Shootouts

Intel P55 Motherboard Shootout - The New Mainstream

By Vincent Chang - 11 Oct 2009

Intel DP55KG

Intel DP55KG

Intel may be well-known for many technologies but when it comes to motherboards, it's not a name that enthusiasts will run out to buy for their next overclocked rig. While the company may have rock-solid boards with intimate knowledge of the chipset as an added plus, the boards themselves have not been very enthusiast friendly.

Things have been changing gradually and some of Intel's more recent attempts have had certain features that at least made a nod towards the needs of enthusiasts. The Intel DP55KG, codenamed Kingsberg continues this trend with some features that are comparable to those found on enthusiast motherboards.

The standard template for other vendors to follow? This is Intel's DP55KG board.

Features-wise, there's nothing we haven't seen from the other P55 motherboards so far, except that Intel takes the lead when it comes to eradicating legacy devices, with no IDE and floppy options. The basic six SATA ports however get increased to eight, with two eSATA connectors at the rear. There's FireWire, optical and coaxial S/PDIF outputs (courtesy of the Realtek ALC889 CODEC) and up to 14 USB ports. What's new is a Back-to-BIOS button that when depressed will boot the board straight into BIOS the next time round. Obviously, this is useful for overclockers who often need to fiddle with the settings. Less useful, but still good for its task is the POST LED indicator.

As expected, there are no legacy I/O connectors on this P55 motherboard. eSATA and USB ports are the way to go. And we mean lots of USB ports here, as the P55 can support up to 14 with its two independent EHCI controllers. Intel is even keeping up with the times with a button at the back known as Back-to-BIOS, which will bring the user to the BIOS at the next boot.

Another sign that the P55 is geared for the mainstream is the fact that it only supports a maximum of two graphics card in CrossFire or SLI mode. Also, when two cards are installed, they are both running at x8 each.

The P55 PCH only provides a maximum of six SATA 3.0Gbps ports (unfortunately no next-gen SATA support yet). The remaining two come from a secondary SATA controller.

The board itself is quite sparse, with plenty of free space. This is despite the three PCIe graphics slots and some unusual additions, like a Bluetooth module onboard. There's even space for Intel to engage in some bling of its own, like the glowing skull at the corner of the board. Onboard cooling appears quite minimal, with small heatsinks preferred. Of course, this means more space but we aren't too optimistic on how the DP55KG will fare in our temperature test.

At least, the layout appeared quite sensible, even if the placement sometimes could be quite different from what we have been accustomed to on other motherboards. For instance, the power button is at an inconspicuous corner that took us some time to find.

A minimal cooling solution for the motherboard means there's no need to worry if your CPU cooler will fit.

Underneath this small heatsink is the Platform Controller Hub (PCH) that's the heart of the P55 Express chipset and which talks to the processor via DMI.

Don't ask us why there's an internal USB port here.

 A nod for users who love to set up their systems to dazzle the eyes.

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