Intel P55 Motherboard Roundup --- TheThirdMedia Hardware

Introduction

It's still early days yet since the launch of Intel's new mainstream Lynnfield processors and the LGA1156 motherboards that support it. So far, we have no proper sales figures from retail channels on how they have done but judging from the numerous models released by motherboard vendors, they are as optimistic as us when it comes to demand.

In fact, we expect the Intel P55 and a Lynnfield Core i7/i5 processor to have a healthy adoption rate, with most PC vendors refreshing their lineups recently with these processors to coincide with Windows 7. The next year will see even more LGA1156 processors from Intel, with dual-cores joining the fray and lowering the entry cost.

This is why it's probably a good thing that there's much choice in the motherboard market. DFI is the latest vendor to send us its P55 motherboard and there are certainly some new features on this board that's worth taking a look, notably BIOSecure that allows one to update the BIOS via another system, something that we first saw this June at Computex.

We are not exactly fans of this rather ghastly orange and black color scheme on the DFI LANParty DK P55-T3eH9. On first glance, the layout seems very decent with nothing amiss.

DFI LANParty DK P55-T3eH9 Technical Specifications

CPU Support	Intel Lynnfield Core i7/i5 using LGA1156 package
Chipset	Intel P55 Express Chipset
Memory	Supports 4 DIMM DDR3 SDRAM Supports up to 16GB memory size (max 4GB per DIMM) 1800/1600/1333/1066MHz dual channelDDR3 memoryarchitecture
Storage	Intel P55 Express 6 x SATA3.0Gbps ports Intel MatrixStorage Technology Support AHCI controller with SATA RAID 0, RAID 1,RAID 5 and RAID 10 JMicron JMB363 PCIe to PATA controller 1 x IDE connector supporting up to two ATA-133 IDEdevices 1 x eSATA port (back panel) JMicron JMB322 2 x SATA 3.0Gbps ports (RAID 0 and 1)
Audio	Realtek ALC885 8-channel HD Audio CODEC Optical and coaxial S/PDIF (rear panel)
Networking	Intel 82578DC Gigabit LAN controller
IEEE 1394 (FireWire)	Nil
Rear I/O	5 x USB 2.0ports 1 x eSATA/USB 2.0 combo port 1 x RJ45 LANport 1 x optical S/PDIF output connector 1 x coaxial S/PDIF output connector 1x PS/2keyboard port 1 x PS/2 mouse port 1 x Clear CMOS switch 1 x BIOSecure mini-USB port 6 x Audio jacks
Internal Connectors	1 x Ultra ATAIDE connector 8 x SATAconnectors 4 x USB 2.0 headers (Up to 8 USB 2.0 ports) 1 x S/PDIF output header 1 x COM port header 1 x IrDA connector 1 x floppy connector 1 x 24-pin ATX power connector 1 x 8-pin 12V power connector 5 x fan connectors Power and reset switches
Expansion Slots	2 x PCIe 2.0 x16 slots (1 x16 or 2 x8) 1 x PCIe 2.0 x4 slot 2 x PCIe x1slots 2 xPCI slots
Special Features	ABS II CMOS Reloaded BIOSecure Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi
PCB	ATX FormFactor, 30.5 x 24.4cm

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