Braidwood, RIP
We've seen several motherboard designs with these empty spaces for a slot of some sort. It's no secret that this was to be the basis for Intel's Braidwood technology, essentially the evolutionary update to Turbo Memory functioning akin to an on-board SSD up to 16GB large.
Unfortunately, Braidwood and the pin-compatible big-brother to P55--P57--are no more. The good news for those who were planning to hold off on P55 in anticipation of P57/Braidwood is that you don't have to. The bad news is that we'll never know how well the technology might have performed. Initial reports suggest that it really didn't, though.
Back-Panel I/O
ASRock gives value-seekers a nod with twin legacy PS/2 ports, IDE connectivity, and a floppy connector on-board. The rest of the P55 Deluxe's back-panel is wholly modern, though. Coaxial/optical audio, lots of USB 2.0, eSATA, FireWire 400, twin Gigabit Ethernet controllers, and six 1/8" mini-jacks for analog audio are all made accessible.
Simple, Smart, Inexpensive
Intel is positioning the P55 chipset as a mainstream alternative to the X58-based boards out there today. Thus, it's somewhat strange to us that so many vendors are building high-end P55 platforms that overlap in price with the least-expensive X58 solutions already reviewed. Elaborate voltage regulation, bridge chips, complex cooling--it all seems overkill when you think about the enthusiast who held off on Core i7 for LGA 1366 because he didn't want to pay more than $200 for his motherboard.
That's why we think ASRock is playing things smart here by keeping the price down, even on its highest-end P55 board. Intel's first PCH doesn't need much to keep it cool--it's a 4.7W component, after all. A passive cooler monopolizes minimal board space and costs less than a heatpipe-based solution, but it gets the job done all the same.
We'll be curious to see what the P55 Deluxe sells for on the street, especially if MSI's P55-GD80 is competitive (with its fancier cooling and more overclocking-oriented value-adds).
Plenty Of Power
ASRock went with a 16-phase implementation here, which should be plenty for most air/water overclocking efforts.
On several different occasions, I've sought feedback as to why motherboard manufacturers are engaging in this "phase war," especially with P55, a purportedly mid-range platform. Of course, the answer is different, depending who you ask. According to ASRock, additional phases can help stabilize voltages at light loads. Conversations with Gigabyte suggest that more phases distribute loading more evenly, resulting in a cooler circuit. But Intel's upcoming P55 flagship only employs six power phases, and Intel insists it spent its time optimizing component layout, similarly affecting the thermal impact of its design.
We'll be digging deeper into the truths behind power later. Until then, look forward to the P55 launch early next month--we have tons of coverage planned!
