Test: DFI Lanparty UT RDX200 CF-DR

Konklusion:

Bekendtskabet med dette bundkort fra DFI, har ikke været så positiv, som jeg i første omgang havde regnet med. Designet og den generelle ydelse fejler ikke noget.
Men at boardet er præget af nogen ustabilitet, især det faktum at boardet ofte fejler opstart efter ændrede BIOS indstillinger, er ganske enkelt ikke godt nok, af et bundkort af den kaliber. Derudover har bundkortet et forældet chipset med kun 16 PCI-Expresslanes, hvilket er knapt så fedt, hvis man skal køre crossfire, og så overclocker det ikke ret godt. Til gengæld har bundkortet et par lækre features, som ændring af blæserhastigheder, en omfattende BIOS og "interne" tænd- og resetknapper.

Innovation/Teknologi: 3
Set på den teknologiske side, er dette bundkort ikke præget af state-of-the-art teknologi. Det aldrende Xpress 1600 chipset, kan kun levere 16 PCI-Express lanes til grafikbrug, og så er chipsettet ikke en enkelchipsløsning som nForce4. Altså mener jeg ikke, at Design For Innovation helt lever op til deres navn, med dette produkt.

Bundle/Tilbehør: 3
DFI har vedlagt de nødvendige kabler, og ikke ret meget mere. Dette er i og for sig udmærket; men da dette er et entusiast bundkort, kunne de godt have vedlagt lidt geil.

Design/Layout: 4
Som altid fra DFI's side, er layoutet ganske fint. Der er masser af plads til CPU køler, og stikkene er placeret let tilgængeligt, hvilket hjælper til at reducere ens kabelrod. Dog larmer chipsetblæseren, så en passiv løsning som mange producenter er begyndt at indføre, ville være på sin plads.

Software/BIOS: 4
Som tidligere nævnt, medfølger der kun ét program. Der er ingen bundles med antivirus, firewall osv, altså en meget tynd softwarebundle. Til gengæld virker det ene program (Smartguardian) rigtig fint.
BIOS er temmelig omfattende, i forhold til hos andre producenter. Dette kan både være en fordel, og en ulempe - alligevel er det et plus i mine øjne.

Ydelse: 2
Ydelsen fejler ikke noget. Men i et crossfire setup, vil de 16 PCI-Express lanes betyde en lille ydelsesnedgang, i forhold til de 32 som Xpress 3200 og nForce4 SLi stiller til rådighed. Derudover er bundkortet en relativ dårlig overclocker, og det trækker ned. At bundkortet slet ikke vil lege med FX-53'eren uden 4 stænger ram, er helt uacceptabelt.

Pris: 3
I skrivende stund ligger prisen på 1.200kr, hvilket er standard på entusiastområdet. Dog føler jeg ikke man får ret meget for pengene.

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UK Summary

The acquaintance with this motherboard from DFI hasn't been as positive as I hoped it would be. The design and the general performance don't miss anything. But the board is marked because of unstableness, especially the fact that the board makes errors during the boot when you change BIOS settings - this is simply not good enough to a motherboard of this caliber. Besides the motherboard has a old chipset with only 16 PCI-express lanes, which is sad if you want to use crossfire and it doesn't over clock as well. In return the board has some nice features like changing fan speeds, a pretty comprehensive BIOS and internal power on and reset bottoms.

Innovation / Technology: 3 points.
On the technical side this board is marked by state-of-the-art technology. The old Xpress 1600 chipset can only deliver 16 PCI-express lanes for graphic cards and the chipset isn't a single chip solution like nForce4. Therefore in my opinion Design For Innovative doesn't keep up to their name with this product.

Bundle / Accessories: 3 points.
DFI has chosen to enclose the necessary cable and nothing further special. This is okay but because this board is for enthusiasts they should have enclosed something nice.

Design / Layout: 4 points.
Like always, from DFI, the layout is quite nice. There is lots of space for a big CPU cooler and the connectors are placed so they are easily to connect, which also takes care of your cable mess. Regrettably the chipset cooler is a little noisy and a passive solution like many others is missed.

Software / BIOS: 4 points.
As I mentioned earlier only one program is enclosed. There is no CDs containing anti virus, firewall etc. and it must be considered as a very small software bundle. In return, the only program, Smartguardian works great.
The BIOS is very comprehensive compared with other brands. This can be both an advantage and a drawback, but it is a plus seen with my eyes.

Performance: 2 points
The performance is good. But in a crossfire setup the 16 PCI-express lanes would mean lack of performance compared with the 32 lanes Xpress 3200 and nForce4 SLi offer. Besides the board is a bad over clocker and it deducts marks. That the board won't run with the FX-53 without installing 4 dimms, is clearly an unacceptable fact.

Price: 3 points.
When this was written the price of the board was 1.200,- DKK which is standard on the enthusiast market. But I don't think you get a lot of your money.