Board Layout
The lone PCI-E slot means that DFI needed to provide reasonable onboard sound and a desirable LAN solution. What you get is the Realtek ALC885 teamed up with Creative X-FI drivers and the Intel 82578DC for LAN duty.
Most of what you'll need is available on the rear I/O panel. You've got 6 USB connectors (one is eSATA combo), together with analog and digital audio outputs. There's also a CMOS clear switch available which comes in handy when OC recovery fails to work.
There are cutbacks in the VRM department. CPU VCC (VCore) is limited to 150W max on the current BIOS (future BIOSes will see OCP limited to around 90amps with a maximum VID of 1.40V). There is no cooling over any of the FETs either.
150w is just about enough to support a very mild overclock on a 750 CPU long term. 860/870 CPUs are probably best left near stock if you run heavy loads. Over-current protection should kick in if you push things a little too far, although we often find that it's better not to test the limits of OCP in the first place. DFI will be releasing BIOS shortly that limits OCP to around 110W, which is a smidgen above stock TDP - basically, you'll be limited to near stock operating frequency on all CPUs.
You get 3 SATA ports courtesy of the Intel P55 PCH. Front panel I/O for audio, USB, IrDA, and power are all placed above or to the right of the PCI-E slot together with the CMOS battery holder, allowing access to all connectors when the PCI-E slot is occupied. A hex post code display is placed to the right of the DIMM slots for debugging purposes.
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Mini Motherboard - Monday, January 11, 2010 - link
Thanks for great review. I have been waiting for someone to write about it. I have linked to your article on my blog at my [url=http://www.minimotherboard.com">http://www.minimotherboard.com]Mini-ITX blog[/url]Saosin - Wednesday, January 6, 2010 - link
Mini-ITX review and no power consumption tests? :(Rajinder Gill - Wednesday, January 6, 2010 - link
Page 2Rajinder Gill - Wednesday, January 6, 2010 - link
Check page 2 in the performance summary :)ScavengerLX - Tuesday, January 5, 2010 - link
I have my 860 on a MI P55 at 150bclock with HT on. While gaming core temps usually get up to the mid-60s. So far so good! Thats about as far as I can push it safely.ScavengerLX - Tuesday, January 5, 2010 - link
Did you observe the PWM temps at 4.0GHz?Rajinder Gill - Tuesday, January 5, 2010 - link
Hi,Not sure if you read the review in depth, but the 4GHz benches were for fixed frequency compare purposes only. I used a 120MM fan to blow air across the board just for the sake of running the game benches where the CPU loads are very light (only around 50 Celsius). If you're running the board in a case or stress testing (OCCT, Linpack etc), keep it at stock with HT enabled CPU's and at a max of say 3.6GHz with a 750 in a case.
later
Raja
LoneWolf15 - Tuesday, January 5, 2010 - link
Any version on what Creative chip DFI is actually using?I'm guessing it's the cheapie they use on their gimped X-Fi XtremeAudio cards, since I haven't seen a real X-Fi chip on any board, but I was just curious.
Rajinder Gill - Tuesday, January 5, 2010 - link
Hi,the X-FI features are purely software/drivers from Creative, supported by the Realtek ALC885. So no Creative hardware I'm afraid (I did mention software support in the feature table on page 3).
regards
Raja
ScavengerLX - Tuesday, January 5, 2010 - link
Rajinder-Thanks for the great review. I have this motherboard so I appreciate the insight into the finer details.
Josh