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LGA 1156 is the latest Intel platform which announced two months ago.
P55 is the first chipset designed for the new platform; and at this moment, there are three LGA 1156 CPUs in retail,
Core i5-750, i7-860 & i7-870. By following Intel’s marketing segmentation, almost every MB manufacturers launched P55 product for mainstream to mid-high market.

DFI LANParty launched P55 later than other brands; finally, we found DFI P55 in market in the end of October.
Recently, we also heard some news about DFI’s P55 in mini-ITX form factor, maybe DFI want to create a different segment for P55?

The product I review today is DK version, the mid-range product in LANParty series.
The full marketing name is “DFI LANParty DK P55-T3eH9”. (DK P55 for short).

You can find blue & black color on package; DFI adopts this pattern since early 2009.


Accessories
User manual, ABS manual (auto overclocking), DVD driver disc, I/O shield, Crossfire & SLI bridge, USB cable (for BIOSecure function).


DFI LANParty DK-P55 T3eH9




Bottom left of DK P55
3 PCIe, supports 2-way CrossfireX & SLI with Physics (Bandwidth: x16/ x4/ x0 or x8/ x4/x8)
2 PCIe x1
2 PCI
Intel 82587DV GbE LAN, Debug LED
Realtek ALC 885 for 7.1 channels HD audio


Bottom right of DK P55
6 SATA II connectors in orange (RAID 0/1/0+1/5 function from P55 chipset)
2 SATA II connectors in black (RAID 0/1 function from JMB322)
Power/ Reset buttons


Upper right
4 DDR3 DIMM in Dual channel architecture; ready for DDR3 1066/ 1333/ 1600/ 1800(OC); max capacity is 16GB (4G x 4)
You should OC DDR3 to reach 1800MHz. You can also find 24-pin DC in connector here.


Upper left
LGA 1156 socket
PWM: 6 phase for CPU, 2 phase for VTT, 1 phase for the incoming Clarkdale.


I/O
4 USB 2.0
1 power eSATA/ 1 USB 2.0
1 optical/ Coaxial S/PDIF
1 RJ-45 LAN port
1 Clear CMOS button
1 mini USB port for BIOSecure


Cooler module for DK P55

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There is an extra fin module in middle for enlarging the surface for better heat dissipation.


Cooler module for MOSFET; DFI indeed improves the cooler quality for DK series.


Tantalum Capacitor for audio
“Solid capacitor” produces “artificial” sound, so DFI adopts Tantalum cap in audio circuit.


The memory bandwidth of P55 is less than X58 because the dual channel architecture.



Boot up screen


BIOS menu
It’s the first time DFI adopts AMI BIOS. You can choose the language you want when log in BIOS menu.


OC main menu


Options for CPU


Voltage setting page
O.C. Shut Down Free: DFI patent technology; no “turn off the power” needed when changing the voltage.
CPU Voltage 1.0000~2.0000V
Power Saving Standard means turn ”Vdroop” off; Advance means you allow voltage droop
Super VID ON means lock down the voltage when enabling EIST/C1E.
CPU VTT Voltage +0.05~+0.697V
DRAM Voltage 1.20~2.60V


CPU/DRAMCOMP: When enabling this option, you can get 1~5MHz higher in bclk.

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DDR3 setting in detail


CMOS RELOADED: there are four banks for saving customized profile.


PC status


This is my BIOS setting screen capture.
The potential of OC is depending on CPU quality.
Even you get two or more i5-750 which was produced in the same time, the OC result will be totally different.
So, you have to adjust frequency & voltage carefully to get the best result.


Configuration
CPU: Intel Core i5-750
MB: DFI LANParty DK-P55 T3eH9
DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GT CMG4GX3M2A2000C8
VGA: GIGABYTE GTX260 OC
HD: CORSAIR CMFSSD-64GB2D (RAID 0)
POWER: be quiet! STRAIGHT POWER DELUXE 550W
Cooler: Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme


Cooler Tuniq Tower12 Extreme ,Hi-end solution for air cooling.


Cooper made basement; five heat-pipe in both left & right side.


CPU 200 X 20=> 4000Mhz 1.34V
DDR3 2000 CL8 8-8-25 1T 1.53V

Hyper 4 X PI 32M=> 9m 52.359s
CPUMARK 99=> 622


Nuclearus Multi Core => 24715
Fritz Chess Benchmark => 24.71/11858


CrystalMark 2004R3 => 294022


CINEBENCH R10
1 CPU=> 5577
x CPU=> 20345

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PCMark Vantage => 15482


DK P55 performs stable in 200/ 2000MHz.
To compare with other P55, there is no difference in voltage setting.
OC performance is better than average.

DDR3 bandwidth
DDR3 2000 CL8 8-8-25 1T，1.53V
Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 24479MB/s
EVEREST Memory Read - 18567MB/s


DDR3 2100 CL8 8-8-25 1T，BIOS 1.63V
Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 26008MB/s
EVEREST Memory Read - 19645MB/s


Memory bandwidth of DK P55 is a little bit higher than others. However, the frequency reaches 2100MHz only.
I hope that DFI can break through the bottleneck and release new BIOS for overclocking.
Software bundling is the weakness part in DFI product.
Finally, DFI adds some useful tools for P55 series such as Auto-boost, bclk OC & BIOSecure.


BIOSecure let you recover BIOS when crashing.
Generally, you have to send the board back when BIOS is crashed; with BIOSecure, you can recover it by yourself immediately.


If your board cannot boot anymore, you can user BIOSecure on the other PC or NB as “BIOS programmer”.
Simply “install” the new BIOS via mini USB port, your board with be fully recovered within 1 minute.

Then, let’s try higher bclk and DRAM frequency
CPU 210.8 X 20 => 4216Mhz
DDR3 218 CL8 8-8-25 1T

Hyper 4 X PI 32M=> 9m 24.406s
CPUMARK 99=> 653


Nuclearus Multi Core => 25975
Fritz Chess Benchmark => 25.89/12425


CrystalMark 2004R3 => 305172
[IMG]ttp://img189.imageshack.us/img189/4924/ddkp5542gcm.png[/IMG]

CINEBENCH R10
1 CPU=> 5966
x CPU=> 21375


PCMark Vantage => 16052


CPU works stable in bclk 210.8MHz, it could be higher if you enable “CPU/DRAMCOMP”.
When OC to 4.2GHz, it still passes the test. Of course, if shows the OC performance.

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Okay, now let’s try the hi-performance gadget “CORSAIR CMFSSD-64GB2D (RAID 0)”.


To test the SATA data transportation.


Some people concern about the SATA transmission because P55 is a “Single chip” chipset.
After the test, we can found the data transmission is almost the same with LGA 775 platform.

DFI LANParty DK-P55 T3eH9
Plus
1.New cooler design. Good looking & good quality!
2.SLI & CrossFireX ready, bundled with SLI/ CrossfireX bridge.
3.All made in Japan capacitors; Tantalum capacitor for Audio; Intel 82578DC GbE LAN
4.Various BIOS options; wide range for voltage setting; outstanding CPU/ DDR3 OC
5.8 SATA II & 1 power eSATA
6.Patented BIOSecure technology.

Negative
1. To OC Bclk to 220MHz would be better.
2. To cooperate with more retail store, users can buy DFI product easier.
3. Orange slot & connector should be changed.


Performance ★★★★★★★★☆☆
Quality ★★★★★★★★☆☆
Specification ★★★★★★★★★☆
Appearance ★★★★★★★★☆☆
Price/ Performance ★★★★★★★★☆☆

DFI will launch mini ITX P55 soon, which named “MI P55-T36”.
I think DFI is trying to leverage the advantage from IPC department in order to find a new way out.
The quality and cooler design is outstanding in DK P55,
if DFI can release new BIOS for better OC, the Price/ Performance ratio would be very attractive.

Here comes my DK P55 ABS file for your reference.
If you have similar hardware with me, maybe you can try my setting.
Wish you will get a nice overclocking!

windwithme DFI LANParty DK-P55

jmke

Thank you for sharing this test with us Windwithme, happy holidays!

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