windwithme’s Core i7 review Part 9-DFI LANParty JR X58-T3H6

[windwithme]

From early 2008, there were a new member joined LANParty family, it was “JR series”.
The significant difference between JR & DK is form factor; the smaller board brings OC performance as well as other ATX products.

The first two models were based on P45 & 790GX chipset.
In early 2009, DFI LANParty launched the JR X58, which based on Intel LGA 1366 platform.
Rely on Core i7’s performance and LANParty technology, microATX won’t mean “low performance” anymore.

Let’s see the package of LANParty JR X58-T3H6, it adopt the same style with JR P45/ JR 790GX.
You can only see difference in product name.


Accessories: User manual, Driver & utility DVD, ABS manual, cables, I/O shield, bridge for SLI & CrossFireX.


DFI LANParty JR X58-T3H6






Bottom left
2 PCIe x16
1 PCIe x4
1 PCI
GbE LAN: Marvell 88E8053
Audio Codec: Realtek ALC 889 (7.1 channels HD audio ready)


Buttom right
6 X SATAII(ICH10R，RAID 0， RAID 1， RAID 0+1 and RAID 5)
On-board POWER/RESET buttons & Debug LED.


Upper right
6 X DIMM DDR3，support 1066/1333/1600/1800(OC)
DFI is conservative in marking specification. Actually, if you can find good DDR3 module, it’s easy to OC to 2000MHz.


Upper left
6-phase digital PWM; each phase PWM provides 30W~40W, it’s quite enough to any Core i7 CPU
(according to Intel official information, the TDP of Core i7 965 is 130W).


Rear I/O
6 X USB 2.0
1 X Optical S/PDIF-out port
1 X Coaxial RCA S/PDIF-out port
1 X RJ45 LAN port
Red jumper for clearing CMOS

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About north bridge: 2-phase PWM for VTT


The “easy to remove” NB cooler, user can change the cooler without damaging chip as they want.


Tri-Channel DDR3 architecture
Core i7 is embedded with memory controller; it brings 2 or 3 times higher memory performance.





Boot Screen


Main page for OC setting.
You can enable turbo mode with “non-Extreme version” CPU.




CPU Feature


DRAM Timing: adjust the top three options for better DRAM performance
(The result depends on DRAM quality).


Voltage Setting
CPU VID Control 1.0000~2.0000V
Power Saving (DFI LANParty use different name for it. The function helps to prevent “voltage drop” situation).
DRAM Bus Voltage 1.455~2.400V
CPU VTT Special Add +0.0125~0.1875V
CPU VTT Voltage 1.21~1.61V
Please turn off “O.C. Shut Down Free” when overclocking.

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PC Health Status


JR X58 has as many BIOS option as DK X58.
The 200/2000MHz setting is based on the equipment below, if you have the same components, you can try the setting to save time.


Testing platform
CPU: Intel Core i7 950
MB: DFI LANParty JR X58-T3H6
DRAM: CORSAIR Dominator GT TR3X6G2000C7GT
VGA: GIGABYTE GTX260 OC SLI
HD: Intel X25-M 80GB SSD
POWER: Corsair HX1000W Modular Power Supply
Cooler: DFI LANParty Cooler/Lubic



About DRAM
CORSAIR Dominator GT TR3X6G2000C7GT (DDR3 2000 CL7 8-7-20 1.65V) is the best DDR3 DRAM module in retail market.



DDR3 2000 CL7 7-7-20 1T，1.63V(BIOS 1.65V)
SP2004 3 X Blend mode，stable in 5.82GB with full loaded.



DDR3 2000 CL7 7-7-20 1T
Sandra Memory Bandwidth-34511MB/s
EVEREST Memory Read-21900MB/s



DDR3 2130 CL7 8-7-20 1T，1.76V(BIOS 1.785V)
SP2004 3 X Blend mode，stable in 5.81GB with full loaded.


DDR3 2130 CL7 8-7-20 1T
Sandra Memory Bandwidth-35638MB/s
EVEREST Memory Read-21461MB/s


DDR3 2170 CL7 8-7-20 1T
Sandra Memory Bandwidth-36272MB/s
EVEREST Memory Read-22631MB/s


Dominator GT performs very well, it can be OC to 2000MHz with CL7 7-7-20.
To cooperate with LANParty JR X58, it can be overclocked up to 2130MHZ and work stably (CL7 8-7-20).
For the highest result, I OC it to 2170MHz. JR X58 is so amazing in DRAM overclocking, is brings the same performance with LANParty DK X58.

CPU
Intel Core i7 950
OC 200 X 21 => 4200Mhz
DDR3 2000 CL7 7-7-20 1T

CrystalMark 2004R3


CINEBENCH R10

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PCMark Vantage 14172


Hyper 8 X PI 32M 13m 04.635s
CPUMARK 99 659


196 X 23=>4510Mhz
Hyper 4 X PI 8M 1m 46.845s
CPUMARK 99 707


The OC potential of Core i7 is better than Core 2.
I overclocked it to 4150MHz on JR X58 with air cooling only. PI 8M? Pass!
CPUMARK? More than 700 score! DFI LANParty shows us a principle, “microATX can perform as well as ATX motherboard”.


About 3D (Based on Gigabyte GTX 260 OC SLI)
You can find GTX 260 performance in Core i7 platform
(In my another X58 review, 4870X2, 4870, 4850, 4650, 9600GT have been tested)

3DMARK2006 25816


3DMARK VANTAGE 19404


Crysis Benchmark


THE LAST REMNANT


StreetFighter IV Benchmark
1680 X 1050 21738


1920 X 1200 18638


microATX motherboard with SLI technology ready is very hard to find in retail.
With GTX 260 SLI & LANParty JR X58, it’s easy to conquer most games you can find.

Conclusion of DFI LANParty JR X58-T3H6
Positive
1. The first microATX board in LGA 1366 architecture.
2. The best quality and quantity in material such as capacitor & resistor.
3. All made in Japan capacitors/ Debug LED/ on-board POWER/ RESET buttons.
4. Supports both SLI & CrossFireX
5. Embedded with many OC BIOS setting/ wide range of voltage setting, performs as well as other hi-end X58 from competitors.

Negative
1. No 1394 & eSATA in rear I/O
2. Hard to find in Taiwan retail market

Performance ★★★★★★★★★★
Materials ★★★★★★★★☆☆
Appearance ★★★★★★★★☆☆
Cost/ Performance ★★★★★★★★☆☆

DFI LANParty bust the myth about “small motherboard cannot overclock and always perform worst than ATX one”.
In the small but powerful product, DFI adopt the best material & BIOS options, no wonder it shows the astonishing performance.
To compare with other ATX products, LANParty JR X58 can also beat most of them.

X58 chipset is focusing on hi-end market at this moment, the SRP of JR X58 is around USD 228.
If you want to build a small gaming machine, JR X58 is the best choice.

JR X58 has been launched in Jan. 2009.
Powerful microATX began to be a trend, ASUS, MSI also launched microATX product after April, users can have more choice in this segment now.
Of course, after competition, you can buy power microATX with lower price.