DFI LanParty UT X58-T3eH8 LGA 1366 Motherboard Review

Stability & Overclocking Results

This section is not only going to look at the overclocking abilities of the DFI LanParty X58-T3eH8, but also how well it handles our two kits of memory. With Intel Core i7 processors moving the memory controller from the north bridge to the die of the CPU, and the removal of the FSB, the motherboard has begun playing a much smaller role in the overclocking capabilities of the system. Individual components seem to play a larger role than previous chipsets. Of course, there are still motherboard limitations like the QPI bus which is what is limiting Base Clock overclocks on X58 boards to anywhere from 200 to 220 at the upper end of the spectrum.

Our motherboard stability testing will spend time investigating the compatibility of the two Corsair 3x2GB memory kits we have reviewed as well as testing for a stable 200BCLK as that seems to be the max that either of our 965 Extreme Edition CPUs want to do. We will then discuss our maximum memory overclock that we achieved on this motherboard in the Corsair Dominator-GT 3x2GB PC3-15000 Triple Channel Memory Review. This memory review was done on the DFI motherboard we are looking at today so further results can be found there. We will then combine all of this information and find our maximum stable overclock that keeps voltages in respectable areas for 24/7 use. There is a lot to cover so let's get started. We will begin with stability testing of the two Corsair memory kits at their rated specifications.

Corsair Dominator 3x2GB PC3-12800 8-8-8 (TR3X6G1600C8D) Stability Testing

Out of the gate the DDR3-1600 Corsair Dominator 6GB kit ran like a champ on this board. This kit of memory has become the darling of the enthusiast forums. It seems that every motherboard has questions on how well this kit works with it, and we can confidently state that the DFI X58-T3eH8 has no problem with this memory kit at stock settings and specified ratings. To get this memory running at spec, it literally was as easy as increasing the memory ratio, setting the timings, and increasing the vDIMM. With that said, we would still love to see XMP profiles working on this motherboard. At this point, there really is no excuse for lack of XMP profile support.

Corsair Dominator-GT 3x2GB PC3-15000 7-8-7 (TR3X6G1866C7GTF) Stability Testing

Again, lack of XMP profile support forced some manual manipulation of settings in order to get the Dominator-GT PC3-15000s to run at spec. Like the Dominator memory above, we were able to get the DDR3-1866 7-8-7 GTs up to speed within a few minutes. In addition to the memory timings, ratio, and vDIMM adjustments, we also had to increase VTT to stabilize this memory. This is part of the XMP profile and was not unexpected. After all, 933MHz at 7-8-7-20 are not exactly your average memory clocks. The amount of VTT needed for running this memory at spec will depend heavily on the CPU being used and how strong its memory controller is, but the XMP profile asks for VTT to be set to 1.40v. We were able to get away with slightly lower and 1.35v set in the BIOS.

In recent reviews we have been complaining an awful lot about lack of XMP support with motherboards. The EVGA X58-SLI was recently updated with a BIOS adding perfectly working XMP support. Testing memory kits on a motherboard should be as easy as setting XMP and rebooting. We not only would like to see XMP support on the X58-T3eH8, we are basically demanding it from DFI. The average user being roped into buying performance memory that has XMP profiles allowing worry free setup should not have to resort to scouring the internet or calling technical support to get their memory running at spec. XMP profiles are supported by the memory, XMP profiles are supported by the chipset, and as EVGA just proved; XMP profile support is only a BIOS update away...there are no excuses DFI, make it happen.

3x2GB Maximum Memory Stability Testing

We actually achieved this overclock and published it during the Corsair Dominator-GT review which was done on this motherboard, but figured we should post it here as well. When this memory decides it wants to run, this motherboard works quite well in getting the clocks up. We do believe we were being limited in our memory overclocks because of the lack of timing adjustments in the BIOS. For instance, Round Trip Latency is not adjustable in the BIOS and with it being set relatively tight at 54-59 all of the time, some of the memory overclocks where being limited by this in our opinion. Overall though, clocking this Dominator-GT kit was quite easy and the overclocks achieved were nothing short of impressive.

Base Clock/QPI Stability Overclocking

Obviously this motherboard has no problem with 200 BCLK as demonstrated above with our maximum memory overclock. We also decided to shoot for 200 BCLK with the other Dominator kit using as little voltage as possible. At 3.6GHz and 800MHz memory, we were quite pleased with the results. VTT is at a stealthy 1.35v with vDIMM under 1.60v and vCORE right around 1.275v. The performance at these settings is quite substantial and the heat put out by the system is very acceptable. The PWM in particular stayed at 65C or less throughout the stress testing which is a very nice sign. Overall, it seems our sample of the DFI X58-T3eH8 is quite easy to get clocking at 200 BCLK with various combinations of hardware. We unfortunately continued to have limited success over 200 BCLK with either of our CPUs though, which is what we have experienced on all X58 boards testes thus far.

Overall Stability Overclocking

For an overall overclock we decided that focusing on the CPU clocks and tight timings we were afforded with this memory was going to be the key. As it turned out, the 965's open multiplier played a key role allowing us to keep the BCLK down and run at the 27X multi. Memory is set to a very tight 6-7-6 @ almost 900MHz which leads to a very snappy system. The one item we failed to really get clocking was the UnCore. At only 3551MHz we were sure there was room for improvement but increasing the multi led to instability regardless of VTT. As it turned out, voltages were more than acceptable for a 24/7 system and we can't wait to see the performance of these clocks in the benchmarks. Speaking of which, let's get started on those right now.