The Mini Intel P45

Mini Intel P45

The Micro P45

When one talks about mATX motherboards, it's almost a given that the motherboard comes with integrated graphics. The reason being that these motherboards are usually found in entry-level systems where cost is a major concern. Then there are the more niche applications for mATX PCs, like your home theater PC (HTPC), where size becomes the priority. However, given the low-power, low-noise requirements of these HTPCs, integrated graphics is always handy, especially since enthusiasts are usually not playing the latest PC games on these machines.That just leaves a very, very niche scenario where one would need a mATX board without an option for integrated graphics - LAN gaming machines, or to be more specific, portable LAN PCs. For those LAN party enthusiasts who lug their own systems to such game gatherings, DFI has just the right solution with a mATX motherboard built around Intel's mainstream P45 chipset, the new LANParty JR P45-T2RS. It's the first Intel P45 motherboard that's in such modest dimensions and by now, we believe you should have a pretty good idea why.

DFI has simply cut down the number of expansion slots to ensure that this boards fits the microATX form factor.

Before we check whether this board manages to keep up with its ATX sized rivals, the following contents were found in our retail package:-
2 x SATA data cables
1 x SATA power converter cable
1 x 80-conductor Ultra ATA data cable
1 x floppy drive data cable
RAID driver diskette
I/O shield
Driver CD
User manual
Auto Boost System Installation Guide

DFI JR P45-T2RS Technical Specifications

CPU Support
Supports all 65/45nm Intel LGA775 processors (Conroe or later)
Quad-Core ready
Chipset
Northbridge: Intel P45
800/1066/1333MHz front side bus
Southbridge: Intel ICH10R
Memory
Supports 4 unbuffered DIMM of 1.8 Volt DDR2 SDRAM
Supports up to 8GB memory size
667/800/1066MHz dual channel DDR2 memory architecture
Storage
Intel ICH10R Southbridge
6 x SATA 3.0Gbps interface
Intel Matrix Storage Technology
Support AHCI controller with SATA RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 0+1
JMicron JMB368 PCIe to PATA controller
1 x IDE connector supporting up to two ATA-133 IDE devices
ITE IT8718F-S controller
1 x floppy drive connector
Audio
Intel High Definition Audio
Realtek ALC885 CODEC
Networking
Marvell 88E8053 PCIe Gigabit Ethernet controller
IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
Texas Instrument TSB43AB23 FireWire controller
Up to 3 x IEEE 1394a ports @ 400 Mbps speed (2 x rear, 1 x header)
Rear I/O
6 x USB 2.0 ports
1 x RJ45 LAN port
8-Channel Audio I/O ports
1 x Optical S/PDIF output
1 x Coaxial S/PDIF output
1 x PS/2 keyboard port
1 x PS/2 mouse port
Internal Connectors
1 x Floppy connector
1 x Ultra ATA IDE connector
6 x SATA connectors
1 x COM port header
3 USB 2.0 headers (Up to 6 USB 2.0 ports)
24-pin ATX power connector
8-pin 12V power connector
Expansion Slots
2 x PCIe x16 slot (PCI Express 2.0) - running at x8 for both single and dual graphics card (CrossFireX)
1 x PCIe x1 slot
1 x PCI slots
Special Features
Auto Boost System
PCB
mATX Form Factor, 24.5 x 24.5cm

Board Design and Layout

After the increasingly large heatsinks that we have seen on those higher-end enthusiast boards, the Intel P45 chipset has brought along much reduced heatsinks and this DFI is an excellent example of the relatively minimal cooling required for this chipset. The North and Southbridge heatsinks are all passively cooled and modest in size. Unfortunately, despite its size, the Northbridge heatsink still managed to give us a rather negative impression. DFI situated this heatsink a bit too close to the CPU socket and with the fins of the heatsink angled slightly outwards and upwards, it was in contact with our CPU cooler, making it more difficult to remove the CPU cooler, since one of the CPU cooler mounting holes was very close to the Northbridge heatsink. We imagine that it could be even more of a hassle for those with larger CPU coolers.

DFI states that it uses 4-phase digital PWM with solid Japanese-made capacitors (what else?) but we were more concerned about the proximity between the CPU socket and the Northbridge heatsink.

And indeed it was the case. There was virtually no space between the CPU heatsink and the Northbridge heatsink when installed. Both were practically in contact, making it slightly more difficult to remove the CPU fan.

Except for that potential pitfall, we found the layout of this DFI board to be on par with the competition. The SATA ports were all aligned to face outwards and cannot be blocked by longer graphics cards. The other connectors like the IDE, ATX power and floppy were all located at the edges of the board, along with other headers for USB, audio or the front panel. Even the CMOS battery was right at the edge for easy access.

Six SATA 3.0Gbps ports are all you're going to find on this mATX board. DFI has not added any extra controllers to increase this number.

Onboard switches are quite common nowadays, especially from an enthusiast 'brand' like DFI. A Clear CMOS jumper is also conveniently located nearby so there's no need to hunt for that. The Southbridge passive heatsink is also quite modest in size.

Onboard power and reset buttons are as expected, found near the front panel connectors, together with a Clear CMOS jumper. Along with a similar jumper at the rear I/O panel, DFI has certainly made it very convenient for their target users, overclocking and gaming enthusiasts who may be constantly tweaking and tuning their systems. In short, if not for that Northbridge heatsink, we would have given high marks for the layout of this board. It's not a deal breaker by any means but you should check whether your CPU cooler will be inconvenienced by this arrangement before buying,

Features
When it comes to the features that you'll find on this mATX board, expectations should be moderated to account for its space constraints. Although it does have all the important features of the Intel P45 chipset with a ICH10R Southbridge, some of the extras that are found on other P45 boards are removed. This means no FireWire, no extra SATA 3.0Gbps or e-SATA ports besides the standard six given by the Southbridge and no dual Gigabit LAN ports that so many vendors seem to be putting onto their 'mainstream' P45 boards. You'll still get 8-channel HD audio thanks to a Realtek ALC885 CODEC, with both optical and coaxial S/PDIF outputs at the rear. Support for IDE and floppy devices is retained with the addition of two controller chips while the memory support is competitive, with 4 DIMM slots supporting up to 8GB DDR2-1066. There's even CrossFireX support, with the two PCIe 2.0 x16 slots onboard splitting into a pair of x8 configurations when you install the appropriate graphics cards. However, while the P45 chipset supports either 1 x16 or 2 x8 for the PCIe lanes, depending on the number of graphics cards installed, this DFI LANParty JR is hardwired to only do 8 lanes for each slot, whether it's one or two graphics card installed. We suspect this could either be a cost cutting measure or the lack of PCB space to accommodate the digital switching circuits. Unfortunately, this will definitely affect the graphics bandwidth and hence the performance, something that we'll be exploring in our benchmarks next.

Despite its form factor, DFI has maintained a healthy number of rear outputs, with both coaxial and optical S/PDIF outputs along with six USB 2.0 ports and the usual keyboard/mouse, Gigabit LAN and audio connectors. There's also a Clear CMOS jumper at the back.

On paper, there are two PCIe 2.0 x16 slots supporting CrossFireX. However, even if you only have one graphics card installed, that single card will be running at x8 and not the x16 that's expected from the chipset. When you have two graphics cards however, you will get the usual pair of x8 configuration.

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