DFI UT X48-T3RS LanParty - Living Review

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DFI UT X48-T3RS Living Review



It has been a long time coming, but the waiting is finally over, the DFI UT X48-T3RS is here!

It seems like an eternity since DFI announced their top of the range DDR3 motherboard, and now with the price of DDR3 falling rapidly, they have decided that the time is right for release.

It was quite a brave and somewhat prudent decision by DFI to hold back the release of this board as other manufacturers have jumped straight into the market with theirs and hoped for the best, regardless of the price of the accompanying memory.

DFI also say they have taken this extra time to fine tune the BIOS and iron out as many bugs as possible, which sounds good to me!

High performance DDR3 kits are now at similar prices to DDR2 kits this time last year and prices are set to drop further, so making the inevitable jump to DDR3 does seem like a good idea in theory, but will the jump be a smooth one, or will we be shelling out extra cash for little gain? Read on to find out.....

Index.

1. Intro & Index
2. The Package
3. DFI UT X48-T3RS Official Specs
4. First Look
5. First Look - Continued
6. First Look - Continued 2
7. A Closer Look At The Flame-Freezer
8. A Closer Look At The Flame-Freezer - Continued
9. The Accessories
10. The Bernstein Audio Module
11. Test Set Up & Initial Thoughts
12. Test Set Up & Initial Thoughts - Continued
13. The Genie BIOS
14. The Genie BIOS - Part 2 - DRAM Timings In More Detail
15. The Genie BIOS - Part 3 - DRAM Timings In More Detail
16. The Genie BIOS - Part 4 - DRAM Timings In More Detail
17. The Genie BIOS - Part 5 - DRAM Timings In More Detail
18. The Genie BIOS - Part 6 - DRAM Timings In More Detail
19. The Genie BIOS - Part 7 - DRAM Timings In More Detail
20. The Genie BIOS - Part 8 - The Voltage Settings
21. The Genie BIOS - Part 9 - The Voltage Settings - Continued
22. The Genie BIOS - Part 10 - Back to The Main Genie BIOS Page
23. The Genie BIOS - Part 11 - Back to The Main Genie BIOS Page - Continued
24. The Genie BIOS - Part 12 - Back to The Main Genie BIOS Page - Continued
25. First Tests and First Problems [Fixed]
26. DFI UT X48-T3R Voltage Measuring Points
27. Testing with Corsair DDR3-1600 2x2GB modules
28. More Tests With The Corsair DDR3-1600 2x2GB Modules
29. First Tests With OCZ OCZ3P2000EB2GK 2x1GB Modules
30. More on the way...

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The Package.

Firstly, let's have a look at the packaging.

The UT-T3RS comes in a sturdy, eye catching retail box that gives a sneaky glimpse of the DFI's new cooling solution - The Flame-Freezer.

Box Front.



Box Back.



Inside the main box, there is a hard plastic protective shell that the motherboard lives in, and in the lid of that shell are two compartments for the Flame-Freezer Extention piece and the Bernstein Audio Module...



...And a slightly smaller box full of accessories.



Next, the official specs...

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DFI UT X48-T3RS - Official Specs.

CPU

LGA 775 socket for:

• Intel® CoreTM2 Quad and Intel® CoreTM2 Duo
• Supports Intel Enhanced Memory 64 Technology (EMT64T)
• Supports Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST)
• Supports Intel Hyper-Threading Technology
• Supports 1600/1333/1066/800MHz FSB

Chipset

• Intel® chipset
• Northbridge: Intel® X48 Express chipset (with Intel® Fast Memory Access technology)
• Southbridge: Intel® ICH9R

System Memory

• Four 240-pin DDR3 DIMM sockets
• Supports DDR3 800/1066/1333/1600MHz
• Delivers up to 21.3Gb/s bandwidth at 1333MHz,
• (25.6GB/s bandwidth at 1600MHz)
• Supports dual channel (128-bit wide) memory interface
• Supports up to 8GB system memory
• Supports unbuffered x8 and x16 DIMMs

Expansion Slots

• 2 PCI Express (Gen 2) x16 slots (PCIE 1 and PCIE 3)
• 2-way CrossFire at x16/x16 bandwidth
• 2-way CrossFire + Physics at x16/x16/x4 bandwidth
• 1 PCI Express x1 slot (PCIE 2)
• 1 PCI Express x4 slot (PCIE 4)
• 3 PCI slots

BIOS

• Award BIOS
• 8Mbit flash memory
• CMOS Reloaded

Audio

Bernstein audio module
Realtek ALC885 8-channel High Definition Audio CODEC

• Center/subwoofer, rear R/L and side R/L jacks
• Line-in, line-out (front R/L) and mic-in jacks
• 2 coaxial RCA S/PDIF-in/out jacks
• 1 optical S/PDIF connector
• 1 CD-in connector
• 1 front audio connector
• DAC SNR/ADC SNR of 106dB/101dB
• Full-rate lossless content protection technology

LAN

• Marvell 88E8052 and Marvell 88E8053 PCIE Gigabit LAN controllers
• Fully compliant to IEEE 802.3 (10BASE-T), 802.3u (100BASE-TX) and 802.3ab (1000BASE-T) standards

IEEE 1394

• VIA VT6307
• Supports two 100/200/400 Mb/sec ports

Storage

• Intel ICH9R chip
• Intel Matrix Storage technology
• Supports up to 6 SATA devices
• SATA speed up to 3Gb/s
• RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1 and RAID 5
• JMicron JMB363 PCI Express to SATA and PATA host controller
• Supports up to 2 UltraDMA 100Mbps IDE devices
• Supports 2 SATA devices
• SATA speed up to 3Gb/s
• RAID 0 and RAID 1

Rear Panel I/O Ports

• Mini-DIN-6 PS/2 mouse port and PS/2 keyboard port
• 1 IEEE 1394 port
• 6 USB 2.0/1.1 ports
• 2 RJ45 LAN ports

I/O Connectors

• 3 connectors for 6 additional external USB 2.0 ports
• 1 connector for an external COM port
• 1 connector for an IEEE 1394 port
• 1 connector for the Bernstein audio module
• 1 front audio connector (on the Bernstein audio module)
• 1 CD-in connector (on the Bernstein audio module)
• 1 S/PDIF connector (on the Bernstein audio module)
• 1 IrDA connector
• 1 CIR connector
• 8 Serial ATA connectors
• 1 40-pin IDE connector and 1 floppy connector
• 1 24-pin ATX power connector
• 1 8-pin 12V power connector
• 2 4-pin 5V/12V power connectors (FDD type)
• 1 front panel connector
• 6 fan connectors
• 1 diagnostic LED
• EZ touch switches (power switch and reset switch)

Power Management

• ACPI and OS Directed Power Management
• ACPI STR (Suspend to RAM) function
• Wake-On-PS/2 / Wake-On-USB Keyboard/Mouse
• Wake-On-LAN and Wake-On-Ring
• RTC timer to power-on the system
• AC power failure recovery

Hardware Monitor

• Monitors CPU/system/Northbridge temperature and overheat alarm
• Monitors Vcore/Vdimm/Vnb/VCC5/12V/V5sb/Vbat voltages
• Monitors the speed of the cooling fans
• CPU Overheat Protection function monitors CPU temperature and fan during system boot-up - automatic shutdown upon system overheat

PCB

• 6 layers, ATX form factor
• 24.5cm (9.64") x 30.5cm (12")

See also the DFI website here.

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First Look At The DFI UT X48-T3RS.

As you may be aware, we have tested the X48 chipset extensively over the past few months, most recently being the DFI LT X48-T2R which used the same PCB design/layout as it’s P35 UT/X38 LT predecessors, however, one of the few gripes with the layout was that when the top PCI-E slot was filled with a decent sized card, the lower DRAM retention levers were blocked shut, meaning that you had to remove the graphics card to remove the memory. DFI appear to have listened to what their customers have said and have redesigned the PCB.

The Board Itself - A 6 layer PCB design with cooling by Thermalright.

The slot layout is different to previous boards, and from top to bottom we have;

1. PCI-E 2 = 1x Speed
2. PCI-E 1 = 16x Speed
3. PCI 1
4. PCI-E 4 = 16x Speed
5. PCI 2
6. PCI-E 3 = 4x Speed if used with one of the 16x slots, or can be used at 4x speed with a physics card and a pair of 16x speed cards in crossfire - alledgedly

Update 06/06/2008: The User manual has an error that shows the PCI-E slots labelled wrongly, below is the correct layout.

1. PCI-E 2 = 1x Speed
2. PCI-E 1 = 16x Speed
3. PCI 1
4. PCI-E 4 = 1x/4x Speed (Depending on BIOS settings) if used with one of the 16x slots, or can be used at 4x speed with a physics card and a pair of 16x speed cards in crossfire - alledgedly
5. PCI 2
6. PCI-E 3 = 16x
   

I hope this clears up any confusion

The layout is now pretty much perfect as far as the slots go.



The next few shots are of the board as it comes out of the box without the Flame-Freezer extension piece fitted.

Another fine looking board from DFI, and that cooling certainly looks up to the task.

Click on image for full size.



8 onboard SATA - Six of them are Intel, two are JMicron.

Click on image for full size.



Here you can see the single onboard PATA socket and the 24 pin ATX power socket.

Click on image for full size.



Continued below...

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First Look At The DFI UT X48-T3RS - Continued.

We can see the first evidence of the PCB redesign here and the power circuitry appears to have had an overhaul, however, the CPU socket area is still clutter free and will be easy to insulate for sub zero cooling.

Click on image for full size.



The PWM heatsink, as on other DFI boards, protrudes through the I/O panel, and another piece can be bolted on to give extra cooling (more on that later).

Click on image for full size.



Next we have the I/O Panel;

• PS2 keyboard
• PS2 Mouse
• 1x Firewire
• 6x USB2
• 2x Gigabit LAN

Click on image for full size.



Click on image for full size.



Continued below...

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First Look At The DFI UT X48-T3RS - Continued 2.

This part of the board will be familiar to any previous DFI users and looks to be unchanged on the whole.

Things of note here include the on board power and reset switches, the LED error display, the floppy drive connector and the power/reset/HD LED jumper section.



Another shot of the board - One thing I forgot to mention is the on board speaker, a smal black circular thing located directly above the PATA slot. This can be turned on or off with a jumper.

Click on image for full size.

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A Closer Look At The Flame-Freezer.

The Flame-Freezer Fitted.

Click on image for full size.



The North Bridge heatsink part of the Flame-Freezer looks to be well thought and it even allows the unclipping of the "stock" heatsink (see pic below) and that leaves a flat block between the North Bridge and the cooler of your choice - Think Thermalright HR-05 SLI, or even a waterblock.



The South Bridge heatsink part doesn't have the option to change any of it, but then again, the South Bridge on X48 boards doesn't really run that hot to start with.



Next, the PWM part of the Flame-Freezer is quite an impressive looking beast. It looks a lot less clunky (no pun intended ) than the original P35 version (Transpiper), and DFI have also dumped the copper shim system, which is fine by me!

The upright heatsink in the picture below is detatchable and can accomodate an 80mm fan.

Click on image for full size.




Continued below...

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A Closer Look At The Flame-Freezer - Continued.

The Flame-Freezer's upright heatsink can be fitted or removed by simply removing the two screws in the pic below, and then unhooking the small retention plate - Very easy, although it is a job that requires you to remove the motherboard from the case.

I suspect that a blob of thermal paste will help on the joint between the bracket and the heatpipe and I will try that during the review.



On the back of the board is a small, aluminium heatsink/backplate to help stop the Flame-Freezer from bending the board - This is a great addition and shows good attention to detail.



View of the I/O panel with the upright heatsink fitted.

Click on image for full size.



While we are here, take a look at the redesigned voltage circuitry.





Continued below...

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The Accessories.

• Instructions
• Drivers CD
• Driver Floppy Disk
• Flame-Freezer Installation Guide
• UT X48-T3RS User Manual

You get two sets of these (2 SATA Power + 2 SATA Data).



This has to be the heaviest I/O shield I've ever seen, it's very solid and comes with a small steel plate with two screws which are used when fitting the Flame-Freezer.



One PATA (IDE) Cable, One Floppy Cable.



And a bag that contains;

• One Crossfire Bridge/Cable.

• Spare NB Heatsink Clip
• Tube of Shin-Etsu Thermal Compound
• A Heat Minator Thermal Helper (piece of cardboard for spreading the thermal compound )
• One Bag Of Motherboard Jumpers
• Bernstein Audio Module Cable

Next, The Bernstein Audio Module...