DFI Lanparty JR P45-T2RS mATX Motherboard Review

[Eldonko]

DFI Lanparty JR P45-T2RS Motherboard Review

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Manufacturer Product Page: DFI Lanparty JR P45-T2RS Motherboard Overview
Product Number: Lanparty JR P45-T2RS
Availability: Now
Price: Approximately $170
Warranty Length: 1 year



Hardware Canucks has reviewed plenty of motherboards over the last few months but this time we have something a bit different for you: the much anticipated micro ATX version of the P45-T2RS Plus board by DFI – the Lanparty JR P45-T2RS! The JR is a micro board designed for overclocking enthusiasts which means we have a typical DFI-style product but in a smaller package. Based off the popular Intel P45 chipset (a follow up of the P35 chipset), the JR allows for high speed DDR2 memory support along with two PCIE 2.0 slots for your CrossFire needs. In addition to one of the most sought after Intel chipsets, the board hosts a number of features common to full-sized boards such as eight channel digital audio, heatpipe cooling, and one of the best BIOS’ in the industry. The price is about average for a P45 chipset board at about $170 and a little above average for a micro board. To make the Lanparty JR P45-T2RS worth the extra dollars over competitor mATX boards, DFI includes most of features, BIOS settings, and overclocking options of a full-sized board.

The Lanparty JR P45-T2RS features quad core Yorkfield and dual core Wolfdale processor support out of the box without a BIOS upgrade and PCIE 2.0 CrossFire support. In addition to CrossFire support, DFI provides high definition audio with the Realtek ALC885 Codec. The benefit to this is users can experience gaming on their micro ATX system in full surround sound. Placed against other micro ATX options, few even compare to the Lanparty JR P45-T2RS in terms of BIOS options and tweaking ability. This is DFI’s plan to make a board perfect for an enthusiast who wants to get every drop of performance out of his micro ATX build.

Another point worth mentioning is the famous BIOS designed by BIOS engineer and legend Oskar Wu. This name has been held in high regard by enthusiasts for many years and is part of the reason many users stay loyal to DFI. The Lanparty JR P45-T2RS has more BIOS tweaking options than you can imagine and features such as CMOS Reloaded are just icing on the cake. One other fairly new feature for DFI is the Auto Boost System (ABS). The ABS technology provides the convenience of saving and loading several overclocking settings in Windows to update your CMOS Reloaded settings. This allows users to share BIOS settings simply by sending their friends a small .abs file that loads into CMOS Reloaded in the BIOS. This saves time and is quite a handy feature for both novice and experienced overclockers.

DFI provides a 1 year warranty for motherboards through Authorized Distributors which means you can approach your retailer before having to RMA your motherboard to the factory in Taiwan (or other support center). DFI also has support offices in the US and Europe with technical staff available to help users in three languages (English, Dutch, and Chinese).

We should also mention right now that the motherboard we used in this review was purchased directly from the retail channel and is NOT supplied by DFI. Take this for whatever you want it to mean but we believe that this will give us overclocking results closer to what you the consumer will experience.

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[Eldonko]

Specifications

Specifications

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 1333/1066/800MHz FSB

Chipset
- Northbridge: Intel® P45 Express chipset Intel® Fast Memory Access technology
- Southbridge: Intel® ICH10R

System Memory
- Four 240-pin DDR2 DIMM sockets
- Supports DDR2 667/800/1066 MHz
- Delivers up to 12.8Gb/s bandwidth
- Supports dual channel (128-bit wide) memory interface
- Supports up to 8GB system memory
- Supports unbuffered x8 and x16 DIMMs

Expansion Slot
- 2 PCI Express (Gen 2) x16 slots - 2-way CrossFire: One slot operating at x8 (8-lane port) or two slots each operating at x8 (8-lane ports) bandwidth
- 1 PCI Express x1 slot
- 1 PCI slot

Audio
- Realtek ALC885 High Definition audio CODEC
- 8-channel audio output
- DAC SNR/ADC SNR of 106dB/101dB
- Full-rate lossless content protection technology
- Optical S/PDIF-out and coaxial RCA S/PDIF-out interfaces

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

Storage and IDE
- 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 JMB368 PCI Express to PATA host controller
- Supports up to 2 UltraDMA 33/66/100Mbps IDE devices

Rear Panel I/O
- 1 mini-DIN-6 PS/2 mouse port
- 1 mini-DIN-6 PS/2 keyboard port
- 1 optical S/PDIF-out port
- 1 coaxial RCA S/PDIF-out port
- 6 USB 2.0/1.1 ports
- 1 RJ45 LAN port
- Center/subwoofer, rear R/L and side R/L jacks
- Line-in, line-out (front R/L) and mic-in jacks

Connectors
- 6 x SATAII 3.0 Gb/s connectors, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 10, RAID 5 and Intel® Matrix Storage), NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug functions
- 2 x eSATAII 3.0 Gb/s connectors (shared with 2 SATAII ports)
- 1 x ATA133 IDE connector (supports 2 x IDE devices)
- 1 x Floppy connector
- 1 x DeskExpress Hot Plug Detection header
- 1 x COM port header
- 1 x HDMI_SPDIF header
- 1 x IEEE 1394 header
- CPU/Chassis FAN connector
- 24 pin ATX power connector
- 8 pin 12V power connector
- CD in header
- Front panel audio connector
- 2 x USB 2.0 headers (support 4 USB 2.0 ports)
- 1 x WiFi/E header

BIOS Features
- Award BIOS
- 8Mbit SPI flash BIOS
- CMOS Reloaded

Internal I/O
- 3 connectors for 6 additional external USB 2.0 ports
- 1 connector for an external COM port
- 1 front audio connector
- 1 CD-in connector
- 1 IrDA connector
- 6 Serial ATA connectors
- 1 40-pin IDE connector
- 1 floppy connector
- 1 24-pin ATX power connector
- 1 8-pin 12V power connector
- 1 front panel connector
- 3 fan connectors
- 1 download flash BIOS connector
- 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 Keyboard/Mouse
- Wake-On-USB Keyboard/Mouse
- Wake-On-LAN
- 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
- 4 layers, microATX form factor
- 24.5cm (9.64") x 24.5cm (9.64")

 

[Eldonko]

Intel P45 Chipset / DFI JR P45-T2RS Features

Intel P45 Chipset and DFI Lanparty JR P45-T2RS Features

The new P45 chipset by Intel supports a variety of features including new Intel 1600 MHz Front Side Bus processors, high speed DDR2 and DDR3, Extreme Memory Profiles (Intel XMP), next-generation dual PCI Express 2.0 lanes, and Intel Extreme Tuning, allowing for maximum platform performance.

The Intel P45 Express Chipset is driving PCI-E 2.0 to mainstream users, delivering up to 16 GB/s bandwidth, twice the bandwidth of PCI Express 1.0. The Intel P45 Express
Chipset supports either a 1 x 16 or 2 x 8 PCI-E 2.0 configuration for expandable discrete graphics capability. PCI-E 2.0 also provides greater flexibility and reliability in design because it is backward compatible with PCI-E 1.0 and can dynamically manage power and performance through software controls. The greatly improved 16 GB/s of graphics bandwidth capability enables much higher levels of performance on graphics-intensive applications such as high-end gaming and video rendering.


DFI Lanparty JR P45-T2RS Features

A few notable features on the DFI Lanparty JR P45-T2RS include 8.1 Channel HD Audio, All Solid Capacitors, Yorkfield and Wolfdale CPU support, CrossFire support, CMOS Reloaded, and ABS capabilities. A brief summary of each of these features is as follows:

 

[Eldonko]

Packaging and Accessories

Packaging and Accessories

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DFI comes to market with a colourful, eye-catching box for the Lanparty JR P45-T2RS. The box is a contemporary navy blue design, includes DFI’s always familiar Lanparty logo, bold yellow text and many feature-describing images which all amounts to a nice contrast.

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Included on the front of the box are a few stickers calling attention to some notable features. The auto boost system has its own logo which we will probably see on many upcoming DFI boards and smart connectors are also mentioned. Another round sticker addresses an “Intel power off issue”.

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The reverse of the box includes many explanations of yet more features as well as heavy use of the Lanparty brand. Features marketed on the back of the box include 8 channel audio, digital PWM, duo and quad support, P45 and ICH10R chipsets, heat pipe cooling, solid caps, gigabit LAN and smart connectors.

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The blue box for the Lanparty JR P45-T2RS is actually a thinner covering for the actual motherboard box. The thicker white box is quite plain but still includes the Lanparty logo once again. Looking inside, the accessories are packed similarly to most motherboards: everything is individually packaged in plastic, resting on a cardboard divider on top of the board itself. The motherboard is wrapped in the standard anti-static bag to avoid damage to components from static charges while beneath the board there is a thick foam sheet to prevent shipping damage.

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Above we see the variety of accessories included with the board. In typical DFI style, the colors of the cables run quite nicely with the general color scheme of the board itself and the auto boost system comes with a dedicated manual.

Specific package contents and motherboard accessories include:

Package Contents
- DFI Lanparty JR P45-T2RS motherboard (micro ATX form factor)
- Motherboard user manual
- Auto Boost System installation guide
- One IDE cable
- One FDD cable
- Two Serial ATA data cables
- One power cable with 2 Serial ATA power connectors
- One RAID floppy diskette
- One I/O shield
- One “Mainboard Utility” CD

 

[Eldonko]

Included Software

Included Software

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The DFI Lanparty JR P45-T2RS motherboard comes with an installation disk containing drivers needed for the board as well as a few additional programs and tools. Navigating the disk, users will find chipset, audio, LAN, storage, graphics, and RAID drivers. Extra software is found under the tools page and includes Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.05, the Auto Boost program, and DFI’s hardware monitoring program – Smart Guardian.

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The Auto Boost System technology provides the convenience of saving and loading several overclocking settings. It even allows users to swap profiles with other users by sending a small .abs file and makes tweaking on such a complex board a little less overwhelming. This is also a great program for tech support as DFI can request your .abs file to help users with settings or just send a pre-tested profile. The ABS program also comes pre-loaded with upgrade options for different processors. For example, users with a 1066 FSB CPU could select the 1066 upgrade to 1333 option and enjoy extra performance with little to no overclocking experience. In testing we wanted to get the max out of the board not just a small boost so the stock profiles were overwritten with custom settings.

Overall, the features of ABS worked flawlessly and it really saves time when overclocking since CMOS Reloaded can load your previously saved BIOS settings upon a failed boot. You simply press F1 on POST to access the ABS utility and the screen will show CPU upgrade information.

Please note to use extreme caution when playing with these settings as hardware damage and operating system corruption is possible if the user goes too far with an instable overclock.

 

[Eldonko]

A Closer Look at the Lanparty JR P45-T2RS

A Closer Look at the Lanparty JR P45-T2RS

The board layout, color scheme, and design of the Lanparty JR P45-T2RS are very consistent with previous DFI designs with the yellow and orange theme. Everything is typical of DFI except for the size of course – micro! The PCB is the trademark black with yellow and orange slots for memory. The SATA II connectors are also orange as are the PCI and PCIE slots.

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Starting at the top of the board, we see the PWM chip: ISL6322. This is a four-phase digital PWM control IC and provides the board’s voltage regulation. The ISL6322 includes integration of power MOSFET drivers into the controller IC instead of using a separate PWM controller. Signals sent can command the ISL6322 to adjust voltage margining offset, converter switching frequency, and overvoltage protection levels.

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The 24-pin ATX connector is situated up in the top corner of the board, which keeps it out of the way of installed components such as video cards and after market heatsinks. Next to the ATX connector is the IDE output which also in a good spot on the edge of the board. The locations of these connectors is especially important on a micro-ATX board as users are usually dealing with much less space in their case.

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Moving clockwise around the board we come to the SATA II ports. There are six in total and they all point to the right instead of straight up as we see on most boards. This should be convenient for hiding wires in a case.

Next to the SATA ports are the power and reset switches as well as one of two CMOS jumpers. We cannot stress enough how nice it is to have these switches instead of having to short pins with a screwdriver after a caseless setup. The CMOS jumper however is a different story. If you run a CrossFire setup, the second video card will cover the jumper and will not allow access without removing the card. Luckily DFI noticed this issue and provided a second CMOS jumper on the I/O panel.

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Next up we have the motherboard battery which has been positioned on its side instead of flat which was likely done to save space. Just above this are the PCI and PCI-E slots and headers for front audio. There is not a whole lot of extra room between the PCI-E slots due to the nature of micro ATX, but two video cards with full-sized waterblocks were able to fit without any issue.

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On the left bottom we see two small chips, one ITE and one Realtek. The ITE IT8718F chip provides the most commonly used legacy Super I/O functionality plus the latest Environment Control initiatives such as H/W Monitor and Fan Speed Controller.

The Realtek ALC885 chip runs the sound on the Lanparty JR P45-T2RS and is a high-performance 7.1+2 Channel High Definition Audio Codec with advanced lossless content protection technology. This protects pre-recorded content while still allowing full-rate audio enjoyment from DVD audio, Blu-ray DVD, or HD DVD discs.

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Also in this area is the motherboard revision, which is directly on the pcb. In our case the board is Revision A.

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Cooling on the JR P45-T2RS is a simple heatpipe cooling design which runs from the Northbridge to voltage regulation MOSFETS. This cooling system is quite efficient and is a nice addition to the board aesthetically. This also shows that the P45 chipset does not need any elaborate cooling setup as seen on some competing products.

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The Northbridge and MOSFET heatpipe cooled is attached to the board using simple Phillips screws and bolts on the back. As a result, users can easily change the board cooling for aftermarket cooling if desired. This is also convenient for sub-zero benching as a Northbridge pot can be attached through the Northbridge holes in the board.

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Directly underneath the heatpipe, the CPU FSB jumpers are found. This is not really the best location to be honest but we could change them without too much trouble so it is not a huge issue in a caseless setup. However, in a case it would be a different story.

For our testing the jumper was left at the default position as changing it is unnecessary with a 1333FSB CPU. Users with 800 or 1066 FSB CPUs could use this to easily upgrade to 333FSB (1333FSB mode) at default. Jumper configurations are above.

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For sound, the JR P45-T2RS includes High Definition audio outputs (Coaxial S/PDIF Out Port, Optical S/PDIF Out Port) for your Home Theatre needs in addition to the standard input/outputs. The second CMOS jumper is also shown above; this was used many times as the first jumper was trapped under the second video card.

One other addition to this board is the solid capacitors. These caps are said to be of higher quality and more durable than the older electrolytic style capacitors which have often been a source if trouble on older electronics.

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The rear panel inputs and outputs are pretty standard overall. I/O ports include the previously mentioned HD audio outputs, one PS/2 Mouse Port, one PS/2 Keyboard Port, six Ready-to-Use USB 2.0 Ports, one LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED), and a CMOS jumper.

 

[Eldonko]

BIOS Rundown

BIOS Rundown

Any overclocker or enthusiast knows that the components and features of a motherboard are only part of the puzzle. The BIOS is what can make or break a board’s performance for both long-term and short-term benching. First we will run through DFI’s complex BIOS and briefly explain some settings and then take a closer look at the overclockability of the board in the overclocking section.

The Lanparty JR P45-T2RS features an Award BIOS with 8Mbit SPI flash as well as the CMOS Reloaded feature. CMOS Reloaded allows users to use BIOS presets by pressing user defined hotkeys upon POST. To enter the BIOS initially, the delete key is used when the POST screen comes up.

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By default, The Lanparty JR P45-T2RS displays a branded splash screen consistent with the marketing on the box. The BIOS also has an option to disable the splash screen to allow viewing of POST messages. Disabling of splash screens is recommended when overclocking in order to see what speed the system is booting at from the POST screen.

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Starting with the main BIOS page we have many options to look at. First off there is Hard Disk priority, which is where you change to a USB drive for BIOS flashing. There is also boot device priority and some other boot options. The bottom of the screen is where the option to disable the POST screen is located.

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Next up we have USB and power management screens. Users can enable usb keyboard, mouse, and storage as well as customize power management functions.

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The PC Health Status page is rather advanced compared to some boards we have seen, likely because of a higher-end monitoring chip. CPU, chipset, and PWM temperatures are shown as well as a number of voltages. Voltages monitored include: Vcore, vmem, vNB, VTT, as well as al PSU rails. As mentioned above, the CMOS Reloaded feature in the BIOS allows users to save and quickly reload BIOS settings, great for overclocking.

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Now for the page overclockers will spend 99% of their time on: Genie BIOS Settings. This page contains basically everything you need to bring your system to the maximum overclock; from FSB clocks to RAM timings to all voltages, it is all there.

CPU Clock Ratio (multiplier) and CPU clock (FSB) are the settings used to change the FSB and multi of the system.

Boot UP Clock allows for booting at a different clock. This is helpful when you run high FSB, you can boot at a lower clock and then move up to your desired FSB.

CPU Clock Amplitude settings are essentially clock output strengths and tweaking these settings helps with higher FSB.

CPU Clock Skews are the skew clocks for the Northbridge, also useful for achieving higher FSB.

Next up we have DRAM Speed which is essentially strap settings. There are seven settings available which allow for different straps and RAM speeds. We will go through the sub-pages in detail below.

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Right at the top of the DRAM timing page we find the Enhance Data transmitting options. These are for fine tuning data transmitting performance based on the system FSB. Fast is used for highest performance and normal for more stability.

Below this is T2 Dispatch. These are DRAM performance parameters; disabling relaxes memory timings for higher frequencies. Midway down the timing page another important setting is found, Performance Level or Read Delay. This is the tRD parameter for your RAM. Related to tRD, the first sub-page of the DRAM timings is Clock Setting fine Delay. Here DLL and RCOMP tables are located. The DRAM DLL table is a base for calculating clock delays and the RCOMP values are impedence ratings of chipset registers. In plain English, DLL and RCOMP control signals between CPU, NB, and RAM and are essential for successful overclocking. Recommended profiles for DRAM and RCOMP are 3/3/1, 5/5/1, and 0/0/2.

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Further down the page there is another useful sub-page – Read Delay Phase Adjust. This is also related to tRD and here you can see what Read Delay phase settings will be used.

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Now to move on to the Voltage Setting sub-page of the Genie BIOS page. This page is where you find all the adjustable voltages you need for overclocking. At the top is CPU Special VID Add. This is for adjusting vcore and up to +.787.5mv but remember that this is enough to easily kill any CPU, just the way we like it.

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Next up we have DRAM and PLL voltages. An unheard of 3.28v is available for memory and 2.15v for PLL. Again, this is for extreme overclocking and if you set anywhere over 2.5ish volts on your memory (for high voltage Micron D9) it will be dead as a doornail faster than you can imagine. It is also not recommended to exceed 1.75v on PLL.

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Also on the voltage page are VTT and Northbridge Core voltages. These are both crucial to overclocking at high FSB and VTT must be kept in balance with GTL and many other settings. Again more voltage than anyone could ever use safely is available here.

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Now we get into Clockgen and GTL settings. Clockgen voltage is used to achieve stability using high FSB and GTL REF Voltage is CPU VTT reference voltage. CPU GTL 0/2, 1/3, and NB GTL all must be used in perfect ratios to achieve stability at high FSB.

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One last setting to go over is FSB Ref voltage. This is a tweak to MCH parameter registers and is sometimes useful for breaking a perceived FSB wall. Recommended settings to test are 23/24/25/2A/2B.

All in all, an enthusiast or hard core overclocker should be thrilled with the options available in the BIOS. On the same note however ,a novice user could be overwhelmed to the point of never entering a BIOS again! There are enough voltage options to easily fry your RAM, motherboard, and CPU easily if care is not taken. We recommend a lot of background reading and overclocking experience in general before increasing voltages and trying for that extreme overclock.

 

[Eldonko]

Test Setup & Methodologies

Test Setup & Methodologies

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Test Setup

Processor: Intel C2D Xeon E3110 (45nm dual core)
Video Card(s): MSI RX3870 512MB / HIS IceQ HD3870 512MB
Memory: 2GB Crucial Ballistix PC8500
Motherboard: DFI JR P45-T2RS
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 80GB SATA
Power Supply: Tagan BZ 900W
Case: None
Cooling: Swifttech Apogee (CPU), DangerDen Brass Maze 4 (GPU), D-Tek Fuzion (GPU), 2 x dual heatercore w/ 4 x 120mm fans
Fans: 1 x 120mm, 1 x 80mm
Operating System: Windows Vista Basic 64 bit

Overclocking Methodology

The following section shows the maximum overclock achieved on a dual core Xeon E3110 45nm 1333FSB CPU. For testing methodology two main tests will be used and several benchmarks will be run at the overclocked speeds. The first of the two main stability tests will be a 5 hour custom test of OCCT which tests CPU, memory, and FSB stability. OCCT is a great test for reviews because it tests multiple core CPUs, creates user friendly graphs of temperatures and voltages, and is very efficient at picking up errors.

The second stability test will be 3 runs of 3DMark Vantage. This tests the 3D stability of the overclock as well as CPU, FSB and memory. Once an overclock passes these tests but fails anything further, this is the point deemed as “stable” for the purposes of this review.

Upon commencement of testing, the latest beta BIOS from DFI dated 09/12/2008 was flashed as it is the most recent release. FSB jumpers remained in the default position throughout the duration of testing.

General Benchmark Methodology

All benchmarks will be a comparison of the Xeon E3110 at stock speed and at maximum overclock to give an idea of how much performance a user can gain when overclocking the JR P45-T2RS. For CrossFire tests, the overclocked speed will be used to test performance between one and two HD3870 video cards in 3D benchmarks and games.

The overclocked speed on the Xeon E3110 will be 4066Mhz on the overclocked tests and RAM speed will be set to 452Mhz (DDR904) and 4-4-4-4. CrossFire will be enabled, ATI Catalyst 8.9 drivers will be used for 3D along with Windows Vista Home Basic 64 bit.

 

[Eldonko]

Overclocking Results

Overclocking Results

Ok, now for the page you have been waiting for, let’s see how the DFI Lanparty JR P45-T2RS overclocks!

The board works great at stock, uses one of the latest and greatest chipset, has one of the most advanced BIOS on the market, and sample board results posted around different enthusiast forums show some nice results. However, all that means nothing if the board does not overclock well.

To cut right to the chase, we had a lot of trouble trying to overclock this board and we can say it certainly is not user friendly overclocking for a novice user.

First off, after seeing users post results running the JR at 600FSB and higher we were quite excited to test a high FSB board. We started by trying to boot at 500FSB, should be easy right? Ha, not even close. By using the standard BIOS settings we were unable to even get the board to POST at 500FSB; basically, it thinks for a second and shuts off totally and requires a CMOS reset and reset of the PSU to come back to life. Talk about hassle and if it weren’t for CMOS Reloaded, tweaking would still be in progress!

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After moving into the advanced settings by pressing F9 on the main BIOS screen (and after many more hours) we were able to boot at 500FSB by tweaking TRD, GTL settings, and CPU and memory skews. The issue is VTT, GTL REF, PLL, skew are all metrics controlled by the CPU itself, and must be in perfect balance or you do not get any degree of stability, simple as that.

So we found settings that appeared stable (FINALLY) and OCCT was running at 500x8 (4Ghz). No big deal right? 4Ghz and 500 FSB is easy on many boards with a 45nm duo....well not quite. The test was set for 5 hours so returning to the PC later we were greeted with a corrupted Windows install. This was not repairable so Vista had to be reinstalled.

Many more hours passed and we were unable to get 5 hours of OCCT stability at 500FSB, the closest we got was 4 hours. As a result, we must conclude that the max fully stable FSB is below 500. However, benching above 500 is possible so we have included a shot of 32M at 520FSB.

Next we moved on from max FSB to shoot for a max overclock. Here there were some somewhat surprising findings. First, less voltage is better on our test board. It is hard to say if we were just unable to find the proper combination of settings at higher voltage for long-term stability or it is just not possible on this board. What could be a cause of the instability is the fact that this board uses 4 layer pcb and 4 a phase digital PWM, hardly components of a top clocker at high voltages.

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Testing memory independently, the board was actually pretty good. Using Crucial Ballistix PC8500 (the new single sided stuff), 500Mhz (DDR 1000) was achievable at 4-4-4 and 600Mhz (DDR1200) at 5-5-5 at 2.15 to 2.25v without much trouble at all. All of the secondary settings you can imagine are available in the BIOS and the auto settings are set up quite well for users that do not want to tweak at that level. It is recommended to be cautious in interpreting memory errors properly though as an improper mix of GTL and skew settings can lead to memory errors as well.

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In spite of the excessive tweaking, reboots, corrupt Windows installs, and headaches, we were able to achieve an overclock of 4066Mhz; a gain of 36%. To accomplish this, low vcore / VTT and the 400/800 strap were used, giving RAM speed of 453Mhz (DDR906) and timings of 4-4-4-4. Benchmarks were possible at 4100Mhz or so, but for the five hour OCCT test to finish we had to reduce to 4066Mhz.

It is important to note that a lot of time went into achieving stability, more than most would be willing to spend. The issue is the optimal setting combination may be completely different depending on ones CPU and what FSB you want to run at. Also what works for one person most likely will not for someone else; the only way to find what will work is some background on what each setting does and trial and error testing. These clock speeds will be used throughout the benchmarking sections.

Is this disappointing? Yes, to a certain extent it is considering the high (and obviously misplaced) expectations we had for the JR P45-T2RS based on previous experiences with DFI boards and numerous forum results we have seen. This goes to show two things: that not every board is made equal and a major purchase like a motherboard should never, ever be based on a few examples of extreme overclocks.

 

[Eldonko]

System Benchmarks

System Benchmarks

SuperPI Benchmark

SuperPi calculates the number of digits of PI in a pure 2D benchmark. For the purposes of this review, calculation to 32 million places will be used. RAM speed, RAM timings, CPU speed, L2 cache, and Operating System tweaks all effect the speed of the calculation, and this has been one of the most popular benchmarks among enthusiasts for several years.

Results: A 20% gain in SuperPI 32M time is noted going from 3000Mhz to 4066Mhz on the E3110 and DFI Lanparty JR P45-T2RS.


CINEBENCH R10

CINEBENCH R10 is a testing suite that assesses your computer's performance capabilities, both 2D and 3D. CINEBENCH runs several tests on your computer to measure the performance of the main processor and the graphics card under real world circumstances.

The test procedure consists of two main components: The first test sequence is dedicated to the computer's main processor. Next, a 3D scene file is used to render an image file. The scene makes use of various CPU-intensive features such as reflection, ambient occlusion, area lights and procedural shaders. In the first run, the benchmark only uses one CPU (or CPU core), to ascertain a reference value. On computers that have multiple CPUs or CPU cores, CINEBENCH will run a second test using all available CPU power.

In this review, single-CPU and multi-CPU rendering speeds will be measured for both stock speed and an overclocked system.

Results: The CINEBENCH R10 results show an impressive increase in performance in rendering moving from a stock system to an overclocked system. Improvements in rendering time of 36% and 34% are noted for single-CPU and multi-CPU rendering benchmarks respectively. Basically consistent with the CPU overclock of 35%, not bad at all.


Sandra Memory Bandwidth, Processor Multi-Media, and Processor Arithmetic

SiSoftware Sandra (the System ANalyser, Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant) is an information & diagnostic utility. The software suite provides most of the information (including undocumented) users like to know about hardware, software, and other devices whether hardware or software. The name “Sandra” is a (girl) name of Greek origin that means "defender", "helper of mankind".

The software version used for these tests is SiSoftware Sandra Professional Home XII.SP2c and the three benchmarks used are the Memory Bandwidth, Processor Multi-Media, and Processor Arithmetic benchmarks. These three benchmarks were chosen as they provide a good indication of three varying types of system performance. The bandwidth test shows performance of memory sub-systems, the multi-media test shows how the processor handles multi-media instructions and data, and the arithmetic test shows how the processor handles arithmetic and floating point instructions. These three tests illustrate three important areas of a computer’s speed and provide a wide scope of results.

Results: Sandra processor multi-media and arithmetic show impressive improvements on an overclocked system, with 35-36% gains in performance. For memory speeds the stock run was at 400Mhz (DDR800) at 4-4-4-4 and the overclocked tests were at 452Mhz (DDR904) at 4-4-4-4. Both used tRD = 8. Memory bandwidth shows a more modest gain at 29%, but still notable nonetheless.