1

As you guys know Intel is slowly but steadily preparing to release the new mainstream Core i5 series processors. Core i5 is quite different from Core i7, it's based on Lynfield architecture and as such the processor will (unfortunately) come with a new pin socket design; Socket LGA 1156.

The new Core i5 processors will of course over time slowly replace the Core 2 Quad and Core 2 Duo series of processors in the long run. That series will actually be renamed towards Core i3, we kid you not. From what we can tell there will be three models Core i5 released at launch, all are quad-core processors and based on the Lynnfield core, using 45nm fabrication process.

Some key features of Core i5 processors:

• Four x86 processing cores with support for HyperThreading technology
• Dual-channel DDR3 memory controller specified to run DDR3-1066 and DDR3-1333 modules
• 8 MB of L3 cache, and support for TurboBoost technology.
• The three processors will have clock frequencies of 2.66 GHz, 2.80 GHz, and 2.93 GHz and priced respectively $196, $284, and $562 USD though prices may change.

To facilitate the new Core i5 processors Intel has been working on the P55 chipset, this chipset will replace P45. P55 supports both Lynnfield 45nm Nehalem family based quad-cores and IGP dual-core Nehalem codenamed based Havendale processors. It looks that Lynnfield (Core i5) will launch in late Q3 2009 or early Q4 2009, while Havendale will ship in Q1 2010.

But with a new processor architecture, you often need a new chipset for the motherboard.

The upcoming P55 motherboard chipset for Core i5 supports one PCIe 16X or two eight-speed PCIe cards, it is a single chip architecture design. 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. The chipset 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 the 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 about Gigabyte's P55 offering.

So my fellow Guru's let's meet and greet the Gigabyte P55 UD4P motherboard  ....