Zaključak

Ovaj puta smo se družili sa DFI-jevim X48 high-end pločama,
koje s obzirom na svoje prefikse spadaju u najviši tržišni vrh, kako po cijeni
i performansama tako i po OC mogućnostima. Barem bi to trebale biti na papiru.
Obje se ploče mogu pohvaliti sa zavidnom završnom obradom. Ugrađene komponente
su redom vrhunske, bilo da se radi o odlično rješenom hlađenju ili o naponskoj
jedinici ploče. BIOS je po običaju izveden fenomenalno i prepun je opcija,
zbog čega ćete trebati sjesti i raditi kako biste ga shvatili i izvukli maksimum
iz svojeg hardvera. Tu dolazimo i do najvećih minusa ovih ploča. OC potencijal
i općenito ponašanje tijekom OC-a je lošije od očekivanog. Uz to slabiji je
od konkurencije na koju se ciljalo, a to su rješenja iz Asusa te skupljeg,
Foxconna. Istina, ove zamjerke idu isključivo na maksimalni FSB pri čemu će
limitirani biti Core 2 Duo procesori nižih množitelja. Svi koji kupuju procesor
sa višim množiteljem ili neki od Core 2 Quad procesora mogli bi sasvim biti
zadovoljni sa postignutim rezultatom. Nadalje, ono možemo zamjeriti LanParty
pločama jest siromašniji bundle. Kao primjer navodimo činjenicu da ploče dolazi
sa 8 SATA utora, a u bundleu se nalaze samo 4 kabela. Dodatni nezavisni software
je nepostojeći, a kao "šlag" na kraju dolazi i visoka cijena od
1.900,00 kn (PDV uključen) za X48-T3RS, te oko 1.800,00 kn (PDV uključen)
za X48-T2R model.

Razloge za kupovinu ovih ploča možemo naći u podršci za CrossFire,
BIOS-u u kojem je moguće tweakati i najmanju sitnicu te vrhunskim
komponentama. Ipak mišljenja smo da su P45 ploče, unatoč svojem minusu po
pitanju propusnosti PCI-E utora, za većinu prosječnih korisnika bolje riješenje.
Konačnu potvrdu ove teze bi trebali dobiti iz našeg sljedećeg testa u kojem
ćemo vidjeti performanse i mogućnosti dviju Gigabyteovih P45 ploča.

Osvrnuti ćemo se i na drugi aspekt ovog članka a to je usporedba
DDR2 i DDR3 radnih memorija. Iz svega viđenog ne možemo olako preporučiti
DDR3 memoriju, iz jednostavnog razloga što zasad nikako ne predstavlja isplativu
kupnju, a njezine performanse nisu toliko bolje (ili nisu uopće, ovisno o
situacijama) da bi opravdalo uloženo. Tom dijelu tržišta se svakako nazire
bolje sutra, no s obzirom na trenutne cijene, ponudu memorija a i ponudu matičnih
ploča, svakako se bolje zadržati na trenutno ultra-jeftinoj DDR2 memoriji.
O ovome uvelike ovisi i naša preporuka, koja ide X48-T2R ploči ukoliko Vam
ne smetaju neki od njenih nedostataka..

Conclusion

This time we had DFI’s X48 high-end boards for testing, which,
according to their prefix fill the highest market end both in price and performance,
and by OC capabilities. At least that’s the case on paper. Both of them are
made with great final finish. Embedded components are top quality, whether
we talk about an excellent cooling or voltage regulation system. BIOS is,
as always great, full of options which is why you need lots of work to understand
it and get the most out of your hardware. That led us up to the biggest minus
of these boards. Overclocking potential and behavior in general during the
overclocking is not as good as we`d expected. Additionally it is weaker than
the competition – the solutions from Asus and more expensive Foxconn. True,
these objections are there solely to the maximum FSB, where the Core 2 Duo
processors will be limited by the lower multiplier. All those who buy a processor
with a higher multiplier, or some of the Core 2 Quad processor could be quite
satisfied with the achieved results. Furthermore, LanParty boards always had
poor bundle. For example the board comes with eight SATA connectors, but in
bundle you only get four of them. Additional independent software is non-existent,
and as a "whip" at the end, there is the price. The X48-T3RS costs
about 1.900,00kn (~270 € including VAT), and the X48-T2R is about 1.800,00kn
(~260 € including VAT).

The main reasons for buying these boards can be found in the
Crossfire support, the highly tweakable BIOS and the excellent components.
Yet, we think that despite its minuses in terms of bandwidth of PCI-E slots,
a P45 board represents better solution for average users. Final confirmation
of this thesis will be drawn from our next test, where we will see performance
and possibilities of two Gigabyte’s P45 boards.

We came to the other aspect of this article and that is the performance comparison
of DDR2 and DDR3 memory. From what you can see here, we can’t easily recommend
DDR3 memory and because of the simple reason, that for the time being it’s
a not cost-effective purchase and its performance were not so much better
(or not at all, depending on the situations) that would justify the investment.
That part of the market is certainly developing, but given the current prices
the choices of memory and motherboards, it’s definitely better to stay with
currently ultra-cheap DDR2 memory. That largely depended on our recommendation,
which today goes to X48-T2R board – that is if you do not mind some of its
shortcomings.