DFI RD580

One of the most anticipated Socket 939 RD580 motherboards is the DFI. With the incredible success DFI has enjoyed with their nVidia nForce4 chipset Expert, SLI and Ultra motherboards, enthusiasts expect great things from the new DFI RD580.


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DFi was showing the final pre-production RD580 at their Taiwan offices. We are told the board improves on the performance of the current RDX200, which is based on the ATI RD480 chipset. It is also the only DFI dual x16 motherboard, since DFI decided not to produce an nVidia dual x16 SLI motherboard.

DFI is definitely using the ULi M1575 chipset on their new RD580 board, instead of the ATI SB450 used on the RDX200. This will provide full SATA2 3Gb/s support and competitive USB performance. Four additional SATA ports will be provided by the Silicon Image 3114 chip.


Click to enlarge.

DFI tells us the final layout has been released to production. This means retail boards should be available for purchase 10 days to two weeks after the March 1 RD580 launch. Pricing data was not available, but DFI expects their new RD580 to sell at about the same price as the current RDX200.

Index ABIT AT8-32X
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  • bupkus - Monday, February 27, 2006 - link

    Try the Abit link on page 3. The page 4 link on the drop down list is broke.
  • Gary Key - Monday, February 27, 2006 - link

    The links have been fixed. Thank you.
  • Beenthere - Monday, February 27, 2006 - link

    After the long list of mobo problems with the RD480 chipset mobos, which appear to be mobo design issues, not RD480 chipset issues, I wouldn't touch an RD580 chipset mobo with a ten foot pole.

    AFAIK Asus, Sapphire and other mobo makers have provided no solutions to the long list of problems on their mobos. It's as if the mobo makers have no clue or no interest in their customers? You can go to any mobo maker's website and any hardware review site and find documented problems on these mobos that are inexcusable yet there have been no fixes provided by any of the mobo makers. If a mobo maker can't produce a mobo with a stable Vcore voltage, standard BIOS Vcore voltage options, run standard industry certified PC3200 memory, etc. then they're in the wrong business.

    You can be certain if they couldn't fix the problems on the RD480 mobos, they haven't fixed the problems on the RD580 mobos being rushed to market just before the AM2 socket mobos will be released. My guess is if the mobo companies keep dumping crap in to the marketplace, they are gonna kill the market as anyone with a clue isn't gonna buy one defective mobo after another and then have to trash it because it can't even function properly at the default settings of all current AMD mobos. Since PC professionals and hardware review sites have confirmed these problems, it ain't user installation issues, but in reality, mobo design issues. That's why a BIOS upgrade can't fix the problems on the RD480 / RD580 based mobos.
  • Wesley Fink - Monday, February 27, 2006 - link

    The RD480 had issues with supplying voltage to the x16 sklots in some Crossfire configurations. It was never really designed for dual slot - which was more an add-on. The RD580 was designed for dual slot from the ground up and is a very robust chipset.
  • matthewfoley - Monday, February 27, 2006 - link

    Agreed.

    I have an Asus A8R-MVP, and I've seen the huge variance in the vCore - even at stock. Other than that it's a good value board, but I'll avoid ati's chipsets from here on as a result - not because it's a bad chipset, but because I don't feel the board manufacturers have given proper time to the design.
  • matthewfoley - Monday, February 27, 2006 - link

    It was up for a day or so then nothing. I'm guessing it will reappear on launch date.
  • matthewfoley - Monday, February 27, 2006 - link

    Now there isn't even a page on this review for the Asus A8R32-MVP. What's the deal? NDA?
  • Gary Key - Monday, February 27, 2006 - link

    The article has been updated. Sorry about Page 1 missing for a moments.
  • DigitalFreak - Monday, February 27, 2006 - link

    Now if they would get rid of the stupid Master Card requirement for high end Crossfire setups, I'd buy one.
  • DeanO - Monday, February 27, 2006 - link

    1st page - "The bargain-priced A8R32-MVP" should be "The bargain-priced A8R-MVP"

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