Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 Motherboard Review

Computer hardware always evolves, and in the interest of making lives more productive technology continues to advance. Gigabyte has recently launched their P55-A series of motherboards on the Intel P55-Express chipset, which incorporate a new 3-3-3 theme of features: Super-Speed USB 3.0 and 3x the USB power output, as well as SATA-3.0 for 6Gbps bandwidth. In this article, Benchmark Reviews tests the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 and inspects the new SATA-6G functionality in-depth. Performance will be measured between the Intel Core i7-860 fitted to the LGA1156 socket on the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 motherboard and the Core i7-920 equipped GA-EX58-UD4P. Testing a Core i7-860 against an i7-920 might not seem fair, and it's a little biased to compare P55 against X58, but the final outcome might just surprise you.

For computer enthusiasts, the last Intel milestone was the Core i7 processor launch that paralleled the X58-Express motherboard chipset launch back in November of 2008. Intel returned to launch the P55-Express chipset for mainstream users around September 2009, introducing a new LGA1156 socket for the Core i5 and i7 processors. On the outside little more than the processor socket and memory configuration has changed, replacing dual-channel for triple. PCI-Express now offers only one 16x lane instead of two, while the number of SATA and USB ports continues to give more expansion room than the average user might need. The consumer might not know what to expect when choosing between the two products, other than one is mainstream (P55) and the other is for extreme enthusiasts (X58).

Benchmark Reviews has tested the Lynnfield Core i7-870 and Core i5-750 processors, and we've also inspected Intel's P55-Express motherboard chipset in other articles, but we've yet to have a good apples-for-apples look at P55 versus X58. Comparing the 2.8GHz Core i7-860 LGA1156 Lynnfield CPU against Intel's 2.67GHz Core i7-920 LGA1366 Nehalem processor looks doesn't seem very fair paper, even more so when you pair them to their rightful P55-Express mainstream or X58-Express enthusiast motherboards. While the basis of this article revolves around a review of the Gigabyte GA-P55-UD6 LGA1156 motherboard, the real story here is how one 'mainstream' platform can compete with the premium 'extreme' platform for enthusiasts. One costs a lot less than the other and Benchmark Reviews puts Intel on the spot to answer the question: are you really getting for your money with 'extreme' motherboards?

The new Core i7 and i5 processors are the first Intel processors to integrate both a 16-lane PCI Express 2.0 graphics and a dual-channel memory controller, enabling all input/output and manageability functions to be handled by the single-chip Intel P55 Express. Previous Intel chipsets required two separate chips (hence the 'set'). A new Direct Media Interface (DMI) connects between the processor and chipset, allowing P55 motherboards to support 8 PCI Express 2.0 x1 Ports (2.5GT/s) for flexible device support. Dual graphics cards are supported in a "2x8" configuration. The Intel chipset also supports 6x SATA 3Gb/s ports with Intel Matrix Storage Technology providing RAID levels 0/1/5/10. Up to 14 USB 2.0 Ports can be supported with the chipset's integrated USB 2.0 Rate Matching Hub, along with Intel High Definition Audio for premium digital sound. The new processors are the first to be supported by the new Land Grid Array (LGA) 1156 package and socket technology.

The Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 was designed specifically to take advantage of the new socket LGA1156-generation Intel Core i5 and i7 processors using the Intel P55-Express chipset, while also adding SATA 6Gb/s bandwidth and SuperSpeed USB 3.0 support. Similar to X58-Express motherboard, Quick Path Interconnect, or QPI, replaces the Front Side Bus and is meant to eliminate the communication bottleneck between the processor and chipset. Beginning with the P55 'Ibexpeak' platform, Intel ditches the term 'chipset' in place of Platform Controller Hub (PCH).

Intel's Core i5 and i7-series processors feature an integrated memory controller inside the processor die and supports 1333Mhz (up from 1066MHz in X58) dual-channel DDR3 memory that delivers impressive bandwidth and lower memory latency for incredibly fast memory access. Additionally, the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 motherboard features Intel Turbo Boost Technology, which is able to power down idle processor cores and dynamically reroute the power to the active cores for significant performance boosts, and at the same time, maintain greater energy efficiency.

About Gigabyte United Inc. (G.B.T. Inc. USA)

Gigabyte United Inc., established in December 2006, is assuming the Gigabyte TECHNOLOGY Co., Ltd. Brand, which for the past 20 years has been a world-renowned leader in the motherboard industry. Continuing to focus on its core businesses of Gigabyte branded motherboards and graphics cards, Gigabyte United Inc. is committed to providing our valued customers with the highest quality products and services featuring the industry's most innovative design.

In order to meet the challenges of today's intensely competitive channel market, Gigabyte United Inc. fully utilizes its key assets including its cutting-edge research and development team as well as its professional sales and marketing resources to continue to develop technologies to fit a complete range of digital life solutions. Now and for the future, Gigabyte United Inc. will continue to embody the unique spirit and culture, which has made Gigabyte one of the foremost brands in the industry.

Intel Lynnfield LGA1156

Intel Core microarchitecture is Intel's latest generation of dynamically scalable microarchitecture. The Intel Core i5 processor is based on the same energy-efficient processor core as the Intel Core i7 processor, but is designed for mainstream computing.

Formerly codenamed "Lynnfield," the new Intel Core i5/i7 chips are based on Intel's Nehalem microarchitecture and are designed for mainstream consumers. All LGA1156-socket processors are lead- and halogen-free and feature Intel's exclusive Turbo Boost Technology. Intel Core i7 processors also support Intel Hyper-Threading Technology, which duplicates cores and thereby turns a four-core processor into a virtual eight-core unit.

The new Core i7 and i5 processors are the first Intel processors to integrate both a 16-lane PCI Express 2.0 graphics port and two-channel memory controller, enabling all input/output and manageability functions to be handled by the single-chip Intel P55 Express Chipset. A new Direct Media Interface (DMI) connects between the processor and chipset.

For more information on Intel's new LGA1156 Core i5 and i7 series, please visit our Featured Reviews: Processors section which includes comprehensive articles on the Intel Core i5-750 Processor BX80605I5750 and Intel Core i7-870 Processor BX80605I7870.

Intel Core i5 Features

Quad-Core Processing
Provides four complete execution cores in a single processor package. Four dedicated physical threads help operating systems and applications deliver additional performance, so users can experience better multitasking and multithreaded performance across many types of applications and workloads.

Intel Turbo Boost Technology
Dynamically increases the processor's frequency as needed by taking advantage of thermal and power headroom when operating below specified limits. Get more performance automatically, when you need it the most.

8 MB Intel Smart Cache
This large last-level cache enables dynamic and efficient allocation of shared cache to all four cores to match the needs of various applications for ultra-efficient data storage and manipulation.

Integrated Memory Controller
An integrated memory controller offers stunning memory read/write performance through efficient prefetching algorithms, lower latency, and higher memory bandwidth making the Intel Core i5 processor ideal for data intensive applications.

Intel HD Boost
Includes the full SSE4 instruction set, significantly improving a broad range of multimedia and compute-intensive applications. The 128-bit SSE instructions are issued at a throughput rate of one per clock cycle, allowing a new level of processing efficiency with SSE4-optimized applications.

Intel P55 Express Platform

The Gigabyte P55 and P55A-series motherboard platform is designed for the Intel Core i5/i7 LGA1156 'Lynnfield' processor (CPU) and Intel P55 Express Chipset (IOH). New to the P55 platform is a Direct Media Interface (DMI) that connects between the processor and chipset. This replaces the Quick Path Interconnect (QPI) that is used between the X58 and the i7 CPU. The chipset supports 8 PCI Express 1.1 x1 Ports (2.5GT/s) for flexible device support. The chipset also supports 6 SATA 3Gb/s Ports with Intel Matrix Storage Technology providing RAID levels 0/1/5/10. Up to 14 USB 2.0 Ports can be supported with the chipset's integrated USB 2.0 Rate Matching Hub, along with Intel High Definition Audio for premium digital sound.

The Lynnfield CPU incorporates the system memory controller (as it did beginning with Nehalem) and accesses DDR3 memory through two independent memory channels. Dual graphics cards are also supported directly from the CPU, in a "1x16" or "2x8" configuration. The IOH connects to the CPU via the Direct Media Interface (DMI) bus, and allows only 2 GB/s bandwidth. The P55 chip then provides support for the SATA, USB and other system interfaces that are normally handled by the ICHxx Southbridge chip on most other Intel boards.

All motherboard busses and components are driven from a single 133.33 MHz base clock. The resulting component speed values are generated by applying a multiplier value to this base clock. There are four multipliers on the motherboard which are used to set the system speed:

1. CPU Speed: When multiplied by the system base clock speed (default 133.33 MHz) gives the CPU frequency. Four multipliers are used to define different speeds based on the number of active CPU cores.
2. Memory Speed: When multiplied by the system base clock speed gives the memory frequency. For example a memory multiplier of 10 times the base clock of 133.33 MHz results in a memory frequency of 1333 MHz.
3. Quick Path Interconnect (QPI) Speed: Selectable transfer rate of data transferred between the CPU and the IOH.
4. Uncore Speed: This multiplier applies to the non-CPU related items in the processor. The limit on this multiplier is set by the memory multiplier.

Intel P55 Express Chipset Features

Gigabyte P55A Features

USB 3.0 Support
The GIGABYTE P55A-series motherboards support the latest generation SuperSpeed USB 3.0 technology made possible through an onboard NEC uPD720200 host controller. With superfast transfer rates of up to 5 Gbps, users are able to experience an almost a 10x improvement over USB 2.0. Additionally, backwards compatibility with USB 2.0 assures users of long term use of their legacy USB 2.0 devices. The onboard NEC SuperSpeed USB 3.0 technology also provides new power management features that include increased maximum bus power and device current draw to better accommodate power-hungry devices.

SATA 6 Gbps Support
Yet another onboard feature of GIGABYTE P55A motherboards are Marvell's new SE9128 chips for high-speed SATA Revision 3.0 compatibility, delivering superfast 6Gbps link speeds for twice the data transfer rates of SATA Revision 2.0 (3 Gbps). When used in RAID 0 (Stripe) mode, GIGABYTE P55A series motherboards offer even faster data transfer rates of up to 4x the speed of current SATA interfaces.

3x USB Power Boost
GIGABYTE P55A-series motherboards feature a 3x USB power boost, delivering greater compatibility and extra power for USB devices. GIGABYTE's unique USB power design is also able to efficiently regulate output over the full voltage range, which greatly enhances USB device compatibility. In addition, dedicated lower resistance fuses ensure lower voltage drops, and provide more stable and plentiful power delivery.

Industry's First 24 Phase Power VRM Design
GIGABYTE's cutting edge 24 phase power VRM design utilizes the highest caliber components to provide unadulterated, smooth power delivery for the CPU. Like a high performance sports car engine, GIGABYTE's 24 phase power design enables the best delivery of power to supercharge your system, giving extreme users unparalleled overclocking ability and the lowest temperatures to reach maximum performance levels.

The innovative 24 phase power VRM has been designed and engineered to deliver fast transient response times through quick and seamless power delivery during extensive CPU loading variations. In addition, heat from the VRM is effectively reduced by spreading the load between the 24 power phases, resulting in a cooler and more stable platform.

Ultra Durable 3
Gigabyte Ultra Durable 3 series motherboards once again lead the motherboard industry for the highest quality and most innovative motherboard design. Featuring the industry's first consumer desktop motherboard design to introduce 2 ounces of copper for both the Power and Ground layers, Gigabyte Ultra Durable 3 motherboards deliver dramatically lower system temperature, improved energy efficiency and enhanced stability for overclocking.

Gigabyte Ultra Durable 3 motherboards also feature Japanese Solid Capacitors boasting 50,000 hours of operation, Ferrite core chokes with higher energy efficiency compared to the commonly used iron core chokes and Lower RDS(on) MOSFETs that features a lower resistance, which reduces power consumption and heat generation. The Gigabyte Ultra Durable 3 series motherboards promises to provide the stability, reliability and longevity essential to meet the power needs of high-end processors and other components running today's most demanding applications and games.

Smart6 - A Smarter Way for PC System Management
Gigabyte Smart 6 is designed with user-friendliness in mind, offering a combination of 6 innovative software utilities that provides an easier and smarter way for managing your system. Smart 6 allows you to speed up your system performance, boot-up time, managing a secured platform or recovers your system easily with a click of mouse button.

• Smart QuickBoot
  Smart QuickBoot speeds up the system boot-up process and shortens the waiting time for entering the operating system, delivering greater efficiency for daily use.
• Smart QuickBoost
  Smart QuickBoost features quick and effortless CPU overclocking for novice and experienced users alike; simply click on one of three CPU performance levels, and Smart QuickBoost automatically adjusts CPU performance.
• Smart Recovery
  Smart Recovery allows users to easily roll-back system settings to a previous known working status. Users can simple select the day, week or month without prior setup of a backup time flag.
• Smart DualBIOS
  Smart DualBIOS not only allows double protection for the motherboard with two physical BIOS ROMs, it also includes a new feature that can record important dates and passwords
• Smart Recorder
  Smart recorder monitors and records system activities such as the time when the PC was turned on/off or even when large files were copied.
• Smart TimeLock
  Smart TimeLock allows parents to schedule time limits for their children to use the PC. It makes the rules simple by being able to select different usage times for weekdays and weekends.

EasyTune 6
Gigabyte's EasyTune 6 is a simple and easy-to-use interface that allows users to fine-tune their system settings or do overclock/overvoltage in Windows environment. The user-friendly EasyTune 6 interface also includes tabbed pages for CPU and memory information, letting users read their system-related information without the need to install additional software.

Smart TPM - TPM via Bluetooth Cell phone and USB Drive*
Gigabyte Smart TPM provides the industry's highest level of data protection with 2048 bit hardware encryption. A unique feature of Gigabyte Smart TPM is that it allows users to store their digital key on a USB thumb drive. In addition, Gigabyte Smart TPM allows users to lock and unlock their data remotely using a Bluetooth enabled mobile phone.

Smart DualLAN - Blistering Fast and Seamless Connectivity
Gigabyte Smart Dual LAN technology features intelligent LAN port auto-switching between the 2 physical Gigabit LAN chips, offering hassle-free, zero downtime, high-speed network connectivity. Experience blistering fast network data access of up to 2Gbps bandwidth transmission with Teaming enabled and enjoy added power savings with Green Ethernet

Dynamic Energy Saver 2
Gigabyte Dynamic Energy Saver 2 incorporates a host of intelligent features that use a proprietary hardware and software design to considerably enhance PC system energy efficiency, reduce power consumption and deliver optimized auto phase-switching for the CPU, Memory, Chipset, VGA, HDD and system fans. With a simple click of a button, Gigabyte Dynamic Energy Saver 2 provides exceptional power savings and the most appropriate power usage without sacrificing performance.

DDR3 2600+ Support
P55A-UD6 support Intel Core i7/ Core i5 processors delivering native support for DDR3 memory up to 2600+MHz by the enhanced design of GIGABYTE, Intel Core i7/ Core i5 processors feature the memory controller integrated directly into the processor die, rather than as part of the Northbridge as in previous generations, allowing for faster memory performance.

Auto Green* - Automatic Power Savings
Auto Green provides system energy savings by enabling users to turn on and off their PC remotely using their Bluetooth enabled mobile phone. Once your phone is paired with your system, you only need to step away from your PC, and it will automatically enter S3/S4 ultra low power state, giving you an added level of power savings. *Gigabyte motherboards featuring Smart TPM and Auto Green functions do not include a Bluetooth receiver; the addition of a 3rd party Bluetooth receiver is required.

X.H.D. eXtreme Hard Drive - Accelerating Hard Drive Performance with Ease
Accelerating system performance is made easy with the user-friendly Gigabyte eXtreme Hard Drive (X.H.D.) technology, providing a quick and easy way to boost your hard drive performance simply by adding another hard drive.

eSATA / USB Combo Connectors
Gigabyte provides 2-in-1 combination connector design which is capable of accepting eSATA and USB cable plugs, providing enhanced hard drive flexibility with no need for an additional power source. Easily connect your PC with external SATA storage devices and enjoy up to 3 Gb/s SATA data rates.

Onboard Debug LEDs - Simplifying Motherboard Troubleshooting
Embedded post code Debug LED display indicates system status to simplify motherboard troubleshooting by identifying and displaying error codes.

Precision OV - Providing More Precise System Voltage Control
Gigabyte Hardware Overvoltage Control ICs featuring more voltage control options than before for the CPU North Bridge and memory. The overvoltage controllers also provide hardware linear real-time voltage control, which means there is no delay compared to the GPIO controller in past implementations. In addition, Gigabyte's Hardware Overvoltage Controller ICs also allow for much finer voltage control, allowing power users to adjust voltage in as little increments as 20mV for better overclocking performance.

DualBIOS - Patented Dual Hardware BIOS Protection
DualBIOS is a Gigabyte patented technology that automatically recovers BIOS data when main BIOS has crashed or failed. Featuring 2 physical BIOS ROMs integrated onboard, Gigabyte DualBIOS allows quick and seamless recovery from BIOS damage or failure due to viruses or improper BIOS updating.

Multi graphics ATI CrossFireX and NVIDIA SLI support
Wanting to make sure gamers felt some multi-GPU love on the P55 platform, Gigabyte has equipped their entire P55 series with support for both ATI CrossFireX and NVIDIA SLI multi-graphics support, delivering the ultimate in graphics performance for gaming enthusiasts who demand the highest frame rates without compromising on resolution.

Dolby Home Theater
In addition, Gigabyte has also included the powerful Dolby Home Theater suite of audio technologies, which deliver a vivid surround sound listening experience for music, movies, and games, using two to eight speakers or any set of headphones. Designed to automatically deliver the best possible listening experience, Dolby Home Theater includes Dolby Pro Logic IIx for maximum surround sound expansion, Dolby Headphone and Sound Space Expander for a virtualized audio experience, and Natural Bass enhancement for the richest quality sound.

Gigabyte P55A Motherboard Series:

Smart TPM Security Encryption

Select P55 and P55A-series Gigabyte motherboards receive an Infineon SLB 9635 TT 1.2 chip (marked SLB9635TT12), which enables 2048-bit encryption on the Trusted Platform Module (TPM). The Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 includes a Infineon SLB9635 chip and Smart TPM Security feature, which is activated in the BIOS.

Gigabyte's unique Smart TPM (Trusted Platform Module) supports the industry's most advanced hardware-based data encryption. Smart TPM provides users with an easy-to-use software interface to create a portable user key using a Bluetooth cell phone or USB flash drive. Users can access/close their PSD data by simply connecting to the Bluetooth cell phone or plugging in the USB flash drive, without the hassles of complicated configurations. In addition, users can create more than one Bluetooth cell phone/USB flash drive key, so when they lost a key they still can access data.

Secure Encrypted E-mail

User-specific e-mail encryption and/or signing to prevent unauthorized persons from reading or changing your e-mails. Using this feature guarantees that only the e-mail creator and the specified recipients will be able to decrypt and read the message or validate the identity of the sender. If you chose to configure this feature, you can request a certificate for secure e-mail (if a certificate request web address is set in your policy settings). The wizard will provide information how to configure secure e-mail. The configuration of your mail client is not part of this wizard. Thus the status cannot be displayed here.

File and folder encryption with Encrypting File System (EFS)

The operating system incorporates the functionality to perform user-specific encryption of the content of folders and files on the local computer using the Microsoft Encrypting File System (EFS). Only the user who created a file in these folders can access the content of this file. Other users have to be granted access rights to an EFS folder in an explicit administrative operation to enable them to use files in it. If you chose to configure this feature, you can select a certificate for EFS. You can also request or create a new certificate.

File and folder encryption with Personal Secure Drive (PSD)

Personal Secure Drive features file and folder encryption similar to EFS. Unlike EFS, PSD is supported in Windows Vista Home Basic, Vista Home Premium and XP Home Editions. A logical drive is provided to permitted users. This drive offers access protection and encryption for all content in it. The encryption is performed automatically. A PSD cannot be accessed via its UNC identifier to get readable data and can be installed only on the local computer. Network access is not possible. If you chose to configure this feature, you can set up, modify or delete your PSD. Like EFS configuration, you can select a certificate for PSD. You can also request or create a new certificate.

Infineon Security Platform Settings Tool

With the Security Platform Settings Tool you can get various information about the Trusted Platform Module of your system. Also, you are able to carry out several administrative tasks, such as to change Basic User Password, perform backups, export/import Security Platform User keys and certificates, etc.

To enable the TPM, follow the steps below in sequence:

1. Configure the system BIOS to enable Security Chip
2. Install the Infineon TPM driver and the Gigabyte Smart TPM utility
3. Initialize the TPM chip
4. Configure the Gigabyte Smart TPM utility

Gigabyte offers a fully detailed guide for step-by-step installation and configuration on the product website, where a TPM Installation Manual can be downloaded.

GA-P55A-UD6 Specifications

The P55A-UD6 motherboard is designed to offer a stable, high-speed platform for delivering amazingly fast data transfer via the GIGABYTE 333 onboard acceleration technologies. Featuring the world's first USB 3.0 logo certified host controller from NEC Electronics, P55A-UD6 allows users to take advantage of super fast USB transfer rates of up to 5Gbps, delivering 10x faster data transfer compared to USB 2.0.

Utilizing the industry's first Serial ATA Revision 3.0 solution, the Marvell 88SE9128 controller, GIGABYTE P55A-series motherboards offer support for next generation high speed data storage devices with data transfer speeds of up to 6 Gbps. Coupled with RAID 0 (Stripe) mode, SATA Revision 3.0 enables a data transfer boost of up to 4x the speed of SATA Revision 2.0.

The P55A-UD6 introduce a unique hardware design with lower resistance fuses for ensuring lower voltage drops and providing more stable and plentiful power delivery. All USB ports also benefit from a 3x power boost for better power delivery to power hungry USB devices. In addition, GIGABYTE's memory performance on the P55 platform currently holds the world record for the highest memory frequency of 3459.6 MHz.

First Look: GA-P55A-UD6

Motherboard manufacturers have a tendency to reuse a design until it cannot be used anymore. Enthusiasts familiar with a short history in mainboard components will attest to this, knowing that what they've seen in the past several platforms will return again for the next. The 'traditional' layout of motherboard components hasn't changed much over the years, and most new products look identical to those introduced many generations past. This might seem like I'm painting motherboard manufacturers into a corner and blaming them for overly conservative thinking, but fortunately I'm beginning my point for this article: if it looks the same every time, what you're paying more for must be for the things you can't see.

It's not as if Gigabyte can really break the mold every time a new chipset comes to market: most components are relegated to the location they've been assigned and cannot be repositioned because of form factor or design standards. The I/O panel must always be located in the same place, or else the motherboard won't fit conventional computer cases, and likewise the same goes for PCI/PCI-Express expansion ports. As a result, the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 Intel P55-Express motherboard that Benchmark Reviews is testing for this article takes a striking resemblance to the Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P X58 motherboard we're comparing it to. Coinsidentally, it's also nearly identical to the Gigabyte GA-P55-UD6 we've also tested.

In this article, I am going to write for two different audiences: casual computer users with limited knowledge of the latest motherboards, and seasoned enthusiasts who do. So beginning with the experts, I can reveal that the GA-P55A-UD6 looks nearly identical to nearly every X58-series motherboard offered by Gigabyte, and shares a common PCB component layout and similar BIOS options. Aside from a few new features, the P55A-UD6 is virtually a clone of the "non-A" P55-UD6 version. Both P55 and X58 motherboards offer Gigabyte's Ultra-Durable 3 construction, which features two ounces of copper in the printed circuit board. Both chipsets use the same Realtek ALC889A high-definition audio, and offer similar PCI and SATA expansion. Even the chipset cooling components share a familiar design to previous generations. So what's new?

Like I said: it's what you can't see that's changed. Nestled onto the mainboard PCB is a new Marvell 88SE9128 SATA 6Gb/s controller and an NEC D720200F1 host controller (part number µPD720200) delivers SuperSpeed USB-3.0 functionality. This is the only significant difference between the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 and P55-UD6 motherboards. The difference between P55 and X58-Express chipsets are a little more elusive.

The three most important differences between P55 and X58 motherboards are actually very conspicuous unless you're looking for them. To begin with, the Nehalem Core i7's LGA1366 socket has been replaced with the Lynnfield's Core i5 LGA1156. Next is the transition to dual-channel 1333MHz DDR3 system memory, which departs from 1066MHz triple-channel DDR3 to reduce production and consumer costs. The last major difference is not so obvious, as Intel reduces PCI-Express 2.0 expansion slots to only one 16x lane in reference Intel P55-Express chipsets, while giving the other two 8x each. The Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 changes this, as there is only one 16x lane (when SATA6G/USB3 controllers are disabled) and one 8x lane (more on this later). Nevertheless, CrossFireX and SLI graphics-teaming support still exist despite the reduced bandwidth to the second adapter.

Gigabyte saves the heavy metal for their 'EXTREME' series motherboards, which make their appearance even when the chipset isn't an X-series. The Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 LGA1156 Core i5 motherboard however only receives a lonely single aluminum heat-pipe rod. The P55A-UD6 does pick-up a special TPM chip with 2048-bit encryption, which is unique to certain Gigabyte models.

In addition to Gigabyte's effort to promote "333" functionality, they are also working to emphasize their Ultra Durable 3 feature (which really should have been one of those 3's, and not 3x USB power output). Gigabyte Ultra Durable 3 introduces the industry's first consumer desktop motherboard design with 2 ounces of copper used on the Power and Ground layers of the printed circuit board (PCB) which lowers the PCB impedance by 50% as a result. Impedance is a measure of how much the circuit impedes the flow of current. The less the flow of current is impeded, the less amount of energy is wasted. For Gigabyte Ultra Durable 3 enhanced motherboards, this means total PCB electrical waste is reduced by 50%, which also means less heat is generated. Two ounces of copper also provides improved signal quality, better system stability, and allows greater margins for overclocking. For those with older-generation motherboard, the Ultra Durable feature is designed to extend the overall product life, and help overclockers achieve more stable results.

Similar to when Intel moved from socket PGA478 to LGA775 and then again to LGA1366, the previous generation of cooling products are no longer compatible with the new LGA1156 socket. The X58's LGA1366 socket increased the distance between CPU cooler mounting holes to 80mm, which is significantly more footprint area than the 72mm used by the LGA775 socket, and now Intel has decided that 75mm is the magic number for their new LGA1156 socket. I'll pause here to ask the question that won't leave me alone: why? There wouldn't have been any problem with P55 motherboards supporting the old 72mm (LGA775) spacing, or wasting a little more area surrounding the socket and continue support for (LGA1366) 80mm spacing. Unfortunately, all that money Intel tried to save consumers by trimming away features here and there only gets repurposed towards a brand new aftermarket cooler. Availability is a whole other story at this point.

Several CPU cooler manufacturers designed adapters to fit their LGA775 coolers onto the LGA1366 socket, which isn't a very safe practice because of the enlarged processor surface area, but converting LGA775 coolers to LGA1156 should work nicely. For systems not receiving an overclock, this may not be such a problem, but if you're going to re-use your Core 2 cooler on a Lynnfield LGA1156 Core i5/i7 processor, it had better be listed near the top of our Best CPU Cooler Performance list. I'll explain why in my final thoughts section, which should be helpful information for enthusiasts.

The backside of the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 PCB illustrates exactly how of a 'base model' feel the P55-Express chipset really has. Notice that the LGA1156 socket doesn't even receive square/corner mounting points to ensure equal and level pressure. All P55 motherboards use this same Foxconn backplate, so don't expect any design variety here.

The P55A-UD6 lacks the "Crazy Cool" heatspreader cooling plates we've seen in past generations of Gigabyte motherboards, which some enthusiasts may not miss so much. One particular area where the GA-P55A-UD6 motherboard stands out against Gigabyte's X58-series iterations is the massively increased number of power phase transistors. From the back side of the motherboard you find a total of sixteen medium-size Axxon Tech A2724 ICs and twelve A2726 units, which comprise the 24 phase power VRM that Gigabyte touts with their P55 motherboards. Additionally, six small Intersil Corp ISL6611ACRZ IC parts supply the power phase doubling on the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6. Put into perspective, the X58 motherboard series offered only nine ICs for the entire VRM component.

The massive number of power VRM phases are intended to allow overclockers a more stable platform for their tweaking projects. But didn't Intel design the P55 series for "mainstream" consumers? The leap from a 12+2+2 power phase design with VRD 11.1 support in Gigabyte's X58 series to the current 24-phase power VRM in the P55 series may actually allow Gigabyte to yield better overclocks out of the GA-P55A-UD6.

After a short 'first glance' at the basic layout for the P55A-UD6 LGA1156 Core i5 motherboard, it appears that Gigabyte has designed this to be a no-nonsense mainboard solution for mainstream builders and enthusiasts. We will dig deeper in the following sections to find out if this Lynnfield P55-Express motherboard offers the features overclockers and hardware tweakers will want out of their top-shelf product, or if X58 is really worth the extra money.

Closer Look: Gigabyte P55A

Motherboards haven't seen a lot of change in the past two years, and the Gigabyte P55 series looks very similar to previous P35/X38/P45/X48 and especially X58 motherboards they've produced. Intel rightfully retains DDR3 support on the P55 platform, but the channels drop from three back down to two (a flash back to the Core 2 era). What's uniquely different now is that the motherboard can support 16GB of DDR3 2600+/2200/1333/1066/800 MHz system memory modules spread across six DIMM sockets. Nearly all other P55-Express motherboards use four DIMM sockets, including much of the other Gigabyte P55/P55A-series of motherboard, but only the P55/P55A-UD6 models enable the user to fill all six slots with mixed RAM-module construction. If all six sockets are populated with DDR3, then the white slots can handle dual/single-sided modules while the blue slots accept only single-sided modules.

16GB of available system memory will really add momentum for 64-bit computing support, but the six DIMM slots might also help optimize current 32-bit systems with smaller 512MB modules. 32-Bit Windows Operating Systems for example, offers a 4GB maximum memory mapping space and anything more is ignored. Since most all PCI-E video cards available today offer at least 512MB of GDDR, it's theoretically impossible for enthusiasts to completely realize 4GB of system memory.

In comparing P55 against X58, you begin to replace 2- or 4GB (dual-channel) kits with 3- or 6GB (triple-channel) kits. There will be more memory available to the system and less waste than if the builder used a 4GB memory kit on their 32-bit O/S, and 3GB is going to be more affordable. Alternatively, the X58 chipset does not retire dual-channel memory mode, so enthusiasts who are already using their favorite DDR3 in one system can upgrade to X58 without purchasing additional memory; the drawback is that dual-channel mode only doubles memory bandwidth while triple-channel mode will (you guessed it) triple the original bandwidth. With support for six banks of DIMMs, the GA-P55A-UD6 can utilize enough DDR3 to keep any 64-bit O/S moving along nicely.

The rear Input/Output panel (I/O panel) receives the first major update I've seen in a very long time. The PS/2 port shares double-purposing between either keyboard or mouse, creating enough space to tack-on two Hi-Speed USB 2.0 ports. Gigabyte includes the high-definition Realtek ALC889A audio controller with DTS Connect capability on the P55A-UD6. This audio chipset may be integrated, but with a featured 106 dB Signal to Noise ratio over eight channels it is anything but low-end. Digital audio outputs arrive in two varieties: optical and coaxial S/PDIF connectors. Realtek's ALC889A with DTS Connect is meant to enable high quality full-rate lossless audio, and offer support for both Blu-ray and HD-DVD.

Although they're different in appearance, the USB and Firewire ports colored yellow are not any different in functionality or purpose. When I first discovered them, I immediately though they might be part of the new USB 3.0 technology, and apparently that's exactly what Gigabyte wants me to think. Sadly, these are basic IEEE 1394a and USB 2.0 ports simply colored to look different. Skip one more set of plain black USB-2.0 ports and you find the only pair of SuperSpeed USB-3.0 ports offered on the P55A-series motherboard.

Some of the other features don't appear as outwardly obvious on the GA-P55A-UD6, such as Green LAN and Dynamic Energy Saver (DES) Advanced. I originally configured the BIOS to enable Gigabyte's Green LAN feature, which is disabled by default, but I came to learn the hard way that if nothing is plugged in (or turned on) to the RJ-45 port it will go into a deep sleep that cannot be recovered from without a reboot (if using Windows XP). Perhaps done to separate their mainstream P55 and extreme enthusiast X58 motherboards, Gigabyte has removed the "Clear CMOS" button, which allows the user to clear the custom settings of their BIOS and start over from scratch.

A total of eight High-Speed USB 2.0 ports populate the rear I/O panel, with another four available from two mainboard header connections, and the two SuperSpeed USB-3.0 ports. The Texas Instruments TSB43AB23 processor allows three total IEEE-1394a Firewire ports are available on the P55A-UD6, with two on the I/O panel and one more via the IEEE 1394a bracket connected to the internal IEEE 1394a header panel. The remainder of the input/output panel is quite busy, with a wide assortment of ports and connections for everything that is connectable by today's standard. Dual Realtek 8111D Gigabit Ethernet LAN adapter ports are supplied, with activity and link speed indicators at the corner of the RJ-45 port.

External SATA connectors are not part of the motherboards I/O panel, however Gigabyte has included one SATA expansion bracket with the GA-P55A-UD6 motherboard kit. There are two eSATA ports available with a 4-pin Molex power connector between them for a total of two eSATA ports. In regards to standard integrated SATA ports, the P55A-UD6 motherboard offers six Intel ICH10R (colored blue) Southbridge ports capable of RAID-0, 1, 5, and 10. Along side the six ICH10R ports are another two SATA-III connections from Marvell 88SE9128 SATA 6Gb/s controller (colored white) which support RAID-0, 1, and JBOD.

One particular feature the P55-Express chipset preserves in the marriage of CrossFireX and SLI support on the same motherboard. Gigabyte builds two PCI-Express 2.0 ports into the GA-P55A-UD6: but only the first slot offers 16x lanes, the second is an 8x slot All other PCI-Express slots are non-2.0 complaint and operate with a single lane. Although 16-lanes per PCI-E 2.0 port would be most ideal for SLI or CrossFireX configurations, the second graphics adapter really doesn't come close to bandwidth saturation and should not see any measure of reduced performance with most video games (which we test in the next section). When dual video cards are used in first and second PCI-E 16x slots, the SATA6G (Marvell 9128) and USB-3.0 (NEC D720200F1) will work at normal mode (non-XHD eXtreme HardDrive).

Additionally, the default bandwidth for the 'PCIEX4_1' slot is x1, but when this slot is configured to x4 mode the PCIEX1_1 and PCIEX1_2 slots (along with the eSATA connectors) will become unavailable because they share bandwidth with the PCIEX4_1 slot. Essentially, the PCI-Express pipeline is over-tasked, and the GA-P55A-UD6 motherboard compensates by turning off unused features to offer appropriate bandwidth enabled features.

Another note of interest is the orientation of all eight SATA ports, which utilize transverse-mount connections to stem cables off to the side of the motherboard. This layout works extremely well for all modern video cards, especially the larger GeForce GTX 285 and Radeon HD 4870 X2 video cards which occupy multiple expansion slots. This design has been corrected from a flaw we pointed out on the GA-EP45T-EXTREME, which rendered four of the six SATA ports unusable when a large graphics card was installed.

The motherboard's 'Clear CMOS' and 'Reset Switch' buttons are located above and below the only PATA-133 interface available (pictured above). Gigabyte makes it convenient for hardware enthusiasts to tweak the motherboard without having to reach for a power button, or even have the unit installed inside a computer case. By adding a reset and power button switch directly on the motherboard, overclockers can make quick changes and simply press the closest button.

The newly designed socket LGA1156 mounting system uses a latch-and-compress method of securing the processor in place. The hinged edge has been removed from the design, and allows a new technique for CPU installation.

Surrounding the processor socket are several high-quality CPU power modules that utilize ferrite core chokes to minimize electromagnetic (and radio) interference signal noise and create a cleaner electrical circuit and comprise the finer points of Ultra Durable 3. A lower Resistance from Drain to Source rDS (ON) MOSFET array allows for transitional power steps, which is the heart of Gigabytes DES Advanced feature. Japanese manufactured SMD solid state capacitors, which contain a solid organic polymer and lower equivalent series resistance (ESR), are implemented throughout this board and will likely outlast the useful life of the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 LGA1156 Core i5 motherboard.

Please continue on towards the next section, which how Benchmark Reviews will go about testing Gigabyte's top-of-the-line GA-P55A-UD6 motherboard.

Testing Methodology

Testing motherboards is one of the most difficult tasks I've had as a product analyst. There are several different methods to compare one product to another, but even when you try to measure one against another the features don't always stack up. Since processor compatibility changes across platforms, it's difficult to compare motherboards in an "apples-to-apples" fashion. Still, we try.

Unless otherwise noted, exclusive P55 vs X58 comparisons use system memory configured to operate at 1333MHz on the P55 Express system and 1066MHz on the X58 system, with matching CL 7-7-7-20 timings. These are the specified memory speeds supported by the chipset, according to Intel. No overclock was given to any of the hardware, and BIOS settings were matched as closely as possible.

At the start of all graphics tests, the previous display adapter driver is uninstalled and trace components are removed using Driver Cleaner Pro. We then restart the computer system to establish display adapter settings and define the monitor. Once the hardware is prepared, we begin our testing. To compare and contrast CPU- and GPU-dependency, Benchmark Reviews conducts testing at both the lowest- and highest-possible resolutions. Low display resolutions create a dependency on CPU performance, while high display resolutions place the load on GPU power.

Each benchmark test program begins after a system restart, and the very first result for every test will be ignored since it often only caches the test. Each test is completed five times, with the highest and lowest scored removed. The average results of the three remaining tests are displayed in our article.

Since all of the benchmarks we use for testing represent different game engine technology and graphic rendering processes, our battery of tests will provide a diverse range of results for you to gauge performance on your own computer system. Even though Benchmark Reviews made the switch to Microsoft Windows 7 as the Operating System of choice for our test platforms, most gamers and enthusiasts are still using Windows XP, which is the O/S used for several of these tests.

Gigabyte P55A Test System

• Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 (Intel P55/ICH10R Chipset) with F6 BIOS
• Processor: Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield LGA1156 2.80 GHz
• CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus (fan powered by PSU - not motherboard)
• System Memory: 4GB (2x 2GB) OCZ Dual-Channel 1333 MHz DDR3 CL 7-7-7-20 OCZ3P1333LV6GK
• Primary Drive: OCZ Vertex EX SLC SSD OCZSSD2-1VTXEX120G
• Secondary Drive: WD VelociRaptor 300GB SATA HDD WD3000HLFS
• Optical Drive: ASUS BC-06B1ST Blu-Ray Disc Optical Combo Drive
• Graphics Adapter: ASUS ENGTX285 TOP GeForce GTX 285
• Power Supply Unit: OCZ Z Series Gold 850W OCZZ850

Gigabyte P55 Test System

• Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55-UD6 (Intel P55/ICH10R Chipset) with F7b BIOS
• Processor: Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield LGA1156 2.80 GHz
• CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus (fan attached to PSU - not motherboard)
• System Memory: 4GB (2x 2GB) OCZ Dual-Channel 1333 MHz DDR3 CL 7-7-7-20 OCZ3P1333LV6GK
• Primary Drive: OCZ Vertex EX SLC SSD OCZSSD2-1VTXEX120G
• Secondary Drive: WD VelociRaptor 300GB SATA HDD WD3000HLFS
• Optical Drive: ASUS BC-06B1ST Blu-Ray Disc Optical Combo Drive
• Graphics Adapter: ASUS ENGTX285 TOP GeForce GTX 285
• Power Supply Unit: OCZ Z Series Gold 850W OCZZ850

Gigabyte X58 Test System

• Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P (Intel X58/ICH10R Chipset) with F10k BIOS
• Processor: Intel Core i7-920 Nehalem 2.66 GHz (BX80601920)
• CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus (fan attached to PSU - not motherboard)
• System Memory: 6GB (3x 2GB) OCZ Triple-Channel 1333 MHz DDR3 CL 7-7-7-20 OCZ3P1333LV6GK
• Primary Drive: OCZ Vertex EX SLC SSD OCZSSD2-1VTXEX120G
• Secondary Drive: WD VelociRaptor 300GB SATA HDD WD3000HLFS
• Optical Drive: ASUS BC-06B1ST Blu-Ray Disc Optical Combo Drive
• Graphics Adapter: ASUS ENGTX285 TOP GeForce GTX 285
• Power Supply Unit: OCZ Z Series Gold 850W OCZZ850

Intel X58 Test System

• Motherboard: Intel DX58SO 'Smackover' Motherboard (Intel X58/ICH10R Chipset)
• Processor: Intel Core i7-920 Nehalem 2.66 GHz (BX80601920)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus (fan attached to PSU - not motherboard)
System Memory: 6GB (3x 2GB) OCZ Triple-Channel 1333 MHz DDR3 CL 7-7-7-20 OCZ3P1333LV6GK
Primary Drive: OCZ Vertex EX SLC SSD OCZSSD2-1VTXEX120G
Secondary Drive: WD VelociRaptor 300GB SATA HDD WD3000HLFS
Optical Drive: ASUS BC-06B1ST Blu-Ray Disc Optical Combo Drive
Graphics Adapter: ASUS ENGTX285 TOP GeForce GTX 285
Power Supply Unit: OCZ Z Series Gold 850W OCZZ850

Gigabyte X48 Test System

• Motherboard #1: Gigabyte GA-X48T-DQ6 (Intel X48/ICH9R Chipset) with F6e BIOS
• Processor: Intel Q9400 Core 2 Quad 2.66 GHz (BX80580Q9400)
• System Memory: 4GB Corsair PC3-12800 Dual-Channel DDR3 (TWIN3X40961600C7DHXIN)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus (fan attached to PSU - not motherboard)
Primary Drive: OCZ Vertex EX SLC SSD OCZSSD2-1VTXEX120G
Secondary Drive: WD VelociRaptor 300GB SATA HDD WD3000HLFS
Optical Drive: ASUS BC-06B1ST Blu-Ray Disc Optical Combo Drive
Graphics Adapter: ASUS ENGTX285 TOP GeForce GTX 285
Power Supply Unit: Antec TruePower Quattro 850W Modular PSU TPQ-850

Gigabyte P45 Test System

• Motherboard #1: Gigabyte GA-EP45T-EXTREME (Intel P45/ICH10R Chipset) with F5k BIOS
• Processor: Intel Q9400 Core 2 Quad 2.66 GHz (BX80580Q9400)
• System Memory: 4GB Corsair PC3-12800 Dual-Channel DDR3 (TWIN3X40961600C7DHXIN)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus (fan attached to PSU - not motherboard)
Primary Drive: OCZ Vertex EX SLC SSD OCZSSD2-1VTXEX120G
Secondary Drive: WD VelociRaptor 300GB SATA HDD WD3000HLFS
Optical Drive: ASUS BC-06B1ST Blu-Ray Disc Optical Combo Drive
Graphics Adapter: ASUS ENGTX285 TOP GeForce GTX 285
Power Supply Unit: OCZ Z Series Gold 850W OCZZ850

Benchmark Software

Lavalys EVEREST Ultimate Edition v5.02.1750
Futuremark PCMark05 v1.2.0 System Test Suite
• Passmark PerformanceTest v7.1
• Maxon CINEBENCH R10
• Crysis v1.21 Benchmark (High Settings, 0x and 4x Anti-Aliasing)
• Far Cry 2 v1.02 (Very High Performance, Ultra-High Quality, 8x AA)
• Operating System: Windows XP Professional SP-3 (optimized to 16 processes at idle)

Support Hardware

• P3 International Kill-A-Watt EZ (model P4460) Power Meter

Gigabyte P55A-UD6 vs P55-UD6

Throughout all of the tests conducted, the performance results for the new Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 were often times identical to the older GA-P55-UD6. This is to be expected, as they are virtually the same motherboard at the Intel P55 level. However, because of the 'borrowed' PCI-Express lanes for Marvell's SATA-6G and NEC USB-3 controllers, it's worth testing the two products under conditions that would strain the graphics pipeline. That's what this section is intended to compare, by using a pair of Radeon HD 5850 video cards in a CrossFireX set with the DirectX-11 video game BattleForge. For these tests, our systems used Microsoft Windows 7 so that DX11 APIs could be involved.

BattleForge is free Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) developed by EA Phenomic with DirectX 11 graphics capability. Combining strategic cooperative battles, the community of MMO games, and trading card gameplay, BattleForge players are free to put their creatures, spells and buildings into combination's they see fit. These units are represented in the form of digital cards from which you build your own unique army. With minimal resources and a custom tech tree to manage, the gameplay is unbelievably accessible and action-packed.

Benchmark Reviews uses the built-in graphics benchmark to measure performance in BattleForge, using Very High quality settings and 8x anti-aliasing with auto multi-threading enabled. BattleForge is one of the first titles to take advantage of DirectX 11 in Windows 7, and offers a very robust color range throughout the busy battleground landscape. The chart below illustrates how BattleForge reacts between motherboard models when SSAO is enabled, which forces multi-core optimizations that only DirectX 11-compatible video cards can utilize.

As you can see from the chart above, there's really no significant difference between motherboards, processors, and chipsets when it comes to high-end CrossFireX performance. If you analyze these results close enough it's apparent that some difference does exist, however it is too small for any practical person to notice while playing video games. The differences, although less than one frame per second on average, could be attributed to several factors. Although all performance penalties considered are extremely minor, I will address the issues most likely to be of concern:

• While the X58-Express chipset offers 16-lanes per PCI-Express 2.0 slot which yields a theoretical advantage over the 8+8 lanes on the P55 series, it is the quad-core Intel Core i7-920 processor that likely adds a very minor performance penalty because of the longer total round-trip data latency between clock cycles on all cores and memory that is controlled by the Northbridge.
• The Intel P55-Express chipset (Gigabyte GA-P55-UD6) offers 'only' 8+8 lanes on the PCI-Express 2.0 bus, which doesn't really appear to hamper CrossFireX performance when two Radeon HD 5850's are used for BattleForge. Additionally, the dual-core Intel Core i7-860 has a shorter path which directly integrates both a 16-lane PCI Express 2.0 graphics and a dual-channel memory controller, enabling all input/output and manageability functions to be handled by the single-chip Intel P55-Express motherboard.
• While based on the same Intel P55-Express chipset as the P55-UD6, the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 adds support for the Marvell 9128 SATA-6G and NEC D720200F1 USB-3.0 controllers by tapping into the PCI-Express bus and as a result no single graphics card ever receives all 16 lanes of PCI-Express bandwidth. When one video card is used it reserves eight lanes on the PCI-E bus, while the SATA-6G and USB-3.0 controllers consume six or more PCI-E lanes for full-speed 5 Gbps bandwidth. In the CrossFireX configuration we tested each video card receives the minimum eight lanes of PCI-Express bandwidth, but the SATA-6G and USB-3 controllers cap the bandwidth at 2.5 Gbps.

Taken in perspective, no single system has the ultimate upper-hand. X58 offers 16+16 channels of PCI-Express bandwidth, but relies on the chipset for memory and graphics management (not the processor). The Intel P55-Express cuts lanes down to 16 total, but manages them directly on the processor (along with dual-channel memory). Considering that present-day graphics solutions do not utilize more than eight lanes each for optimal bandwidth, perhaps P55 is the winner overall. However, the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 further divides PCI-Express lanes to include new USB-3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s functionality. In the end, the best system will depend on your needs.

EVEREST CPU Benchmarks

Lavalys EVEREST Ultimate Edition is an industry leading system diagnostics and benchmarking solution for enthusiasts PC users, based on the award-winning EVEREST Technology. During system optimizations and tweaking it provides essential system and overclock information, advanced hardware monitoring and diagnostics capabilities to check the effects of the applied settings. CPU, FPU and memory benchmarks are available to measure the actual system performance and compare it to previous states or other systems. Furthermore, complete software, operating system and security information makes EVEREST Ultimate Edition a comprehensive system diagnostics tool that offers a total of 100 pages of information about your PC.

All of the benchmarks used in our test bed: Queen, Photoworxx, ZLib, and AES, all rely on basic x86 instructions, and consume very low system memory while also being aware of HyperThreading, multi-processors, and multi-core processors. While the EVEREST CPU tests really only compare the processor performance more than it measures platforms, it still offers a glimpse into what kind of power each platform possesses.

Queen and Photoworxx tests are synthetic benchmarks that operate the function many times over and over-exaggerate by several magnitudes what the real-world performance would be like. The Queen benchmark focuses on the branch prediction capabilities and misprediction penalties of the CPU. It does this by finding possible solutions to the classic queen problem on a chessboard. At the same clock speed theoretically the processor with the shorter pipeline and smaller misprediction penalties will attain higher benchmark scores.

Topping the results of our Queen CPU tests, the 2.80GHz Intel Core i7-860 and Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 motherboard lead with 29412 points. Next is the 2.66GHz Intel Core i7-920 for 25786 points, trailing behind 12%.

Like the Queen benchmark, the Photoworxx tests for penalties against pipeline architecture. The synthetic Photoworxx benchmark stresses the integer arithmetic and multiplication execution units of the CPU and also the memory subsystem. Due to the fact that this test performs high memory read/write traffic, it cannot effectively scale in situations where more than two processing threads are used. The EVEREST Photoworxx benchmark performs the following tasks on a very large RGB image:

• Fill
• Flip
• Rotate90R (rotate 90 degrees CW)
• Rotate90L (rotate 90 degrees CCW)
• Random (fill the image with random colored pixels)
• RGB2BW (color to black & white conversion)
• Difference
• Crop

Although the 2.80GHz Intel Core i7-860 and Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 motherboard still lead in the PhotoWorxx results with 32799 points, the 2.66GHz Intel Core i7-920 is practically even with 32739 points.

The Zip Library test measures combined CPU and memory subsystem performance through the public ZLib compression library. ZLib is designed as a free lossless data compression library for use on virtually any computer hardware and operating system. The ZLib data format is itself portable across platforms and has a footprint independent of input data that can be reduced at some cost in compression.

Similar to the PhotoWorxx tests, the Core i7-860 and Core i7-920 are tied for the lead, performing at 95,488 and 94,758 KBps respectively.

The AES integer benchmark measures CPU performance using AES data encryption. It utilizes Vincent Rijmen, Antoon Bosselaers and Paulo Barreto's public domain C code in ECB mode and consumes 48 MB of memory.

Taking back a more decisive lead, the 2.80GHz Intel Core i7-860 and Gigabyte P55A-UD6 motherboard lead with 24016 points. Next is the 2.66GHz Intel Core i7-920 for 22343 points, trailing behind 7%.

The memory tests are included for illustration, since the system memory bandwidth offers a very minor impact on gaming performance and real-world experience. Nevertheless, it's evident from the results that both read and write performance favor the dual-core Intel Core i7-860 over the triple-channel Core i7-920. The only time that triple-channel memory appears to benefit the system is during memory copy tests.

PCMark05 System Tests

Using synthetic benchmarks to compare one product to another has some distinct advantages when testing similar hardware, yet I have never found myself completely satisfied by the process. I have come to understand that they're important for comparing "apples to apples", and that the results are usually very consistent. But as with any synthetic benchmark, the numbers can often mean very little more than just numbers. We don't take a high score on a synthetic benchmark to mean that a product will/should perform well, and neither should you. The difference between projected performance and actual performance is the difference between fire and the fire-fly.

PCMark is a series of computer benchmark tools developed by Futuremark. The tools are designed to test the performance of the user's CPU, read/write speeds of RAM and hard drives. We have used these tests to simulate a battery of applications and tasks, which will produce results we can compare to other systems using similar hardware.

Throughout all of the selected PCMark05 tests, the 'mainstream' 2.80GHz Intel Core i7-860 and Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 motherboard outperformed the 2.66GHz Intel Core i7-920 on the X58-Express motherboard. Audio compression was the most convincing test, with the P55/i7-860 scoring 4716 KBps for a 16% lead over the X58/i7-920 with 3966KBps. Video encoding was too close to call, with 699 KBps for P55 and 611 KBps on the X58. Physics and 3D performance was surprisingly favorable towards the Gigabyte P55A-UD6 with Core i7-860, scoring an 18% (60 FPS) lead over the X58/i7-920.

The trend continued into the next set of PCMark05 tests, earning the Gigabyte GA-P55-UD6 a decisive win over the Gigabyte X58 alternative. Even the 2.80GHz LGA1156 Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield processor delivered a marked lead over the faster 2.66GHz LGA1366 Intel Core i7-920 Nehalem CPU.

Text Edits were close, but gave the P55 system a 12 page per second advantage. File Encryption earned the GA-P55A-UD6 system a 30% lead. Image decompression was close, but still delivered a 6MBps lead to the i7-860/P55 system.

Passmark PerformanceTest

PassMark PerformanceTest is a PC hardware benchmark utility that allows a user to quickly assess the performance of their computer and compare it to a number of standard 'baseline' computer systems. The Passmark PerformanceTest CPU tests all benchmark the mathematical operations, compression, encryption, SSE, and 3DNow! instructions of modern processors. In our tests there were several area's of concentration for each benchmark, which are combined into one compound score. This score is referred to as the CPU Mark, and is a composite of the following tests:

• Integer Math
• Floating Point Math
• Find Prime Numbers
• SSE/3DNow!
• Compression
• Encryption
• Image Rotation
• String Sorting

Taken together as a whole, the eight separate CPU tests offers a very realistic segment of what taxes the processor most for users. The tests are grossly exaggerated synthetic benchmarks, but they can still help illustrate the difference.

With a composite score of 5055 for the Gigabyte P55A-UD6 motherboard paired with the Intel Core i7-860, a near 10% lead over the X58/i7-920 was attained.

The Passmark PerformanceTest memory benchmarks are included for illustration, since the system memory bandwidth offers a very minor impact on gaming performance and real-world experience. Similar to EVEREST, PerformanceTest favors dual-channel reads from same-speed and latency system memory. Write performance is slightly more opposite, but overall the results favor the dual-channel Intel Core i7-860 over the triple-channel Core i7-920.

Maxon CINEBENCH Results

Cinebench is a real-world test suite that assesses the computer's performance capabilities. Maxon Cinebench is based on Maxon's award-winning animation software, Cinema 4D, which is used extensively by studios and production houses worldwide for 3D content creation. Maxon software has been used in blockbuster movies such as Spider-Man, Star Wars, The Chronicles of Narnia and many more.

Maxon Cinebench runs several tests on your computer to measure the performance of the main processor and the graphics card under real world circumstances. The benchmark application makes use of up to 16 CPUs or CPU cores and is available for Windows (32-bit and 64-Bit) and Macintosh (PPC and Intel-based). The resulting values among different operating systems are 100% comparable and therefore very useful with regard to purchasing decision-making. It can also be used as a marketing tool for hardware vendors or simply to compare hardware among colleagues or friends.

The OpenGL test measures graphics card performance and is run inside the 3D editor window. The project file used can test all graphics cards that support the OpenGL standard. In this scene, only the camera was animated. This scene places medium to low demands on graphics cards and tests the maximum speed with which the scene can be properly displayed at the 800x580 resolution. Essentially, the Cinebench test removes the system hardware from the scoring influence, and centers the results around the GPU.

Using processor-only graphics computation, and ignoring the installed GeForce GTX 285 video card, Cinebench R10 delivered very interesting results. The Lynnfield Core i7-860 on Gigabyte's P55A motherboard outperforms the other systems, including the Nehalem Core i7-920 on X58, earning a 12% lead in single-core CPU tests but later gets reduced to only 1% when multi-core CPU tests are completed.

At the end of our synthetic CPU tests, the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 paired with a 2.80GHz i7-860 maintains a healthy lead over the X58-Express 'enthusiast' chipset equipped with a 2.66GHz i7-920. Now let's see how much of a difference P55 makes over X58 when it comes to gaming performance.

Crysis Benchmark Results

Crysis uses a new graphics engine: the CryENGINE2, which is the successor to Far Cry's CryENGINE. CryENGINE2 is among the first engines to use the Direct3D 10 (DirectX10) framework of Windows Vista, but can also run using DirectX9, both on Vista and Windows XP.

Roy Taylor, Vice President of Content Relations at NVIDIA, has spoken on the subject of the engine's complexity, stating that Crysis has over a million lines of code, 1GB of texture data, and 85,000 shaders. To get the most out of modern multicore processor architectures, CPU intensive subsystems of CryENGINE 2 such as physics, networking and sound, have been re-written to support multi-threading.

Crysis offers an in-game benchmark tool, which is similar to World in Conflict. This short test does place some high amounts of stress on a graphics card, since there are so many landscape features rendered. For benchmarking purposes, Crysis can mean trouble as it places a high demand on both GPU and CPU resources. Benchmark Reviews uses the Crysis Benchmark Tool by Mad Boris to test frame rates in batches, which allows the results of many tests to be averaged.

Low-resolution testing allows the graphics processor to plateau its maximum output performance, which thereby shifts demand onto the other system components. At the lower resolutions Crysis will reflect the GPU's top-end speed in the composite score, indicating full-throttle performance with little load. This makes for a less GPU-dependant test environment, and is helpful in creating a baseline for measuring maximum output performance in the next few test results. At the lowest 800x600 resolution available, frame rate performance became entirely CPU dependant.

At the GPU-dependant resolution of 1920x1200, the GeForce GTX 285 delivered an equal 142 FPS in Crysis between the Gigabyte P55A-UD6 with Core i7-860 and the Gigabyte EX58-UD4P with i7-920.

So as far as Crysis is concerned, and regardless of CPU- or GPU-dependence, game play performance is identical between the P55 and X58 platforms.

In our next section, Benchmark Reviews will test the P55 vs X58 performance in the fast-paced Far Cry 2 video game.

Far Cry 2 Benchmark

Ubisoft has developed Far Cry 2 as a sequel to the original, but with a very different approach to game play and story line. Far Cry 2 features a vast world built on Ubisoft's new game engine called Dunia, meaning "world", "earth" or "living" in Farci. The setting in Far Cry 2 takes place on a fictional Central African landscape, set to a modern day timeline.

The Dunia engine was built specifically for Far Cry 2, by Ubisoft Montreal development team. It delivers realistic semi-destructible environments, special effects such as dynamic fire propagation and storms, real-time night-and-day sun light and moon light cycles, dynamic music system, and non-scripted enemy A.I actions.

The Dunia game engine takes advantage of multi-core processors as well as multiple processors and supports DirectX 9 as well as DirectX 10. Only 2 or 3 percent of the original CryEngine code is re-used, according to Michiel Verheijdt, Senior Product Manager for Ubisoft Netherlands. Additionally, the engine is less hardware-demanding than CryEngine 2, the engine used in Crysis.

However, it should be noted that Crysis delivers greater character and object texture detail, as well as more destructible elements within the environment. For example; trees breaking into many smaller pieces and buildings breaking down to their component panels. Far Cry 2 also supports the amBX technology from Philips. With the proper hardware, this adds effects like vibrations, ambient colored lights, and fans that generate wind effects.

There is a benchmark tool in the PC version of Far Cry 2, which offers an excellent array of settings for performance testing. For the CPU-dependant tests Far Cry 2 was run at the ultra-low resolution of 640x480 with settings turned to low. With no strain on the GPU, both P55 and X58 systems produced nearly 159 FPS.

Benchmark Reviews used the maximum settings allowed for our tests, with the resolution set to 1920x1200. The performance settings were all set to 'Very High', DirectX 9 Render Quality was set to 'Ultra High' overall quality, 8x anti-aliasing was applied, and HDR and Bloom were enabled. At this resolution, the X58 system led by little more than 1 FPS, which is too close to determine a pure advantage.

Although the Dunia engine in Far Cry 2 is slightly less demanding than CryEngine 2 engine in Crysis, the strain appears to be extremely close. In Crysis we didn't dare to test AA above 4x, whereas we used 8x AA and 'Ultra High' settings in Far Cry 2. The end effect was a separation between what is capable of maximum settings, and what is not. Using the short 'Ranch Small' time demo (which yields the lowest FPS of the three tests available), the GeForce GTX 285 was left to perform its best on each motherboard.

After a long series of processor-specific testing, the advantage goes to the P55A/i7-860 system. Even most of the memory tests preferred the dual-channel configuration on Intel's P55 platform. When it came to gaming performance, the GeForce GTX 285 we used on both systems really had no preference, and produced the same frame rate regardless of chipset or processor. Only one test remained: power consumption.

Power Consumption Results

Life is not as affordable as it used to be, and items such as fuel and electrical energy top the list of resources that have exploded in price over the past few years. Add to this the limit of non-renewable resources compared to demand and you can see that the prices are only going to get worse. Planet Earth is needs our help, and needs it badly. With forests becoming barren of vegetation and snow capped poles quickly turning brown, the technology industry has a new attitude towards suddenly becoming "green". Motherboard manufacturers, in particular, have been touting their new energy saving features. How effective these power management system are, is exactly what we intend to measure in our power consumption tests.

Up to this point, Benchmark Reviews has compared one platform against another; P55 vs X58. The Intel Core i7-920 processor was tested on the X58-Express motherboard and compared directly to the Core i7-860 CPU installed on the mainstream P55-Express Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 LGA1156 motherboard. Like I said at the beginning: it doesn't seem like a fair comparison on paper. As it turns out though, the P55/i7-860 combo has really done incredibly well against the more expensive X58/i7-920 combo. Looking back over all of our tests: EVEREST, PCMark05, Passmark PerformanceTest, CINEBENCH, Crysis, and Far Cry 2, it's surprising that the Gigabyte GA-P55-UD6 beat the X58 platform in the majority of benchmarks.

So then, since the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 is edging out its X58/i7-920 counterpart in our benchmarks, who does it compare in power consumption. Just take a look...

To measure system power consumption, Benchmark Reviews uses the Kill-A-Watt EZ (model P4460) power meter made by P3 International. A baseline test is taken as the system is allowed to boot into Windows and rest idle at the login screen for three minutes before power consumption is recorded. Once the baseline reading has been taken, Lavalys EVEREST Ultimate Edition is loaded and the System Stability Test is run with 100% stress on the CPU and FPU for five minutes and the results recorded. Next, the CPU, FPU, Cache, and System Memory stress options are turned on for five minutes. After the CPU/Cache/RAM test results are recorded, our final loaded power consumption reading is taken with the video card running at 100% using the FurMark stress test.

At idle, the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 system sips 88 watts total (see hardware loadout below), which is 33% more efficient than the Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P system that consumed 130W. I actually had to stop and think about this test for a minute; with everything else being the same (except for motherboard and processor), the P55 system just saved me 42W per hour at idle! With the CPU cores all running at 100%, the P55A-UD6 consumed 173W while the EX58-UD4P system used 18% more electricity and measured 222W. Once the system cache and memory stress options were turned on, the P55 climbed eight watts to 181W while the X58 system added another ten watts for a total of 222W. Measuring GPU power consumption, the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 gobbled 320W when paired with the GeForce GTX 285, while the X58/i7-920 system required 12% electricity to do the exact same job, costing 363 watts.

Apparently the leap from Gigabyte's X58 12+2+2 power phase design with VRD 11.1 support to the current 24-phase power VRM in the P55 series is working very well.

Gigabyte P55A Test System

• Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 (Intel P55/ICH10R Chipset) with F6 BIOS
• Processor: Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield LGA1156 2.80 GHz
• CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus (fan powered by PSU - not motherboard)
• System Memory: 4GB (2x 2GB) OCZ Dual-Channel 1333 MHz DDR3 CL 7-7-7-20 OCZ3P1333LV6GK
• Primary Drive: OCZ Vertex EX SLC SSD OCZSSD2-1VTXEX120G
• Secondary Drive: WD VelociRaptor 300GB SATA HDD WD3000HLFS
• Optical Drive: ASUS BC-06B1ST Blu-Ray Disc Optical Combo Drive
• Graphics Adapter: ASUS ENGTX285 TOP GeForce GTX 285
• Power Supply Unit: OCZ Z Series Gold 850W OCZZ850

Gigabyte X58 Test System

• Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P (Intel X58/ICH10R Chipset) with F10k BIOS
• Processor: Intel Core i7-920 Nehalem 2.66 GHz (BX80601920)
• CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus (fan attached to PSU - not motherboard)
• System Memory: 6GB (3x 2GB) OCZ Triple-Channel 1333 MHz DDR3 CL 7-7-7-20 OCZ3P1333LV6GK
• Primary Drive: OCZ Vertex EX SLC SSD OCZSSD2-1VTXEX120G
• Secondary Drive: WD VelociRaptor 300GB SATA HDD WD3000HLFS
• Optical Drive: ASUS BC-06B1ST Blu-Ray Disc Optical Combo Drive
• Graphics Adapter: ASUS ENGTX285 TOP GeForce GTX 285
• Power Supply Unit: OCZ Z Series Gold 850W OCZZ850

Intel P55/LGA1156 Final Thoughts

Back on November 2008 when Benchmark Reviews helped launched the Intel Core i7 CPU & X58-Express platform, there was also news that Intel would soon return to reveal their mainstream P55-Express chipset. The new P55 was expected to support yet another new processor socket, switching out LGA1366 for LGA1156. The decision to follow-up with the P55 chipset made sense, primarily because Intel's been doing the X-before-P dance for a short while now. But to alienate an already fresh socket with another in the midst of an economic crisis? That just didn't make consumer sense.

Even after reading many of the technical reviews, it still doesn't. There's no industrial reason behind the move, and there's no technical advantage to it either. Intel could have easily fit the Lynnfield Core i5 and i7 processors all inside the same LGA1366 socket and reduced pin count. Or could they? The overall dimensions of the Nehalem Core i7-9xx series are larger than Lynnfield Core i7-8xx and i5-7xx series processors, which is the primary reason behind the socket change. Core i7-9xx series processors are 32 x 35mm, while the i7-8xx series is 32 x 32mm. Even still, a very small waste of silicon couldn't possibly cost more than a whole new socket. Of course the Core i3 'Havendale' processor is still poised for release in 2009 on the LGA1160 socket, which will again change the game.

So while Intel could have started with a standard die and forge ahead with improvements it, similar to the Pentium 4 era, they instead began at the top and worked backwards. This explains why the only processor to improve on the Core i7-965 Extreme Edition since its launch has been... the Core i7-975 Extreme Edition, another $1000+ processor. This essentially moved the i7-965 down into the high three-digit price range, and replaced the price point with the equally-charming i7-975. That's good and fine for 'enthusiast' X58 users, but the 'mainstream' P55-Express chipset didn't seem so economical when you had to shop for another aftermarket cooling solution.

Consider this: the LGA775 socket couldn't possibly fit the LGA1156 processor, but the CPU is roughly the same exact size. What this means is that the Lynnfield Core i7-8xx and i5-7xx series processors share the same dimensions as the LGA775 Pentium and Core 2 processors. Now imagine the number of aftermarket cooling systems designed for the old LGA775 socket, and ask yourself why Intel couldn't have adopted the exact same socket cooler mounting positions. From my perspective it seems like intentional support-market alienation, stressing after-market suppliers to create whole new products or adapters to fit LGA1156. This is all very familiar to how Intel dropped DDR3 onto the memory industry as the economic recession began, and then backed away from forcing chipset support.

Taking my complaint one step further, consider the budget-conscious overclocker and what they've just lost by being chiseled down to LGA1156 from LGA1366 size processors. CPU coolers made for the LGA775 platform were designed for use with a Core 2 (Duo or Quad) or Pentium 4 and D processor with an integrated heat-spreader measuring 28.5 x 28.5mm (812.25mm total), which is about equal to the new Lynnfield Core i7 and i5 processors. But then consider that the LGA1366 socket requires a much larger 32 x 35mm (1120mm total) footprint to accommodate the extra 591 'pins'. If you use an LGA775/1156 cooler on a LGA1366 socket, your missing out on 38% (307.75mm) of the contact surface. Had Intel kept the LGA1366 socket for Lynnfield, overclockers could take advantage of a 38% increase in surface area for cooling their overclocked processor.

With DRAM being sold at the lowest prices we've seen in many years, the introduction of a motherboard willing to harness large amounts of DDR3 may be a blessing in disguise. Even though enthusiasts have yet to fall in love with 64-bit versions of the Windows Operating System, there has been a renewed interest in it since the launch of Intel's X58 platform. The market already supports memory kits with 4GB modules, and it will be a short matter of time before we have 8GB modules commonplace in these kits. Thankfully the Windows 7 launch is only weeks away, giving me that hope for change I had in 2009.

As the Intel P55 chipset has now demonstrated, the future is in PCH-based designs, and 32- (or 22nm) technology has paved the way for Moore's law to continue as predicted. Herein lies the problem: software hasn't been keeping up with its end of the deal and most of us still use the 32-bit technology introduced back in Windows 95. it's sad but true. Games like Crysis helped give reason for advancing graphics technology, just like virtualization technology and Terminal Services helped push processor power. But the apex of software demands hasn't really changed in several years.

I said this at the end of 2008, and will say again now as we near the end of 2009: consumers will greet 2010 with video games that require the same graphical power as they have over the past few years, albeit in DirectX 11 packaging. Newer server and virtualization technology continues to refine efficiency and uses fewer CPU cycles. So essentially software barely moving while hardware is making leaps and bounds. Which raises the question: to what end?

I used to overclock my Pentium 4 (and later Pentium D and Core 2) processor to get a few extra frames out of Battlefield 2 and earn more work units per day with Folding@Home. But now I have a graphics card that performs 600x better at folding proteins than my CPU ever did, and I have a Core i7 processor that can encode my authored DVD's in a fraction of the time it used to take. We haven't hit the wall, but the light at the end of the tunnel is getting very close. If software doesn't come around soon, with perhaps a widespread adoption of 64-bit computing with Microsoft Windows 7, we'll soon share the automobile dilemma: high-horsepower engines with break-neck speed driving on roads with a 65-MPH speed limit. I personally feel that this has been the case since Core 2 was launched, which is why we're now sharing the other auto-industry dilemma: power efficiency. Welcome to big business, and remember what just happened with that other industry.

Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 Conclusion

Although our rating and final score are made to be as objective as possible, please be advised that every author perceives these factors differently at different points in time. While we do our best to ensure that all aspects of the product are considered, there are often times unforeseen market conditions and manufacturer changes which occur after publication that would render our rating obsolete. Please do not base your purchases solely on our conclusion, as it represents our product rating at the time of publication. Benchmark Reviews begins our conclusion with a short summary for each of the areas that we rate.

Benchmark Reviews begins each conclusion with a short summary for each area that we rate. The first is performance, which considers how effective the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 LGA1156 motherboard performs in operation against direct competitors. On a scale of 1 to 10, which is exactly how we grade each section, the GA-P55A-UD6 receives a score of 9.0 when compared against other products in its related category. Graphics performance in video games was practically even between systems, which puts emphasis on the other areas. Even with a 5% faster 2.8Ghz Intel Core i7-860 installed, this Intel P55-Express system delivered an average 10% better CPU performance and 7% better memory bandwidth than the 2.66GHz Intel Core i7-920 on the X58 platform. With performance trending towards P55 over X58, it was the 33% improvement to power efficiency that really sealed the win.

Although much of the performance gains are attributed to the LGA-1156 Core i5/i7-series processors, which directly-integrate both the 16-lane PCI Express 2.0 graphics and dual-channel memory controller which enables all input/output and manageability functions to be handled by the single-chip Ibex Peak Intel P55-Express motherboard, the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 adds a few new dynamics to performance. New to the GA-P55A-UD6 (as opposed to the non-A series P55-UD6 motherboard) is the integration of the Marvell 88SE9128 SATA 6Gb/s controller and NEC D720200F1 SuperSpeed USB-3.0 functionality. While these two items each theoretically double their respective connection's performance, Benchmark Reviews has discovered that Marvell SATA-6G SSD Performance is still waiting on additional driver improvements.

Just like past Gigabyte motherboards we've reviewed, the overall appearance of the GA-P55A-UD6 is exciting. My first impression was that the P55A-UD6 left behind all of those old pastel colors as if to say that it came here to do business. If you're into showing-off your goods, Gigabyte has a winning combination of shiny silver and anodized blue components to keep things exciting. The colors used for expansion card slots are matched to bus speed and type, and the power phase and onboard LEDs give just as much for user feedback as they do for captivating looks. At the end of my testing I was pleased to say I don't miss copper heatpipe tubing winding around the motherboard, because the P55A-UD6 gets the job done with a single aluminum rod.

Much like their X58 motherboard series, Gigabyte has achieved near-perfect component layout on their P55-Express platform. The construction is what you would expect from a top-class premium product: second to none. I know that there has been a long history of being second-best (to ASUS) in the motherboard industry, but the GA-P55A-UD6 actually has the advantage of using the Marvell 88SE9128 SATA 6Gb/s controller while ASUS used a flawed Marvell 88SE9123 chip. All of the SATA ports are turned sideways, which allows full access to them even with large video cards installed. Six DDR3 memory module banks are located far enough away from the socket for better access to them and unrestricted cooling for the processor.

Intel's X58-Express chipset receives 32 (16+16) PCI-E lanes, while the P55 platform receive only 16 lanes. For most gamers, this isn't going to make a difference because they're using only one video card anyway. But when you consider that the SATA6G and SuperSpeed USB 3.0 take up to six PCI-E lanes, there's only one place to get them from: graphics. With the extra controllers enabled in a single card setup there are eight lanes for PCI-Express graphics bandwidth, with the remainder available to the new controllers at 5Gbps. However, when two cards are combined (such as a CrossFireX configuration like we tested), they each receive eight lanes and the SATA-6G and USB-3 operate at only 2.5Gbps maximum. Considering that video game frame rates were nearly identical between P55A, P55, and X58 motherboards, the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 can be expected to deliver the same performance you would get from more expensive mainboard hardware. I won't re-hash two pages of Gigabyte-specific motherboard features here because you can always revisit those sections at the beginning of this article if you're curious, but the 26-phase power VRM really proved a success in saving electricity (especially over X58), and the TPM Security Chip is perfect for cautious consumers.

As of late December 2009 online retailers such as NewEgg list the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 for $249.99, and curiously this is the also same price they offer Gigabyte's non-A series GA-P55-UD6. Both Intel P55-Express UD6 models comes in about $30 behind the price of Gigabyte's X58 motherboard offerings that shares nearly identical features, and makes the P55 a real threat to 'enthusiast'-labeled products. Be sure to use our price comparison tool to shop for the best deals online.

In conclusion, the overall performance is improved almost 10% on the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 with Core i7-860 when compared to the Core i7-920/GA-EX58-UD4P, but it is the energy efficient 24-phase power VRM feature that receives my highest praise for this Intel P55 motherboard. Gigabyte already touted their 12+2+2 power phase design back when the X58 platform was launched, but the 24-phase power VRM on the P55 series is worth 33% in power savings at idle, and 18% under full processor load. For consumers deciding to upgrade between P55 and X58, I don't see the X58 platform offering any substantial return on investment when gaming or computing is the core focus. It's unfortunate that the GA-P55A-UD6 offers only 8x PCI-Express 2.0 graphics slots shouldn't impact anyone until games and video cards begin to saturate the 5.0 GBps of bandwidth in each lane. It seems that dual-channel is just as good or better than triple-channel memory, especially now that the CPU manages memory functions, and the small differences aren't enough to be noticed in real world usage. Casual overclockers are guaranteed to enjoy the same array of settings and BIOS configuration options as X58 motherboards have, while 16GB of total DDR3 memory will please 64-bit users. Eight total SATA ports will ensure that no drive is left behind (a popular initiative for my SSD collection), but the SATA-III 6Gbps interface has no clear advantage with currently-available drives. SuperSpeed 3.0 is really the only functional leap over the others, as SuperSpeed USB 3.0 External Storage Products are actually selling. The full depth of Gigabyte's proprietary product features is well worth the asking price, and the TPM encryption security is at the front of this list. Considering the improved real-world performance against USB-2.0 and X58-Express solutions, you can't possibly go wrong with the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD6 LGA1156 motherboard.

Pros:

+ Intel P55-Express outperforms X58 head-to-head
+ SuperSpeed USB-3.0 offers 5Gbps transfer speed
+ 24-Phase Power VRD delivers amazing power savings!
+ Supports ATI CrossFireX and NVIDIA SLI dual video card sets
+ Supports 16GB of dual-channel 1333MHz DDR3
+ Outstanding BIOS with enthusiasts options
+ Japanese-manufactured surface mount all-solid capacitors
+ Blu-Ray/HD DVD Full rate audio with DTS connect
+ 2oz Copper Ultra Durable 3 construction improves cooling and stability
+ 6 Intel ICH10R and 4 JMB362 SATA ports
+ Marvell 88SE9128 SATA 6Gb/s controller adds forward compatibility
+ TPM security offers 2048-bit encryption
+ Two PCI-Express 2.0 compliant graphics slots
+ BIOS updates are made safe with dual-BIOS

Cons:

- Expensive 'mainstream' motherboard solution
- BIOS options can be complicated for some users
- Does not support ATI Triple-CrossFireX or NVIDIA Triple-SLI
- 16x PCI-Express 2.0 not possible with SATA6G/USB3 enabled
- Limited PCI-Express lanes may limit component functionality

Ratings:

• Performance: 9.00
• Appearance: 9.00
• Construction: 9.50
• Functionality: 9.25
• Value: 8.50

Final Score: 9.05 out of 10.

Excellence Achievement: Benchmark Reviews Golden Tachometer Award.

Questions? Comments? Benchmark Reviews really wants your feedback. We invite you to leave your remarks in our Discussion Forum.

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