Budget Computing: Nine H55 And H57 Motherboards Compared
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Providing an HDCP-compliant audio path for its latest integrated-video CPUs, Intel’s new H55 and H57 chipsets are certain to appeal to both home theater and office system builders. We inspect nine samples to find out what else these value boards can do.
Budget Computing: Nine H55 And H57 Motherboards Compared : Read more
Budget Computing: Nine H55 And H57 Motherboards Compared : Read more
More about : budget computing h55 h57 motherboards compared
wintermintDo anyone know how good is the integrated graphics found in these mobos? Can it handle some games?
It's not on the motherboard, it's on the CPU. Different CPU's have different clock speeds for the GPU. And it can't even play most games, let alone play them smoothly:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-clarkdale-cor...
Score
1
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liquidsnake718
February 24, 2010 6:22:27 AM
useless... this is just for HD movies and simple web based games, onboard gpus on motherboards are even better than this intel..... i wonder if this was larrabee...... or if larabee will really come to fruitition as I read in a toms article its basically dead.... however i wonder if this was larrabee.....
Score
-10
anamaniac
February 24, 2010 6:25:01 AM
dertechie
February 24, 2010 10:16:29 AM
wintermintDo anyone know how good is the integrated graphics found in these mobos? Can it handle some games?
The IGP is integrated into the Clarkdale CPU. I believe it is simply a further evolution of the X4500HD, and can at least now claim to be on rough par with ATI's integrated graphics, assuming that AMD hasn't done much to up the ante in the 800-series chipsets. Check the reviews of the i5-661 and the i3-5x0s. The 661 is the fastest IGP they sell (there's a reason reviewers all got that particular chip), at 900 MHz, the others are clocked at 733 MHz or 533 MHz. No, it can't run Crysis.
Larrabee is dead, it wasn't worth it to Intel to actually build it. The project isn't dead, but Larrabee Mk I will never see mass production silicon.
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0
anamaniac
February 24, 2010 11:03:55 AM
wintermintDo anyone know how good is the integrated graphics found in these mobos? Can it handle some games?
http://techgage.com/article/overclocking_intels_core_i5...
Intel i5-661.
CPU at 4.3GHz. IGP at 1133MHz. Both are at stock clocks.
ASUS P7H55D-M EVO
Crysis Warhead (1024x768, assuming low settings), 26FPS.
It can play Crysis. =)
Score
-3
ta152h
February 24, 2010 11:44:50 AM
enzo matrixWhy do you guys only ever compare P55 and P57 boards? What about AM3? Or even 775 and AM2+?
At least they moved to H55/H57, which is a platform that should sell a lot, rather than the brain-damaged P55 platform, which most sites spend a lot of time trying to convince (not that successfully, based on the bad sales) is a great platform.
Lynnfield/P55 is such a strange product, and appeals to such a limited segment of the market. It's not cheap, but it's a high-end product either. So, you get squeezed by x58, which is the real platform, or LGA 775, and now H55/H57 from below. It's not a big market segment, and I think it makes Intel's line a little confusing to average consumers, especially since the Clarksdale CPUs overlap it in cost from below, and the Bloomfield do from above.
It's obvious Intel didn't want to release CPUs with an IMC for the mainstream until they could move the IGP on-board the CPU. Since the IGP has to use the memory controller, there are compromises however you do it when you have an IMC. You either go to the processor, or you add the logic on the IGP (making it redundant), so Intel avoided that problem by putting it on the processor. The P55 is again neither fish nor fowl. It's got limited PCIe lanes, but doesn't have an IGP either.
There's a small segment where it makes sense. It's power efficient and the performance is only slightly less than Bloomfield in many situations, but I think the average consumer is going to find the H55/H57 much better for their needs (an IGP is critical in this market), and the enthusiast will want the full-blown Bloomfield. For that reason I think these motherboards are significant even though the P55 isn't. Maybe you don't want it, but, you'll probably have a friends/family neighbors asking about a computer with these products. They aren't technical marvels with their weird memory controller placed in the video controller, but aside from the distasteful technical compromises Intel made, they still address the market and needs of most people very well. The only one that is so offensive I could never bring myself to recommending is the new Pentium version. It probably is fine for most people, but it's so offensive, it's painful to recommend. I think LGA 775 is better at that point. Or AMD, of course.
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0
daniel266
February 24, 2010 11:46:31 AM
sublifer
February 24, 2010 1:21:11 PM
This isn't budget computing/motherboards. ~$100 motherboards have always been available and are considered mid-range... Show us LGA1156 boards for $50-$70 and then we'll be talking budget stuff that office builders can use, but then we'd also need ~$70 CPUs as well. Nice to see the almost-full-featured mini-itx boards though. I really want those to get more popular but agree a second slot (like DTX) would have been even better.
Score
2
sublifer
February 24, 2010 1:27:50 PM
A better budget combo with better performance per buck would be a 785G board with an Athlon II x3 like these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
Thats $70+75=$145 instead of $110+125=$235
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
Thats $70+75=$145 instead of $110+125=$235
Score
1
JeanLuc
February 24, 2010 1:49:02 PM
subliferA better budget combo with better performance per buck would be a 785G board with an Athlon II x3 like these:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813130237http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103724Thats $70+75=$145 instead of $110+125=$235
Well don't just leave at that how much better is it "per buck"? Or are you just assuming that because it's cheaper its obviously better value?
Score
-4
Anonymous
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February 24, 2010 4:58:33 PM
subliferThis isn't budget computing/motherboards. ~$100 motherboards have always been available and are considered mid-range... Show us LGA1156 boards for $50-$70 and then we'll be talking budget stuff that office builders can use, but then we'd also need ~$70 CPUs as well. Nice to see the almost-full-featured mini-itx boards though. I really want those to get more popular but agree a second slot (like DTX) would have been even better.
Higher-ups decided to use the "budget" label, these are actually "value segement" boards for the most part. The author knows the difference between the sub-$100 "budget" market and the $100-140 "value" market, and most of these boards fit into the later.
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-2
Anonymous
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February 24, 2010 6:24:34 PM
Anonymous
February 24, 2010 7:33:32 PM
ananke
February 24, 2010 8:47:34 PM
It is my opinion, but anything Intel less than i7-920 is not worth the money. I don't recommend i5-750 either. For gaming and all-around tasks cheap AMD + 785G and good /expensive/ video is the best. For rendering - get i7-920 and above. Socket 1156 is total waste of money.
Btw, when are you THG guys going to make some ATI vs NVidia computing article? Like Photoshop, video transcoding, etc.
Btw, when are you THG guys going to make some ATI vs NVidia computing article? Like Photoshop, video transcoding, etc.
Score
-1
jalyst
February 25, 2010 4:54:22 AM
Thomas, thank-you for the excellent review!
Could you please clarify what you meant by:
"Remember, though, that adding any card to the x16 slot defeats on-board graphics, so riser card users who prefer a x1 slot will prefer the competing P7H55D-M EVO."
I don't suppose you could throw in a GA-H57M-USB3 at the last minute and give us some thoughts?!
I would've especially loved to know how it handles Mem/CPU OC's compared to the Biostar, and whether it's crossfire implementation works, unlike the rest.
It was a shame not to see any H57-based mATX boards at all in the review.
Thanks again!
Could you please clarify what you meant by:
"Remember, though, that adding any card to the x16 slot defeats on-board graphics, so riser card users who prefer a x1 slot will prefer the competing P7H55D-M EVO."
I don't suppose you could throw in a GA-H57M-USB3 at the last minute and give us some thoughts?!
I would've especially loved to know how it handles Mem/CPU OC's compared to the Biostar, and whether it's crossfire implementation works, unlike the rest.
It was a shame not to see any H57-based mATX boards at all in the review.
Thanks again!
Score
-1
jalyst
February 25, 2010 5:21:36 AM
Also I think you were mistaken in thinking GA-H55M-USB3 is exactly the same as GA-H57M-USB3, except for Intel soft-RAID...
Contrary to this claim:
"Other handy (but less spectacular) features include a second x16-length slot that uses four 2.5 Gb/s lanes from the chipset, allowing any PCIe card to be installed without interfering with the integrated graphics engine of Clarkdale-based processors."
I believe GA-H55M-USB3's x16-length slot only has 1x 2.5 GB/s lane.
Hence making it unsuitable for Crossfire, and hence not certified.
See here:
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Product...
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Product...
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Product...
Would be really awesome if you could throw GA-H57M-USB3 into the mix
and see how it fairs!
Thank-you.
Contrary to this claim:
"Other handy (but less spectacular) features include a second x16-length slot that uses four 2.5 Gb/s lanes from the chipset, allowing any PCIe card to be installed without interfering with the integrated graphics engine of Clarkdale-based processors."
I believe GA-H55M-USB3's x16-length slot only has 1x 2.5 GB/s lane.
Hence making it unsuitable for Crossfire, and hence not certified.
See here:
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Product...
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Product...
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Product...
Would be really awesome if you could throw GA-H57M-USB3 into the mix
and see how it fairs!
Thank-you.
Score
-1
jalyst
February 25, 2010 5:45:15 AM
jalystCould you please clarify what you meant by:"Remember, though, that adding any card to the x16 slot defeats on-board graphics, so riser card users who prefer a x1 slot will prefer the competing P7H55D-M EVO."
To clarify, I thought a card had to be greater than 4x in the 16x lane slot before the IGP becomes disabled? Thanks.
Score
-1
Why is there all this hate for the 1156? It's not perfect and there are compromises, but AMD has no answer yet for anything better than the i5 750. And Intel won't be more aggressive with processor and chip set features than it has too.
I'm disappointed in the H55 offering since they aren't any much less expensive than the P55 boards.
That being said the low-end desktop computer is dying, being overrun by mobile platforms. So Intel can't care much about its "value" desktops with its dominance in mobile computing which has high margins.
I'm disappointed in the H55 offering since they aren't any much less expensive than the P55 boards.
That being said the low-end desktop computer is dying, being overrun by mobile platforms. So Intel can't care much about its "value" desktops with its dominance in mobile computing which has high margins.
Score
0
memeroot
February 25, 2010 9:58:02 AM
memeroot
February 25, 2010 10:57:28 AM
well I have an 8800 now but will upgrade... I dont want to go sli at the moment but do want to run 3 screens. It would be nice to have 3 screens for gaming (which would be ati) but I care more about having 3d in my old games.
I want 3 monitors for work and 1 monitor for gaming... the Asus P7H55D-M EVO seems to offer this (?)
I suppose I could go the lucid route and have a cheap ati 5xxxx card and a fermi (if when) it is released - but then I'd have to have a switcher on the monitors and software switch and no chance sli in the future etc..
I want a fast overclockable board and I'm not sure that thats the Asus P7H55D-M EVO
any other suggestions?
I want 3 monitors for work and 1 monitor for gaming... the Asus P7H55D-M EVO seems to offer this (?)
I suppose I could go the lucid route and have a cheap ati 5xxxx card and a fermi (if when) it is released - but then I'd have to have a switcher on the monitors and software switch and no chance sli in the future etc..
I want a fast overclockable board and I'm not sure that thats the Asus P7H55D-M EVO
any other suggestions?
Score
-1
memerootwell I have an 8800 now but will upgrade... I dont want to go sli at the moment but do want to run 3 screens. It would be nice to have 3 screens for gaming (which would be ati) but I care more about having 3d in my old games.I want 3 monitors for work and 1 monitor for gaming... the Asus P7H55D-M EVO seems to offer this (?)I suppose I could go the lucid route and have a cheap ati 5xxxx card and a fermi (if when) it is released - but then I'd have to have a switcher on the monitors and software switch and no chance sli in the future etc..I want a fast overclockable board and I'm not sure that thats the Asus P7H55D-M EVOany other suggestions?
You're speaking of using the second x16-length slot for a graphics card, rather than the first slot, so you can retain onboard graphics? Forget it if you're gaming, there's not enough bandwidth on the second slot. Its x4 and runs at PCIe 1.1 speed.
Score
-1
memeroot
February 25, 2010 12:09:51 PM
Score
-1
memerootfunny" Best for Multi-Monitor Office PC: The H55M-Pro can support two monitors from a processor’s integrated controller in additional to an x16 card in its four-lane slot." sounded promising for what I needed - but without SLI... are there anyboards which could meet my requirements/desires
AMD and NVidia chipsets support real x16 slots plus integrated graphics. Intel doesn't. The best you can hope to get with integrated Intel graphics enabled is an x4 slot from the chipset, at PCIe 1.1 speed.
Score
-1
jalyst
February 25, 2010 2:19:26 PM
jalyst
February 25, 2010 2:53:26 PM
jalyst
February 25, 2010 2:55:16 PM
mincer
February 25, 2010 6:11:31 PM
ITX info useful. I think this form factor (and SFF systems in general) is very interesting. Especially when talking about 'budget'. I would however have to agree that, as previously stated, this is a little expensive to be considered budget.
Shame only 1 of these boards support RAID. I find this an almost essential feature these days.
Shame only 1 of these boards support RAID. I find this an almost essential feature these days.
Score
0
mincer
February 25, 2010 6:12:19 PM
ITX info useful. I think this form factor (and SFF systems in general) is very interesting. Especially when talking about 'budget'. I would however have to agree that, as previously stated, this is a little expensive to be considered budget.
Shame only 1 of these boards support RAID. I find this an almost essential feature these days.
Shame only 1 of these boards support RAID. I find this an almost essential feature these days.
Score
-2
jalyst
February 26, 2010 3:07:07 AM
CrashmanIf you can get the drivers to work, a secondary slot will work with a graphics card at lower performance. No games, but you get more displays for things like spreadsheets, which is handy in high-end office systems.
Crash man did you see this? Thanks.
What about top-notch SATA RAID controllers, plenty of bandwidth for them still right?
I mean for the ga-h57m-usb3 which is actually 4x, the ga-55m-usb3 isn't, contrary to your review (think Thomas has fixed it now)
Score
-1
jalyst
February 26, 2010 4:29:15 AM
jalystThanks 57m-usb3 it is for me then, seems to be just as good as 55m power-draw & OC-wise, but with added advantage of x4 PCIe & Intel softRAID (prolly won't ever use it)Cheers
Would you like to tell these fine people how Gigabyte managed to disable three pathways on the H55 version of the board?
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0
jalyst
March 3, 2010 2:51:38 AM
jalyst
March 19, 2010 5:10:01 AM
jalyst said:
If I understood you correctly, There's three pathways that aren't completely soldered across.
So with a bit of prowess one could enable x4 PCIe on the 55m-uUSB3!
Don't suppose you could address my last set of qns from our emails?
Thank-you.
One probably could, unless there are other missing links that nobody has spotted yet. What's the rest of the question?
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0
jalyst
March 19, 2010 7:23:57 AM
ream
April 1, 2010 6:58:57 PM
radmos
April 29, 2010 2:49:56 AM
Anonymous
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May 8, 2010 4:01:20 PM
Over the past two months I’ve been pursuing a problem w/ASUS… regarding this board.
BEWARE: if you get a case that has an eSATA front port and you connect it to an internal motherboard [Intel H55 and maybe others] SATA port, it cannot be configured to have an eSATA hard drive ‘safely removed’. You will have to turn off caching (slow) or risk data corruption when removing it.
ASUS customer service is terrible and it will further adversely affect their bottom line because they are ruining their reputation. …So much for their “goal of 100% customer satisfaction”.
They ½-answer submitted technical inquiries to show they care, even though it is obvious they do not want to get to the root of or appropriately solve a problem system builders may be encountering and finding annoying. They do not seem to know Windows very well nor comprehend the underlying problem, nor do they spend any measurable time even reading the history of the problem, trying to determine where the problem really lies. They defer simple system builders to Microsoft $upport when it is clearly not a Microsoft problem. Concurrently they defer to Intel support (the maker of the chip/driver likely causing this problem and a company not selling chips to/supporting end-users) – when ASUS should be contacting Intel themselves, as an integration partner, to resolve issues such as this.
BEWARE: if you get a case that has an eSATA front port and you connect it to an internal motherboard [Intel H55 and maybe others] SATA port, it cannot be configured to have an eSATA hard drive ‘safely removed’. You will have to turn off caching (slow) or risk data corruption when removing it.
ASUS customer service is terrible and it will further adversely affect their bottom line because they are ruining their reputation. …So much for their “goal of 100% customer satisfaction”.
They ½-answer submitted technical inquiries to show they care, even though it is obvious they do not want to get to the root of or appropriately solve a problem system builders may be encountering and finding annoying. They do not seem to know Windows very well nor comprehend the underlying problem, nor do they spend any measurable time even reading the history of the problem, trying to determine where the problem really lies. They defer simple system builders to Microsoft $upport when it is clearly not a Microsoft problem. Concurrently they defer to Intel support (the maker of the chip/driver likely causing this problem and a company not selling chips to/supporting end-users) – when ASUS should be contacting Intel themselves, as an integration partner, to resolve issues such as this.
Score
0
brucemellenOver the past two months I’ve been pursuing a problem w/ASUS… regarding this board.BEWARE: if you get a case that has an eSATA front port and you connect it to an internal motherboard [Intel H55 and maybe others] SATA port, it cannot be configured to have an eSATA hard drive ‘safely removed’. You will have to turn off caching (slow) or risk data corruption when removing it.ASUS customer service is terrible and it will further adversely affect their bottom line because they are ruining their reputation. …So much for their “goal of 100% customer satisfaction”.They ½-answer submitted technical inquiries to show they care, even though it is obvious they do not want to get to the root of or appropriately solve a problem system builders may be encountering and finding annoying. They do not seem to know Windows very well nor comprehend the underlying problem, nor do they spend any measurable time even reading the history of the problem, trying to determine where the problem really lies. They defer simple system builders to Microsoft $upport when it is clearly not a Microsoft problem. Concurrently they defer to Intel support (the maker of the chip/driver likely causing this problem and a company not selling chips to/supporting end-users) – when ASUS should be contacting Intel themselves, as an integration partner, to resolve issues such as this.
Or set the controller to AHCI mode?
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0
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