CPU/Mobo DFI P55 MI-T36 - Little Cutie

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PhOeNiX

Forerunner
DFI unveiled the P55 MI-T36 to the public a couple of months ago. It's an exciting little board based upon the P55 chipset, cut back to the most desirable essentials in order to facilitate a shrink down to the mini-ITX form factor.
board4s.jpg
What DFI are attempting to do is bring near enthusiast level performance to a form factor that is associated largely with web-browsing and HTPC use. Teamed up with a suitable GPU, the prospects of having a compact multi-purpose PC capable of delivering a high-end gaming experience is rather compelling.

Unfortunately, there's not exactly an abundance of suitable PC cases on the market catering for such builds. Right now, you're limited to a couple of ITX offerings from Silverstone, namely the SG-05 and SG-06 models, while Lian-Li have the PC Q07. Obvious limitations in going such a route are related to PSU requirements. Once you team a board like this up with a hefty GPU, cooling and power demands throw minimum case dimensions towards M-ATX sizing, which defeats the attraction of going for mini-ITX in the first place.

Nevertheless, products like these create demands for innovation and we're sure the MI-T36 has given PC case and PSU vendors something to think about for the future. So although the MI-T36 seems like a bit of an outcast in certain scenarios at this stage of proceedings, it's still interesting to see what DFI have managed to cram into the mini-ITX form factor.
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Source : AnandTech: DFI P55 MI-T36: Little Cutie
 
Not good layout, pretty much cramped. If we install a pcie card the usb headers and sata ports seem to be blocked.
 
Anubis said:
Bad layout

2 out of 3 sata ports would be blocked by an external pcie gfx
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I don't get that! How's would a card block those ports? It's not under the PCI-Ex slot. :S

The wires/connectors would come over it.
 
Anubis said:
Bad layout

2 out of 3 sata ports would be blocked by an external pcie gfx
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WingZero said:
Not good layout, pretty much cramped. If we install a pcie card the usb headers and sata ports seem to be blocked.
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I very much doubt if people are gonna use high/mid end cards with that board. It sure would be nice if they had the sata, power, usb headers at 90 deg, though.
 
WingZero said:
Not good layout, pretty much cramped. If we install a pcie card the usb headers and sata ports seem to be blocked.
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Anubis said:
Bad layout

2 out of 3 sata ports would be blocked by an external pcie gfx
Click to expand...

Why blocked?:S

The ports/headers are above the PCIe slot- the gfx card will occupy space below the slot. :)

Problem is finding a case that has space below the mobo.

Some may have enough space for a single slot card.

And using a matx case totally beats the purpose of having a mini-ITX mobo. :P

Else looks like a good board for HTPC users who do not want to sacrifice performance.
 
None of the ports or headers will be blocked with pci express installed. Open the eyes guys, watch the layout properly :P Its not the other way around. Yes they will be close to back of the card, but thats it.

And what did you expect? This is Mini ITX board aimed mainly at LP / HTPC rigs.
 
^Exactly LOL! An HTPC case is the best bet for boards like these. Cutie indeed. Even the performance numbers are decent for a P55 chipset. :)
 
The BIOS is pretty unstable atm according to Anandtech, has issues while loading saved profiles etc...

But its too expensive IMO..
 
Sorry:ashamed:

The Sata ports won't be blocked

But the layout is bad

Moreover , its definitely not the price
 
^Why exactly is it bad?

And maybe you do not know but as things get smaller, you pay a hefty price for it. ITX motherboards with next-gen chipsets demand a high price since they've a limited space for the components and still offer the performance of an ATX one with the compromise over future expandability.
 
BIKeINSTEIN said:
Why blocked?:S

The ports/headers are above the PCIe slot- the gfx card will occupy space below the slot. :)

Problem is finding a case that has space below the mobo.

Some may have enough space for a single slot card.

And using a matx case totally beats the purpose of having a mini-ITX mobo. :P

Else looks like a good board for HTPC users who do not want to sacrifice performance.
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hmm yea saw now, but still it wud be tight..and the layout aint good specially the sata ports placement. tho its commendable of dfi to comeup with this.
 
P55, 2x RAM slots, 1x PCIe, 3x SATA, 1x eSATA, ... and even a hex debug display- that's a lot imho- almost ATX stuff.

Where the hell is the space to lay anything out. :lol:

Those who think the layout sucks and the price is too much are not the targetted HTPC/mini-ITX crowd. :P

Those guys will eagerly pay more if provided with something even smaller. :lol:

(eg. Check the branded carputer market in the US. People pay 10x and way more iirc for pre-production stuff that looks promising afaik. :))
 
ITX boards usually have an IGP, this doesnt so i doubt if HTPC crowd would jump. H55/H57 boards coupled with the Clarkdale proccies would make a more logical choice for an HTPC rig,,,
 
^Is that a generalisation? There're umpteen ITX boards which do not come with an IGP and they're exactly targeting HTPC and the ones who wish to game on the systems and would not want to spend on another system. This makes an ideal choice for them. Club this with a decent LGA 1156 processor, 6gigs of RAM, an SSD and a couple of 1TB drives and an extra decent GPU and you have an ideal HTPC cum gaming rig which could fit an all Al HTPC enclosure and could sit right next to a big ass display.

One need not even spend on a sound card since this has SPDIF ports which could be fed to the AVR.
 
Those would be a minority tribe. The HTPC+Gaming rig combination, if I look for an HTPC setup, I normally want minimum space, and thermal envelope, of which a dedicated gfx card would breach both...
 
^Then again if you look at it that way, the present gen media streamers through LAN/WLAN like the Xstreamer and the WDTV and even the Chinese rip-offs could mimic any feature an HTPC could (apart from the gaming part!) with the least thermal/power consumption/footprint. Just that they require a bit of tweaking initially.
 
Aces170 said:
Those would be a minority tribe. The HTPC+Gaming rig combination, if I look for an HTPC setup, I normally want minimum space, and thermal envelope, of which a dedicated gfx card would breach both...
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upto mid range ati 40nm gpu hardly heat
 
Aces170 said:
ITX boards usually have an IGP, this doesnt so i doubt if HTPC crowd would jump. H55/H57 boards coupled with the Clarkdale proccies would make a more logical choice for an HTPC rig,,,
Click to expand...

Aces170 said:
if I look for an HTPC setup, I normally want minimum space, and thermal envelope, of which a dedicated gfx card would breach both...
Click to expand...

With due respect, you don't seem like you are the HTPC type of guy nor are you a part of the targetted crowd, yet if i may add that.

So please let this cutie mobo be and stop generalising. :)

Just admire it from the point that DFI managed to cramp in so much into so less- really innovative.

There are those who may not want a desktop, use notebook PCs primarily, don't mind a HTPC (it's kinda cool to own one for some) and also can double up as a backup pc and/or an entry-level gaming rig.

Maybe a media server or a master control center for home automation too or something like that.

Mobos like this offer a myriad of options to such people by offering flexibility- flexibility to choose the cpu and gpu they want as per individual performance requirements.

There is a fairly decent amount of people now who opt for something a bit more than what an iGP or entry-level HTPC gpu can offer and the number is growing imho.

Especially those who have moved on from active computing/gaming and may like to have something more than an IGP that they conciously avoided earlier.

Udit said:
upto mid range ati 40nm gpu hardly heat
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Ya- a lot of the new gen mid-range cards are not so hot now.

Plus most products are released assuming 25C ambient temps, natural or air-conditioned/climate-controlled; not Indian 35C ambients.
 
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