Gigabyte H55N-USB3 Mini-ITX Motherboard Review

The H55 platform somehow appeared at the end of 2009. It basically is a P55 platform with reduced capabilities (RAID for example), but with the ability to use the integrated Intel HD graphics unit on Intel Core i3 and Core i5 CPUs based in Clarkdale's architecture. This way, you're able to build an HTPC with very decent performance and a graphics processor capable of reproducing HD content and some very light gaming on a small case. While this kind of systems were interesting, it wasn't as interesting as a Mini-ITX sized motherboard. Things finally changed when Zotac's company finally decided to launch a Mini-ITX H55 platform capable of using Clarkdale's processors and offering a PCI-e port to add raw gaming power to the PC.

ECS quickly followed the trend launching their H55H-I, but as you can expect, neither of these options had the top-notch quality we usually see on GIGABYTE's products. Zotac has lots of features including dual antennas for Wi-Fi connection but lacks of a good price. ECS has a very low price but lacks of features and overclocking capabilities to make this platform as interesting as it can be. Can GIGABYTE finally full that niche gathering the best of both worlds?

GIGABYTE has grown a lot in the market lately. They mainly produce top-notch quality motherboards and GPUs, and they have even entered new areas as well. We couldn't say they had a specific motherboard for each user until they finally released their Mini-ITX H55N-USB3 motherboard. Last year, Mini-ITX motherboards meant low CPU-performance. But in 2010, things have changed and now you can build a very small PC with great performance and good efficiency. Benchmark Reviews tests the GIGABYTE H55N-USB3 motherboard paired with an Intel Core i3 530 processor and 4GB of RAM to check which kind of performance we can expect from a Mini-ITX HTPC system like this one.

This is the first Mini-ITX platform GIGABYTE produces and there's a small fear that things go wrong on the first try. Gigabyte didn't hesitate to add interesting features to the H55N-USB3. Leaving aside that they didn't included SATA 3 support (which at the moment, is kind of useless still), they included USB 3 ports and it basically supports all the other features you find on a P55 enthusiast motherboard. Even the on/off charge feature is included at the moment of launch.

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

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 H55 Express Chipset

The GIGABYTE H55N-USB3 motherboard was built to support Clarkdale (Core i3/i5) processors as well as Lynnfield (Core i5/i7) CPUs. New to the H55 platform is a Direct Media Interface (DMI) that connects between the processor and chipset. The Intel H55 Express Chipset delivers new technologies and innovative capabilities for digital home, small office, and home office consumers. The Intel H55 Express Chipset features include the Intel Remote PC Assist technology and support for two independently controlled display interfaces. The H55 chipset doesn't support RAID levels 0/1/5/10 and because this is a reduced H55 platform, it only comes with a PCI-e 2.0 16x slot. The Lynnfield CPU incorporates the system memory controller (as it did beginning with Nehalem) and accesses DDR3 memory through two independent, direct memory channels.

All motherboard busses and components are driven from a single base clock with a standard clock speed of 133.33 MHz; this is known as the B-Clock or BCLK. The individual 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 clock rates for:

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. Direct Media Interface (DMI) Speed: Selectable transfer rate of data transferred between the CPU and the IOH. (Note: Many BIOS programs and monitoring utilities (CPU-Z, etc.) will report this as QPI. This is the interface used between the LGA1366 CPUs and the X58 Chipset.)

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 H55 Express Chipset Features

Intel Flexible Display Interface - An innovative path for two independently controlled channels of integrated graphics display data to be transported to the Intel 5 Series Chipset.

Support for High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI)*, DisplayPort* and DVI-1 - HDMI delivers uncompressed HD video and uncompressed multi-channel audio in a single cable, supporting all HD formats including 720p, 1080i, and 1080p. Dual-independent display expands the viewable workspace to two monitors.

Intel Remote PC Assist Technology - This technology enables you to make a fast call for help and request remote technical assistance if you encounter a problem with your PC, even when the OS, network software, or applications are not functioning.

Intel High Definition Audio - Integrated audio support enables premium digital surround sound and delivers advanced features such as multiple audio streams and jack re-tasking.

Universal Serial Bus (USB) - Hi-Speed USB 2.0, provides greater enhancement in performance with a design data rate of up to 480 megabits per second (Mbps) with up to 12 USB 2.0 Ports.

Intel Quiet System Technology - Intelligent system fan speed control algorithms use operating temperature ranges more efficiently to reduce system noise by minimizing fan speed changes.

USB 2.0 rate matching hub - Enables lower power requirements and manages the transition of the communication data rate from the high speed of the host controller to the lower speed of USB full speed /low speed devices.

Serial ATA (SATA) 3 Gb/s - High-speed storage interface supports faster transfer rate for improved data access with up to 6 SATA ports.

eSATA - SATA interface designed for use with external SATA devices. It provides a link for 3 Gb/s data speeds to eliminate bottlenecks found with current external storage solutions.

SATA port disable - Enables individual SATA ports to be enabled or disabled as needed. This feature provides added protection of data by preventing malicious removal or insertion of data through SATA ports. Especially targeted for eSATA ports.

PCI Express 2.0 interface - Offers up to 2.5GT/s for fast access to peripheral devices and networking with up to 6 PCI Express 2.0 x1 ports, configurable as x2 and x4 depending on motherboard designs.

USB port disable - Enables individual USB ports to be enabled or disabled as needed. This feature provides added protection of data by preventing malicious removal or insertion of data through USB ports.

Intel integrated 10/100/1000 MAC - Support for the Intel 82578DC Gigabit Network Connection

Green technology - Intel integrates environmental performance goals into every aspect of design and manufacturing. Intel 45nm high-k metal gate process technology is lead-free, and since 2008, Intel has produced halogen-free products.

Gigabyte H55N-USB3 Features

There are a ton of features included with any motherboard that are not directly associated with the CPU Socket and Chipset. It's those features that help differentiate between product offerings, so let's look at the list of specific features that come with the GIGABYTE H55N-USB3 motherboard.

Intel Core i7/ Core i5/ Core i3 LGA 1156 Processors - Supporting the latest Intel Core i7, Core i5 and Core i3 processors featuring the first time ever integrated graphics on chip and LGA 1156 socket(Core i5 and Core i3 processors only), GIGABYTE H5x series motherboards set a new standard in multimedia platform for high definition contents playback. With the GPU integrated directly into the processor die, GIGABYTE H5x motherboards support 2 channel DDR3 memory, wide range of display interfaces that includes VGA, DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort (Depends on model). Additionally, the GIGABYTE H5x Series are optimized for greater graphics performance by enabling overclocking the GPU core frequency for a performance gain of up to 13%.
*Onboard motherboard display functionality requires a processor with Intel Graphics Technology.

On/Off Charge Support - GIGABYTE On/Off Charge technology that enables faster iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch charging. A derivative of GIGABYTE's highly acclaimed 3x USB Power feature, On/Off Charge technology allows iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices to draw more current from GIGABYTE motherboard USB ports than standard USB ports allow, with the added benefit that the PC can be on, in standby mode or even off.

*Due to certain mobile phone limitations, users may need to connect the mobile phone to their PC before the PC enters S4/S5 mode to enable a quick charge from non On/Off Charge USB ports. Charging results may vary by model.

USB 3.0 Support - The GIGABYTE USB 3.0 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.

3x USB Power Boost- GIGABYTE 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.

Ultra Durable 3 - GIGABYTE Ultra Durable 3 design, featuring 2 ounces of copper for both the Power and Ground layers which dramatically lowers system temperature by delivering a more efficient spreading of heat from critical areas of the motherboard such as the CPU power zone throughout the entire PCB. GIGABYTE's Ultra Durable 3 also lowers the PCB impedance by 50%, which helps to reduce electrical waste and further lowers component temperatures. A 2oz Copper layer design also provides improved signal quality and lower EMI (Electromagnetic Interference), providing better system stability and allowing for greater margins for overclocking.

Smart 6- A Smarter way for PC system Management - GIGABYTE Smart 6 is designed with user-friendliness in mind, and offers a combination of 6 innovative software utilities that provide easier and smarter PC system management. Smart 6 allows you to speed up system performance, reduce boot-up time, manage a secure platform and recover previous system settings easily with a click of the mouse button.

HDMI-The Next Generation Multimedia Interface - HDMI is the latest High-Definition Multimedia Interface able to provide up to 5Gb/s video transmitting bandwidth and 8-channel high quality audio all through a single cable. Able to transmit superior, uncompressed digital video and audio, HDMI ensures the crispest rendering of digital content up to 1080p without the quality losses associated with analog interfaces and their digital-to-analog conversion. In addition, HDMI is compatible with HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection), allowing the playback of Blu-ray/HD DVD and other protected media content.

AutoGreen: Greening your PC via Bluetooth cellphone - AutoGreen technology can automatically save power for you simply by your bluetooth cell phone when you are away from your computer.
Note: GIGABYTE motherboards do not include a Bluetooth receiver; the addition of a 3rd party Bluetooth receiver is required.

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.

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 fans with a simple click of button.

Norton Internet Security - Fast, comprehensive, and up-to-the-minute protection against online threats. It safeguards your computer, identity, and home network without slowing you down. It sets a new standard for speed and makes online shopping, banking, and browsing safer and more convenient than ever.

Qualified for Windows 7 - The motherboard qualified for WHQL (Windows Hardware Quality Labs) certification of Windows 7 from Microsoft, setting the standard for future Windows 7 certified motherboards.

ErP Lot 6 support - The ErP (as known as Energy-Related Products Directive) is part of new European Union's environment regulations. ErP established is based on the concern of environmental issues regards electronic devices been gained popularity and how to improve energy efficiency for better and greener life. GIGABYTE presents standard motherboards to help you effectively improving system performance and saving more energy.

Gigabyte H55N-USB3 Motherboard Specifications

Closer Look: Gigabyte H55N-USB3

The GIGABYTE H55N-USB3 looks like a reduced version of the Gigabyte-UD9. It seems like they just shrank down the PCB and changed the name to create a Mini-ITX version. Overall, GIGABYTE keeps their blue-white color combination to make what it looks to be a very appealing motherboard.

The H55N-USB3 comes with a very interesting PCB design. Basically, all H55 mini-ITX motherboards come with the socket moved down near the PCI-e slot, while the S-ATA ports and Southbridge are now available at the top of the PCB. While the memory slots are being kept at the right side of the motherboard, the ATX 24-pin connector as well as the front panel pins were moved to the upper side while normally you can find them in the lower part of any ATX/Micro ATX motherboards. As I've said, this isn't strictly a design from GIGABYTE, and all H55 mini-ITX motherboards are being shipped like this. At the end, this only results on incompatibility with some cases which have shorter cables designed to reach the lower zone of the motherboard. For example, in my case, I suffered trying to connect the front panel cables to the motherboard with 3 different Mini-ITX cases (including the Thermaltake's Element Q and the Antec ISK 310-150 ).

The I/O panel has plenty of connections for a Mini-ITX motherboard. Gigabyte includes a PS/2 port for either a mouse or a keyboard for those who still prefer it against the USB counterparts which are becoming more and more common this days. Gigabyte also includes 4 USB 2.0 ports and 2 USB 3.0 (blue) ports hosted by the NEC's controller. Again, GIGABYTE is betting for a killer product, and so they included DVI-D, VGA (analog) and HDMI connectors of which 2 can be used at the same time. Additionally, there's also an optical SPDIF and 7.1 channel support plugs, and finally an eSATA (yellow) port. This board is full of features as GIGABYTE didn't hesitate on adding all them to this motherboard. Hopefully, this product will be as strong on performance as a standard ATX motherboard and then we'll have a real winner.

You can install up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM working in dual channel configuration up to 1333MHz. While GIGABYTE says they support up to 1660MHz, you won't be able to achieve this kind of speeds unless you overclock the DMI clock or install a fully unlocked CPU like the i7 875k or the i5 655k. Both slots support 1.5v DDR3 memory but you can pump the voltage up to 2.6 volts (insane for DDR3 sticks), or you can always lower it down to 1.3 volts allowing you to purchase low-voltage RAM kits and save some watts with your new HTPC.

GIGABYTE used the back side of the PCB to solder some circuits and chips to it and save space. This shouldn't be an issue, but in the next section we'll have a detailed look at the overall design and discover if this design could hurt and kind of installations at the moment of mounting the system in a PC case.

Finally, here's a side by side comparison with the ECS H55H-I motherboard. As you can see, the PCB design is the same, and that applies to the Zotac H55ITX-A-E. GIGABYTE included a better looking and smaller heatsink in the Southbridge and it uses 100% solid capacitors. Other than that, the only differences are the I/O panel layout and the electrical specifications.

Let's take an even closer look at some of the unique features on this motherboard...

Gigabyte H55N-USB3 Detailed Features

The heatsink that sits on the top of the Southbridge should be enough for most of the cases. If you're planning some overclocking adding QPI/VTT voltage, then I'd suggest having decent air flow in your case. In front of it, there's a 4-pin 12v CPU connector and behind we can see 4 S-ATA ports (unluckily, they are SATA 2) and the front panel connectors for you case. You'll also find a 4-pin header for a CPU fan and an additional 3-pin header for a case fan. Gigabyte only included 2 fan headers, so if you must power 3 or more fans, you'll need to attach them to some molex connectors.

Let's have a detailed look at the back side of the PCB. Do you see those MOSFETs near the socket's mounting holes? That's a bad idea for those who want to install big heatsinks. While the H55N-USB3 was built for regular HTPC/small office users, those who want a small but powerful rig will probably think of getting an aftermarket heatsink. The deal is that some back plates won't fit on this motherboard because of these MOS-FETs. That or you might end with a pair of crushed MOS-FETs at the back of your board. So, if you're considering using this platform as your new gaming ring, consider using the stock heatsink or buying a push-pin (you don't have idea of how much I hate saying this) mounting mechanism heatsink.

Talking about heatsinks, the socket is pretty close to RAM and PCI-e slots. If you install a full tower heatsink you might either end with 1 RAM slot un-usable or without the option of using a dedicated GPU. Again, this isn't much of a problem knowing that the board is targeted to an HTPC audience. GIGABYTE explains that the H55N-USB3 has 4+2 phase VRMs suitable for CPUs with a TDP of 73 watts which includes Core i3 and Core i5 CPUs. But if you read the specifications, GIGABYTE says they fully support Intel Core i7 processors too, and they claim you won't have problems even with the Core i7 880, which works at a 95 watts TDP. With Core i7 CPUs, there will be little room to overclock and over volt, but for Clarkdale CPUs this board should be more than enough. We'll check this out later on the Overclocking section.

At the top, near the front panel pins, there's the ATX 24-pin connector. This whole layout might complicate the installation in many cases. For example, if you want to install this ITX motherboard in a Micro ATX/ATX chassis, the cables might not be long enough to reach the higher part of the motherboard since they're designed to reach the lower part of it in 99% of the cases.

Here's a closer look at the NEC D720200F1 chip. This little IC hosts a pair of USB 3.0 ports which can be found at the I/O panel. GIGABYTE is the first company releasing a Mini-ITX motherboard with USB 3.0 support. Sure, there are USB 3.0 PCI-e cards but in this case, that would leave a discrete GPU out of the game. While this isn't a killer feature yet, it's a plus only GIGABYTE offers at the moment.

Finally, have a look at the Realtek ALC892R Integrated Circuit, which includes bit-streaming Blu-Ray audio support over both HDMI and analogue ports up to 7.1 channels.

In the next section Benchmark Reviews gives a detailed look at the GIGABYTE H55N-USB3 Basic Input Output System (BIOS).

Gigabyte H55N-USB3 BIOS

The next menu is named "Advanced Memory Settings" and here's where you'll play with your memory timings and frequency. It lets you watch the DDR and QPI voltage from your XMP profile and select the multiplier. You can also change the sub-timings for each channel individually.

Here's a look at the Channel X settings. Both channels show the same values and as you can see, this motherboard has no lack of timings in this section. I bet it even has much more options available than other brand high-end X58 motherboards. If you keep the settings in "Auto" mode, the motherboard will find the best values for your current settings and adapt them even if you overclock your CPU/RAM.

Finally, the "Advanced Voltage Settings" menu lets you modify the voltage from different components. Again, if you let this in "Auto" mode it will automatically apply voltage settings to keep the motherboard stable. But be careful, I strongly recommend applying voltages manually if you're thinking on overclocking, because GIGABYTE tends to exaggerate with CPU vCore and QPI voltage when you start going above 160MHz BCLK when normally it's not that necessary. Also, leave Load-line calibration disabled if you're overclocking your CPU.

Just to finalize, the H55N-USB3 allows setting a vCore from .50v up to 1.9v in 0.00625v steps. DRAM voltage allows going from 1.3v (for low voltage memory) to 2.6v. QPI/VTT voltage goes from 1.05v to 1.49v, which is enough to do any kind of overclocking to the CPU and memory.

As you can see, GIGABYTE doesn't lacks of any features in their BIOS and they're going at full-machine with the H55N-USB3. Right now, I have great expectations about this motherboard. Please follow us to the Overclocking section to read what this motherboard is able to achieve when tortured.

Gigabyte H55N-USB3 Overclocking

Now that we've seen the BIOS won't be a limitation for overclocking, let's see what we can do with this motherboard. My first target was to check the maximum BCLK I could achieve. While I was able to achieve 180MHz with the ECS H55H-I, most high-end motherboards are able to do around 200-215MHz before reaching their limits. For my surprise, the GIGABYTE H55N-USB3 was able to achieve 210MHz without problems, all with stock QPI/VTT voltage, which puts the H55N next to the performance of a High-end P55 motherboard. I've captured some CPU-Z screens for you. Don't mind at the CPU vCore or multiplier since I was trying to leave out any other unstable parameters out of the game.

GIGABYTE H55N-USB3 at 210MHz BCLK. Pretty much what a high-end P55 motherboard can do!

My next step was to find out max CPU frequency using the stock vCore. Keep in mind I'm using a relatively air-flow limited case (Antec ISK 310-150) and so, I'm using Intel's stock cooler. GIGABYTE detected stock voltage at 1.2v and CPU-Z reported 1.184v at full load because of the vDroop. At this point, I managed to get 3,8GHz fully stable with Prime95. I was able to boot at 3.9GHz but it would occasionally give BSODs so I'm leaving the mark at 3.8GHz. I must say that a 900MHz overclock for stock voltage is everything but bad. CPU almost reached 70 degrees (Celsius) at full load, which means I still have some room to add voltage, but in the next tests, Benchmark Reviews will use both stock and 3.8Ghz settings to make the comparisons.

Intel Core i3 530 at 3.8GHz with stock voltage and stock heatsink.

My next target was reaching the maximum CPU frequency adding a reasonable amount of voltage according to the conditions. Since I'm using the stock cooler and a very small case, I limited the vCore at 1.35v. With these settings, I was able to achieve 4.2GHz Prime95 stable and boot at 4.3GHz. According to CPU-Z, the vDroop caused the CPU voltage to stay at 1.328v, which is very nice for 4.2GHz. Have a look at the next picture:

Intel Core i3 530 at 4.2GHz fully stable with stock heatsink.

Finally, I want to add that this motherboard with a good CPU heatsink and a bigger case (like the Lian Li PC-Q08 or the Silverstone's SG07) should be able to do around 4GHz with stock voltage and at least 4.4GHz adding some voltage to the vCore, without modifying any other component's voltage at 200BCLK. I'm very satisfied with the quality and overclocking abilities of the GIGABYTE H55N-USB3, and I can really recommend this as an enthusiast/gaming motherboard as well as for HTPC/small office purposes. Let's head to the motherboard testing methodology.

Motherboard Testing Methodology

While this is a very powerful configuration, we can't forget that we're talking about a Mini-ITX product here. This means that the product won't be compared to a Core i7 920 or a Phenom II X6 processor, but against similar systems in performance and size. This time, I've chose the recently reviewed ASRock Core 100HT HTPC and an ION 330 based HTPC for comparison. I'll be using the ECS H55H-I with the same settings as the GIGABYTE H55N-USB3 and add them to the graphics for comparison. Let's have a look at the tests systems:

ASRock Nettop ION 330 HTPC System

• Motherboard: ASRock AMCP7A-ION (Nvidia ION)
• System Memory: 4GB OCZ Gold 800MHz DDR2
• Processor: Intel Atom N330 1.6GHz Dual-Core
• Video: Integrated Nvidia Geforce 9400 GPU (ION)
• System Drive: OCZ Vertex 120GB SATA SSD OCZSSD2-1VTX120G

ASRock Core 100HT HTPC System

• Motherboard: ASRock HM55-HT mini-ITX (H55M-Express)
• System Memory: 4GB 1333MHz DDR3
• Processor: 2.13GHz Intel Core i3-330M Dual-Core
• Video: Core i3/Intel GMA HD (DirectX 11)
• System Drive: OCZ Vertex 120GB SATA SSD OCZSSD2-1VTX120G

Mini-ITX H55 Core i3 System

• Motherboard: ECS H55H-I / GIGABYTE H55N-USB3
• System Memory: 4GB G.Skill ECO 1333MHz DDR3
• Processor: 2.9GHz Intel Core i3 530 / Overclocked results at 3.8GHz
• Video: Core i3/Intel GMA HD (DirectX 11)
• System Drive: OCZ Agility MLC SSD OCZSSD2-1AGT120G

Test Software

• Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate Edition 64-Bit
• Lavalys EVEREST Ultimate Edition v5.50.2160
• Futuremark PCMark Vantage 1.0.2.0 64-Bit
• Maxon CINEBENCH R11.5 64-Bit
• Passmark Performance Test v7.0 (1014) 64 Bit
• Capcom Street Fighter IV Benchmark
• Power DVD 10 Full HD 1080p H.264 playback

The 3rd test system actually consists on 3 different results. The first two are the ECS H55H-I and the GIGABYTE H55N-USB3 at stock speeds with the RAM running at 1333MHz with HT enabled on the Core i3 530. The third result consists on the same PC components but this time with the CPU at 3.8GHz with stock voltages. Therefore, RAM speed was increased to 1528MHz with an 8x multiplier. Don't be fooled by the reference to QPI in the CPU-Z display, it's actually the DMI interface that's being reported.

EVEREST Benchmark Results

EVEREST Ultimate Edition is an industry leading system diagnostics and benchmarking solution for enthusiasts PC users, based on the award-winning EVEREST Technology by Lavalys. 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, and AES, rely on basic x86 instructions, and consume very low system memory while also being aware of Hyper Threading, multi-processors, and multi-core processors.

CPU Benchmarks

Everest CPU Queen benchmark shows a very nice performance scaling within CPU frequency. The Core i3 330M practically doubles the performance of the Atom 330, but still can't compete with the desktop version which scores around 4k points more. When we overclock the Core i3 up to 3.8GHz we received a 30% performance boost on this test. In this benchmark, the GIGABYTE H55N-USB3 outperformed the ECS H55H-I by a little percentage. 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.

The Photoworxx benchmark tests for penalties against pipeline architecture. This synthetic 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

The Everest documentation hints that this benchmark is highly dependent on memory write speed, and so, it seems to be the practical case of the results obtained. Additional CPU frequency and memory bandwidth also increased the results by 19%.

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 only 48 MB of memory. The AES test produced closed results between the ECS H55H-I and the GIGABYTE H55N-USB3, leaving out of the game the ASRock ION 330 and the Core 100HT. Once the i3 gets overclocked, it leaves behind the competition by 30%, similar to the CPU Queen results.

Zip Library Benchmark reports very similar results as we've seen them in the AES and CPU Queen Benchmarks. The H55+Core i3 combo almost triples Intel Atom's performance, and gets a 30% boost over the ASRock Core 100HT. Again, overclocking gives a consistent 30% boost against the non-oveclocked results.

Now, let's look at some additional benchmarks with PCMark Vantage.

PCMark Vantage Test Results

PCMark Vantage is an objective hardware performance benchmark tool for PCs running 32- and 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows Vista or Windows 7. PCMark Vantage is well suited for benchmarking any type of Microsoft Windows Vista/7 PC: from multimedia home entertainment systems and laptops, to dedicated workstations and high-end gaming rigs. Benchmark Reviews has decided to use a few select tests from the suite to demonstrate/simulate real-world processor usage in this article. Our tests were conducted on 64-bit Windows 7, with results displayed in the chart below.

TV and Movies Suite

• TV and Movies 1 (CPU=50%, RAM=2%, GPU=45%, SSD=3%)
  • Two simultaneous threads
  • Video transcoding: HD DVD to media server archive
  • Video playback: HD DVD w/ additional lower bitrate HD content from HDD, as downloaded from net
• TV and Movies 2 (CPU=50%, RAM=2%, GPU=45%, SSD=3%)
  • Two simultaneous threads
  • Video transcoding: HD DVD to media server archive
  • Video playback, HD MPEG-2: 19.39 Mbps terrestrial HDTV playback
• TV and Movies 3 (SSD=100%)
  • HDD Media Center
• TV and Movies 4 (CPU=50%, RAM=2%, GPU=45%, SSD=3%)
  • Video transcoding: media server archive to portable device
  • Video playback, HD MPEG-2: 48 Mbps Blu-ray playback

Gaming Suite*

• Gaming 1 (CPU=30%, GPU=70%)
  • GPU game test
• Gaming 2 (SSD=100%)
  • HDD: game HDD
• Gaming 3 (CPU=75%, RAM=5%, SSD=20%)
  • Two simultaneous threads
  • CPU game test
  • Data decompression: level loading
• Gaming 4 (CPU=42%, RAM=1%, GPU=24%, SSD=33%)
  • Three simultaneous threads
  • GPU game test
  • CPU game test
  • HDD: game HDD

Music Suite

• Music 1 (CPU=50%, RAM=3%, GPU=13%, SSD=34%)
  • Three simultaneous threads
  • Web page rendering - w/ music shop content
  • Audio transcoding: WAV -> WMA lossless
  • HDD: Adding music to Windows Media Player
• Music 2 (CPU=100%)
  • Audio transcoding: WAV -> WMA lossless
• Music 3 (CPU=100%)
  • Audio transcoding: MP3 -> WMA
• Music 4 (CPU=50%, SSD=50%)
  • Two simultaneous threads
  • Audio transcoding: WMA -> WMA
  • HDD: Adding music to Windows Media Player

* EDITOR'S NOTE: Hopefully our readers will carefully consider how relevant PCMark Vantage is as a "real-world" benchmark, since many of the tests rely on unrelated hardware components. For example, per the FutureMark PCMark Vantage White Paper document, Gaming test #2 weighs the storage device for 100% of the test score. In fact, according to PCMark Vantage the video card only impacts 23% of the total gaming score, but the CPU represents 37% of the final score. As our tests in this article (and many others) has already proven, gaming performance has a lot more to do with the GPU than the CPU, and especially more than the hard drive or SSD (which is worth 38% of the final gaming performance score).

CINEBENCH R11.5 Benchmark

Maxon CINEBENCH is a real-world test suite that assesses the computer's performance capabilities. 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. CINEBENCH Release 11.5 includes the ability to more accurately test the industry's latest hardware, including systems with up to 64 processor threads, and the testing environment better reflects the expectations of today's production demands. A more streamlined interface makes testing systems and reading results incredibly straightforward.

The CINEBENCH R11.5 test scenario uses all of a system's processing power to render a photorealistic 3D scene, "No Keyframes" the viral animation by AixSponza. This scene makes use of various algorithms to stress all available processor cores. The OpenGL graphics card testing procedure uses a complex 3D scene depicting a car chase with which the performance of your graphics card in OpenGL mode is measured. Since this one test is dominated by the performance of the video card, I'm not showing it here.

Passmark Performance Test Benchmark

PassMark Performance Test 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 Performance CPU tests all benchmark the mathematical operations, compression, encryption, SSE, and 3DNow! instructions of modern processors. In our tests there were several areas 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 offer a very realistic segment of what taxes the processor most for users. These tests are grossly exaggerated synthetic benchmarks, but they can still help illustrate the difference between similar hardware.

Passmark Performance CPU tests reinforce what we've got in Everest benchmarks. Again, the H55 mini-ITX platform outperforms the ION 330 by more than 4x times while it takes a 33% advantage over the Core i3 mobile system. Overclocking boosts the score by almost 30% but this is very normal as it's the same result we have obtained in the past tests. Controversially, the 2D and 3D results show the Core i3 Intel GMA HD graphics unit performing almost 3 times better than the ION 330, and this isn't really true. We'll probe this on the next benchmark with a real game.

Finally, the Memory test shows reasonable results considering the bandwidth used by each platform. Passmark Memory test shows a boost when the memory frequency is higher, and so the results conform this by showing a better scoring desktop platform against the ASRock Core 100HT. Let's take a look at a gaming benchmark to see how well this CPU performance is translated in the graphical world.

Street Fighter IV Benchmark Results

Street Fighter IV uses a proprietary Capcom SF4 game engine, which is enhanced over previous versions of the game. While modern desktop computers with discrete graphics have no problem playing Street Fighter IV at its highest graphical settings, integrated and mobile GPUs have a difficult time producing playable frame rates with the lowest settings configured.

Ok, now we're really talking about 3D performance. While synthetic benchmarks placed Intel's GMA HD graphics in a way-higher score than the ION 330, when it comes down to real games GPU is the key of 90% final performance. This benchmark confirms it by scoring a better result for the NVIDIA's ION against the Intel GMA HD processor. Not even with the H55 Mini-ITX platform we were able to outperform the graphics performance of an ION chipset, and this applies for 90% of the games nowadays. When Benchmark Reviews tests Mid-High end graphics, memory kits or CPUs, we normally use Far Cry 2 or Crysis as a Benchmark, and it only ensures that this kind of games really don't care about memory frequency, and lately, also that CPU frequency is not as relevant as it was in the past years.

Full HD playback Results

In our AVIVO Purevideo DXVA GPU Acceleration guide we explained how to enable GPU processing with different software available. Since Power DVD has proved to have the latest support for NVIDIA and ATI GPUs, it was only a matter of time until they included the newest Intel HD graphics support to their software's package. Finally, with the 10th version of Power DVD, it now supports "Intel Clear Video" GPU acceleration, and we're testing it today against other solutions. Of course, we analyzed CPU usage while reproducing a full HD 1080p video with Power DVD 10 and reported the results with both DXVA enabled and disabled settings. Have a look at the next chart:

Gigabyte H55N-USB3 Power Consumption

I've been talking about a high-efficiency platform since I started writing this review. High efficiency represents processing power between power consumption. Less power consumption means higher efficiency. The ASRock ION 330 is a very unique platform because it draws a very small potency out of our AC sockets. This platform can work with less than 25 watts at idle mode and no more than 40 watts at full load. That's very similar to what a standard laptop can achieve, and so the efficiency is high, especially considering it works as an HTPC and reproduces 1080p videos.

The Mini-ITX H55 motherboards are planned to have a very high efficiency if powered with the appropriate CPU. The real deal here, is that most users will buy this motherboard and pair it with a Clarkdale CPU such as the Core i3 530 or a Core i5 661. These processors have a low TDP compared to the Core i7 LGA1366 CPUs. So, let's pair a Core i3 530 CPU to this platform and measure the overall power consumption with a P3 International Kill-a-watt EZ power meter. The CPU performance of a Core i3 has proven to be at least 3 times faster than the Atom CPU and sometimes up to 5 times faster. But, does it consume 3 times more power than the ION 330 platform?

At idle mode, theH55 mini-ITX platform consumes double the potency of an Atom processor. While this configuration could be improved by using a higher-efficiency PSU, we don't think we could get below 25 watts as the ION did. At idle mode, the GIGABYTE H55N-USB3 consumes 3 less watts compared to the ECS H55H-I. Next measurements were done while watching an HD 1080p H.264 video. This time, the mini-ITX H55 platforms need around 15 extra watts to do the work (and remember this is with DXVA enabled).

Playing Street Fighter IV required 75 watts in both ECS and GIGABYTE motherboards, doubling the power consumption but delivering worst performance than the ASRock ION 330. Overall, it seems the H55 platform paired with the smallest Core i3 CPU always needs at least double the power an ION platform, which looks like a lot, but considering it delivers 3-5 times the performance of the Atom CPU, it represents a higher efficiency platform at the end. Additionally, you can always stick a Core i5 which delivers higher CPU processing power while keeping very similar measurements at idle mode.

Final Thoughts

Why would you use a motherboard like this for your next PC? Well, I've answered this question with the results in the last pages, but let me summarize them all in the final thoughts. First, there's the user who wants an HTPC but will use it also for some light/medium work. That user who will surf the web and listen to music while talking with anybody by an instant messenger application and he hates feeling his computer very slow. Pair this motherboard with a G6950 or the used Core i3 530 and there you have an excellent solution for your media center. You'll be able to reproduce HD videos and also have a pretty decent performance while doing multi-tasks and some light and basic processing. Even MP3 conversions or some light games are handled pretty decent with a machine like this. And the best of all, it will fit in a very small case.

Now, there's another kind of people who's looking for a budget's gaming PC. Pair this motherboard with a Core i5 or even a Core i3 CPU and put a high-end GPU like the ATI HD5850 or the NVIDIA GTX 465 and there you have a very decent gaming rig. We've proven that more CPU cores or even high CPU frequency isn't necessary to play the latest games. Actually, the trend is still going to GPU, and that means that the CPU won't be as important as it was in the past to power very decent graphics in a game. Now let's say you want to keep up with the small design and you put your system in the Lian Li PC-Q08 or the newest Silverstone's SG 07 and there you have a very interesting PC. Need more RAM? No problem. This motherboard supports up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM at it has prove that it can handle overclocking very well.

Now, for those looking for the highest performance, you can always install a Core i7 875K and the ATI HD5970 or the NVIDIA GTX 480 with 8GB of RAM and I promise this system won't stutter against a Core i7 930 and the beloved X58 platform. It might even perform faster because of the higher frequency of the CPU and still consuming fewer watts.

The only downside I can see about this platform, is that those who are used to have additional PCI/PCI-e cards won't be able to use them. For example, I consider myself somehow demanding at the audio quality, and so I can't really live with the integrated Realtek's audio chip. Others might want to add a TV Tuner/recorder card to their HTPCs and won't be able to use a high-end GPU. But for the small space this motherboard uses, I can't really demand them to add another expansion slot.

What I can demand to GIGABYTE though, is a Wi-Fi 802.11n receiver. This was the only feature Zotac still owns as an advantage over the ECS and GIGABYTE competition. I know USB Wi-Fi adapters are very cheap and they can be installed on any USB port, but really, it's better to know the H55N-USB3 offers an integrated solution for wireless network than having to buy an aftermarket adapter and permanently use a dedicated USB port for it. At the end, I think this is a pretty decent platform, that fits many users necessities while saving a lot of space and power requirements, while it fully supports the whole LGA 1156 CPUs gamma, giving the opportunity to start with a very economic but powerful processor, and update it to one of the fastest CPUs (Intel Core i7 875K) at the moment of writing this article. Let's summarize all the tests and thoughts to build the conclusions about the GIGABYTE H55N-USB3 mini-ITX motherboard.

Gigabyte H55N-USB3 Conclusion

The performance of the GIGABYTE H55N-USB3 motherboard was outstanding. It didn't only perform better than the competition in the majority of the tests, but also has great overclocking capabilities not seen with other manufacturers. The board fully supports LGA 1156 CPUs including the highest model available, which means it performs much better with the appropriate CPU and GPU if necessary. It also comes with a very detailed BIOS and support for low-voltage memory kits. I was able to achieve 210 BCLK and 4.2GHz with the stock heatsink-fan. I'm very happy with the results obtained with this motherboard, and it can compete against a high-end P55 motherboard if needed.

The appearance of a motherboard is very subjective. GIGABYTE kept the normal standard color scheme seen in all their motherboards and they added a very appealing Southbridge's heatsink to it. While I can say I like it along with the design, some other users won't be happy trying to mix those colors with their new PC case or LED fans. However, since this product is targeted to the HTPC audience, it's safe to say most people won't use it with a very appealing case or an acrylic window. The package contains all the information of the features explained, so I can't really complain about it.

Construction quality is very good as it's been for all GIGABYTE's motherboard in a while. However, I still have 2 things to complain about it. The first thing is the overall PCB design. Many users will find very difficult to connect the front panel cables or the 24-pin ATX connector to the motherboard in this position. I struggled with 3 different cases and all of them had problems to reach that part of the motherboard with the standard cables. I do understand that this problem isn't inherent to the H55N-USB3, and all the mini-ITX H55 motherboards have the same design based on size requirements, but still, some re-design or expansion cables would be appreciated. The second complain is also related to the PCB design. If you try to install a bigger CPU heatsink with a back plate, you might end up with a crushed MOS-FET at the back of the PCB. Again, this is related to the small space they had to work with, but users need to be cautioned about using big back plates.

I've already talked a lot about the functionality of this product. Considering its size and the CPU gamma support, the H55N-USB3 fits different kind of user necessities. For deeper thoughts about functionality, please read the Final thoughts of this article. It basically summarizes all into different kind of needs with the same motherboard, being able to go from the Intel G9650 with integrated graphics, to one of the most powerful CPUs at the moment of writing this article (Core i7 875K) and a high-end GPU. GIGABYTE also added all their features in this motherboard, but it still lacks of SATA 3 support. Also, it would be nice to see a wireless network adapter since that's the only feature they didn't included against the competition (Zotac, to be clear).

Pros:

Cons:

Ratings:

• Performance: 9.75
• Appearance: 9.50
• Construction: 8.75
• Functionality: 9.50
• Value: 9.00

Final Score: 9.30 out of 10.

Excellence Achievement: Benchmark Reviews Golden Tachometer Award.

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