|
Board Layout and
Features
DFI uses
the typical layout that we would expect to see, everything is in the proper
place. DFI opts to use passive cooling on the northbridge. I prefer
active cooling as I want to get the highest overclock possible.
The I/O panel is loaded with
goodies, 4 USB ports, Gigabit LAN, Firewire, 6-channel audio ports, SPDIF in and
out ports, and for some reason a parallel port. I suppose it's nice to
have a parallel port in case you have an older printer or scanner, but I feel
this is a relic that is seeing its last days on motherboards.
I like how DFI keeps everything
together. We have the battery and the reset jumper right beside it.
The Diagnostic LED plug and the front control panel is also located in the same
area.
Also in the same area is something I
think more boards should have. There are POWER and RESET buttons built
right into the board. This is such a bonus when you test a lot of
hardware. Most of the time I don't even have the board installed when I'm
testing and turning the board on with a screwdriver probably isn't the best thing to
do.
Marvel provides the LANParty with
Gigabit networking. They use the Yukon 88E8001, 32-bit ethernet
controller.
Realtek gets the call to handle all
of the audio processing on the board. The ALC655 is the chip of
choice. It's not a bad choice either. I enjoy the sound that the Realtek
ALC655 provides. The ALC655 is a 16-bit, full-duplex AC'97 Rev. 2.3 compatible
six-channel audio CODEC designed for PC multimedia systems.
|
