Manufacturer's Product Page: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
Warranty: 3 year limited warranty (with 1st year advanced RMA service)
As most of you are aware, Intel's mainstream 'Lynnfield' Core i5 and Core i7 LGA1156 processors have launched and motherboard manufacturers have overwhelmingly embraced this new platform. As a result, the market has quite literally been flooded with P55 motherboards, ranging from $110 to $400CDN. While all consumers enjoy having choices, the sheer scope of new models introduced has left people's heads spinning. While our previews were well-received and shed some light on the various P55 offerings pre-launch, nothing comes close to a proper review. With that said, today we will be bringing you one of the higher-end P55 models in the ASUS roster, the P7P55D Deluxe.
Second only to the P7P55D Premium, the Deluxe comes packed to the gills with goodies. It naturally supports all current LGA1156 Core i5 & Core i7 processors, has a stout 16+3 phase power design, four DDR3 memory slots with frequency support up to DDR3-2200 (O.C), three mechanical PCI-E x16 slots with CrossFireX & SLI support, dual Gigabit LAN ports, an impressive 10-channel HD audio CODEC, 9 SATA ports, 14 USB 2.0 ports, 2 FireWire ports, 1 eSATA port, a new TurboV EVO real-time overclocking processor with accompanying TurboV remote, onboard power/reset switches, and a socketed BIOS chip. And that's just physical aspects. One of this motherboard's most highly touted new features is its automatic overclocking capabilities, which are said to be generations above anything we've encountered in the past.
In this tough field, this board is trying to make an impression and judging from the ASUS pedigree of years past, this board is already leading the charge into the P55 space. Indeed, with its price of about $250 here in Canada, it is able to offer a bevy of features without breaking the bank.
It should also be noted that ASUS has recently added advanced RMA service within the first year of their warranty coverage. This means they will cross-ship you a replacement board so you won't have to experience the usual long delay when it comes to getting your system up and running again.
Enough talking, let's start testing this motherboard...
Specifications
Intel's new P55 Express 'Ibex Peak' chipset is a true break from their traditional chipset design. Unlike all previous Intel chipsets which featured both a northbridge and a southbridge (eg. X58 Express + ICH10R), the P55 is a one-chip solution. As such, it has been given the new designation of Platform Controller Hub (PCH). When it comes to PCI-Express 2.0 connectivity things get a little complicated with this chipset since in the past, the northbridge supplied the graphics-related PCI-E lanes. However, Lynnfield processors feature an industry-first: an integrated PCI-E controller that supports 16 PCI-E 2.0 lanes supplying two mechanical PCI-E x16 slots. If only one graphics card is installed, it will operate at the full electrical x16 speed and if two graphics cards are installed, the PCI-E lanes are divided between both PCI-E x16 slots and they will operate at x8 each. On motherboards with three mechanical PCI-E x16 slots, the first two slots will each operate at x8 while the third slot will operate at x4. How is this possible if we have already established that the integrated PCI-E controller only supports 16 PCI-E lanes? The additional 4 PCI-E lanes come from the P55 PCH itself, which can supply up to 8 PCI-E 1.0 lanes in total.
On the connectivity front, the P55 supports 14 USB 2.0 ports and 6 SATA II ports with Matrix Storage Technology. It also features one Gigabit LAN port and HD Audio Technology. It does not feature support for Intel's Trusted Execution Technology (TXT), formerly known as LaGrande, which provides hardware-level protection against malicious software.
The P55 PCH communicates to the processor via the Direct Media Interface (DMI), which is a 2 GB/s point-to-point connection, which is roughly equivalent to a PCI-E x4 1.0 link. By the way, the DMI is by no means new, it has long been used as the link between the northbridge and southbridge.
Much like the P45 Express and X58 Express chipsets, the P55 PCH is manufactured on the venerable 65nm process, and it has a low default voltage of 1.0V. As a result of this low voltage, and the simple fact that the P55 does not actually do much, it does run quite cool. Did we mention that it is also quite tiny? The P55's package size of just 27mm x 27mm, and the actual die is a minuscule 8mm x 8mm.
While that is all there is to know about this new chipset, here is the specifications list for the P7P55D Deluxe motherboard itself. Despite this platform's supposedly mainstream roots, you will definitely see that ASUS have omitted nothing from this high-end P55 motherboard.
This motherboard's specifications list is impressive enough to go head-to-head against almost any X58 motherboard on the market right now, which says a lot about the faith ASUS has in this new platform.
Features
ASUS has a new design philosophy that is called Xtreme Design, and it incorporates 3 elements: performance, safety and reliability. There are too many new innovations to list in this piece, but we will go over a few of the more interesting aspects.
Package & Accessories
Enough with the paper specs, time to check out the product itself starting with a brief look at the package and accessories.
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Here we have the shiny blue/purple-ish box that is the mainstay for nearly all ASUS Intel-based motherboards, but with one minor change: a flap. Although the box is already adorned with logos illustrating this model's numerous features and specifications, the flap has quite a bit of additional information about all of the interesting ASUS-specific features that the P7P55D Deluxe comes with. Essentially, if you take a few moments to look and read the box, you will know exactly what you are getting with this product.
The accessories bundle is a little light, but honestly there's nothing missing. There are six SATA cables, three of which have a 90-degree connectors and the customary IDE cable. There is the anti-EMI I/O panel and Q-Connectors, which make attaching the case cables to the system panel connector a much easier process. ASUS have also included an SLI bridge and a USB/eSATA PCI expansion bracket. Last, but certainly not least, is the one-of-a-kind TurboV remote, which allows for real-time system overclocking in coordination with the TurboV EVO chip. It also allows you to select Turbo Key and EPU profiles.
A Closer Look at the ASUS P7P55D Deluxe
Without further ado, here is the P7P55D Deluxe in all its glory:
Upon first glance this motherboard's layout is nearly perfect. The 8-pin CPU power connector, overvoltage switches, 24-pin ATX power connector, IDE connector, SATA ports, USB and FireWire headers and onboard power/reset buttons are all ideally located on the edges of the motherboard. The TurboV remote connector is a little hard to reach, and the CPU fan header is in a slightly unusual position, but none of these are deal-breakers. We definitely like the black PCB and it looks great with the new blue & white theme, especially with the striking low profile chipset cooler.
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The general CPU socket area on this motherboard is quite interesting. The LGA1156 socket and the retention module are both obviously new designs, but the truly eye-catching feature is definitely the 16+3 phase power design, as evidenced by the 19 sealed chokes. The MOSFET heatsinks are connected to each other by a heatpipe, and they are fairly low profile, so interference problems are highly unlikely with any well-designed CPU cooler. We are not too keen on the bucket load of capacitors so near to the CPU socket since it will make insulating the socket a tough job but few users will ever encounter this issue.
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The DDR3 memory slots support overclocked memory frequencies up to DDR3-2133, however the truly impressive specification is the 4-phase power design. We are glad to see that the Q-DIMM memory slot design, which is clipless on one end, has found its way from the Maximus II GENE to this model. The reason for this innovative design is due to the fact that the clips would have come into contact with the back of the graphics card and would have made removal of the memory modules impossible without first removing the graphics card.
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Around the memory slots is the MemOk! button, which can fix any compatibility issues between the motherboard and the memory and allow the system to boot. To the right of the MemOk! button is the TurboV EVO chip, a real-time hardware overclocking processor. Above the memory slots are the new overvoltage switches for the DRAM, the Integrated Memory Controller (IMC) and the CPU, which allow you to unlock higher voltages in the BIOS...but remember that these unlocked voltages are insanely high, so be careful. By the way, the use of switches for this feature has made the P7P55D Deluxe a jumper-less motherboard.
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The P7P55D Deluxe features six right-angle SATA II (3Gb/s) ports, which are supplied by the P55 chipset. The dark blue and light gray SATA ports are provided by the popular JMicron JMB322 controller, which also plays a role in the Drive Xpert RAID 0/1 feature. A JMicron JMB363 controller, which is hidden under the heatsink, supplies the black SATA port and IDE port.
Speaking of the chipset heatsink, we like its low profile and interesting design and look forward to testing its cooling capabilities.
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The overall expansion slot layout and assortment is excellent. There are three full-sized PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots, two PCI-E x1 slots, and two legacy PCI slots. In a single graphics card configuration, the blue PCI-E x16 slot will operate at the full x16 speed, while the black slot will run at x4. When two graphics cards are installed in the blue and white PCI-E x16 slots, they will operate at x8 each with the black slot once again operating at x4. This motherboard does support Quad-GPU CrossFireX and Quad-GPU SLI with two dual-GPU graphics cards. Attempting to run three graphics cards would be pointless for gaming purposes since the third card would run at x4 and thus be a huge bottleneck.However, if you partake in Folding@Home, you could feasibly run three graphics cards on this motherboard without issue.
Below the expansion slots are the always welcome onboard power and reset buttons, and you can also spot the socketed BIOS chip. This is a good design choice since ASUS can simply ship you a new BIOS chip should an update go terribly wrong. However, we would prefer to see two BIOS chips since that would prevent any downtime.
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Starting clockwise from the top-left, we see the VIA VT2020 10-channel High Definition Audio CODEC. This is a newer, previously unseen onboard audio solution which should prove to be a tough competitor to the dominant Realtek ALC888/889 series. It supports such niceties as DTS Surround Sensation and the ASUS Noise Filter feature. The Realtek 8110SC and 8112L are both Gigabit LAN controllers. At this point, we aren't entirely sure why ASUS chose two difference models, nor why they did not make use of the P55's native Intel Gigabit LAN support, but we assume it has something to do with the ASUS AI NET 2 feature.
In the last image we have three different chips. The well-known EPU2 chip has been enhanced with newer functions, but it continues to work to help maximize energy efficiency based on the system load. The T.Probe (at the bottom) and PEM ICs are the brand new power phase management controllers. These chips manages the VRM area in real-time to balance load across the power phases and ensure the best possible efficiency and temperatures.
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As labeled, the TURBO_CON is where to plug in the TurboV remote. We would have prefered to see this header on the I/O panel, but for now all you need to do is slide the remote's wire in between two I/O panel modules which isn't a big deal. The space between the I/O module and the MOSFET heatsink is rather small though, so those with larger fingers may have to use pliers to connect/disconnect the remote's connector from the header.
The entire P7P55D series features a proper 8-pin CPU power connector, but judging by the fact that our board came with a plastic cap covering four pins, you may still be able to get by with a 4-pin connector.
Starting from left to right, the rear I/O panel features a PS/2 mouse port, PS2/ keyboard port, a CMOS reset button, two USB 2.0 ports, coaxial and optical S/PDIF connectors, a Gigabit LAN port and two additional USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire port and two additional USB 2.0 ports, the second Gigabit LAN port and two additional USB 2.0 ports, and finally the six audio jacks on the audio module.
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The back of the motherboard is interesting in that ASUS have installed a second set of MOSFETs there, and they have even outfitted them with their own heatsinks. This proves ASUS is listening to our collective feedback, since we previously demonstrated that those back-mounted MOSFETs can get exceedingly hot. We are glad to see that the chipset cooler is held in place with proper mounting screws, gone are the days of the problematic push-pins
