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- Date:
- Tuesday , June 08, 2010
- Author:
- Morry Teitelman
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Share:
GIGABYTE P55A-UD6 Motherboard Review
GIGABYTE's latest Intel P55 contender packs a lot of promise in to an attractive package. USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbps are stock on this one along with "Ultra Durable" components. Are looks just skin deep or can this board perform as well as it looks?
Introduction
GIGABYTE is an established brand throughout the world among the computer user crowd. The company continues to deliver some of the most stable and high performance products available, with its secret driven by quality and innovation. GIGABYTE pushes both the design and driver boundaries with every release, seeming to invent new ways to deliver the highest performance yet stable product to market while pairing the product with their own brand of high performance utilities and driver software. Its newest motherboard to join the ranks demonstrates this outstandingly, with its innovative design and performance nothing to sneer at.
The GIGABYTE P55A-UD6 motherboard was implemented using the Intel P55 chipset. This chipset allows the board to support the following technologies innately: Intel LGA 1156 Core i7, Core i5, and Core i3 processors, DDR3 memory operating in Dual Channel mode up to 1333MHz officially, and either NVIDIA SLI and ATI CrossFireX graphics mode using matching video cards. GIGABYTE integrated the following devices in to the P55A-UD6: 6 SATA II ports on the Intel P55 controller (RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5 capable); 2 SATA 6G ports on the Marvell controller (RAID 0 capable); 2 eSATA ports on the JMicron JMB362 controller (RAID 0, 1 capable); 1 ATA-133 IDE port on the ITE controller; 12 USB 2.0 capable ports (8 in rear panel, and 2 onboard headers supporting 2 ports each); 2 hybrid USB 2.0 / 3.0 capable ports in the rear panel; 3 IEEE 1394 capable ports (2 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, reset, and CMOS reset buttons; onboard 2-digit diagnostic LED; and a PS/2 keyboard/mouse port in the rear panel.
Main Specifications Overview:
Detailed Mainboard Specification List:
Packaging
In keeping with its current trends for box art, GIGABYTE chose to simply show the board's name and features on the box front on a reflective white background - very simple, yet very effective. Included in with the board were the following accessories: a ribbon IDE cable; locking SATA drive cables; a powered eSATA rear panel bracket; an NVIDIA SLI cable; the rear panel shield; and the normal complement of manuals and drivers discs.
Board Layout
The P55A-UD6 is masterfully designed, as we've come to expect from GIGABYTE. There is adequate room between all critical components, including the CPU socket and DIMM slot areas, and the chipset cooling solution is top-notch. The board's revision is silk-screened to the surface in the upper left corner of the board, while the serial number is located on a white sticker along the outside edge of the ATX power connector. The board used for testing was a revision 1.0 model. For the P55A-UD6's power needs, GIGABYTE chose to use all high quality polymer solid-electrolyte capacitors throughout.
The CPU socket is free of noticeable obstructions on all sides, with all power circuitry placed in close proximity to the socket of a low profile type. The CPU cooler retention mechanism is of the standard LGA1156 4-hole design. The critical power circuitry encircling the CPU socket is adequately cooled by an interconnected heat pipe mechanism. In a rare design move, GIGABYTE chose to place the Intel P55 chipset to the left of the CPU socket, freeing up crucial space in the lower left quadrant of the board. This does not negatively impact the CPU socket area space-wise at all though. Above the chipset and just under the rear panel assembly is the front panel audio header. The 8-pin ATX12V power connector as well as the SYS_FAN3 header are located to the upper right of the socket. The CPU_FAN header is to the lower right.
The six onboard DDR3 memory slots are just below the CPU socket and chipset, arranged in a bi-colored 3-by-2 configuration. Note that the white colored slots are the primary memory slots with Dual Channel memory mode activated by placing memory in matching colored slots across sets. Keep in mind this is a dual channel motherboard, so the fact of the matter is that the six DIMM slots are somewhat misleading. You can only use all six DDR3 slots is you use single sided DIMMs in four of the slots. We will discuss this more in the conclusion. The 24-pin ATX power connector, PWR_FAN header, and power button are located below the DIMM slots.
The large heat sink in the lower left quadrant of the board cools the Marvell and ITE chipsets. Directly below the massive heat sink are the onboard SATA ports. The 6 blue colored ports are SATA 2 ports controlled by the Intel P55 chipset, while the white colored ports are of the SATA 6G variety controlled by the Marvell controller. Next to the Marvel SATA 6G ports are the onboard system reset button and the 2-digit diagnostic LED display. This display can be used to troubleshoot boot related issues during system initialization. Directly above the display is the ATA-133 IDE port, with the CMOS reset button and front panel header to its lower left. Just above the CMOS reset button is the onboard USB 2.0 headers.
GIGABYTE chose to integrate a total of 7 card slots in to the P55A-UD6: 3 PCI-Express x16 style slot, 2 PCI-Express x1 slots, and 2 PCI slots. The floppy drive port, SYS_FAN2 and serial port headers are located along the outside edge of PCI slot 2. The input and output S/PDIF headers, as well as the CD_IN header, are located just above PCI slot 1, with the CMOS battery located just below it.
The P55A-UD6's rear panel is packed to the gills, with the following integrated ports: shared PS/2 keyboard/mouse port; 6 USB 2.0 ports; 2 hybrid USB 2.0 / eSATA ports; 2 hybrid USB 3.0/2.0 ports (blue in color); 1 full size and 1 mini IEEE 1394 port (2 ports total); 2 Realtek GigE Ethernet ports; and 6 analogue and S/PDIF optical and RCA component audio output ports.
GIGABYTE EasyTune 6
For windows based monitoring and overclocking, GIGABYTE packages version 6 of their EasyTune software on the install DVD with the version shown being revision B09.0908.1. The application functionality is accessed via a series of tabs in located at the top of the application window.
The CPU tab shows real time system statistics on the various bus speeds, and well as detailed CPU and BIOS related information. The memory tab shows memory statistics for all onboard slots on a slot by slot basis. Note that the information shown in both tabs in very similar in nature to the data you would see in the freeware CPU-Z application.
The Tuner tab allows for user controlled manipulation of the various board bus speeds and voltages with 3 modes of operation available - Quick Boost, Easy mode, and Advanced mode. The Quick Boost mode is active by default, allowing the user to select from 1 of 3 overclocking scenarios.
The Easy and Advanced mode of operation allows for full user control of board bus frequencies, devices speed setting and ratio, and board voltages, with settings shown similar in nature to those shown in the BIOS. Note that the screenshots shown show Advanced mode active only. Easy mode operation is similar in nature, with less configuration options to choose from
The Graphics tab shows current core and memory speed for the video card in use, as well as allowing for direct video card based core and memory speed manipulation.
The Smart tab contains settings for the CIA2 dynamic overclocking chipset, as well as controls for manually setting the CPU Smart Fan temperature thresholds for optimal CPU cooler performance.
The HW Monitor tab displays statics on all BIOS monitored voltages, fan speeds, and temperatures. This screen also allows for the configuration of alert settings for the monitored fan speed and temperature devices.
Clicking on the summary icon in the upper right corner of the application display the Quick Summary window, which displays high level information on board device and bus speeds, voltages, and memory.