DFI LANParty UT ICFX3200-T2R AT follow up article ETA?

[Sylvanas]

Interested in this board, would be good to see the follow up hinted at in the recent AT review of DFI LANParty UT ICFX3200-T2R. Seems a recent DFI Bios update has fixed the CMOS reboot problem you guys encountered, and added a few things here and there.

 

[Heidfirst]

bit-tech just did a review this week

 

[Gary Key]

We have not heard from DFI engineering about several issues in a couple of weeks. We are debating about updating the original preview article or going with another short article completing the benchmarks and listing out our issues that mainly center around Kentsfield compatibility and what we see as a worsening memory compatibility issue with the board. We have also seen stable overclocking performance take a downward trend over the last couple of BIOS releases, something the board was praised for at launch. I have sent DFI another notice, if there is not a response then we will just go with the current status later this week. The board will be featured in future comparison articles for reference scores.

 

[nealh]

Gary:

so which was your fav. bios for the RD600

 

[Sylvanas]

Ah okay, thanks for the update Gary!

 

[Praxis1452]

how many boards do you have as 1 died... heh

 

[Gary Key]

I killed a engineering sample on on purpose (prove a point that high NB voltages without extreme cooling would kill the board, certain screenshots of the board at 537~545 forgot to mention this fact) , otherwise the retail board has been running 24/7 without any quality issues for the past seven weeks with NB voltages ranging from 1.5~1.9 on the stock heatsink with the padding removed and the glob of paste cleaned up. Our heatsink was not flat so removing the padding work wonders. I have a new heatsink but have not replaced it yet.

 

[Gary Key]

12/7 for performance and memory compatibility but it has the RAID/USB issues. 12/22 is fine but I found clocks were down and memory that worked on 12/7 is having issues with 12/22. However, Kentsfield boots and works fine along with the USB/RAID issues being sorted out on 12/22.

 

[xero273]

Gary, if I was my goal was to get 400 FSB, would a 120 mm fan over the NB be sufficient for cooling?

 

[nealh]

Originally posted by: Gary Key
I killed a engineering sample on on purpose (prove a point that high NB voltages without extreme cooling would kill the board, certain screenshots of the board at 537~545 forgot to mention this fact) , otherwise the retail board has been running 24/7 without any quality issues for the past seven weeks with NB voltages ranging from 1.5~1.9 on the stock heatsink with the padding removed and the glob of paste cleaned up. Our heatsink was not flat so removing the padding work wonders. I have a new heatsink but have not replaced it yet.

how did you measure the flatness

thanks on the bios info

 

[Gary Key]

I use a straight edge and line of sight. Also, I spread a very thin layer of AS5 on the center section of the heatsink after cleaning the Northbridge completely, installed the heatsink, and then removed it. There was not any paste on the NB. Mine was warped to the point where I could place it on a piece of paper without the padding on it and still could not get any paste on the paper until I applied force to it. I figured something was up when my NB temps showed 67c at stock voltage.

A new BIOS was released yesterday for beta testers, hopefully things improve a little.

 

[Gary Key]

Originally posted by: xero273
Gary, if I was my goal was to get 400 FSB, would a 120 mm fan over the NB be sufficient for cooling?

At 400FSB, the NB voltages you need (around 1.4) will not require a dedicated fan at all. I do suggest taking the heatsink off, cleaning up the goop DFI tosses on it, apply a little AS5, check for flatness, and then reinstall it.

 

[aiya24]

what fsb would you recommend a fan over the NB?

 

[Heidfirst]

Originally posted by: Gary Key Our heatsink was not flat so removing the padding work wonders.

this is a known issue & DFI Support (at least in Europe) have a stock of replacements hs

 

[nealh]

Originally posted by: Gary Key
I use a straight edge and line of sight. Also, I spread a very thin layer of AS5 on the center section of the heatsink after cleaning the Northbridge completely, installed the heatsink, and then removed it. There was not any paste on the NB. Mine was warped to the point where I could place it on a piece of paper without the padding on it and still could not get any paste on the paper until I applied force to it. I figured something was up when my NB temps showed 67c at stock voltage.

A new BIOS was released yesterday for beta testers, hopefully things improve a little.

thanks..great info

this is a known issue & DFI Support (at least in Europe) have a stock of replacements hs

yeah one of the European reps stated this at XS

 

[Gary Key]

Originally posted by: aiya24
what fsb would you recommend a fan over the NB?

Starting around 450FSB you will need one for 24/7 operation or very good case ventilation. We are using the CM Stacker 830 with four 120mm fans on the side door so there is plenty of air movement over the heatsink without an additional fan.

 

[sxr7171]

Any news on the new BIOS?

 

[sxr7171]

Any new info on this board? I'm quickly beginning to think that this board is kind of a one-off deal where almost nobody is using it and DFI won't bother to support it.