Gigabyte High-End P55 Motherboard Pictured

btarunr · Apr 27, 2009, 11:22 AM

With the industry inching closer to the launch of Intel's Core i5 series processors, motherboard vendors are busy readying waves of motherboards to go with the processors' launch. Earlier in March, a picture of Gigabyte's first P55 chipset motherboard, the GA-IBP surfaced. The pictured then revealed a motherboard based on the Ultra Durable 2 component package. At an overclocking event in Los Angeles, Gigabyte unveiled a second motherboard. This one, yet to be named, is up to date with the Ultra Durable 3 package, a seemingly powerful CPU VRM design, support for dual-channel DDR3 memory, dual-Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, an additional storage controller for four SATA ports over the six P55 offers, among standard features. The expansion slots on this board include three full-length PCI-Express slots, the first (blue) one being of full x16 bandwidth that shares 8 lanes with the first orange slot if populated, while the second orange slot is electrically x4, and probably connected to the P55 PCH. No other details have emerged about this board, though we're keeping track of things.

Source: PC Perspective

qwerty_lesh · Apr 27, 2009, 12:09 PM

Looks oddly like a short version of my x58-ud5

Nice mainstream mobo. They should have a naming contest

I would call it the GA-EP55-UD3R.

csendesmark · Apr 27, 2009, 12:41 PM

Nice!
Single chip mobo

My suggestion: GA-EP55-UD3P

edit:
I can see a floppy connetor, why are they putting it on? Who is using floppy today?

Imsochobo · Apr 27, 2009, 12:47 PM

Whats the real diffrence between core i5 and core i7 except dualchannel/trichannel memory and socket ?

Core i5 runs P55

farlex85 · Apr 27, 2009, 12:59 PM

I wish they would stop loading as many pci x16 slots as they can on there. 2 ought to cover it for the vast majority. A couple more pci or pci x1 would be more useful imo.

ShadowFold · Apr 27, 2009, 01:02 PM

Is the south bridge even gonna run hot?.. The SB cooling looks intrusive and annoying. The VRM cooling looks ok tho.

z1tu · Apr 27, 2009, 01:04 PM

Sorry for not knowing but is the SB the one with the radiator that says Gigabyte on it? Cause if it is I have a similar one on my mobo and it's hot as hell

ShadowFold · Apr 27, 2009, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by z1tu

Sorry for not knowing but is the SB the one with the radiator that says Gigabyte on it? Cause if it is I have a similar one on my mobo and it's hot as hell

That's because gigabyte's old AMD boards were some of the poorest boards made. I had two of their 780G boards and they both died because the nb got too hot. The P55 doesn't have a northbridge but I can't imagine that the SB would get hot at all.

z1tu · Apr 27, 2009, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShadowFold

That's because gigabyte's old AMD boards were some of the poorest boards made. I had two of their 780G boards and they both died because the nb got too hot. The P55 doesn't have a northbridge but I can't imagine that the SB would get hot at all.

So is the southbridge the one with the radiator that says gigabyte on it or not

:P

ShadowFold · Apr 27, 2009, 01:08 PM

Yea..

z1tu · Apr 27, 2009, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShadowFold

Yea..

Should I be worried that it runs really hot?

ShadowFold · Apr 27, 2009, 01:09 PM

If they're like what's out now then no

z1tu · Apr 27, 2009, 01:11 PM

ok thanks and sorry for the off topic

Assimilator · Apr 27, 2009, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by farlex85

I wish they would stop loading as many pci x16 slots as they can on there. 2 ought to cover it for the vast majority. A couple more pci or pci x1 would be more useful imo.

Don't forget that PCIe is downwards compatible - so if you have a 16x slot, you can plug in a 1x, 4x, 8x or 16x card.

This is a very nice looking board - 10 SATA2 ports plus decent amount of space between the first and second PCIe 16x slots. Do want!

farlex85 · Apr 27, 2009, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Assimilator

Don't forget that PCIe is downwards compatible - so if you have a 16x slot, you can plug in a 1x, 4x, 8x or 16x card.

This is a very nice looking board - 10 SATA2 ports plus decent amount of space between the first and second PCIe 16x slots. Do want!

That's all fine and good if there was anything else that utilized those slots aside from GPUs. My point was the vast majority of people don't use 3 GPUs, most don't even use 2. It isn't even really "compatibility" w/ lesser electrical PCI X, it's intentional crippling so you have to pay more for full x16 slots elsewhere.

But I suppose there's room so why not.

SystemViper · Apr 27, 2009, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by farlex85

That's all fine and good if there was anything else that utilized those slots aside from GPUs. My point was the vast majority of people don't use 3 GPUs, most don't even use 2. It isn't even really "compatibility" w/ lesser electrical PCI X, it's intentional crippling so you have to pay more for full x16 slots elsewhere.

But I suppose there's room so why not.

Bingo, that is why i got the Asus Gene, they upgraded the PWM to 16 phase and some other minor changes, oh besides it being Matx,

but it;s a killer mobo.

I love the space you gain in the case, Except for my benching, i always use single card solutions, so this was the perfect board.

I wonder what Asus has in mind for the sister P55 board to the Gene, prob could be real good....

Sasqui · Apr 27, 2009, 01:44 PM

What are those two strange looking white and black slots just to the left of the guys pinky?

z1tu · Apr 27, 2009, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sasqui

What are those two strange looking white and black slots just to the left of the guys pinky?

White one is floppy

VIPER · Apr 27, 2009, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by farlex85

That's all fine and good if there was anything else that utilized those slots aside from GPUs. My point was the vast majority of people don't use 3 GPUs, most don't even use 2. It isn't even really "compatibility" w/ lesser electrical PCI X, it's intentional crippling so you have to pay more for full x16 slots elsewhere.

But I suppose there's room so why not.

Let's see: TV Tuner, sound card, LAN card, RAID card, this is what I used @work on PCI-E from 1x above...

farlex85 · Apr 27, 2009, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VIPER

Let's see: TV Tuner, sound card, LAN card, RAID card, this is what I used @work on PCI-E from 1x above...

Really? those will all fit in those three PCI x16 slots? Links? I've never seen expansion cards that didn't have GPUs on them that would fit in PCI x16 slots. The ones you are referring to are of the PCI and PCI express x1 variety, not what I was talking about.

VIPER · Apr 27, 2009, 02:41 PM

Not at all. I have PCI-Express 8x RAID cards (from Areca), a lot (and I mean a lot!) of 4x LAN cards from Intel, etc etc.

If a MB has 3 x 16x (physical, at least 8x electrical), I am happy. If not, that MB is not good for me...

farlex85 · Apr 27, 2009, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VIPER

Not at all. I have PCI-Express 8x RAID cards (from Areca), a lot (and I mean a lot!) of 4x LAN cards from Intel, etc etc.

Raid cards I can see (although I never have seen them, I don't look for RAID cards often though), LAN cards, tv tuners, and sound cards I can't. I don't disbelieve it, but can you give me some linkies?

VIPER · Apr 27, 2009, 02:45 PM

There are LAN cards PCI-E 4x with 2 or 4 Gb LAN's on them. Made by Intel (what we use), or by others.

farlex85 · Apr 27, 2009, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VIPER

There are LAN cards PCI-E 4x with 2 or 4 Gb LAN's on them. Made by Intel (what we use), or by others.

Like this? Your telling me that goes in the PCI x16 slot?

ShadowFold · Apr 27, 2009, 02:50 PM

Yes, of course. A PCIE 16x slot can hold a 1x, 4x and 8x length card too.

Apr 27, 2009, 11:22 AM	#1
btarunr Editor & Senior Moderator Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Hyderabad, India Posts: 14,982 (7.31/day) Thanks: 788 Thanked 12,896 Times in 5,648 Posts System Specs	Gigabyte High-End P55 Motherboard Pictured With the industry inching closer to the launch of Intel's Core i5 series processors, motherboard vendors are busy readying waves of motherboards to go with the processors' launch. Earlier in March, a picture of Gigabyte's first P55 chipset motherboard, the GA-IBP surfaced. The pictured then revealed a motherboard based on the Ultra Durable 2 component package. At an overclocking event in Los Angeles, Gigabyte unveiled a second motherboard. This one, yet to be named, is up to date with the Ultra Durable 3 package, a seemingly powerful CPU VRM design, support for dual-channel DDR3 memory, dual-Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, an additional storage controller for four SATA ports over the six P55 offers, among standard features. The expansion slots on this board include three full-length PCI-Express slots, the first (blue) one being of full x16 bandwidth that shares 8 lanes with the first orange slot if populated, while the second orange slot is electrically x4, and probably connected to the P55 PCH. No other details have emerged about this board, though we're keeping track of things. Source: PC Perspective

System Name:	Blackbox
Processor:	Intel Core i7-950
Motherboard:	Intel Extreme Series DX58OG
Cooling:	Xigmatek Aegir SD128264 with IC Diamond 24 Thermal Compound
Memory:	12GB ADATA Premier (3x 4GB) DDR3-1333 MHz
Video Card:	Palit GeForce GTX 680 JetStream 2GB outfitted with IC Diamond 24 TIM
Hard Disk:	Samsung 840 Series 250GB, Random 8 TB storage
Optical Drive:	HT-LG DVD-RW
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Case:	Cooler Master CM690 Window
Sound Card:	Creative SB Recon3D
PSU:	Corsair HX850W
Software:	Windows 8 Pro 64-bit

Processor:	3930K
Motherboard:	Gigabyte GA-X79-UD3
Cooling:	Noctua NH-U12P SE2011
Memory:	16GB Kingston Value DDR3 1333Mhz CL9
Video Card:	Sapphire 5870 1GB
Hard Disk:	1x 120GB Intel 520 + 2 500GB Seagate
CRT/LCD Model:	3x X243BW@5760x1080
Case:	Antec P182
PSU:	Antec TruePower Trio 650
Software:	Windows 7 Ultimate 64

Apr 27, 2009, 12:41 PM	#3
csendesmark Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: EU/Hungary Posts: 330 (0.17/day) Thanks: 23 Thanked 23 Times in 17 Posts System Specs	Nice! Single chip mobo My suggestion: GA-EP55-UD3P edit: I can see a floppy connetor, why are they putting it on? Who is using floppy today? __________________ Core i7 950 @ 4,2GHz \| Gigabyte GA-EX58-EXTREME \| 3 × 2GB DDR3-1866 \| Sapphire Radeon HD 6970-2048 \| Corsair TX750 \| Sabayon Linux \| Opera \| TeamFortress 2 \| Left 4 Dead 2 \| StarCraft 2 \| $1 ≠ 1€ TECH-POWER-UP Last edited by csendesmark; Apr 27, 2009 at 12:47 PM.

System Name:	WarAdmiral
Processor:	Core i7 950
Motherboard:	GA-EX58-EXTREME
Cooling:	Scythe Mugen 2 @ 1000rpm
Memory:	OCZ 3x2GB DDR3-1866 kit
Video Card:	Sapphire HD6970-2048
Hard Disk:	96GB SSD +750+2000+1500
Optical Drive:	NEC
CRT/LCD Model:	Samsung 26" T260 + Dell 22" E228WFP
Case:	Cooler Master Centurion 590
Sound Card:	SB Audigy4 Box
PSU:	Corsair TX750
Software:	Windows7-64
Benchmarks:	http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=1941120

Apr 27, 2009, 12:09 PM	#2
qwerty_lesh Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 515 (0.24/day) Thanks: 36 Thanked 42 Times in 35 Posts System Specs	Looks oddly like a short version of my x58-ud5 Nice mainstream mobo. They should have a naming contest I would call it the GA-EP55-UD3R.

Apr 27, 2009, 12:47 PM	#4
Imsochobo Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: I live in Norway, in the province Buskerud. Posts: 514 (0.33/day) Thanks: 3 Thanked 35 Times in 27 Posts System Specs	Whats the real diffrence between core i5 and core i7 except dualchannel/trichannel memory and socket ? Core i5 runs P55 __________________

System Name:	My system, my servers are faster :(
Processor:	Amd phenom II 1055 (10 bucks LOL!)
Motherboard:	MSI GD65
Cooling:	Air.
Memory:	4 GB 1866 mhz corsair dom GT
Video Card:	5850- Crossfire
Hard Disk:	Samsung 1tb/NAS 500Mb/SEC
Optical Drive:	Some blueray drive
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Sound Card:	ATI HDMI.
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Apr 27, 2009, 12:59 PM	#5
farlex85 Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 4,114 (1.83/day) Thanks: 369 Thanked 647 Times in 612 Posts System Specs	I wish they would stop loading as many pci x16 slots as they can on there. 2 ought to cover it for the vast majority. A couple more pci or pci x1 would be more useful imo.

Processor:	Core 2 Quad Q9550 @ 3.65ghz 1.18v
Motherboard:	Gigabyte P35-DS3R (v2.1)
Cooling:	Sunbeam Core Contact CR-CCTF, stock tempest cooling atm (6x120mm fans)
Memory:	2x2gb G.Skill PC8000 @ 1018Mhz 5-5-5-15-2T 2.1v
Video Card:	XFX 6850
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Apr 27, 2009, 01:02 PM	#6
ShadowFold Eligible for custom title Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Omaha, NE Posts: 12,855 (6.51/day) Thanks: 1,381 Thanked 1,681 Times in 1,498 Posts System Specs	Is the south bridge even gonna run hot?.. The SB cooling looks intrusive and annoying. The VRM cooling looks ok tho.

System Name:	The ShadowFold Draconis (Ordering soon)
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Apr 27, 2009, 01:04 PM	#7
z1tu Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Romania Posts: 131 (0.08/day) Thanks: 3 Thanked 7 Times in 7 Posts System Specs	Sorry for not knowing but is the SB the one with the radiator that says Gigabyte on it? Cause if it is I have a similar one on my mobo and it's hot as hell

System Name:	umm...no
Processor:	AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 Black Edition @ 3Ghz
Motherboard:	Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3
Cooling:	Stock
Memory:	Mushkin 2GB DDR2 800MHz CL5 SP2-6400 Dual Channel Kit
Video Card:	HIS ATI Radeon HD4830 512MB DDR3 256-bit Accelero L2 Pro
CRT/LCD Model:	Samsung SyncMaster P2270HD
Case:	Antec Three Hundred
PSU:	Rasurbo SilentPower DLP-435

Apr 27, 2009, 01:08 PM	#10
ShadowFold Eligible for custom title Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Omaha, NE Posts: 12,855 (6.51/day) Thanks: 1,381 Thanked 1,681 Times in 1,498 Posts System Specs	Yea..

Apr 27, 2009, 01:09 PM	#12
ShadowFold Eligible for custom title Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Omaha, NE Posts: 12,855 (6.51/day) Thanks: 1,381 Thanked 1,681 Times in 1,498 Posts System Specs	If they're like what's out now then no

Apr 27, 2009, 01:11 PM	#13
z1tu Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Romania Posts: 131 (0.08/day) Thanks: 3 Thanked 7 Times in 7 Posts System Specs	ok thanks and sorry for the off topic

System Name:	Firelance
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Video Card:	KFA² GeForce GTX 660 Ti OC 3GB
Hard Disk:	OCZ Agility 4 256GB
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Case:	HAF 932 + DemciFlex dust filters
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Software:	Windows 7 Professional x64 Service Pack 1

Apr 27, 2009, 01:44 PM	#17
Sasqui Eligible for custom title Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Manchester, NH Posts: 6,046 (2.22/day) Thanks: 816 Thanked 904 Times in 738 Posts System Specs	What are those two strange looking white and black slots just to the left of the guys pinky?

System Name:	"Naked Ivy"
Processor:	i7-3570k Costa (4.7 Ghz 24/7), Now de-lidded and NAKED!
Motherboard:	GA-Z77X-UD5H (rev1.1)
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Sound Card:	Onboard + HD HDMI
PSU:	Corsair HX750 (love it)
Software:	Win 7 Ultimate
Benchmarks:	Almost stable @ 4.9 Ghz, working on benchies

Processor:	Intel Core2Quad Q9550 @3.3GHz
Motherboard:	GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS4
Cooling:	GIGABYTE 3D ROCKET
Memory:	2 x 2 GB DDR2 800+ A-Data Vitesta Extreme Edition
Video Card:	ATi HD4850/512
Hard Disk:	WDC WD6401AALS / Seagate ST3320620AS / Seagate ST3160812AS / Maxtor STM3160215A
Optical Drive:	LiteOn DH20A3H LightScribe MultiDVD Writer
CRT/LCD Model:	Iiyama Pro Lite E2200WSV B1 22"
Case:	GIGABYTE acrylic
Sound Card:	onboard
PSU:	Antec 550W

Apr 27, 2009, 02:41 PM	#21
VIPER Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Bucuresti, ROMANIA Posts: 180 (0.08/day) Thanks: 2 Thanked 17 Times in 11 Posts System Specs	Not at all. I have PCI-Express 8x RAID cards (from Areca), a lot (and I mean a lot!) of 4x LAN cards from Intel, etc etc. If a MB has 3 x 16x (physical, at least 8x electrical), I am happy. If not, that MB is not good for me...

Apr 27, 2009, 02:45 PM	#23
VIPER Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Bucuresti, ROMANIA Posts: 180 (0.08/day) Thanks: 2 Thanked 17 Times in 11 Posts System Specs	There are LAN cards PCI-E 4x with 2 or 4 Gb LAN's on them. Made by Intel (what we use), or by others.

Apr 27, 2009, 02:50 PM	#25
ShadowFold Eligible for custom title Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Omaha, NE Posts: 12,855 (6.51/day) Thanks: 1,381 Thanked 1,681 Times in 1,498 Posts System Specs	Yes, of course. A PCIE 16x slot can hold a 1x, 4x and 8x length card too.

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