This is the sort of English up with which I shall not put - Winston Churchill
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DFI MI P55-T36 mITX quad-core workstation
NOTEBOOKS AREN'T THE ONLY PC class that gets more compact every year. Desktops, workstations and servers follow the same trend. After all, even very high-end boards from Gigabyte, Asus and DFI are now available in micro-ATX format. And, if you're in for the new dual-core Intel Core i5 661 CPU with its integrated GPU, you can now get even smaller mini-ITX mainboards, which are barely larger than two Iphones stuck together side by side.
How about full quad-core, discrete GPU enabled platform in that same ultrasmall mini-ITX size? Well, here it is - the smallest quad-core, full featured desktop and workstation platform, and it's overclockable to boot! This unique mainboard is the DFI Lanparty MI P55-T36. The funny numbered name hides a powerful little thing that has all the usual interfaces as well as a full PCIe x16 graphics slot. Even X-Fi sound is on board. The usual Intel Gigabit Ethernet, three SATA ports and a very flexible Genie OC BIOS with up to 4 overclocking profiles round off the board.
I used the ideal CPU and memory match for this board: the Intel Xeon 3450, basically a server-strength HT-enabled flavour of the Core i5 750, with a 2.66GHz default clock, combined with the brand new G.Skill ECO DDR3 memory able to run DDR3-1600 CL 7-8-7 at just 1.35V. This power saving low voltage memory keeps cool even at 1.40V when run with DDR3-1600 CL 7-7-7-18 settings, something that most other desktop memories will need upwards of 1.55V to manage - so, a great choice even in a compact, airflow-challenged home theatre PC setup.
The Thermaltake Contact 29 direct heatpipe contact heat sink rounded off the combo. And, did you notice how large is the heat sink and the ATI HD 5870 card are compared to this little mainboard? Oh my.
As one may expect, this mainboard might not overclock as well as its bigger, more powerful brethren. But the very possibility of stable decent overclocking on a mini-ITX mainboard is huge news in itself. I have pushed the CPU easily to 3.2GHz by setting the BCLK to 160 and using DDR3-1600 with the above low latency settings. Notice how well rounded the clocks are in CPU-Z?
The CPU ran all the benchmarks stable at 1.2V, and we probably could push the voltage a little lower too. Not to mention that, even with the added ATI card power consumption, we still managed an average 110W to 120W power consumption as measured at the plug for the total system when running the Sandra 2009 CPU and memory benchmarks. Both are at a level normally seen in very high-end desktops, like a 20 GBps memory bandwidth result. Not bad.
In Short
This is a lovely new direction for DIY system builders - an overclockable, ultra compact quad-core mini powerhouse with a mini power bill as well. The combination of the DFI miniITX Lanparty, Intel's power saving quad-core Nehalem, and G.Skill low-voltage DDR3-1600 memory adds up to a platform very comparable to its larger sized counterparts, as the basic benchmarks show. We can only imagine what possibilities there can be in this same footprint once the Sandy Bridge 32nm generation appears, merging two cores and, supposedly, a decent GPU on one die in the same socket size. µ
The Good
Best ever performance in mini-ITX and overclockable to boot.
The Bad
The board looks so small compared to all the other gadgetry around it.
The Ugly
It's the only of its kind, for now.
Bartender's Score
9/10
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Like is it Available and how much will this Board set me back?
How can you do an article on something and not once mention what the rpice was??
Cute, but why does it have full-sized DIMMs? I wish they'd use the small buggers found in notebooks.
But how much for it?
Nice review.
the problem is that you add your video card and that's it. No more slots, no upgrade options.
You're basically limited with onboard devices.
This will fit in my m@x case (out of production - vinster.com) and let me toss in a full size power supply with the space saved from the smaller motherboard.
This will start a new world of powerfull and very small gaming systems.
Nice, that thing would be perfect if dropped on an little Antec mini Skeleton. And a nice bit of grunt behind it also.
This could become standard. As in: default setup for most users. The vid card needs a dieshrink too though....
A 4870X2 or 5970 will require a big case. I can have a tiny mobo in a big case.
What is the point?
If there were cubical cases available that can fit this kind of mobo and a top end video card I'd be happy.
No such thing is available.
Silverstone make some nice ITX cases (the SUGO series for example) but they are quite limited in graphics size.
They are cubical, to a point, they extend forwards for space for 2 hard drives, a fan, and a power supply, but fit the ITX category quite nicely.
Umm, Eruc [Eric?] I think the point is that if youre buying an ITX motherboard, youre going to have it as small as possible. So if you want more expansion ports, get an ATX board.
shrinking from uATX to mATX will not shrink the PC all that much - all the other pieces are still huge. I suppose with a nonstandard PSU and 2.5" disks it can fit in a smaller case, but a 5870 is still huge and how will we get all the heat out?
I have a couple left over, if you like, contact me from the form at vinster.com