sec
• Average - 64.5 MB/Sec
• Burst Speed - 96.3 MB/Sec
  
• Access Time - 8.8ms

Click image for full size.



HDTach V3.0.4.0

• Average Read - 70.5 MB/Sec
• Random Access Time - 8.5ms
• Burst Speed - 136.9 MB/Sec

Click image for full size.



As you can see, the UT's disk performance is in line with other ICH10R boards, so all is good there.

Next, the conclusion...