DFI UT P35-T2R: Tweakers Rejoice!
by Rajinder Gill on October 18, 2007 2:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Going Sub-Zero With Our Cascades
Hardware used:
PCP&C 1200W PSU
2GB OCZ Flex 9200 RAM
ASUS 8800 GTS 640MB
WD2500 KS 250GB Hard Drive
Intel X6800 Core 2 Duo CPU (Retail)
Dual Rotary Cascade (CPU cooling)
Dual Mini Cascade (GPU cooling)
Dimas Tech Benching Table
Moving over to sub-zero means that all voltage related conservatism was thrown out of the window, as evaporator loaded temps remained between -110 and -106C throughout testing. Due to the clean CPU socket area, neoprene insulation can be applied with relative ease, one issue with Digital PWM is that all the heat producing components are aligned on one side of the socket (to the left). Obviously due to a lack of heat producing circuitry around the top side of the socket, the associated area is very prone to condensation during extended benchmarking sessions, we recommend you take a little extra time checking insulation is sufficient enough to prevent any moisture penetration.
The initial plan was to scale up the settings which had worked well when benching the water-cooling setup with the QX6800. We had not accounted for the fact that our QX6800 was reluctant to run over 4.5GHz in both four and two core mode. It was taking copious amounts of time to try and hold the board steady with the QX6800 (both in two and four core mode) anywhere over 4.5GHz. We eliminated all possibilities of PSU based inadequacies by comparing clocking results on two separate models and also cross comparing motherboards by using the ASUS Striker Extreme.
Both boards exhibited the same CPU MHz wall, so it was time to move on to another processor. One other oversight is that we should have used an air-cooled graphics card while we were attempting to tweak GTL settings. The 8800 GTS was also being cascade cooled, and idle temps were hovering in the region of -81C. The side effect of leaving the card idling while trying to improve the CPU stability was that the whole graphics card froze over - lesson learned.
After a few hours of various attempts with several processors, our trusty Core 2 Duo X6800 was dusted off and given the thumbs up for a test run. After spending the better part of a day tweaking and twisting BIOS settings, we did manage to save a few screenshots with the X6800.
The 8800 GTS 640MB card clocked up really well at 940MHz on the core with around 1.55Vgpu while our X6800 ran without fault at these settings. It has to be said that the whole benchmarking experience, while tiring, was thoroughly enjoyable. Kudos to the folk who are able to manage LN2 on a couple of pots while trying to break records! Going sub-zero is not as easy as one would initially think. We will endeavor to provide more testing like this in the future on performance oriented motherboards with a standard set of peripherals; although the sacrifice in time is great, the end results are very rewarding and certainly a fun experience.
Hardware used:
PCP&C 1200W PSU
2GB OCZ Flex 9200 RAM
ASUS 8800 GTS 640MB
WD2500 KS 250GB Hard Drive
Intel X6800 Core 2 Duo CPU (Retail)
Dual Rotary Cascade (CPU cooling)
Dual Mini Cascade (GPU cooling)
Dimas Tech Benching Table
Moving over to sub-zero means that all voltage related conservatism was thrown out of the window, as evaporator loaded temps remained between -110 and -106C throughout testing. Due to the clean CPU socket area, neoprene insulation can be applied with relative ease, one issue with Digital PWM is that all the heat producing components are aligned on one side of the socket (to the left). Obviously due to a lack of heat producing circuitry around the top side of the socket, the associated area is very prone to condensation during extended benchmarking sessions, we recommend you take a little extra time checking insulation is sufficient enough to prevent any moisture penetration.
The initial plan was to scale up the settings which had worked well when benching the water-cooling setup with the QX6800. We had not accounted for the fact that our QX6800 was reluctant to run over 4.5GHz in both four and two core mode. It was taking copious amounts of time to try and hold the board steady with the QX6800 (both in two and four core mode) anywhere over 4.5GHz. We eliminated all possibilities of PSU based inadequacies by comparing clocking results on two separate models and also cross comparing motherboards by using the ASUS Striker Extreme.
Both boards exhibited the same CPU MHz wall, so it was time to move on to another processor. One other oversight is that we should have used an air-cooled graphics card while we were attempting to tweak GTL settings. The 8800 GTS was also being cascade cooled, and idle temps were hovering in the region of -81C. The side effect of leaving the card idling while trying to improve the CPU stability was that the whole graphics card froze over - lesson learned.
After a few hours of various attempts with several processors, our trusty Core 2 Duo X6800 was dusted off and given the thumbs up for a test run. After spending the better part of a day tweaking and twisting BIOS settings, we did manage to save a few screenshots with the X6800.
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The 8800 GTS 640MB card clocked up really well at 940MHz on the core with around 1.55Vgpu while our X6800 ran without fault at these settings. It has to be said that the whole benchmarking experience, while tiring, was thoroughly enjoyable. Kudos to the folk who are able to manage LN2 on a couple of pots while trying to break records! Going sub-zero is not as easy as one would initially think. We will endeavor to provide more testing like this in the future on performance oriented motherboards with a standard set of peripherals; although the sacrifice in time is great, the end results are very rewarding and certainly a fun experience.
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Rocket321 - Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - link
I would like to see the overclocking results put into a graph or chart of some kind.I guess tweakers might like the screenshots as "proof" that the overclock ran, but personally I trust you and would rather just have one place to look rather than clicking to enlarge multiple screenshots sequentially.
It was a great review though, I look forward to the future tweaker guides & reviews.
Raja Gill - Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - link
There will be a more typical Anandtech look to future articles, with the DFI board revisited for a round up on a suite of benchmarks, this will be used to cross compare with other boards, clocked to equivalent with board maximums in the range and voltage. In terms of the screenshots, it is nice to have 1 persons trust, but there are many we have to please and not everyone is always as convinced..thanks for the suggestions..
Next up is the Asus Maximus Formula..
regards
Raja
Jodiuh - Thursday, October 25, 2007 - link
Specifically Windvd conversions from divx/xvid to DVD would be wonderful as I've found this app benefits from a solid OC.beoba - Friday, October 19, 2007 - link
It'd be great if this came with a glossary."Strap"?
retrospooty - Saturday, October 20, 2007 - link
strap is a term used for memory clocking. for example, at 266mhz bus, memory can be "strapped" to one of the following.266x(stap2)=533 or DDR 1066
266x(strap1.5)=400 or DDR 800
266x(strap1.25)=333 or DDR 666
If you are running at stock 266 there is no way to have DDR 950 because it has to be strapped to one of the above settings.
I use the 1/1 strap so my bus speed is 500x(strap1)=500 or DDR 1000, in most cases 1/1 is the most efficient, if you can utilize it with your particular hardware, do it.
Avalon - Thursday, October 18, 2007 - link
Unfortunately, DFI's asking price of admission continues to rise for each new board they release. I was mildly annoyed when they started selling boards for $200+ that had little to no tangible benefit over $100-$150 boards, but now they're at the $300 mark? No thanks.This board is for someone who likes to spend his time tweaking and not actually using his computer.
retrospooty - Saturday, October 20, 2007 - link
"This board is for someone who likes to spend his time tweaking and not actually using his computer."The article title is called "Tweakers Rejoice" after all. The idea is not to tweak forever . I did spend alot of time over the first few weeks, but now that its tweaked, I just use it as is.
Avalon - Sunday, October 21, 2007 - link
Yes, I am quite capable of reading the article title. My whole point is that you are working for diminishing returns that I feel could be better spent using your system. If you're doing it to set a record, fantastic. I support that.retrospooty - Sunday, October 21, 2007 - link
Understood... This is obviously not the motherboard for you. I personally love the BIOS options and CMOS reloaded functionality. That alone makes the extra cost well worth it to me. Asus BIOS just sucks, and I have had too many quality problems with them in the past, and Gigabyte just underperforms. I like to know I will not be held back by my motherboard for the next couple of CPU's I buy (will likely get a dual core Penryn on release for under $200, then a high end quad core Penryn a year or so later when it is under $200).I do see your point, but in spite of this article's stock speed comparison (totally pointless for a OC geared mobo), and similar results with one particular CPU, that looks as if it has an FSB limit equal on all 3 boards (meaning the CPU is holding it back) This board overclocks and performs better than any ASUS, or Gigabyte, or any other board out there. If AT tested the max FSB limits on a dozen or so CPU's, or if they had a "golden sample" that had a high FSB limit, you would see the difference. Also if they had time to test many diff RAM stocks and to tweak the memory settings you would also see the difference. Its a good article, but no reviewer has time to really dig into this mobo and all it has to offer. I do feel the article did a good job at explaining that.
JNo - Sunday, October 21, 2007 - link
"I like to know I will not be held back by my motherboard for the next couple of CPU's I buy"I don't know much about overclocking and I hold your views valid Retrospooty but surely this is still a lot of money that will still be needed to replaced in the short/medium-term if a) you want to start using DDR3 once prices come down b) if GPUs come out that take advantage of PCI-E 2 standard (as used on X38). So all that money is only paying for great OC'ing potential for *now* only... no?