Final Words & Conclusion

Final Words & Conclusion

It is hard to believe that the P55 chipset was released precisely a year ago, and ever since its release it was received with moderate success. See P55 is supposable a high-end chipset, but the majority of end users go for X58 with a LGA 1366 processor socket, so they can gain triple channel memory support and more PCie lanes.

Next to that fact is that the P55 we feel lacked additional features, Intel is just downright lazy implementing native USB 3 and SATA 3 6G connectivity. So while the basis is really good, it needed to be a little more snazzier and snappier.

ECS brushed away the flaws the P55 chipset has really as they simply went nuts while designing this motherboard. Spared no expense we spot two NEC USB 3.0 controllers, we get to play around with SATA 3 6G thanks to an additional Marvell controller, they added an extra PLX chip and tied it in to the DMI interface for a 4 extra PCIe lanes covering the bandwidth needs of the new fast interconnects over USB 3.0 and SATA 6G and then added an NVIDIA NF2100 chip which functions as x16 PCie lane switch chip in-between the x16 PCIe graphics slots, enabling 3-way SLI as an option in a 16:8:8 configuration.

Next to that we see an overhaul of the motherboard, we spot nothing other than quality VRMs, MOSFETs and capacitors. Layout wise the motherboard makes sense as everything is at a logical place and well implemented. The change to a two tone color design works out great as well. No comments there either. These are some very expensive choices that ECS made in the P55 segment, quite honestly .... how good would this motherboard have been on X58 ? :)

A vast improvement as well is the BIOS structure and layout. Each and every time we tested an ECS motherboard we had to complain and nag about something. And though the BIOS still is not perfect, I would give it 7 out of 10 points. The features are logical, the overclock features are good, but not extensive enough for the real entrepreneur. In the new OC BIOS segment things could be organized a bit better, but overall it is a nice improvement opposed to what we are used to from ECS. Even user based profiles can be saved and loaded, a very important feature.

What ECS does need to work on is proper RPM control over all FAN headers, currently you may only control two out of four headers, which is too little. Also ECS needs to focus on a BIOS enabled firmware flash utility. Managing a firmware upgrade from within windows is an option, but that's always at unneeded and increased risk.

Silly things: the diagnostic POST LED with will display error and status codes, but ECS forgot to list the actual diagnostic codes in the manual, so it is rendered useless. Also what all other manufacturers do is that once you loaded and booted into Windows this POST led will show processor temperatures. This one shows nothing other than an FF code.

Also in the BIOS when you OC, then hit save and exit .. the motherboard shuts down. It does not auto restart so you'll need to manually enable it again by pressing power on.

Another one, so simple .. who adds orange SATA connectors with a black/white tone motherboard ?

The next step for ECS to reach the really enthusiast crowd will be implementing features like OC buttons, voltage monitor points and extra voltage switches. Also stuff like easy insert DIMM sockets would be wishful thinking.

But that's all small stuff though, the P55H-AK is very nice motherboard that offers excellent baseline performance, and heaps of features for any purpose. The one thing that might bother you is the price though, all the extra controllers and ICs drive pricing up, we expect the board to retail at a shocking 239 EUR / 299 USD which certainly is a lot of money in what should be the mainstream range.

This board is designed for the mainstream to low-level enthusiast end user with a tasty appetitive for new features. The board is also relatively overclocker friendly to the novice that just wants a little more performance without a lot of hassle thanks to quick overclock functions from within the BIOS.

So while not yet at the level of a Rampage III Extreme or Big bang series P55 motherboard, ECS is trying to govern the competition with a more feature-rich solution that is reasonably priced if you bare in mind what you receive. The P55H-AK is attractive to look at. It certainly is impressive and amongst the fastest performing P55 motherboard we've tested to date. We just hope that it's release is not too late with Sandy Bridge already luring just around the corner.

Regardless, with all the extra's and wide ranging feature set we can't do anything other then recommend the P55H-AK, it's a motherboard you will enjoy very much.

More info here.

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