DFI Lanparty JR P45-T2RS mATX Motherboard Review

A Closer Look at the Lanparty JR P45-T2RS


The board layout, color scheme, and design of the Lanparty JR P45-T2RS are very consistent with previous DFI designs with the yellow and orange theme. Everything is typical of DFI except for the size of course – micro! The PCB is the trademark black with yellow and orange slots for memory. The SATA II connectors are also orange as are the PCI and PCIE slots.


Starting at the top of the board, we see the PWM chip: ISL6322. This is a four-phase digital PWM control IC and provides the board’s voltage regulation. The ISL6322 includes integration of power MOSFET drivers into the controller IC instead of using a separate PWM controller. Signals sent can command the ISL6322 to adjust voltage margining offset, converter switching frequency, and overvoltage protection levels.


The 24-pin ATX connector is situated up in the top corner of the board, which keeps it out of the way of installed components such as video cards and after market heatsinks. Next to the ATX connector is the IDE output which also in a good spot on the edge of the board. The locations of these connectors is especially important on a micro-ATX board as users are usually dealing with much less space in their case.


Moving clockwise around the board we come to the SATA II ports. There are six in total and they all point to the right instead of straight up as we see on most boards. This should be convenient for hiding wires in a case.

Next to the SATA ports are the power and reset switches as well as one of two CMOS jumpers. We cannot stress enough how nice it is to have these switches instead of having to short pins with a screwdriver after a caseless setup. The CMOS jumper however is a different story. If you run a CrossFire setup, the second video card will cover the jumper and will not allow access without removing the card. Luckily DFI noticed this issue and provided a second CMOS jumper on the I/O panel.


Next up we have the motherboard battery which has been positioned on its side instead of flat which was likely done to save space. Just above this are the PCI and PCI-E slots and headers for front audio. There is not a whole lot of extra room between the PCI-E slots due to the nature of micro ATX, but two video cards with full-sized waterblocks were able to fit without any issue.


On the left bottom we see two small chips, one ITE and one Realtek. The ITE IT8718F chip provides the most commonly used legacy Super I/O functionality plus the latest Environment Control initiatives such as H/W Monitor and Fan Speed Controller.

The Realtek ALC885 chip runs the sound on the Lanparty JR P45-T2RS and is a high-performance 7.1+2 Channel High Definition Audio Codec with advanced lossless content protection technology. This protects pre-recorded content while still allowing full-rate audio enjoyment from DVD audio, Blu-ray DVD, or HD DVD discs.


Also in this area is the motherboard revision, which is directly on the pcb. In our case the board is Revision A.


Cooling on the JR P45-T2RS is a simple heatpipe cooling design which runs from the Northbridge to voltage regulation MOSFETS. This cooling system is quite efficient and is a nice addition to the board aesthetically. This also shows that the P45 chipset does not need any elaborate cooling setup as seen on some competing products.


The Northbridge and MOSFET heatpipe cooled is attached to the board using simple Phillips screws and bolts on the back. As a result, users can easily change the board cooling for aftermarket cooling if desired. This is also convenient for sub-zero benching as a Northbridge pot can be attached through the Northbridge holes in the board.


Directly underneath the heatpipe, the CPU FSB jumpers are found. This is not really the best location to be honest but we could change them without too much trouble so it is not a huge issue in a caseless setup. However, in a case it would be a different story.

For our testing the jumper was left at the default position as changing it is unnecessary with a 1333FSB CPU. Users with 800 or 1066 FSB CPUs could use this to easily upgrade to 333FSB (1333FSB mode) at default. Jumper configurations are above.


For sound, the JR P45-T2RS includes High Definition audio outputs (Coaxial S/PDIF Out Port, Optical S/PDIF Out Port) for your Home Theatre needs in addition to the standard input/outputs. The second CMOS jumper is also shown above; this was used many times as the first jumper was trapped under the second video card.

One other addition to this board is the solid capacitors. These caps are said to be of higher quality and more durable than the older electrolytic style capacitors which have often been a source if trouble on older electronics.


The rear panel inputs and outputs are pretty standard overall. I/O ports include the previously mentioned HD audio outputs, one PS/2 Mouse Port, one PS/2 Keyboard Port, six Ready-to-Use USB 2.0 Ports, one LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED), and a CMOS jumper.