LANParty JR X58-T3H6 – Design
The LANParty JR X58-T3H6 does without the massive heatsinks of its larger sibling, showing that while appreciated, they are not truly necessary. The IOH (Input/Output Hub) of the X58 platform has a TDP rating of just 24 watts, which can be adequately cooled by a modestly-sized heatsink like the one found on the LANParty JR X58-T3H6.
The north bridge heatsink is connected to another heatsink featuring 36 fins which cools the phase power circuitry for the CPU. The south bridge or ICH10R is also passively cooled by a much smaller heatsink.
Showing off hardware inside a Micro ATX case is difficult and not often done. However the LANParty JR X58-T3H6 will no doubt inspire a few custom mATX designs, as it features the same 'out there' green and yellow fluorescent slots and connectors that come to life under a UV light.
Aesthetics aside, the board layout is also very good. Where Intel only managed to squeeze four DIMM slots onto their standard ATX motherboard at launch, DFI managed to squeeze in all six slots on this mATX board. Due to the inherent space constraint, the DIMM slots do interfere with the primary graphics card, making installation/removal difficult without first removing the graphics card. You couldn't ask otherwise however.
DFI has mounted the SATA ports at a 90-degree angle on this mATX motherboard so it is possible to use all six SATA ports even if two high-end graphics cards are installed.
Speaking of multiple graphics cards, we were impressed to learn that the LANParty JR X58-T3H6 supports both CrossFireX and SLI technology. The only catch here is that dual-slot cards will not have any separation between them as there's just one PCI Express x4 slot situated between the primary and secondary PCIe x16 slots.
When using SLI or Crossfire the second graphics card will block access to the on-board power and reset buttons, though for the most part this shouldn't be an issue.