Need help in choosing optimal motherboard

[MaxQuest]

Hello,
I am going to update my PC config to:
CPU: i3 550
GPU: GTX460 SE
RAM: 2x2Gb 1600MHz

Need help in choosing a motherboard that would let me OC the CPU to 4GHz. But I don't want to overpay at the same time.

 

[henydiah]

- ASUS P7P55D-E - LGA 1156 - Intel P55 - DDR3 - USB 3.0 SATA 6 Gb/s - ATX $155.99
- GigaByte GA-P55-UD3R
- GigaByte GA-P55-UD3R Motherboard
- Biostar Tpower 55

http://www.bestcovery.com/best-lga-1156-motherboard-for-value

 

[MaxQuest]

Thanks for reply.
Hmm, P7P55D-E seems a bit costly, compared to Biostar TP55, which is sold for 120$ in my area. And GA-UD3R is out of stock.

But what can you say about:
- Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3L - 110$
- Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3H - 120$
- ASUS P7P55 LX - 119$

Can any of these three, suit my needs?

P.S. Perhaps a stupid question,.. but: do all motherboards on H55 chipset not support RAID? or only those manufactured by Gigabyte?

 

[henydiah]

hmm.. no...

Intel® P55 Express Chipset very very support
3. Support for SATA RAID 0, RAID 1, and JBOD
check ini site gygabite :
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3293#sp

GIGABYTE GA-H55-USB3 : Support for SATA RAID 0, RAID 1, and JBOD
Tpower I55 : chipset H55 Support SATA RAID: 0,1,5,10

 

[MaxQuest]

Well yes, I know that P55 has full support for RAID 0, 1, and so on.
But the chipset I was confused about, is H55.

According to http://ixbtlabs.com/articles3/mainboard/i55h-57h-chipsets-p2.html,
"The H55 is indeed a pure ICH10 without "R": this chipset also lacks a RAID controller."
And at the same time, at gigabytes site indeed is written that GA-H55-USB3 for example, supports RAID 0, 1 and JBOD.

Can someone enlighten me?

-------------
Edit:
I've found a nice article (http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/h55_h57_motherboard_roundup_/) According to which:
"The SATA ports found on the board all utilize the SATA II interface. However, not all the ports are run off the same chip. The five blue ports go directly though the H55 chipset, but the two white ports are handled by the on-board GIGABYTE SATA2 chip. Unfortunately, the H55 chipset does not come with native RAID support so the five blue ports do not support RAID. However, the additional white ports can be used in RAID 0/1, and JBOD through the GIGABYTE SATA2 on-board chip."

- What's the diference between native support by H55 chipset itself and the one by on-board SATA2 chip?

 

[henydiah]

hmm i don't know what you mean, in H55 i just know
the H55 chipset is a complementary pair of Arrandale as H55 itself only consists of a southbridge that will synergize with northbridge functions that have been taken over by the processor.
on-board SATA2 chip : controler Onboard SATA/IDE CTRL Mode ios part of that chipset
but i can wrong ..!

 

[MaxQuest]

Hmm, you didn't understood my question.

I will try to rephrase it:
- Short version: I am going to buy two sata-II HDDs and set them in RAID-0.
Should I expect any difference if the raid functionality will be handled by:
1. M/B chipset, in case I buy a mobo based on P55 chipset
or
2. M/B SATA-II CTRL, in case I buy a mobo based on H55 chipset



Longer version:
There are 4 types of chipsets for 1156 motherboards: P55, H55, H57 and Q57.
H57 - motherboards with H57 are costly (I wont buy it)
Q57 - is not available yet in my area
P55 - supports RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10, but has no support for core i3 550 integrated video. (even through I'm going to by a PCI-E Videocard, it can be handy if I get some issues with main GPU, thus I could use integrated one while waiting for replacement for example)
H55 - supports integrated GPU, but has no RAID functionality.

Now, let's take as example Gigabytes M/B GA-H55M-USB3.
It has 5 "blue" SATA-II controllers that are handled by chipset, and since it's H55, it is not possible to set up them in RAID.
But it also has 2 "white" SATA-II controllers that a re handled by SATA-II on-board CTRL. And it is possible to set these in RAID 0, 1 or JBOD.

The question is: Is it ok if I buy Gigabytes GA-H55M-USB3? Won't I have somehow limited RAID functionality? OR I should buy a M/B on P55 chipset, like GA-P55-USB3?

 

[henydiah]

chipset P55 GYGABYTE

 

[henydiah]

chipset P55 max and other no vgaob can maximum if oc

 

[MaxQuest]

Have found a nice article here on TH: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/275856-12-gigabyte-guide (see "Sorting Out SATA" paragraph)
Indeed it's better to choose P55 over H55

P.S. I've tried to compare some M/B that could potentially suit me: https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?pli=1&hl=en&hl=en&key=trOdqlSRl82pthMDrNVr65g&authkey=CIi48scO#gid=0

And now from 24 candidates, I am choosing out of 2:
- GA-P55-US3L 2.1 (110$)
- GA-P55-USB3 (134$)

The only difference is number of pins of CPU power connector (4 pins vs 8 pins) and USB 3.0 support for P55-USB3 model.

From one point of view, I might need a more balanced load since I will OC the CPU a bit. And from another PoV i3 550 consumes just 73Wt.

Any thoughts?

 

[henydiah]

Mobo support Usb3 more better, new generation mobo all use usb3, I cannot check out review this mobo because I use phone

 

[henydiah]

Sorruy I don't know why double pm

 

[henydiah]

Massage Deleted ignore it

 

[MaxQuest]

Ok, thanks =)

Moreover I just observed that for some weird reason GA-P55-US3L is based H55 chipset.
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3502#sp