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A
Closer Look:::...
I
really like DFI's LANParty boxes. Okay so they're a little
loud and bright but give me that over a cheesy space bike
or inhabitant of Jupiter any time.
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The
Box
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No
carrying harness or front port extender in the box this
time around, just the motherboard, installation CD, I/O
Plate, RAID drivers, SATA data cables and SATA power adapter,
all neatly packed away.
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In
The Box
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However
DFI have again included a full set of brightly colouted,
UV sensitive round cables. For the little they cost and
the impact they can have both cosmetically and thermally
I feel their inclusion is welcome.
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UV
Sensitive Round Cables
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While
still quite "lively", this board isn't quite as
gaudy as previous models. The black (brown) PCB and yellow
(gold?) plastic-work is still eye-catching however and should
please those who like to make a statement without turning
off less showy users.
The
board layout is excellent with the ATX power connector well
out of harm's way at the front edge and the four-pin auxilliary
connector in its now familiar location by the CPU socket.
AGP
mounted graphics cards don't foul the memory retainers meaning
memory can be added or removed without removing the card,
while the position of the IDE connectors means they don't
interfere with longer PCI cards. The floppy connector too
is over on the right side of the board edge meaning a simpler
task routing the floppy cable in larger cases. All in all
a very tidy effort all round.
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The
Motherboard
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The
board is built around AMD's socket 754 and not the newer
939 implementation. It's generally clear of obstructions
that might make exotic cooling difficult to fit, though
that four-pin auxilliary socket may prove to be a problem
depending on what you fit there.
No
attempt is made to cool the MOSFETs, nor the chipset if
it comes to it which remains passively cooled by way of
a moderately large heatsink. Having felt this warm up under
heavy use I'd be sorely tempted to add an aftermarket fan,
even though I'm confident the heat wasn't enough to affect
performance.
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Power
Circuit
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Not
a great saver for the regular user, the micro-switch operated
reset and power buttons are a real boon for the avid tweaker
and twiddler. I'd still like to see a similar thing used
for clearing the CMOS too, even if it were left flush or
recessed slightly to save accidental pressing. Anything
has to be easier than trying to reach a tiny jumper between
all your cables and wishing you had tweezers for fingers.
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EZ-On
and EZ-Touch
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Firewire
is handled by VIA's single-chip VT6307. There's also a Gigabit
10/100/1000BASE-T LAN implementation through the Marvell's
single port 88E1111 GbE (Gigabit Ethernet)PHY transceiver.
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VIA
VT6307
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While
AC'97 audio comes courtesy of the Realtek ALC850 CODEC complete
with four 16-bit two-channel DACs and a stereo 16-bit ADC.
This delivers up to 8 channels of surprisingly rich and
clean DirectSound/DirectSound 3D compatible audio.
DFI
include a S/PDIF-in and S/PDIF-out coaxial connector among
the plethora of hardwired connectors which include four
USB 2.0 ports, a single IEEE1394 Firewire port, PS/2 mouse
and keyboard connectors, serial and parallel ports, RJ45
port and six audio jacks. Did I miss anything?
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Board
Connecters
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