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In this review PCSTATS is testing out Foxconn's DigitaLife X38A motherboard, an Intel X38 Express and Intel ICH9R platform that supports both DDR2 and DDR3 memory formats.
90% Rating:
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Foxconn DigitaLife X38A |
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Motherboard Highlights Photo Gallery
There are a lot of expansion
opportunities with the Foxconn DigitaLife X38A motherboard. As you
can see there are two PCI Express x1 slots, three PCI Express x16 slots (two
are VGA ready) and two 32 bit PCI slots. If you still need the ability
to use a Serial port, there's a blue header at the bottom of the
motherboard.
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The bottom right
hand corner of the Foxconn DigitaLife X38A motherboard is very
busy; two USB 2.0
headers, an IEEE 1394a header, six Serial ATA II slots, the front panel
I/O header, the Power/Reset/Clear CMOS buttons and CMOS battery. Note the Port 80
card by the lone IDE
connector.
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What makes the Foxconn DigitaLife
X38A special is that it supports both DDR2 and DDR3 memory (although
not at the same
time). Up to 8GB of DDR2-1066 memory can be installed or
4GB of DDR3-1333 memory. To the right of the DIMM slots are the floppy
drive connector and the main 24 pin ATX power plug. The DDR2 and DDR3
slots are keyd differently, as you can see in the photo
below.
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There is plenty of space around the Intel LGA775
CPU socket for big after market Intel heatsinks, water blocks or
whatever your heart desires. The Foxconn X38A motherboard is cooled with a passive/active
heatpipe cooling system that connects the chipsets and MOSFETs
together.
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The Intel X38
Express Northbridge and ICH9R Southbridge generate a fair amount of heat, and
as you can see Foxconn equip the DigitaLife X38A with an
elaborate heat pipe based cooling solution dubbed "Cool Pipe." Heat from the Southbridge
is conducted to the large Northbridge heatsink, then to the copper
MOSFET heatsinks. A fan can be clipped on to give it
an extra cooling oomph.
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Time for some
Foxconn overclocking!
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