Thread: ASUS P7P55D motherboard review

With the launch of the latest Intel Core is and Core i7 processors (socket LGA 1156 package), a good number of Intel P55 chipset-base motherboards have already hit shelves. The solidly-built Asus P7P55D is one of the P55 motherboards that have been around since the time CPUs had just launched. Without many bells and whistles this board is the most basic model of the Asus P7P55D series. While it offers all the features supported by the Intel P55 chipset, Asus has enhanced the feature set to boost the performance and make it robust.

The P7P55D supports up to 16 GB of DDR3 memory in dual-channel and the memory slots sport a single-clip design so as to prevent the retention clips coming in the way while installing a graphics card. The two PCle x16 slots can be used to configure two ATI cards in CrossFire (dual-ax mode) if you want to build a powerful gaming machine. Between the two PCle x16 slots lie two PC Ie xl slots. The three PCI slots below the second PCle x16 slot round out the lavish set of expansion slots. The six SATA ports supported by the chipset are placed just below the Intel P55 chip fitted with a fancy aluminum heatsink. Two additional SATA ports and an eSATA port (rear panel) are supported by the JMicron controller. The rear panel comprises PS/2 ports, eight USB ports, optical S/PDIF output, gigabit Ethernet port, FireWire port, and jacks for a-channel audio. The layout of the motherboard is excellent and so is the quality of components that Asus has used to build this board. The components are laid out such that there's ample breathing space and minimal cable clutter over the board. As far as the performance goes, this board is extremelj stable and the BIOS with plenty of tweaks will amuse enthusiasts.