The P55 chipset
The P55 chipset
So the P55 chipset itself and the Lynnfield processors are still under embargo. We can only share with you the information that already is public.
The upcoming P55 motherboard chipset supports one PCIe 16X or two eight-speed PCIe cards, it is a single chip architecture. Though the final specs are still based on speculation, when it comes to input / output capabilities we are talking about support for 14 USB 2.0 ports with integrated USB 2.0 Rate matching hubs, 6 SATA 3.0 Gb/s ports and an integrated Gigabit LAN Ethernet.
The chipset will also supports Integrated Clocking Buffer Through Mode, provides Thermal Sensor Data via SMBUS for discrete Fan Control Solutions and Intel Matrix Storage Technology 9.0. New Intel matrix storage has a new user interface for managing all storage related tasks, support for RAID 0,1,5 and 10, Rapid recover technology and FIS-based port multiplier support on 2 SATA ports.
Motherboards manufacturers already have been preparing new mainboards for the new processors for a while now. In the enthusiast segment of chipsets Intel has developed the P55 chipset, this chipset will be widely adopted for the more overclocking and tweaking crowd. That's right, it would be you guys.
We have another opportunity to show you a P55 motherboard stripped down butt-nekkid. Now we can't say much more about the chipset, neither can we test it with a processor. So this sneak preview is merely a quickie session with photo's the ASUS P7P55D Deluxe.
Check it out, the motherboard featuring a 16 + 3 phase design rather than 12-phase. It offers four DDR3-2133 (!) memory slots.
This board also has a lot of overclocker-friendly features, such as on-board DIP switches to control voltages. You'll notice in the photo shoot that is comes with 3x 16x PCIe slots 2.0 two of which are split off from the main PCI-E bus coming directly from the CPU. When a single slot is populated, it will run at x16 but for SLI and CrossFire, the slots will run at x8/x8/x4.
The board features eight SATA II 3.0Gbps ports as well as dual gigabit Ethernet, 7.1 Realtek HD audio and the Express Gate instant-on OS feature. The board also comes bundled with a TurboV overclocking remote and corresponding software, Turbo Key, Xtreme Phase, Anti-EMI, and StackCool 3+ The board comes with what is called their 'Hybrid' TurboV EVO processor, it makes overclocking easier. It works together with ASUS Auto Tuning, TurboV and Turbo Key technologies. All features that we will explain in the final review..
Next to the six standard SATA II ports additional JMicron controllers provides additional SATA ports, and one IDE connector. Two Gigabit Ethernet connections, 8-channel audio, Firewire, and 14 USB ports make for the rest of the package.
Head on over to the next page where we'll show you everything there is to be seen on on this motherboard.
