Home theater builders will be happy to see that every motherboard in today’s comparison supports combined video and audio signals using either HDMI or DisplayPort, while a dual-display output capability is a boon to office users. Yet none of these platforms are capable of providing dual-link DVI, so users who require 2560x1600 pixels of desktop space on a single display will likely need to add a video card.
| H55 Motherboard Features | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ASRock H55M-Pro | Asus P7H55D-M EVO | Biostar TH55XE | |
| PCB Revision | 1.04 | 1.03G | 5.0 |
| Chipset | Intel H55 Express | Intel H55 Express | Intel H55 Express |
| Voltage Regulator | Six Phases | 12 Phases | Seven Phases |
| BIOS | P1.60 (01/21/2010) | 9994 (01/20/2010) | H55AA107 (01/07/2010) |
| 133.3 MHz BCLK | 133.9 MHz (+0.43%) | 133.4 MHz (+0.05%) | 133.3 MHz (+0.0%) |
| Clock Generator | ICS 98LPRS142AGLF | ICS 9LPRS140CKLF | Realtek RTM885T-926 |
| Internal Interfaces | |||
| PCIe x16 | 2 (x16/x4) | 1 (x16) | 1 (x16) |
| PCIe x1/x4 | 1/0 | 0/2 | 0/1 |
| Legacy PCI | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| USB 2.0 | 3 (6 ports) | 3 (6 ports) | 3 (6 ports) |
| IEEE-1394 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Serial Port | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Parallel Port | 1 | None | 1 |
| Floppy | No | No | No |
| Ultra-ATA 133 | None | 1 (2 drives) | 1 (2 drives) |
| SATA 3.0 Gb/s | 5 | 6 | 5 |
| SATA 6.0 Gb/s | None | None | None |
| 4-Pin Fan | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 3-Pin Fan | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| FP-Audio | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CD-Audio | No | No | No |
| S/PDIF I/O | Output Only | Output Only | None |
| Power Button | No | No | Yes |
| Reset Button | No | No | Yes |
| CLR_CMOS Button | Jumper Only | Jumper Only | Jumper Only |
| Diagnostics Panel | None | Pass/Fail LEDs | Pass/Fail LEDs |
| I/O Panel Connectors | |||
| P/S 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| USB 2.0 | 6 (1 Shared w/eSATA) | 4 | 4 |
| USB 3.0 | None | 2 | None |
| IEEE-1394 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Network | 1 | Single | Single |
| eSATA | 1 (Shared with USB) | 1 | 1 |
| CLR_CMOS Button | No | No | No |
| Digital Audio Out | Optical, HDMI | Optical, HDMI | Optical, HDMI |
| Digital Audio In | None | None | None |
| Analog Audio | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Video Outputs | DVI, HDMI, VGA | DVI, HDMI, VGA | DVI, HDMI, VGA |
| DVI Dual Link | No | No | No |
| Dual Monitor | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mass Storage Controllers | |||
| Chipset SATA | 6x SATA 3.0 Gb/s | 6x SATA 3.0 Gb/s | 5x SATA 3.0 Gb/s 1x eSATA 3.0 Gb/s |
| Chipset RAID Modes | None | None | None |
| Add-In SATA | None | 88SE6111 PCIe 1x eSATA 3.0 Gb/s | None |
| Add-In Ultra ATA | None | 88SE6111 PCIe | JMB368 PCIe |
| USB 3.0 | None | NEC D720200F1 | None |
| IEEE-1394 | VT6308S PCI 2x 400 Mb/s | VT6315N PCIe 2x 400 Mb/s | FW3227 PCI 2x 400 Mb/s |
| Gigabit Ethernet | |||
| Primary LAN | RTL8111DL PCIe | RTL8112L PCIe | RTL8111DL PCIe |
| Secondary LAN | None | None | None |
| Audio | |||
| HD Audio Codec | VT1718S | ALC889 | ACL888 |
| DDL/DTS Connect | None | None | None |
| H55 Motherboard Features | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ECS H55H-I | EVGA H55 | Foxconn H55MX-S | |
| PCB Revision | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.1 |
| Northbridge | Intel H55 Express | Intel H55 Express | Intel H55 Express |
| Voltage Regulator | Four Phases | Six Phases | Six Phases |
| BIOS | 080016 (01/08/2010) | 080016 (12/22/2009) | 996F1P02 (01/08/2010) |
| 133.3 MHz BCLK | 133.6 MHz (+0.20%) | 133.2 MHz (-0.10%) | 133.0 MHz |
| Clock Generator | ICS RS4180BL | ICS 9LPRS139AKLF | ICS RS4105BL |
| Internal Interfaces | |||
| PCIe x16 | 1x (x16) | 2 (x16/x4) | 1 (x16) |
| PCIe x1/x4 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/1 |
| Legacy PCI | None | 3 | 2 |
| USB 2.0 | 2 (4 ports) | 2 (4 ports) | 3 (6 ports) |
| IEEE-1394 | None | 1 | None |
| Serial Port | None | None | 1 |
| Parallel Port | None | None | None |
| Floppy | None | No | Yes |
| Ultra-ATA 133 | None | 1 (2 drives) | None |
| SATA 3.0 Gb/s | 4 | 8 | 6 |
| SATA 6.0 Gb/s | None | None | None |
| 4-Pin Fan | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 3-Pin Fan | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| FP-Audio | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CD-Audio | No | No | No |
| S/PDIF I/O | Output Only | Both | Output Only |
| Power Button | No | Yes | No |
| Reset Button | No | Yes | No |
| CLR_CMOS Button | No | Yes | Jumper Only |
| Diagnostics Panel | None | Numeric | None |
| I/O Panel Connectors | |||
| P/S 2 | None | 1 | 1 |
| USB 2.0 | 6 | 8 | 6 |
| USB 3.0 | None | None | None |
| IEEE-1394 | None | 1 | None |
| Network | Single | Single | Single |
| eSATA | 1 | None | None |
| CLR_CMOS Button | None | Yes | No |
| Digital Audio Out | Optical, HDMI | DisplayPort Only | Optical, HDMI |
| Digital Audio In | None | None | None |
| Analog Audio | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Video Outputs | DVI, HDMI, VGA | DVI, VGA, DisplayPort | HDMI, DVI-I (Supports VGA) |
| DVI Dual Link | No | No | No |
| Dual Monitor | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mass Storage Controllers | |||
| Chipset SATA | 4x SATA 3.0 Gb/s 1x eSATA 3.0 Gb/s | 6x SATA 3.0 Gb/s | 6x SATA 3.0 Gb/s |
| Chipset RAID Modes | None | None | None |
| Add-In SATA | None | JMB363 PCIe 2x SATA 3.0 Gb/s | None |
| Add-In Ultra ATA | None | JMB363 PCIe | None |
| USB 3.0 | None | None | None |
| IEEE-1394 | None | TSB43AB22A PCI 2x 400 Mb/s | None |
| Gigabit Ethernet | |||
| Primary LAN | RTL8111DL PCIe | 88E6057 PCIe | RTL8111DL PCIe |
| Secondary LAN | None | None | None |
| Audio | |||
| HD Audio Codec | ALC892 | ALC889 | ALC888S |
| DDL/DTS Connect | None | None | None |
| H55 Motherboard Features | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gigabyte H55M-USB3 | Intel DP57KG | MSI H55M-ED55 | |
| PCB Revision | 1.0 | E47218-402 | 1.0 |
| Northbridge | Intel H55 Express | Intel H57 Express | Intel H55 Express |
| Voltage Regulator | Seven Phases | Three Phases | Five Phases |
| BIOS | F3a (01/08/2010) | 2251 (01/25/2010) | 1.4 (01/12/2010) |
| 133.3 MHz BCLK | 132.9 MHz (-0.32%) | 133.4 MHz (+0.05%) | 133.7 MHz (+0.28%) |
| Clock Generator | Realtek RTM885N-914 | SLG505YC264CT | MSI LRS4116AL |
| Internal Interfaces | |||
| PCIe x16 | 2 (x16/x1) | 1 (x16) | 2 (x16/x4) |
| PCIe x1/x4 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/0 |
| Legacy PCI | 2 | None | 1 |
| USB 2.0 | 3 (6 ports) | 3 (6 ports) | 3 (6 ports) |
| IEEE-1394 | 1 | None | None |
| Serial Port | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Parallel Port | None | None | 1 |
| Floppy | Yes | No | No |
| Ultra-ATA 133 | 1 (2 drives) | None | 1 (2 drives) |
| SATA 3.0 Gb/s | 7 | 4 | 6 |
| SATA 6.0 Gb/s | None | None | None |
| 4-Pin Fan | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 3-Pin Fan | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| FP-Audio | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CD-Audio | Yes | No | Yes |
| S/PDIF I/O | Both | Output Only | Output Only |
| Power Button | No | No | Yes |
| Reset Button | No | No | Yes |
| CLR_CMOS Button | Jumper Only | Jumper Only | No |
| Diagnostics Panel | None | None | None |
| I/O Panel Connectors | |||
| P/S 2 | 1 | None | 1 |
| USB 2.0 | 4 | 6 | 6 |
| USB 3.0 | 2 | None | None |
| IEEE-1394 | 1 | None | None |
| Network | Single | Single | Single |
| eSATA | 1 (Powered) | 1 | 1 (Powered) |
| CLR_CMOS Button | No | No | No |
| Digital Audio Out | Optical, DisplayPort | Optical, HDMI | Optical, DisplayPort |
| Digital Audio In | None | None | None |
| Analog Audio | 6 | 5 | 6 |
| Video Outputs | DVI, HDMI, VGA, DisplayPort | HDMI, DVI-I (Supports VGA) | DVI, VGA, DisplayPort |
| DVI Dual Link | No | No | No |
| Dual Monitor | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mass Storage Controllers | |||
| Chipset SATA | 6x SATA 3.0 Gb/s | 4x SATA 3.0 Gb/s 1x eSATA 3.0 Gb/s | 6x SATA 3.0 Gb/s |
| Chipset RAID Modes | None | RAID 0/1/5/10 | None |
| Add-In SATA | JMB363 PCIe 2x SATA 3.0 Gb/s | None | JMB363 PCIe 1x eSATA 3.0 Gb/s |
| Add-In Ultra ATA | JMB363 PCIe | None | JMB363 PCIe |
| USB 3.0 | NEC D720200F1 | None | None |
| IEEE-1394 | TSB43AB23 PCI 2x 400 Mb/s | None | None |
| Gigabit Ethernet | |||
| Primary LAN | RTL8111D PCIe | Intel WG82578DC PHY | RTL8111DL PCIe |
| Secondary LAN | None | None | |
| Audio | |||
| HD Audio Codec | ALC889 | ALC889 | ALC889 |
| DDL/DTS Connect | Dolby Digital Live | None | None |
Previous
Next
Summary
- Is Size A Feature?
- Features Comparison
- ASRock H55M Pro
- Asus P7H55D-M EVO
- Biostar TH55XE
- ECS H55H-I Mini-ITX
- EVGA H55 ATX
- Foxconn H55MX-S
- Gigabyte H55M-USB3
- Intel DH57JG Mini-ITX
- MSI H55M-ED55
- Test Settings
- Benchmark Results: Crysis
- Benchmark Results: DiRT 2
- Benchmark Results: Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X.
- Benchmark Results: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call Of Pripyat
- Benchmark Results: Audio And Video Encoding
- Benchmark Results: Productivity
- Synthetic Benchmarks: Futuremark
- Synthetic Benchmarks: SiSoftware Sandra
- Overclocking Results
- Conclusion
Ask a Category Expert
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-core-i5-661,2514-11.html
At least Foxconn still makes really cheap stuff...
Honestly though, I'm more interested what's the lowest voltage you can get on stock clocks and DDR3 1066 cas6.
=)
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.
http://techgage.com/article/overclocking_intels_core_i5-661/1
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. =)
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.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130237
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103724
Thats $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?
Intel had a new chipset, why wouldn't a site cover that? Please look for upcoming articles on AMD's new chipset as soon as its released
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.
Couldn't meet the deadline...this article would have been published two to three weeks earlier if not for a processor failure.
Patrick is working on an article using that board