First Look: DFI LANParty UT X58 T3eH8

Heatsinks Ahoy

With the latest transpiper, DFI has encased the CPU area with some very, very oversized fins and heatpipes. The nickel plated copper design is a striking look that mirrors the current crop from other boards, although the northbridge and southbridge feature some rather strange fin designs. We can't quite work out the use of the metal bar underneath the central DFI logo - why not just make the whole thing a large array of fins increasing the surface area?


Never mind, at least the whole lot can be unscrewed and removed leaving space for a waterblock or heatsink replacement of choice. DFI provides some extra long screws to make this happen, and the northbridge is not the only thing to get bolted down - if you like, everything can be removed and re-bolted with other things although it's an all-or-nothing situation thanks to the heatpipes unfortunately. Maybe the LT version will afford greater freedom like the LT X48 T2R did?


The elongated array of fins over the rear I/O should still catch some air even if you're using a side-on cooler since it's quite tall, although DFI has gone one better and like its Trans-Piper 2, it features an external heatpipe bracket that appears to have had African tribesmen on the design team in the aluminium factory (Ed - for some reason, that sounded a bit like Cluedo..).