Manufacturer Product Page: DFI Lanparty BI P45-T2RS Elite Motherboard Overview
Product Number: Lanparty BI P45-T2RS Elite
Availability: None in Canada, limited in USA
Price: Approximately $100-$110 USD
Warranty Length: 1 year
In late 2008, Hardware Canucks had the pleasure of reviewing a micro-ATX motherboard targeted for enthusiasts, the DFI Lanparty JR P45-T2RS. Keeping with the DFI theme, we are pleased to present a review of the new and more budget-oriented Blood Iron P45 board, the DFI Lanparty BI P45-T2RS Elite! Similar to the JR, the BI P45-T2RS Elite is based off the popular Intel P45 chipset and runs high-speed DDR2 memory. For size, the BI P45-T2RS Elite is classified as an ATX board, not a micro but it is 4cm narrower (30.5 x 20.5cm) than the standard ATX size of 30.5 x 24.5cm. While the board seems to be missing a standard feature, CrossFire, it hosts a number of features common to full-sized boards such as eight channel digital audio and DFI’s infamous BIOS. There is actually another version of the BI P45-T2RS Elite that has CrossFire support; however, this review will be of the non-CrossFire version of the BI P45-T2RS Elite so keep that in mind.
With the upcoming release of Intel’s mainstream i5 platform and current availability of i7, one may think that manufacturers are no longer supporting socket 775 boards. Well that couldn’t be further from the truth. Only a small percentage of users bothered to upgrade to i7 due to the perceived cost in relation to a small improvement in performance over socket 775. As such, motherboard manufacturers have been pumping out P45-based boards in record numbers.
DFI is shooting for the budget P45 market with the BI P45-T2RS Elite and to be successful they have to produce a motherboard that will retail near the $120 range. Although we have yet to see any availability in Canada, the BI P45-T2RS Elite is going for just over $100 USD in the United States, which definitely hits the mark in terms of price. Also, since DFI is known as an enthusiast and overclocker’s brand, customers expect a level of overclockability with DFI boards that go above and beyond that of the competition. Hopefully this board in particular will live up to its mandate of being a budget board that can also achieve a decent overclock.
DFI provides a 1 year warranty for motherboards through Authorized Distributors which means you can approach your retailer before having to RMA your motherboard to the factory in Taiwan (or other support center). DFI also has support offices in the US and Europe with technical staff available to help users in three languages (English, Dutch, and Chinese).
All in all, we have some extremely high hopes for this board. Let's hope it delivers.
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