DFI takes X58 to micro-ATX form-factor

CeBit 09: Lots of enthusiast grade gear from DFI.

DFI has some of the best overclocking boards out there, and now there are X58 and socket AM3 boards to add into the mix. To top it off, they now come in micro-ATX versions as well.

DFI UT 790FXB-M3eH7

First and foremost we have the Lanparty UT 790FXB-M3eH7, basically an upgrade of the older 790/SB700/AM2+ board. In case it is not obvious, this is a 790FX board, and it replaces the SB700 with the newer SB750. This means it now has RAID5 and socket AM3 instead of AM2+.

DFI JR X58-T3H6

The next two are similar in spirit, but not in heart, the Lanparty Jr boards. The first one is somewhat of a miracle, a full X58 board in micro-ATX form factor, including all six DIMMs and two 16x slots. It is called the JR X58-T3H6 and obviously uses a Core i7 CPU.

The other Jr board is the JR 790GX-M3H5, a socket AM3 board with a 790GX and two 16x slots. Once again, it is micro-ATX flavoured and has 128M of sideport memory should you use the integrated graphics. I would recommend slapping a few 4870s in the 16x slots though, that and jacking up the speed.

Speaking of jacking up speed, remember the DFI Auto Boost System (ABS)? With it, you pressed F1 on boot, and it cranked up your settings to a very reasonable overclock. Just one key once, and off you go. The problem is that people didn't do it. They were afraid, didn't get it, or just didn't bother. Talk about a waste.

DFI has rectified this with ABSII, you don't have to press any keys at all. On first power up, it flashes a message to press esc if you don't want it to run the OC, otherwise it just does. If you want to run it again, just clear the CMOS and power it back on. 30 seconds later, off you go, it couldn't be easier, you literally don't have to do anything.

DFI Megahalems

Last up, we have two coolers from the OCing board company. The largest is the Megahalems, a huge two-lobed aluminum beast with six heat pipes. The top down view looks a little like a bow-tie, but it should perform well despite the social handicap.

The other one is called the Flame Freezer, and it used to be an external passive cooler for mobos. DFI has taken that design and put a copper slug on the bottom so you can mount it to just about anything. If you liked that design, you can now buy it and put it on any chip or chipset you want.

CeBit for DFI was just more of the same, and that is a good thing. Lots of high-end boards, and a full lineup of micro-ATX performance boards. Not bad at all.