Intel P55 and Intel H55

Now we'll try to answer a question which we asked four months ago: which chipset should you choose for a Socket 1156 processor? First of all, you must understand that incompatibilities between different chipsets and processors for this socket are not radical. Any of these processors will work in a motherboard with any of these chipsets. The question is whether you lose the integrated graphics which you have to pay for anyway. This seems simple: if you want to use Clarkdale's integrated graphics, take the H57. If you want a regular SLI/CrossFire, go with the P55 (note that by regular we don't mean "full-fledged dual x16"). However, you cannot have both. Now what about the most likely case, when you plan to use a single graphics card? In this case, there is absolutely no difference between the P55 and H57. Even chipset prices do not matter, since you will buy a ready motherboard, not a chipset alone. An H55-based motherboard may be a little cheaper though, but there may be no truly attractive motherboards with this chipset, I'm afraid. So you do have a choice, but there are no definite options worth paying more. On the whole, Socket 1156 processors seem to have decent chipset support.