The most affordable X48 motherboard – DFI LANParty DK X48-T2RSB Plus OC Review
 

According to the products launched in 2008, DFI produced P45 series as mainstream product, that are priced at USD $150~180;
for X48 chipsets, DFI produced both UT/LT/DK series to cover the price range from USD $ 200~310.

The superstar today is “DK X48-T2RSB Plus”, reversion from DK X48-T2RS.
There are some differences in the new version with USD $20 higher than before.


First of all, the style of color box is “Wing” in DK series with Laser mylar coating.


Accessories
It embedded with Auto Boost System (ABS) technology, and there is an ABS user manual inside the box.



Take a look at DFI LANParty DK X48-T2RSB Plus.




Bottom-left of motherboard.
Support PCIE Gen. 2; Active Crossfire with 16X + 16X
1 X PCI-E X4
3 X PCI
Realtek ALC885 audio chip and Tantalum capacitors; supports HD 7.1 surrounding audio output.


Bottom-right of motherboard.
1 X Floppy
6 X SATAII(ICH9R),RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1 and RAID 5
2 X SATAII(JMicron JMB363),RAID 0 and RAID 1
Built-in Power/ Reset button and “Debug LED” for overclocker.


Top-right of motherboard.
1X IDE
4X DIMM DDR2 667/800/1066
24 pin power input.


Top-left of motherboard.
DFI adopted 6-phase digital and 18 MOSFET for PWM in DK X48-T2RSB PLUS,
both dual-core and quad-core CPU can perform well in this motherboard.


6 X USB 2.0
1 X 1394
1 X S/PDIF-out port
1 X RCA S/PDIF-out port
1 X Gigabit LAN
The red-jump is “EZ Jumper” for clearing CMOS


Replaceable North Bridge Cooler makes the advanced O.C. easier!
North bridge cooler could be removed alone;
users can install different kind of cooler in standard socket.

Screen-shot(Turn on)
Press F1 in this page, ABS file will be loaded.


Screen-shot (BIOS)
“CMOS Reloaded” function, you can store up to 4 setting in CMOS.


Main menu: frequency/ voltage
For dual core CPU, set 100 or 200ps at item “CPU Clock Skew0”


Detail options in DDR2 page


You can OC higher with correct setting.
For CORSAIR Dominator series, 5/8/7/7 is recommended.


Voltage page
CPU VID Control 0.90000V~1.60000V
CPU VID Special Add 101~115%
DRAM Voltage 1.800V~3.375V
SB Core/CPU PLL Voltage 1.510V~2.380V
NB COre Voltage 1.265V~2.040V
CPU VTT Voltage 1.100V~1.603V
Vcore Drop Control: Help to avoid the “Vcore drop” situation.


PC Health Status



My Platform
CPU: INTEL Core 2 Duo E8400
MB: DFI LANParty DK X48-T2RSB PLUS
DRAM: CORSAIR Dominator TWIN2X2048-8500C5D/TWIN2X4096-8500C5D
VGA: GAINWARD HD4850 + MSI 4850 CrossFire
HD: Seagate 7200.10 320G
POWER: CorsCorsair HX1000W Modular Power Supply
Cooler: Thermaltake BigTyp VP/JETART Nano Diamond/Lubic


E8400 E0 Dual-core
500Mhz SP2004 (Stable) ,NB 1.29V/VTT 1.15V


550Mhz SP2004(Stable),NB 1.4V/VTT 1.39V

After rose up the voltage in few stages, it’s stable in 557MHz SP2004.


According to the limitation of X48, DFI did a good job in Vcore control; it’s easy to OC up to 560Mhz with standard voltage.


About DRAM
1GBX2 DDR2 1066
DDR2 1181 CL5 5-5-15 2.19V
2 X SUPER PI 32M Pass


DDR2 1200 CL5 5-5-15 2.3V
EVEREST Memory Bandwidth


2GBX2 DDR2 1066
CORSAIR Dominator TWIN2X4096-8500C5D


DDR2 1186 CL5 5-5-15 2.27V
2 X SUPER PI 32M Pass


DDR2 1200 CL5 5-5-15 2.27V
EVEREST Memory Bandwidth


Many people know that they can only OC memory module up to 1200MHz with “Micron D9 IC”;
however, by DFI outstanding R&D ability, other modules with “non-Micron IC” can also reach 1200MHz in DFI DK X48-T2RSB Plus.

GAINWARD HD4850 + MSI 4850 CrossFire
HD 4850 Default 625/993Mhz

3DMARK2006


3DMARK VANTAGE


Crysis Benchmark


The most important advantage of X48 is supported 16X+16X mode in dual graphics mode;
you can get better 3D performance than P45 which supports 8X+8X only.

Screen-shot: Installing the software


New software for getting instant system information.


Users can download ABS file from DFI website, it’s good to “freshman” in overclocking world.


I tuned the BIOS setting for few days, if you have the same devices with me, you can download my setting from the link below:


windwithme-DK X48-T2RSB PLUS ABS

ABS is a great software for overclocking. With four BIOS setting in CMOS, users can try different setting as they wish.

You can load setting from others or can make your own file!
For example, If you OC to 600MHz, you can save 600MHz, 580MHz, 560MHz, 540MHz in CMOS.
When other users load your setting, ABS will load the file from the lowest setting for safety.


DFI LANParty DK X48-T2RSB PLUS Conclusion

Good
1.The most affordable X48 product in the market.
2.6-phase digital PWM; All solid cap.; PCIE 16X+16X
3.Various BIOS options with wide range of voltage support; “Vcore Drop Control” included.
4.8 SATA II; Debug LED; Power/ Reset button; EZ Jumper for clearing CMOS
5.Great memory module compatibility and OC potential; especially performs great in 2GB + 2GB mode.
6.North bridge cooler could be removed alone; users can install different kind of cooler in standard socket.


Bad
1.Vcore drop a little bit more.
2.Need more exposure in channel.

Performance ★★★★★★★★☆☆
Components ★★★★★★★★☆☆
Layout design ★★★★★★★★☆☆
Cost/ performance ratio ★★★★★★★★☆☆

This version is better then previous; pay USD $20 more but get 6-phase and 2 extra SATA II.
Great memory module compatibility and OC potential; especially performs great in 2GB + 2GB mode.

In Bus speed, DK X48-T2RSB Plus performs above the standard that reached 550MHz. With 16X + 16X PCIE, you can have better 3D ecperience.

DFI LANParty DK X48-T2RSB PLUS is priced at USD $240;
if you want a motherboard which is good in designing/ material/ overclocking and Crossfire, DFI LANParty DK X48-T2RSB PLUS would be your good choice:)