Today’s test subject is the DFI P55 MI-T36 that can be purchased for around $135 at various e-tailors. 
 
Board Features
 

DFI P55 MI-T36
Market Segment P55 General Use/HTPC
CPU Interface LGA-1156
CPU Support LGA-1156 i5/i7 Series of Processors
Chipset Intel P55 Express Chipset
BCLK Speeds 100-500MHz in 1MHz increments
DDR3 Memory Speed 800, 1067, 1333 Frequency Ratios
Uncore Frequency Fixed at 16x or 18x according to CPU model class
Core Voltage 1V ~ 2V in 0.0125V increments
CPU Vdroop Compensation On/Off (Super VID)
CPU Clock Multiplier Dependant on Processor, all available multipliers supported
DRAM Voltage DDR3 Auto, 1.20V ~ 2.60V in 0.1V ~ 0.02V increments (1.50V base)
DRAM Timing Control tCL, tRCD, tRP, tRAS, + 9 Additional Timings
DRAM Command Rate Auto, 1N, 2N & 3N
PCH Voltage Auto, 1.05V ~ 1.35V in .15V increments, 1.05V Base
CPU VTT (Uncore) Voltage CPU Default ~ +0.697V in 0.05V ~ 0.06V increments
CPU PLL Voltage 1.8V ~ 2.1V in 0.1V increments, 1.80V Base
Memory Slots Two 240-pin DDR3 DIMM Slots
Dual-Channel Configuration
Regular Unbuffered DDR3 Memory to 8GB Total
Expansion Slots 1X PCIe 16X Slot
Onboard SATA/RAID 3x SATA 3.0Gbps Ports - Intel Chipset
Hot Plug and NCQ Support, RAID 0, 1, 5 RAID 0+1 Support & Intel Matrix Technology Support
Onboard USB 2.0 10 USB 2.0 ports (6) I/O Panel, 4 via brackets
Onboard LAN Intel 82578DC X1 (PCI/e)
Onboard Audio Realtek ALC885 High Definition Audio Codec, 7.1 Channel, with Creative X-FI support via drivers.
Power Connectors ATX 24-pin, 8-pin EPS 12V
I/O Panel 1 x PS/2 Keyboard, 1X PS/2 Mouse
1 x RJ45
6 x USB 2.0/1.1 (1 X eSATA combo)
1X Coaxial S/PDIF, 1X Optical Toslink
6 Audio I/O jacks
Fan Headers 1 CPU + 1 Additional Header
Fan Control Full temp/speed fan control for both headers via BIOS or OS software.
Package Contents SATA Cable X4, SATA Power Cable X2, I/O Panel X1, 1X User Manual, Driver DVD X1, Creative X-Fi Driver CD X1, 2 X Smart connectors for front panel I/O.
BIOS Revisions Used P55MIB02
Warranty 3 year standard (location dependant)

DFI includes the Realtek ALC 888 HD audio codec, Intel 82578DC LAN (PCI-E), JMicron JMB363 eSATA, and full support for the Core i7/i5 S1156 processor series. Creative X-FI drivers are included in the package, but you don't get any kind of Dolby Surround sound processing features in the bundled software.

DFI bundles the following with the board:
4 X SATA Cables
2X SATA Power Cables
1X I/O Panel
1X User Manual
1X Driver DVD
1X Creative X-FI Driver CD
2 X Smart connectors for front panel I/O

One of the software tools bundled with the board is a very basic overclocking utility called EZ Tuner.



EZ Tuner allows on the fly changes to processor VCore and also changes to BCLK within the OS as well as monitoring primary voltage rails and processor power monitoring. There are no options for changes to VTT or VDimm unfortunately, although the MI-T36 is limited in the overclocking department anyway.

AS with all DFI boards you also get Smart Guardian.


Smart Guardian offers temperature and power monitoring as well as comprehensive fan speed control for both fan headers.


The BIOS layout is generally good and offers a significant number of settings for overclocking although some of the settings seem out of place on this board given the power delivery limitations. You get fine control over DRAM reference voltage settings as well as options for adjusting compensation levels to critical signal lines. The latter is a feature we've only seen available on the more expensive EVGA boards.


BIOS flashing is taken care of within the OS only, DFI include a little tool called EZ-Flash. We prefer BIOS level utilities personally, especially when there's no redundancy, as you've only got a single BIOS chip on this board.

Performance Summary Board Layout
Comments Locked

38 Comments

View All Comments

  • DigitalFreak - Monday, January 4, 2010 - link

    If DFI provides the BIOS update, you can use the new Clarkdale Cire i3 & i5 CPUs with this board. You obviously can't use the onboard video, but the CPU should work fine.

    I would expect to see H57 / H55 mini-itx boards in the next couple of months.
  • ScavengerLX - Monday, January 4, 2010 - link

    I'm using this board with a 5770 and a 860 in a Silverstone SG-06 case. I love it! I overclocked the bclock to 150 (w/ HT on) while leaving all of the voltages on Auto and its perfectly stable. Pushing beyond 150 bclock causes system instability. With 8 threads running in prime95 Vcore is at 1.15V (3.3GHz on 4 cores, 3.7GHz on 2 cores). Idle temps are in the upper 20s with all of the power saving features on. I'm using a Coolermaster GeminII S with a 120x20mm Yate Loon and it barely fits.

    I'm running all of this on the stock 300w PSU!
  • stefi - Wednesday, January 6, 2010 - link

    Great, I was thinking of using SG-06 with HD 5750 and i5-750 :)) Do you have some pics to post? What brand of 5770 do you have? Is it quiet enough when idle? Do you have any aditional fans on the case?
  • Mr Perfect - Monday, January 4, 2010 - link

    Nice build! That's about what I'm eyeing myself, assuming nothing new pops up at CES. :)

    It's impressive to see someone push the 300watt supply too. 1KW+ PSUs have been the norm for so long, that everyone automatically assumes you can't do jack with anything lower then 600 or so. That said, hopefully the 450(http://www.sffclub.com/index.php?option=com_conten...">http://www.sffclub.com/index.php?option...amp;cati... replaces the 300 in Silverstone's cases.
  • fr500 - Monday, January 4, 2010 - link

    How!!!

    I mean, the GeminII does not have mounting options for 1156 chips

    I'm waiting for the 450w psu for the SG05, anyway my Zotac 9300-D-E with an e8500@3.7Ghz and a GTS250 overclocked is enough for most console ports :D and HTPC duty

  • fr500 - Monday, January 4, 2010 - link

    Edit: Duh I just realized you said GeminII S. My bad
  • GeorgeH - Monday, January 4, 2010 - link

    On the board features page, it lists 6x SATA ports from the chipset and 4x from a JMB322. If there are only 4 ports on the board, what's the point of the JMB322? And isn't the JMB322 a 1 or 2 port part?

    Also, did DFI say who the target market was? Without an IGP and with limited SATA ports I'm having trouble thinking of any good usage scenarios for this board.
  • Rajinder Gill - Monday, January 4, 2010 - link

    Hi George,

    That was my mistake on the SATA ports. I used a template XLS and forgot to delete some of the cell data. It's fixed now.

    thanks!
    Raja


  • tomoyo - Monday, January 4, 2010 - link

    I was really hopeful for some good clarkdale mini-itx mobos, with only one chip in addition to the processor, it makes for better board layouts. I hope we'll start getting more case choices also, especially a few in server config. I'd love to make a mini-itx Raid box that can outdo the pre-built raid machines out there.
  • zer0sum - Wednesday, January 6, 2010 - link

    That is already possible using ion 330 based boards like the POV.
    4 x sata and 1 x esata, 1Gb NIC supports jumbo frames with 7200 MTU under linux

    Then just add a Chenbro ES34069 chassis with 4 x hot swap sata bays.

    I can't seem to get Freenas working with jumbo frames as I suspect the NIC driver is not quiet up to speed under FreeBSD.
    Ubuntu works perfectly though and I can easily get 80-100Mb/s off a 2 disk mirror.
    Just waiting on more disks to see how raid 5 speed works out.

    It is an expensive little chassis but it is also damn cool

    Z


Log in

Don't have an account? Sign up now