Sub-$200 Core i5/i7 Motherboard Features | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ASRock | Asus | Biostar | EVGA |
PCB Revision | 1.06 | 1.06G | 5.1 | 1.0 |
Chipset | Intel P55 Express | Intel P55 Express | Intel P55 Express | Intel P55 Express |
Voltage Regulator | 18 Phases (16+2) | 14 Phases (12+2) | 12 Phases (8+4) | 10 Phases (8+2) |
BIOS | 1.70 (09/15/2009) | 0711 (09/24/2009) | 080015 (09/05/2009) | 080016 (10/02/2009) |
133.3 MHz BCLK | 139.6 MHz (+4.7%) | 133.7 MHz (+0.28%) | 133.3 MHz (+0.0%) | 133.2 MHz (-0.10%) |
Clock Generator | ICS 9LPRS140CKLF | ICS 9LPRS140CKLF | RTM85N-914 | ICS 9LPRS139AKLF |
Internal Interfaces | ||||
PCIe 2.0 x16 | 3 (x16/x1/x4, x8/x8/x4) | 3 (x16/x1/x4, x8/x8/x4) | 2 (1 x x16 or 2 x x8) | 3 (x16/x1/x4, x8/x8/x4) |
PCIe x1/x4 | 1/0 | 2/0 | 1/1 | 1/0 |
Legacy PCI | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
USB 2.0 | 3 (6 ports) | 3 (6 ports) | 3 (6 ports) | 3 (6 ports) |
IEEE-1394 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
SerialPort | 1 | 1 | None | None |
ParallelPort | None | None | No | No |
Floppy | Yes | No | Yes | No |
Ultra-ATA 133 | 1 (2-drives) | 1 (2 drives) | 1 (2 drives) | None |
SATA 3.0Gb/s | 6 | 8 | 6 | 6 |
4-Pin Fan | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
3-Pin Fan | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
FP Audio | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
CD Audio | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
S/PDIF I/O | Output Only | Output Only | Output Only | Both |
Power Button | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Reset Button | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
CLR_CMOS Button | Jumper Only | Jumper Only | Jumper Only | Yes |
Diagnostics Panel | Numeric | Pass/Fail LEDs | Numeric | Numeric |
I/O Panel Connectors | ||||
P/S 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
USB 2.0 | 8 (1 Shared w/eSATA) | 8 | 8 | 6 |
IEEE-1394 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Network | Dual (with teaming) | Dual (with teaming) | Dual | Dual |
eSATA | 1 (Shared with USB) | 1 | 2 | 2 |
CLR_CMOS Button | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
Digital Audio Out | Optical+Coaxial | Optical+Coaxial | Optical+Coaxial | Optical+Coaxial |
Digital Audio In | None | None | None | None |
Analog Audio | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
Mass Storage Controllers | ||||
Chipset SATA | 6 x SATA 3.0Gb/s | 6 x SATA 3.0Gb/s | 6 x SATA 3.0Gb/s | 6 x SATA 3.0Gb/s |
Chipset RAID Modes | 0, 1, 5, 10 | 0, 1, 5, 10 | 0, 1, 5, 10 | 0, 1, 5, 10 |
Add-In SATA | JMB363 PCIe | JMB363 PCIe | JMB363 PCIe | 88SE6121 PCIe |
Add-In Ultra ATA | JMB363 PCIe | JMB363 PCIe | JMB363 PCIe | None |
IEEE-1394 | VT6308S PCI | VT6308P PCI | LSI L-FW3227-100 PCI | TSB43AB22A |
Gigabit Ethernet | ||||
Primary LAN | RTL8111DL PCIe | RTL8112L PCIe | Intel WG82578DC PHY | 88E8057 PCIe |
Secondary LAN | RTL8111DL PCIe | RTL810SC PCI | RTL8111DL PCIe | 88E8057 PCIe |
Audio | ||||
HD Audio Codec | ALC890B | VIA VT1828S | ALC888S | ALC889 |
Setting a 133 MHz base clock on the ASRock P55 Deluxe enables the firm's Intelligent Overclocking Technology function, even when that function has been disabled. Instead choosing a 134 MHz base clock disables I.O.T., but gives ASRock a slight speed advantage in the benchmarks. We’ll keep that slight advantage in mind when discussing result charts.
Sub-$200 Core i5/i7 Motherboard Features | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foxconn Inferno | Jetway | Gigabyte | MSI |
PCB Revision | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Northbridge | Intel P55 Express | Intel P55 Express | Intel P55 Express | Intel P55 Express |
Voltage Regulator | 10 Phases (8+2) | 8 Phases (7+1) | 10 Phases (6+4) | 7 Phases (6+1) |
BIOS | 080015 (09/17/2009) | 080015 (09/04/2009) | F4r (09/18/2009) | 1.3 (09/03/2009) |
133.3 MHz BCLK | 133.7 MHz (+0.28%) | 133.3 MHz (+0.0%) | 132.9 MHz (-0.32%) | 133.7 MHz (+0.28%) |
Clock Generator | ICS RS4105BL | ICS 9LPRS919HKL | ICS 9LPRS914EKLF | MSI LRS4116AL |
Internal Interfaces | ||||
PCIe 2.0 x16 | 3 (x16/x1/x4, x8/x8/x4) | 2 (1 x x16 or 2 x x8) | 2 (1 x x16 or 2 x x8) | 2 (1 x x16 or 2 x x8) |
PCIe x1/x4 | 2/0 | 2/0 | 3/0 | 2/1 |
Legacy PCI | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
USB 2.0 | 3 (6 ports) | 3 (6 ports) | 2 (4 ports) | 3 (6 ports) |
IEEE-1394 | None | 0 | 1 | 1 |
SerialPort | None | 1 | 1 | 1 |
ParallelPort | None | 1 | 1 | None |
Floppy | No | No | Yes | Yes |
Ultra-ATA 133 | 1 (2 drives) | 1 (2 drives) | 1 (2 drives) | 1 (2 drives) |
SATA 3.0Gb/s | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 |
4-Pin Fan | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
3-Pin Fan | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
FP Audio | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
CD Audio | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
S/PDIF I/O | Output Only | Output Only | Both | Output Only |
Power Button | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
Reset Button | Yes | Yes | No | No |
CLR_CMOS Button | Jumper Only | Yes | Jumper Only | Jumper Only |
Diagnostics Panel | Numeric | Numeric | No | No |
I/O Panel Connectors | ||||
P/S 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
USB 2.0 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 8 (1 Shared w/eSATA) |
IEEE-1394 | None | None | 2 | 1 |
Network | Single | Dual | Dual (with teaming) | Dual |
eSATA | None | 1 | 2 | 1 (Shared with USB) |
CLR_CMOS Button | Yes | Yes | No | No |
Digital Audio Out | Optical+Coaxial | Optical+Coaxial | Optical+Coaxial | Optical+Coaxial |
Digital Audio In | None | None | None | None |
Analog Audio | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
Mass Storage Controllers | ||||
Chipset SATA | 6 x SATA3.0Gb/s | 6 x SATA3.0Gb/s | 6 x SATA3.0Gb/s | 6 x SATA3.0Gb/s |
Chipset RAID Modes | 0, 1, 5, 10 | 0, 1, 5, 10 | 0, 1, 5, 10 | 0, 1, 5, 10 |
Add-In SATA | None | JMB363 PCIe | JMB363 PCIe | JMB363 PCIe |
Add-In Ultra ATA | 88SE6111 PCIe | JMB363 PCIe | JMB363 PCIe | JMB363 PCIe |
IEEE-1394 | None | None | TSB43AB23 PCI | VT6315N PCIe |
Gigabit Ethernet | ||||
Primary LAN | RTL8111DL PCIe | WG82578DC PHY | RTL8111D PCIe | RTL8111DL PCIe |
Secondary LAN | None | RTL8111DL PCIe | None | None |
Audio | ||||
HD Audio Codec | ALC888S | ALC888 | ALC889A | ALC889 |
- Similar Bang For Fewer Bucks?
- Features Overview
- ASRock P55 Deluxe
- Asus P7P55D EVO
- Biostar TPower I55
- EVGA P55 SLI
- Foxconn Inferno Katana GTI
- Gigabyte P55-UD4P
- Jetway HI05
- MSI P55-GD65
- Test 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
- Overclocking
- Power, Heat, And Efficiency
- Does Biostar Win?
Gigabyte had some additional interesting news about the new P55A-UD4P, where the addition of the letter "A" supposedly means "Advanced" and refers to the addition of SATA 6.0 Gb/s and USB 3.0 controllers. Unfortunately, it wasn't ready when the comparison was written. The "A" also cost slightly more.
2 x USB 3.0
2 x SATA 6Gb/s.
$184.99 on newegg.
$15 for all that sounds great, unless those features are useless to you. SATA 6.0 Gb/s will remain completely useless until long after the board is outdated, and USB 3.0 is nothing more than an eSATA substitute at the moment.
You mean complain? Like you're complaining right now? It's all a matter of logic: There are probably more Windows XP users carrying over their old OS into a new build than there are Ultra ATA users carrying over their ancient hard drives. Therefor, the floppy interface, as outdated as it is, is more useful than the Ultra ATA interface.
The problem as described is that you PAY for an Ultra ATA controller. Why bother? Even if you're an XP devotee you probably don't WANT to pay for an Ultra ATA connector.
But for most motherboards, the floppy interface is free. It doesn't slow down boot times or performance either, if you don't need it you can ignore it.
Well, maybe you can't ignore it, but a logic dictates over emotion in reviews.
THG has no reason to love or hate the floppy connector, no stake in the legacy OS game, but anyone reader who wants to play the hater deserves to be called out for it. As for the manufacturers, honest reporting is Tom's Hardware's goal. Personally, I like the fact that some manufacturers provide legacy features and others don't, both types of products work well.
This is from the page on the EVGA P55 but you can clearly see it is a purple PS/2 port which is for keyboards... lol
If I'm considering an enthusiast-level board, I'd like to see what I'm losing (if anything) by saving an extra $100 and going with the cheaper platform.
I agree. All those multi-colored mobos lined up next to each other are mesmerizing. I'd give you a +1, but I'm anonymous
The solution to the lack of a floppy interface for Win XP raid configuration users is to slipstream the drivers into the Win installation. (Yes, you have to "copy" the Win XP disk, at the cost of a blank CD, and you have to have a functional computer with a burner and the ability to run copy software. But, most builders have this.)
I, personally, am one of the people that will continue to buy MBs with an IDE connector. Why? I have a very quiet, high quality IDE DVD-Burner that will be carried over into any new system I build from my old system. I rarely used the burner on the currently installed pc, thus it is "like new."
The same model burner, installed in my mate's computer, will also be moved to that new system. (Thus, IDE required.)
It is a "cost added" part, and many people don't use it anymore. But, to each their own. (I don't use Firewire, Esata, or more than 4 rear and 1 front USB 2.0 port on any computer. I still have to pay for those.)
As Crashman said, manufacturers provide different features on their products based upon different consumer wishes.
"* When dual graphics cards are used in 1st and 2nd PCIex16 slots, SATA3 / USB 3.0 (Marvell 9128 /NEC USB 3.0 Controllers) will work at normal mode."
http://www.gigabyte.us/Products/Motherboard/Products_Spec.aspx?ClassValue=Motherboard&ProductID=3250&ProductName=GA-P55A-UD4P
That sounds like "normal mode" is refering to PCIe x1, which is 250MB/s (2.5 Gb/s).
haha o wow what a joke. I would spend my money at the CPU or GPU, where it matters.