Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Feature-wise, the DF-85 is easily a match for the Twelve Hundred or the HAF X.
With no less than 14 drive bays and 7 standard fans, expandability and cooling
are not issues. Four of the nine 3.5” hard drive bays are hot-swappable, as is
the 2.5” SSD bay at the top of the case. That makes it very easy for us to remove
those drives and take them along with us when we leave the house for an ex-
tended period. Instant offsite backup.
The DF-85 is one of several Antec case models that accepts Antec's proprietary
oversize CPX form factor power supplies. Why would we want a power supply
that's too large physically to fit in any but a few Antec case models? Because
it costs more to make something smaller without reducing its functionality.
Although Antec produces standard ATX power supplies with high wattage
ratings, they're more expensive than a CPX power supply with a similar watt-
age rating and other specifications. For example, the Antec CP-850 CPX power
supply we chose for this system sells for about $110. Standard ATX form factor
power supplies of comparable quality and wattage, including Antec models,
sell for $150 to $300. By making CPX power supplies physically larger, Antec is
able to produce them at lower cost for the same quality.
An 850W power supply is probably overkill, even for a system with a 130W
processor and six drives, but this system may in the future have anything up
to a dozen drives, so we wanted enough power in reserve. Some power sup-
plies are very inefficient below 50% load, so they waste electricity when lightly
loaded. Fortunately, the CP-850 is rated at 80%+ efficiency from a 25% load to
100% load, so we're not giving up any efficiency by running it with a lighter
load initially.
Motherboard
Intel Extreme Series DX58SO
(
http://www.intel.com
)
An extreme system requires an extreme motherboard. AMD no longer produc-
es extreme processors, so we knew we'd use a high-end Intel Core i7 processor
for this system. The fastest chipset available for Core i7 processors is the Intel
X58, so we immediately narrowed our motherboard search to models based
on that chipset.
There's no getting around it: X58 motherboards are expensive, not least be-
cause the X58 chipset itself is expensive. And, just as a Cadillac that sells for
twice the price of a Chevy costs a lot less than twice as much to produce, man-
ufacturers price high-end motherboards at a premium larger than the cost dif-
ference justifies. Still, if you want the best possible performance, there's no
alternative to paying the price for an X58 motherboard.
Well, within reason. Although this is an extreme system, the budget wasn't
unlimited. On that basis we ruled out the most expensive models, many of
which were priced at $300 or more—for a bare motherboard—and one of
which sold for $700! And that one wasn't even gold-plated. We also ruled out
the cheesy models from second- and third-tier manufacturers, some of which
were priced at $150 or less. A junk motherboard with a premium chipset is still
a junk motherboard.
