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- Date:
- Tuesday , September 08, 2009
- Author:
- Morry Teitelman
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
MSI P55-GD80 Motherboard Review
MSI pulled out all the stops in designing P55-GD80. This motherboards sports the new P55 chipset supporting the Lynnfield Core i5 and Core i7 processors. From its sharp looks to its bullet proof design, this board looks about ready to take its X58 based brethren head on.
Introduction
MSI is a veteran component manufacturer in the PC gaming and enthusiast space, known for its high performance products and innovative designs. With each new generation of products, MSI releases new technological innovations on to the world with one goal in mind, to get the highest performance possible out of the target platform. Their P55 based line looks to do just that.
The MSI P55-GD80 motherboard supports the LGA1156 line of Intel processors via the integrated Intel P55 chipset. The chipset itself has in-built support for the following technologies: Intel LGA 1156 Core i7 and Core i5 processors, DDR3 memory operating in Dual Channel mode up to 1333MHz officially, and either NVIDIA SLI and ATI CrossFireX graphics mode using matched video cards.
MSI chose to integrate the following device ports into the P55-GD80: 6 SATA II ports (RAID 0, 1, 0+1 and 5 capable) on the Intel P55 controller; 2 SATA II ports (RAID 0 and 1) on the JMicron JMB322 controller; 1 e-SATA port on the JMicron JMB363 controller; 13 USB 2.0 capable ports (7 in rear panel, and 3 onboard headers supporting 2 ports each); 2 IEEE 1394 capable port (1 in rear panel, and 1 onboard header supporting 1 port each); 2 Realtek GigE Ethernet ports in the rear panel; Realtek 8-channel HD audio codec with integrated S/PDIF optical and RCA component output ports; integrated power, system reset, green power, and CMOS reset buttons; OC Genie and base clock overclocking control buttons; 2-digit LED diagnostic display; 1-digit LED CPU MOSFET power phase display; and PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports in the rear panel.
Main Specifications Overview:
Detailed Mainboard Specification List:
Packaging
For the P55-GD80, MSI chose a simple box art design, with reflective flames on the left side of the box front. To the right of the flames on a white background, the supported technologies are very clearly shown. MSI chose to bundle the following accessories with the P55-GD80 board: a ribbon IDE cable; locking connector SATA drive cables and dual headed power cables; SATA to e-SATA converter cables with power connection bundle in a rear panel bracket assembly; the rear panel shield; 2-way NVIDIA SLI and ATI CrossFireX connectors; a rear panel bracket with USB 2.0 ports; extension plugs for the USB and front panel headers; and the normal complement of manuals and drivers discs. The header extension plugs allow for an easy interface for connecting into the motherboard headers. You simply plug in the appropriate connector cables into the header block, and then plug the block into the appropriate motherboard header. It makes for a much easier install for those typically hard to reach header areas.
Board Layout
The P55-GD80’s board design and layout is nothing short of a masterpiece, with its overall appeal as good as its functional placement of components. There are no tight areas on the board, with even the seemingly crowded CPU socket area designed with clearance for even the bigger CPU coolers. Furthermore, MSI seemed to have every hotspot on the board covered by a good sized heat sink, all interconnected by an intricate heat pipe system. While there was no clearly defined serial number on the board, the board’s revision is clearly silk-screened to the surface in between the secondary PCI-Express x16 slots and PCI slot 1. The board revision used in testing was a 1.1 version. For the board’s capacitors, MSI chose to use all high quality solid-state aluminum capacitors.
The CPU socket area is clear of any obstructions, with the surrounding cooling mechanism placed far enough out and all close in power circuitry being of the low profile sort. The CPU cooler is held to the chip by the 4-hole LGA1156 design. Note that the onboard unified chipset is located behind the PCI-Express x16 slots, further freeing space for the CPU socket and power circuitry. To the upper left of the CPU socket are the SYSFAN3 header and the CPU power phase LED. This LED indicates what power phase mode the CPU circuitry is currently working in, with valid values from 1 to 8. To the upper right of the CPU socket is the 8-pin ATX12V power connector, with the CPUFAN header to the lower right of the socket. Notice that the heat pipe connecting the sinks on top of the CPU power circuitry is larger in diameter than normal, designed by MSI for better heat transfer and dissipation for these critical components.
The 4 integrated DDR3 memory slots are located directly below the CPU socket, with Dual Channel memory mode active with DIMMs in like colored slots. Directly below the DIMM slots are the 24-pin ATX power connector, the V-Switch jumper block, a voltage checkpoint block, the Green Power Genie connection header (JSMB1), and the SYSFAN2 header. The V-Switch jumper block is used to enable enhanced voltages settings in the BIOS for the CPU, CPU Vtt, DRAM, and PCH voltages. The voltage checkpoint block gives easy access to check specific board voltages using a multi-meter.
Unlike most other Intel based boards, the P55 chipset is a single chipset solution, containing both Northbridge and Southbridge functionality. The P55 chipset itself is located underneath a low profile cooler just under the PCI-Express x16 slots. The cooler acts as a termination point for the onboard heat pipe cooling solution. Just below the chipset are the SYSFAN1 and chassis intrusion headers, the IDE port and the 8 onboard SATA 2 ports. The SATA 2 ports colored blue are the JMicron controlled ports, while those colored black are the P55 controlled ports. The front panel header, split between 2 physical header blocks, is located in the lower left corner of the board. Just above the front panel header are the touch sensitive power, reset, and green power buttons, the base clock adjustment buttons, the 2-digit diagnostic LED, the OC Genie activation button, and the CMOS reset button. The onboard USB 2.0 and IEEE 1394 headers are just above the touch buttons along the board’s edge. The provided power, reset, and green power buttons are actually silkscreen images on the board, with sensors imbedded by the button images to detect button interaction. The + and - buttons allow for real time adjustment of the board base clock, while the OC Genie button activates the board’s dynamic overclocking mechanism
The P55-GD80 has a total of 3 PCI-Express x16 slots, 2 PCI Express x1 slots, and 2 PCI slots. The CMOS battery is just below PCI slot 1, with the SYSFAN4 and Trusted Platform Module headers just above it. The onboard USB 2.0, IEEE 1394, S/PDIF, CD_IN, and front panel audio headers are located along the outside edge of the tertiary PCI-Express x16 slot.
The P55-GD80 comes standard with the following rear panel ports: 2 PS/2 keyboard/mouse ports; 7 USB 2.0 ports; 2 Realtek GigE Ethernet ports; 1 e-SATA ports; and 6 analogue and S/PDIF optical and RCA component audio output ports.
MSI Control Center
MSI included their Control Center application on the included driver DVD, used for Windows based board monitoring and overclocking. The application itself is divided into 3 sections, System Information, Overclocking, and Green Power. The System Information section displays read-only statics concerning the onboard devices across 3 tabs, labeled Motherboard, CPU, and Memory.
The Overclocking section allows for use of preset overclocking profiles or manual selection of settings. The BIOS controlled overclocking functionality is controlled by a series of buttons across the top of the screen of the Basic tab, with the settings tied to each of the default profiles shown when the button associated to the profile is selected. The OverClock/OverVoltage section also allows for direct user manipulation of the board’s base clock speed, which affects both the CPU and memory speeds, and several of the board device voltages. You have the option of creating and using custom profiles through the Save and Load buttons, located in the screen’s lower right corner.
The Green Power area is divided in Basic and Advanced sections. The Basic section shows stats on the current board power usage, with a series of profile presets shown across the top of the window. The Advance section is divided in 3 areas, Mainboard, LED, and MOSFET Temp. The Mainboard screen allows for direct control of subsystem power phase usage and fan speeds, with the ability to load and save user profiles. The LED screen shows the location of all status LEDs on the board, providing the capability to enable or disable each LED individually. The MOSFET Temp screen shows real-time temperature statistics for the phased CPU power MOSFETS.