A few months ago, Intel released the first of the LGA 1156 family of processors, and the P55 chipset to accommodate them. The processors include the Core i7 860, the Core i7 870, and the Core i5 750, the i5 being a slightly underclocked i7 860 without Hyperthreading. The processors are more than merely LGA 1366 processors with dual channel rather than triple channel memory support, they have a totally new I/O interface that eliminates the motherboard’s Northbridge altogether.
The lack of a Northbridge means the elimination of the hottest chip on the motherboard and the need for cooling that chip, along with the associated traces, etc, which means building a P55 motherboard costs less. Apparently the motherboard manufacturers have passed those savings along to the consumer, the average price of a P55 board is about $100 less than the average price of an X58 board. The processors are less expensive too, the release price of the LGA 1156 Core i7 860 was a little less than $100 below the release price of the LGA 1366 Core i7 920.
And it’s given that a dual channel memory kit will cost less than a triple channel kit with the same specifications, so expect to save $200-$250 when building a new LGA 1156 rig as compared with a new LGA 1366 rig in the early part of this year.
Today I will be looking at one of Asus’ new P55 motherboards, the P7P55D EVO. It is in their EVO family of motherboards, sporting the EVO look and Asus TurboV EVO overclocking. It has tons of other features, after all, it is an Asus board. Read on to check out the Asus P7P55D EVO Motherboard!
Special thanks to ASUS for providing us with the P7P55D Evo Intel P55 Motherboard to review.
Packaging
The P7P55D Evo comes in an attractive looking reflective metallic blue box that is literally covered with the board’s features. The size and style of the box itself is what Asus in the past used for economy boards, I assume to shave a little off of the overall cost of the board. My Asus X58 board was in the same packaging. I personally don’t care much for the fancy large sleeved boxes that most companies put their upper end boards in, I always save the boxes, and they take up a lot of unnecessary space and are a pain to open if you need something out of it later.
Inside, the board is separated from the bundle by a cardboard divider. The board itself is in one of Asus’ anti-static bags.
