DFI UT P35-T2R: Tweakers Rejoice!
by Rajinder Gill on October 18, 2007 2:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
2GB 266 Strap Benchmarks
3DMark01
3DMark06
Company of Heroes 1920x1200
.jpg)
Company of Heroes 1280x1024
.jpg)
Cinebench R10
SuperPi 32M
Choosing an operating point
Looking at the figures shown one could ask, is all the tweaking worth it? Benchmarking performance with the various configurations of FSB/divider and memory timings is remarkably close. For gaming systems it is perfectly acceptable to use around 400-430 FSB on the 266 strap, as frame rates are not adversely affected by the FSB deficit.
Obviously those who enjoy benchmarking will prefer the potential of higher bandwidth, as sensitive benchmarks like SuperPi 32M and 3DMark 2001SE can take advantage of the extra tweaks the board offers to maintain low access latency along with high FSB speeds. Running high FSBs on last generation chipsets usually resulted in fairly apparent performance losses, which at times could even be overcome with lower CPU speeds while using a tighter chipset strap. DFI's implementation of the P35 chipset maintains bandwidth scaling if the relevant BIOS tweaks are applied.
It is clear that modern gaming engines are not as dependent on outright CPU/RAM performance tuning, certainly not to the level many of us tweakers would like to believe. The most important factor with Intel Core 2 processors still revolves around the 266/333 straps and actual CPU MHz speed for noticeable gains in overall gaming performance. Luckily enough, those using Q6600 CPUs have the option of the 9x multiplier, allowing us to overclock to the limits of current air/water-cooling capacity quite easily without the need to spend large amounts of time chasing higher FSBs of little visible gain.
Another positive here is that 4GB overclocking with the right modules is actually a lot easier than we are accustomed to on previous chipsets. Attaining higher RAM speeds with tighter sub-timings almost feels akin to overclocking 2GB of RAM rather than 4GB. Obviously XP 32-bit will not take full advantage of the additional 2GB of RAM. Vista 64-bit testing is underway to study the variance between how the board reacts to a true 4GB load.
3DMark01
.jpg) |
3DMark06
.jpg) |
Company of Heroes 1920x1200
Company of Heroes 1280x1024
Cinebench R10
.jpg) |
SuperPi 32M
.jpg) |
Choosing an operating point
Looking at the figures shown one could ask, is all the tweaking worth it? Benchmarking performance with the various configurations of FSB/divider and memory timings is remarkably close. For gaming systems it is perfectly acceptable to use around 400-430 FSB on the 266 strap, as frame rates are not adversely affected by the FSB deficit.
Obviously those who enjoy benchmarking will prefer the potential of higher bandwidth, as sensitive benchmarks like SuperPi 32M and 3DMark 2001SE can take advantage of the extra tweaks the board offers to maintain low access latency along with high FSB speeds. Running high FSBs on last generation chipsets usually resulted in fairly apparent performance losses, which at times could even be overcome with lower CPU speeds while using a tighter chipset strap. DFI's implementation of the P35 chipset maintains bandwidth scaling if the relevant BIOS tweaks are applied.
It is clear that modern gaming engines are not as dependent on outright CPU/RAM performance tuning, certainly not to the level many of us tweakers would like to believe. The most important factor with Intel Core 2 processors still revolves around the 266/333 straps and actual CPU MHz speed for noticeable gains in overall gaming performance. Luckily enough, those using Q6600 CPUs have the option of the 9x multiplier, allowing us to overclock to the limits of current air/water-cooling capacity quite easily without the need to spend large amounts of time chasing higher FSBs of little visible gain.
Another positive here is that 4GB overclocking with the right modules is actually a lot easier than we are accustomed to on previous chipsets. Attaining higher RAM speeds with tighter sub-timings almost feels akin to overclocking 2GB of RAM rather than 4GB. Obviously XP 32-bit will not take full advantage of the additional 2GB of RAM. Vista 64-bit testing is underway to study the variance between how the board reacts to a true 4GB load.
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Acanthus - Thursday, October 18, 2007 - link
Although all of the tweaking options provided are nice, it literally does no better than Asus P5K Deluxe or the Gigabyte P35-DQ6.Furthermore with X38 boards on the way, im not seeing a whole lot of incentive for this $300 motherboard.
Just my $.02
retrospooty - Thursday, October 18, 2007 - link
This board has hit 672mhz FSB, far FAR higher than any other other board ever, including early samples of X38. Not likely to be matched until the DFI X38 comes out.http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php...">http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php...
This link shows it at 666mhz, I cant find the 672mhz one at the moment, but its on the same forum, by the same guy with the same golden CPU.
cmdrdredd - Thursday, October 18, 2007 - link
Not usable 24/7WHO CARES!?
retrospooty - Thursday, October 18, 2007 - link
Well, it still goes alot higher than the others you mentioned, it is absolutely the best overclocking motherboard available. - that was what I responded too, obviously its not the one for you.Acanthus - Thursday, October 18, 2007 - link
That is from the DFI labs... with a beta board... on supercooling...and volt mods... on a dual core CPU that doesnt stress the PWMs...Anandtechs results even using phase dont approach those results.
retrospooty - Friday, October 19, 2007 - link
No, that is not from DFI labs, that is an independant dood, and CPU's that hit that high FSB are pretty rare.Whatever man, you can poo poo it all you want. It is the best OC mobo out there, and goes higher and takes it farther than any other. It may not be the one for you though.
Raja Gill - Thursday, October 18, 2007 - link
You need to remember that this board was compared at stock settings, not OC'ed, things change up top...;), not to mention we could not get the board to crash..regards
Raja
Acanthus - Thursday, October 18, 2007 - link
Its the same chipset, its not going magically increase in a non-linear fashion.The P5K and DQ6 hit the same maximum overclock.
MadBoris - Thursday, October 18, 2007 - link
It makes sense that article takes a different approach, customers of this board or tweakers in general, will really appreciate the fine details.Personally, in the last ten years I have gotten to a place where I am very comfortable not pushing for the last 100 - 300 mhz. The meager tangible return is not worth all the extra voltage or potential stability issues that often come up later in the life of the HW due to creep, dust, aging paste, etc. I get a nice stress test capable OC, then back it up a notch. I won't win any 3dmark awards that way though but am very satisfied with stability when a new product stresses HW in ways not stressed before.
One thing for sure with this board, I wouldn't want to lose the CMOS, then have to remember all my settings after a year.
Nice board and good article, $300 is too much though for a MB for me. It's definitely elite.
retrospooty - Thursday, October 18, 2007 - link
Its alot of reading, but that is because the DFI is alot of motherboard. I have had it since it was first released and loving every minute of it. I have a C2D 6750 running at 8x500 fsb for a sweet 4 ghz on water at DDR2 1000 4-4-4-10 timing, man is it sweet.There are sooooo many bios tweaks to get better performance, or stability at high overclock - its definitely not for beginners... worth every penny of the $300 I spent.