While most enthusiasts lusted over the superb performance of Intel’s Core i7 technology and X58 platform when the combo was launched last year, the majority waited for something cheaper. After all, motherboards took their sweet time breaking out under $200, and the least-expensive Bloomfield processor, the i7-920, still costs $270.
News of an upcoming “mainstream” processor family, complete with a new socket interface and a less-expensive chipset, had to sustain value-seekers for 10 unbearably long months. Intel knows what it's doing, though. The company still has a perfectly adequate supply of Core 2 products in the channel already, which are still solid performers and worth mid-range prices.

While the initial release of LGA 1156-based processors has yet to yield any “inexpensive” products (a $200 Core i5-750 is still considered upper-mainstream), we can certainly find significant cost savings in motherboards compared to the X58 generation. It'd seem to be the perfect time to strike out in search of value-oriented P55 platforms.
However, let’s not forget that the current range of P55-based motherboards is still immature and unproven, a combination that can be catastrophic for early adopters. Just as worrisome for mainstream converts is how quality is often proportional to price. Is today’s crop of mainstream products a pathway to the future for budget-oriented buyers or a recipe for disaster?
- Core i7 (And i5) For The Value Crowd?
- Features Comparison
- ASRock P55 Pro
- Asus P7P55D
- ECS P55H-A
- Gigabyte P55-UD3R
- MSI P55-CD53
- Hardware And Software Configuration
- Benchmark Results: Crysis And Far Cry 2
- Benchmark Results: Clear Sky And World In Conflict
- Benchmark Results: Audio And Video Encoding
- Benchmark Results: Productivity
- Benchmark Results: Synthetic
- BIOS, Overclocking, Power And Heat
- The Perils Of Overclocking
- Conclusion
http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=P55%20Pro
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157171
The Asrock P55 Extreme at $140 offers 8x-8x
Might have burnt out a CPU and not know the cause.
I think you're jumping to conclusions here. Tom's reviewed some boards a while back for the 1366 socket and gave ASRock first place for quality and value.
Yeah and the GIGABYTE GA-P55-UD4P is priced similarly and sports 8x8x configuration and more SATA ports.
I believe well-featured P55 mobos are still expensive for the mainstream market.
Intel made the memory controllers on Asus and Gigabyte P45/X48 motherboards. If it fails after two hours, there's a chance you're using inferior-quality memory.
They're already using up all the PCIe lanes, when they put a second x16 slot on a board and feed it with four of the P55's eight. Sorry, the P55 isn't designed to support a buch of high-bandwidth slots, that's what the X58's for.
"will there be a chipset made by Nvidia for 1366 socket or 1156 socket intel cpus?"
Cause Nvidia is making good chipsets with both on-board VGA for mainstream and upper mainstream cpus.
The answer is NO
Do all 3 power connectors need to be hooked up? Thanks!
I'd like one of these.