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DFI UT X58-T3eH8

The UT X58-T3eH8 is DFI’s answer to the current onslaught of Intel X58 chipset based motherboards. The board is part of DFI’s much vaunted LanParty line of boards, squarely aimed at the gaming and hardware enthusiast. It looks to be strong contender in this highly competitive space.

Introduction

DFI is a well established brand among mainstream users and enthusiasts alike. Since its inception, the company has fought an uphill battle against the likes of ASUS and the now defunct ABIT in order to achieve a respectable following in this tough-to-please market. DFI was able to make major inroads with its release of the gamer and enthusiast-centric "LANParty" line of boards. Its latest Intel Core i7 based board seems to fit well with its branding direction.

The DFI UT X58-T3eH8 motherboard supports the latest Intel processor line, the Core i7 through its integration with the Intel X58 chipset. The Intel X58 Northbridge chipset offers support for the following technologies: Intel LGA1366 Core i7 processors, DDR3 memory operating in Triple Channel memory mode up to 1333MHz officially, and either NVIDIA SLI and ATI CrossFireX graphics mode using matched graphics cards.

The UT X58-T3eH8 board is a feature complete solution, requiring a minimal of additional components for an operational system, including an Intel LGA1366 Core i7 processor, DDR3 memory, a video card, drives, and a PSU. DFI chose is integrate the following peripheral devices in to the UT X58-T3eH8’s design: 6 SATA II ports (RAID 0, 1, 0+1 and 5 capable) on the Intel ICH10R controller; 2 SATA II ports (RAID 0 and 1 capable), and 1 ATA-133 IDE port on the JMicron controller; 12 USB 2.0 capable ports (6 in rear panel, and 3 onboard headers supporting 2 ports each); 2 IEEE 1394 capable ports (1 in rear panel, and 1 onboard header supporting 1 port each); 2 Marvell GigE Ethernet ports in the rear panel; Realtek 8-channel HD audio codec; onboard power and system reset buttons; onboard diagnostic LED; and PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports in the rear panel.

Main Specifications Overview:

Detailed Mainboard Specification List:

Packaging

The UT X58-T3eH8 features a simple box art design, with the board name and supported technologies clearly shown on the box front. The following accessories are included with the board: neon IDE and floppy rounded drive cables; neon SATA drive cables and dual header power adapters; the rear panel shield; 2-way and 3-way SLI connectors; extra tall style jumper plugs; Smart connectors; the plug-in Bernstein Audio module; Flame Freezer heat sink kit; and the normal complement of manuals and drivers discs. The Smart connectors allow for an easy interface for connecting in to the motherboard headers. You simply plug in your front panel jumpers in to the white connector and the USB 2.0 jumpers in to the yellow or red connector blocks, and then plug both blocks in to the motherboard headers. The Bernstein Audio module plugs in to an onboard audio header, offer 6 analogue audio port and S/PDIF RCA style input and output audio ports. The Flame Freezer heat sink kit attaches to the onboard heat pipe cooling system at the Northbridge at the sink integrated in to the board’s rear panel, held in place with screws at the connection point. The heat sink itself offers a greater surface area for better overall chipset related heat dissipation.

Board Layout

Overall, the UT X58-T3eH8 board layout is well implemented, with no overly tight areas on the board. DFI used a combination of low profile sinks and innovative pipe connection placement in order to maximize the chipset heat pipe’s efficiency while minimizing its overall footprint, especially in the tightly packed Southbridge chipset area. Unfortunately, the board version and serial number are not clearly marked on the board’s surface area or on any of the stickers attached to the board’s surface. To further boost the board’s performance and overall appeal, DFI chose to use all aluminum based solid-state capacitors throughout the board’s surface.

The CPU socket area is very well implemented, with low profile capacitors used for those in close proximity to the socket of which there are very few. The heat sink just above the socket appears closer in the pictures than it is, with more than adequate clearance provided for even the largest heat sinks and water blocks. The CPU cooler itself is held to the board via the standard LGA1366 based 4 hole mechanism. The onboard Intel X58 chipset is covered by a large heat sink to the far left of the CPU socket. Just above the socket area is another heat sink covering the CPU MOSFET modules, and also acting as a termination point for the onboard heat pipe cooler. To the upper right of the CPU socket are the 8-pin ATX12V power connector and the PS/2 port standby power activation jumper. The 4-pin CPU fan header is located to the lower right of the socket area, just above the DIMM slots.

The UT X58-T3eH8 comes standard with 6 DDR3 memory slots, arranged in a dual-colored 3 by 2 style configuration. Triple Channel memory mode is activated by placed matched DDR3 modules in like colored memory slots. Below the DIMM slots are the onboard ATA-133 IDE port and the 24-pin ATX power connector.

The Intel ICH10R Southbridge chipset is located just below the secondary PCI-Express x16 slot, covered by a low profile heat sink. This heat sink acts as a termination point for the heat pipe cooling system. The ICH10R controlled SATA 2 port are the neon green colored ports just below the chipset, while the neon yellow ports are the JMicron controlled ports. Notice that all SATA 2 ports are housed so that the cables are parallel to the board’s surface when engaged. Directly to the left of the chipset are the Download Flash BIOS module header, the Safe Boot jumper, CMOS battery reset jumper, the onboard USB 2.0 headers, the CMOS reset jumper, the first fan header, and the system fan header. The Download Flash BIOS header allows integration with an optional device allowing for loading and saving of the current system BIOS. The Safe Boot jumper can force system reset in the case of a system lockup, without the inconvenience of losing the currently set BIOS configuration settings. The front panel header and external speaker header are located in the lower left corner of the board. The onboard floppy connector, onboard speaker and speaker activation jumper, the standby power system activation jumper for the onboard USB 2.0 headers, the infra-red device header, and the onboard 2-digit LED display and power and reset buttons are located above this along the left edge of the board. The 2-digit diagnostic LED display is useful for troubleshooting system initialization related issues.

The board comes standard with 3 PCI-Express x16 slots, 1 PCI-Express x4 slot, and 2 PCI slots. The second fan header and serial header are located to the outer edge of PCI slot 2, with the onboard IEEE 1394 header just above it. The Bernstein Audio module header is located to the upper right of the tertiary PCI-Express x16 slot. The 3 4-pin white colored headers located to the upper left of the first and third PCI-Express x16 ports are actually 4-pin power connectors, used to supply additional power to the onboard PCI-Express x16 slots when high powered cards are in use. The jumper block in between the first and second PCI-Express x16 slots controls the default CPU FSB, while the jumpers just above the PCI-Express x4 slot control the base CPU Vtt voltage. The jumper to the upper right of the primary PCI-Express x16 slot configures the standby power system activation for the rear-panel integrated USB 2.0 ports. The onboard floppy port, CD_IN header, S/PDIF output header, and front panel audio header are located along the outside of the secondary PCI slot. The CMOS battery is located in between the lower edges of the primary and secondary PCI-Express x16 slots, while the 4-pin CPU_FAN header is to the upper right of the primary slot.

The UT X58-T3eH8 comes with a rather uncluttered rear panel assembly, due in part to the fact that the audio ports are contained in a separate card. The following ports are integrated in to the systems rear panel: 2 PS/2 keyboard/mouse ports; 6 USB 2.0 ports; 1 IEEE 1394 port; 2 Marvell GigE Ethernet ports; and the Flame Freeze heat sink module attachment point, which is located in between the P/S2 ports and the first set of USB 2.0 ports.

Auto Boost System

DFI chose to include their Auto Boost System BIOS manipulation application on the installation DVD. Using this applet, you can easily load and save BIOS configuration files from within Windows. DFI itself provides several preconfigured BIOS configurations for download, with known and working overclocking settings for your board.