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DFI LanParty Dark X48 Motherboard Review
Author: William West
Published: Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Board Layout & Features
Let’s take a look at the layout and features the DFI LP DK X48-T2R. As you can see this board doesn’t differ to much from the older DFI LanParty DK X38-TR2. Aside from the motherboard heatsink solution they are almost identical.
Let take a look at all the bright orange expansion slots on the DFI LP DK X48-T2RS. Here we have two full speed 16x PCI-E 2.0 video card slots. This will allow you to use two ATI Radeon video cards for a little Crossfire action. There is a single 4x PCI-Express slot to use for RAID, Sound, etc. and 3 PCI slots.
The spacing of the slots is great, The video card spacing is perfect for Crossfire with just enough room for a custom sound card, however any 2 slot cooler will completely block the 4x PCI-E slot thus limiting your PCI Express card options.
Let take a look at all the bright orange expansion slots on the DFI LP DK X48-T2RS. Here we have two full speed 16x PCI-E 2.0 video card slots. This will allow you to use two ATI Radeon video cards for a little Crossfire action. There is a single 4x PCI-Express slot to use for RAID, Sound, etc. and 3 PCI slots.
The spacing of the slots is great, The video card spacing is perfect for Crossfire with just enough room for a custom sound card, however any 2 slot cooler will completely block the 4x PCI-E slot thus limiting your PCI Express card options.
The DFI LP DK X48-T2RS uses the ICH9R Southbridge chipset which can be found under the copper looking aluminum heatsink. You will also find a couple long standing LanParty features, namely the EZ touch buttons for power, reset, and CMOS clear and the extremely helpful diagnostic LED. The LED allows you to troubleshoot an posting issue quickly which is helpful when overclocking.
Next to the LED you’ll find the floppy connector, three USB headers, two fan headers, and 6 Serial ATA right-angled ports.
Next to the LED you’ll find the floppy connector, three USB headers, two fan headers, and 6 Serial ATA right-angled ports.
CMOS Clear
There are 3 ways to clear the CMOS on the DFI LP DK X48-T2RS. You can press both the power and reset EZ Touch buttons together for 5 seconds, or you can move the red CMOS jumper near the CMOS battery. The last option is rather unique and is to move the red CMOS jumper found on the ATX connector. This seems a little excessive in our eyes but sometimes that is faster than the alternative.
The ATX back has the following connectors, Keyboard/Mouse, Digital audio, CMOS Clear Jumper, 6 USB 2.0 ports, Gigabit NIC RJ45, and analog sound connectors.
The area around the processor socket is very busy with the new heatpipe system. Under these copper heatpipes, sits the 4 phase power for the board. While the new heatpipe orientation is designed to help motherboard cooling the area seems crowed as a result. Of course this only works If you’re using the OEM cooler, anything else and you wont’ get any direct airflow.
