Product release date.
Lithography
Lithography indicates the semiconductor technology used to manufacture the integrated chipsets and the report is shown in nanometer (nm), which indicates the size of the features built into the semiconductor.
Design power
Thermal Design Power (TDP) refers to the average performance in watts when the processor is dissipating power (at base clock with all cores engaged) under a complex load as defined by Intel. Check out the requirements for thermoregulation systems in the datasheet.
Embedded Options Available
Embedded Options Available indicates products that provide an extended purchase option for smart systems and embedded solutions. Product specifications and conditions of use are presented in the Production Release Qualification (PRQ) report. Please contact your Intel representative for details.
Integrated Graphics ‡
The integrated graphics system provides stunning quality and high performance graphics and flexible display options without the need for a separate graphics card.
Graphics Output
Graphics output defines the interfaces available to interact with device mappings.
Intel® Clear Video Technology
Intel® Clear Video Technology is a collection of video encoding and processing technologies built into the integrated graphics processor. These technologies make video playback more stable and graphics clearer, more vibrant, and more lifelike.
PCI support
PCI Support indicates the type of support for the Peripheral Component Interconnect standard
PCI Express Revision
PCI Express revision is the version supported by the processor. PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) is a high-speed serial expansion bus standard for computers to connect hardware devices to. Different PCI Express versions support different data transfer rates.
PCI Express Configurations ‡
PCI Express (PCIe) Configurations describe the available PCIe lane configurations that can be used to map PCH PCIe lanes to PCIe devices.
Max. number of PCI Express lanes
The PCI Express (PCIe) lane consists of two differential signaling pairs for receiving and transmitting data, and is the basic element of the PCIe bus. PCI Express lanes are the total lanes supported by the processor.
USB version
USB (Universal Serial Bus) is an industry standard connectivity technology for connecting peripheral devices to a computer.
Total # of SATA Ports
SATA (Serial Data Interface Used to Connect Storage Drives) is a high-speed standard for connecting storage devices such as hard drives and optical drives to the motherboard.
Integrated network adapter
An on-board network adapter assumes the onboard Intel Ethernet MAC address or LAN ports on the system board.
Integrated IDE adapter
The IDE is an interface standard for connecting storage devices that indicates that the disk controller is integrated into the disk rather than a separate component on the motherboard.
T CASE
The critical temperature is the maximum temperature allowed in the integrated heat spreader (IHS) of the processor.
Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I / O (VT-d) ‡
Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I / O complements the virtualization support on IA-32 (VT-x) and Itanium® (VT-i) processors with I / O virtualization capabilities. Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I / O helps users increase system security and reliability and improve I / O performance in virtualized environments.
Intel® vPro ™ Platform Compliant ‡
The Intel vPro® platform is a collection of hardware and technologies used to create end-to-end business computing systems with high performance, built-in security, advanced management features, and platform stability.
Intel® ME Firmware Version
The Intel® Management Engine (Intel® ME) firmware leverages the platform's built-in management and security capabilities to remotely out-of-band management of networked computing resources.
Intel® Remote PC Assist Technology
Intel® Remote PC Assist Technology allows you to request remote technical assistance from your service provider when a problem occurs with your PC, even when the OS, network software, or applications are not working. This service was discontinued in October 2010.
Intel® Quick Resume Technology
Intel® Quick Resume Technology (QRTD) driver lets you use your Intel® Viv ™ technology-based PC as a device consumer electronics that can be turned on and off instantly (after initial boot if enabled).
Intel® Quiet System Technology
Intel® Quiet System Technology reduces system noise and heat generation through intelligent fan speed control algorithms.
Intel® HD Audio Technology
Intel® High Definition Audio supports more channels at higher quality than previous integrated audio systems. In addition, Intel® High Definition Audio integrates the technologies needed to support the latest audio formats.
Intel® AC97 Technology
Intel® AC97 Technology is an audio codec standard that defines a high-quality surround-capable audio architecture for PCs. It is the predecessor to the Intel® High Definition Audio subsystem.
Intel® Matrix Storage Technology
Intel® Matrix Storage Technology provides protection, performance, and expandability for desktop and mobile platforms. By using one or more hard drives, users can take advantage of improved performance and lower power consumption. When using multiple disks, the user gets additional protection from data loss in the event of a hard drive failure. Predecessor to Intel® Rapid Storage Technology
Intel® Trusted Execution Technology ‡
Intel® Trusted Execution Technology enhances secure command execution capabilities by hardware expansion of Intel® processors and chipsets. This technology provides security features such as measurable application launch and secure command execution for digital office platforms. It does this by creating an environment where applications run in isolation from other applications in the system.
Anti-Theft technology
Intel® Anti-Theft Technology helps keep your laptop secure if it is lost or stolen. To use Intel® Anti-Theft Technology, you must subscribe to an Intel® Anti-Theft Technology Service Provider.
Today we will look at the first motherboard based on the Intel H55 Express chipset, designed to work with 1156-pin processors from the same manufacturer. This is the first such board that came to our laboratory, so let's start with the presentation of this set of logic and related ones. And let's go, as usual, from afar :).
With regard to computers intended for home use, the generally accepted classification includes four market segments: flagship, performance, mass and budget.
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When at the end of 2008 Intel presented the new architecture of Nehalem represented by Core processors i7 on the Bloomfield core with 1366 pins and the corresponding X58 Express chipset, few would have thought that this would be all. Several CPU models and a single chipset are all that the world's leading processor manufacturer in the top segment still offers.However, the rest were left at the mercy of processors with a 775-pin connector, whose history stretches back to 2004, during the NetBurst architecture. Intel, indeed, had nowhere to rush to bring a new platform to the market: its CPU Core 2 still fared very well against AMD Athlon and Phenom.
But after the appearance of the Phenom II processors, thanks to which the main competitor managed to come close to the mass and productive solutions of Intel both in specific performance (per GHz) and in frequency potential, the announcement of the new platform could not be postponed. Therefore, at the end of the summer of last 2009, a bunch of processors with an LGA 1156 socket and a P55 Express chipset was presented. There are only a few CPU models (all are quad-core, based on the Lynnfield core), and again only one set of logic. It seemed that history was repeating itself.
However, the processor socket with 1156 pins was originally conceived as a complete replacement for the "old man" LGA 775. And at the very beginning of 2010 the expected expansion took place. Intel presented a whole "pack" of processors based on the Clarkdale core, as well as several sets of logic for them. However, the P55 Express is also compatible with new CPUs - there are no exceptions in terms of CPU support between the chipsets (yet). But they differ from each other still significantly. Let's try to summarize these differences in one table.
The date the product was first introduced.
Lithography
Lithography refers to the semiconductor technology used to manufacture an integrated circuit, and is reported in nanometer (nm), indicative of the size of features built on the semiconductor.
TDP
Thermal Design Power (TDP) represents the average power, in watts, the processor dissipates when operating at Base Frequency with all cores active under an Intel-defined, high-complexity workload. Refer to Datasheet for thermal solution requirements.
Embedded Options Available
Embedded Options Available indicates products that offer extended purchase availability for intelligent systems and embedded solutions. Product certification and use condition applications can be found in the Production Release Qualification (PRQ) report. See your Intel representative for details.
Integrated Graphics ‡
Integrated graphics allow for incredible visual quality, faster graphic performance and flexible display options without the need for a separate graphics card.
Graphics Output
Graphics Output defines the interfaces available to communicate with display devices.
Intel® Clear Video Technology
Intel® Clear Video Technology is a suite of image decode and processing technologies built into the integrated processor graphics that improve video playback, delivering cleaner, sharper images, more natural, accurate, and vivid colors, and a clear and stable video picture.
PCI Support
PCI support indicates the type of support for the Peripheral Component Interconnect standard
PCI Express Revision
PCI Express Revision is the version supported by the processor. Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (or PCIe) is a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard for attaching hardware devices to a computer. The different PCI Express versions support different data rates.
PCI Express Configurations ‡
PCI Express (PCIe) Configurations describe the available PCIe lane configurations that can be used to link the PCH PCIe lanes to PCIe devices.
Max # of PCI Express Lanes
A PCI Express (PCIe) lane consists of two differential signaling pairs, one for receiving data, one for transmitting data, and is the basic unit of the PCIe bus. # of PCI Express Lanes is the total number supported by the processor.
USB Revision
USB ( Universal serial Bus) is an industry standard connection technology for attaching peripheral devices to a computer.
Total # of SATA Ports
SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) is a high speed standard for connecting storage devices such as hard disk drives and optical drives to a motherboard.
Integrated LAN
Integrated LAN indicates the presence of an integrated Intel Ethernet MAC or presence of the LAN ports built into the system board.
Integrated IDE
IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) is an interface standard for connecting storage devices, and indicates the drive controller is integrated into the drive, rather than a separate component on the motherboard.
T CASE
Case Temperature is the maximum temperature allowed at the processor Integrated Heat Spreader (IHS).
Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I / O (VT-d) ‡
Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I / O (VT-d) continues from the existing support for IA-32 (VT-x) and Itanium® processor (VT-i) virtualization adding new support for I / O-device virtualization. Intel VT-d can help end users improve security and reliability of the systems and also improve performance of I / O devices in virtualized environments.
Intel® vPro ™ Platform Eligibility ‡
The Intel vPro® platform is a set of hardware and technologies used to build business computing endpoints with premium performance, built-in security, modern manageability and platform stability.
Learn more about Intel vPro®
Intel® ME Firmware Version
Intel® Management Engine Firmware (Intel® ME FW) uses built-in platform capabilities and management and security applications to remotely manage networked computing assets out-of-band.
Intel® Remote PC Assist Technology
Intel® Remote PC Assist Technology enables you to request remote technical assistance from a service provider if you encounter a problem with your PC, even when the OS, network software, or applications are not functioning. This service was discontinued in October 2010.
Intel® Quick Resume Technology
Intel® Quick Resume Technology Driver (QRTD) allows the Intel® Viv ™ technology-based PC to behave like a consumer electronic device with instant on / off (after initial boot, when activated) capability.
Intel® Quiet System Technology
Intel® Quiet System Technology can help reduce system noise and heat through more intelligent fan speed control algorithms.
Intel® HD Audio Technology
Intel® High Definition Audio (Intel® HD Audio) is capable of playing back more channels at higher quality than previous integrated audio formats. In addition, Intel® HD Audio has the technology needed to support the latest and greatest audio content.
Intel® AC97 Technology
Intel® AC97 Technology is an audio codec standard which defines a high-quality audio architecture with surround sound support for the PC. It is the predecessor to Intel® High Definition Audio.
Intel® Matrix Storage Technology
Intel® Matrix Storage Technology provides protection, performance, and expandability for desktop and mobile platforms. Whether using one or multiple hard drives, users can take advantage of enhanced performance and lower power consumption. When using more than one drive the user can have additional protection against data loss in the event of hard drive failure. Predecessor to Intel® Rapid Storage Technology
Intel® Trusted Execution Technology ‡
Intel® Trusted Execution Technology for safer computing is a versatile set of hardware extensions to Intel® processors and chipsets that enhance the digital office platform with security capabilities such as measured launch and protected execution. It enables an environment where applications can run within their own space, protected from all other software on the system.
Anti-Theft Technology
Intel® Anti-Theft Technology (Intel® AT) helps keep your laptop safe and secure in the event that it's ever lost or stolen. Intel® AT requires a service subscription from an Intel® AT – enabled service provider.
04/12/2010 | Qntality |
1 - Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H 2 - MSI H55M-E33 3 - Test results. Conclusions Display as one page
With the announcement of the 32nm Core i5-6xx, Core i3-5xx and Pentium G processors based on the Clarkdale core, Intel introduced the H55, H57 and Q57 Express chipsets, which allow using the graphics core built into the new CPUs for Socket LGA1156. Previously, the GPU function was performed by the north bridges of the integrated system logic sets. Now modern central processors acquire an increasing number of all kinds of controllers, while chipsets are responsible only for the communication capabilities of ready-made systems.
We have already talked about the new line of chipsets in the article dedicated to Clarkdale processors. Then the emphasis was placed on the CPU. In this review, we will look at a couple of representatives based on Intel H55 Express, which differs from its older counterparts in somewhat limited functionality.
Like the entire line of chipsets that support the integrated graphics core in the new processors with the LGA1156 socket, the Intel H55 has an FDI (Flexible Display Interface) bus, which allows the video signal from the GPU to be transmitted through the PCH chip to the connectors on the rear panel of the motherboard. Recall that the Intel P55 Express system logic "set", presented together with processors based on the Lynnfield core, lacks such an opportunity, but has backward compatibility with solutions from the Clarkdale family. In this case, the video core is simply not used, although the ability to use 16 PCI Express 2.0 lanes according to the x8 + x8 formula remains in effect.
To limit the junior chipset, the number of USB ports was reduced from 14 to 12, and PCI Express lanes from 8 to 6, which is not so critical for home or office use. According to the specifications, the PCI-E interface belongs to the second generation, but its bandwidth is to the first. The H55 also lacks the ability to organize RAID arrays. But again, not all users need them so much, and many manufacturers install external controllers on their products to expand the functionality of the final products. As a result, even with an additional chip, motherboards on the Intel H55 Express are cheaper than on the more advanced H57. And when every ten counts, then, of course, the choice is obvious.
In this article, we will take a look at mainboards from Gigabyte and MSI, which belong to the mid-price category. All basic product data are listed in the table below.
| Model | ||
| Chipset | ||
| CPU socket | Socket LGA1156 | Socket LGA1156 |
| Processors | Core i7, Core i5, Core i3 and Pentium G | |
| Memory | 4 DIMM DDR3 SDRAM 800/1066/1333/1600 * (OC), 16GB max | 4 DIMM DDR3 SDRAM 800/1066/1333/1600 * / 2000 * / 2133 * (OC), 16GB max |
| PCI-E slots | 1 PCI Express 2.0 x16 1 PCI Express 1.1 x16 (x4) |
1 PCI Express 2.0 x16 2 PCI Express 1.1 x1 |
| PCI slots | 2 | 1 |
| Integrated video core (in the processor) | Intel HD Graphics | Intel HD Graphics |
| Video connectors | D-Sub, DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort | D-Sub, DVI and HDMI |
| Number of connected fans | 2 (4pin) | 3 (1x 4pin and 2x 3pin) |
| USB 2.0 ports | 12 (6 connectors on the rear panel) | |
| ATA-133 | 1 channel (two devices, JMicron JMB368) | |
| Serial ATA | 5 SATA-II lanes (Intel H55) | 6 SATA-II lanes (Intel H55) |
| eSATA | 1 channel (H55) | - |
| RAID | - | - |
| Built-in sound | Realtek ALC889 (7.1, HDA) | Realtek ALC889 (7.1, HDA) |
| S / PDIF | Optic | - |
| Built-in network | Realtek RTL 8111D ( Gigabit Ethernet) | Realtek RTL 8111DL (Gigabit Ethernet) |
| FireWire 1394 | 2 ports (one on board, Texas Instruments TSB43AB23) | - |
| LPT | - | + (on board) |
| COM | 1 (on board) | 2 (on board) |
| BIOS | Award | AMI |
| Form Factor | microATX | microATX |
| Dimensions, mm | 244 x 230 | 244 x 240 |
| Additional features | Dual BIOS | Jumper for overclocking the system by 10%, 15% and 20% of the nominal |
Maternal Gigabyte board GA-H55M-UD2H came for testing without any delivery set. Retail boards will have to ship with a disc with software, instructions, one IDE cable, two SATA cables and a bracket for the rear panel.
Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H is made on a corporate blue textolite in the microATX form factor, which allows you to assemble small systems and media centers. Of the supported processors, all modern models for Socket LGA1156 are declared, including even server solutions from the Xeon family. Naturally, the latter is not particularly advertised. In addition to the standard frequencies of the third generation DDR memory, it is possible to use DDR3-1600 strips. For Core i7 processors, in this case, it will be enough to set the corresponding multiplier, and for younger models, you will have to increase the base frequency, since they are limited by the memory multiplication factor equal to x10.
The board's design has some flaws, but they are not critical for this form factor. So, DIMM slots are close to the graphical interface, IDE and FDD connectors are located between the main power connector and the last memory slot. In addition, one SATA connector will be blocked after an oversized video card is installed.
But, as a rule, in systems based on such cards, memory rarely changes, floppy drives and IDE drives are not used now, and four drives, including DVD cutters, will be more than enough for the average user. Moreover, the Intel H55 Express chipset lacks support for RAID arrays, and the GA-H55M-UD2H does not have any external controllers to fill this deficiency. The rest of the product is solid, no complaints.
The processor power subsystem is built in a 4-phase circuit based on the Intersil ISL6334 PWM controller. Two more phases (Intersil ISL6322G) are provided for the memory controller and one (Intersil ISL6314 chip) for the integrated graphics core... The board belongs to the Ultra Durable 3 series, therefore, polymer capacitors and ferrite core chokes are used in all power circuits. The GA-H55M-UD2H is equipped with a conventional ATX12V as a connector for additional processor power.
The chipset is cooled by a small aluminum radiator, since the low TDP level of the H55 chip, equal to 5.2 W, allows it. There are two 4-pin connectors on the board for connecting fans.
The functionality of the Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H is actually limited by the capabilities of the chipset itself: six SATA II channels, twelve USB 2.0 ports (six are brought to the rear panel), two PCI slots and two PCI Express x16, one of which has only four high-speed interface lines from H55. This model also has a COM port divorced, but you will have to find a bracket with a connector yourself.
The parallel interface for connecting IDE drives is implemented using the widely used JMicron JMB368 chip. The audio subsystem is based on the HDA codec Realtek ALC889, the network with Gigabit Ethernet support is based on the Realtek 8111D chip.
Due to the tight mounting on the board, the Texas Instruments TSB43AB23 controller, which is responsible for two IEEE1394 ports, is located under the extreme PCI-E x16 connector - the missing high-speed interface lines contributed to this.
The rear panel contains a universal PS / 2 connector, six USB ports, optical S / PDIF, network connector, D-Sub, DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort video interfaces, as well as six audio connectors, one eSATA and FireWire.
Of the features of Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H, we note the proprietary Dual BIOS technology, which allows you to boot the system and restore the problem chip if one of the two microcircuits with the BIOS microcode is damaged. True, if any serious failure occurs, for example, when updating the BIOS from under the OS, then no technology will save you and the board will have to be handed over to a service center.
By the way, the contacts for zeroing the CMOS memory are located near the SATA connectors - usually the company's engineers place them as far as possible from the edge of the board, almost in its center. If you install a video card of the class GeForce GTX 2xx or Radeon HD 58xx, you will still not be able to close the contacts and the accelerator will have to be removed from the case. In this case, this is not important, since the motherboard is not of the level to install such video adapters on it, and you will not need to reset the CMOS every day.
BIOS
The BIOS of the Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H board is based on the Award Software microcode and its ability to fine-tune and overclock the system is no different from the capabilities of full-format solutions designed for enthusiasts.
All the necessary settings for tuning and overclocking are located in the MB Intelligent Tweaker (M.I.T.) section. As usual for Gigabyte products, all items in the sections appear after pressing the Ctrl + F1 key combination in the main menu.
In MB Intelligent Tweaker (M.I.T.) there are several more sections responsible for general information about the system, setting the frequencies of various nodes, memory and voltages. It also displays the BIOS version, current frequencies, memory size, processor and chipset temperatures, voltage on memory modules and Vcore.
M.I.T. Current Status allows you to view current information on the installed processor, multipliers of various system nodes, frequencies, temperatures of a single core, the amount of RAM and its timings.
The Advanced Frequency Setting contains settings for the processor multiplier, QPI bus, and memory. It is possible to change the base frequency from 100 to 600 MHz and the PCI Express frequency from 90 to 150 MHz. You can also adjust the amplitude of the processor and PCI Express signals, as well as the time delays between the CPU and chipset clock signals.
The Advanced CPU Core Features subsection is intended for managing the technologies supported by the processor. Note that in the first BIOS versions, up to F4, the Hyper-Threading disable function in the Core i5-6xx did not work, and when it was activated, the system simply hung after saving the parameters.
In the Advanced Memory Settings section, as the name implies, memory settings are concentrated, namely the ability to select XMP profiles, multiplier, settings mode and timings. The Performance Enhance parameter allows you to either speed up the memory subsystem (Turbo and Extreme modes), or increase the overclocking potential of the board (Standart). DRAM Timing Selectable allows you to use modules with default settings taken from SPD strips, or set up timings for all channels at once (Quick mode) or separately for each (Expert). This is useful when "mixed" or problematic modules are installed on the system.
Advanced Voltage Setting allows you to change all the main system supply voltages: processor, memory controller, integrated graphics core, chipset, memory.
The range of changes is listed in the following table:
| Parameter | Range of change |
| CPU Vcore | 0.5 to 1.9 V in 0.00625 V steps |
| Dynamic Vcore (DVID) | - 0.8 to + 0.59375 V in 0.00625 V steps |
| QPI / Vtt Voltage | 1.05 to 1.49 V in 0.05-0.02 V steps |
| Graphics Core | 0.2 to 1.8 V in 0.05-0.02 V steps |
| PCH Core | 0.95 to 1.5 V in 0.02 V steps |
| CPU PLL | 1.6 to 2.54 V in 0.1-0.02 V steps |
| DRAM Voltage | 1.3 to 2.6 V in 0.1-0.02 V steps |
| DRAM Termination | 0.45 to 1.155 V in 0.02-0.025 V steps |
| Ch-A Data VRef. | |
| Ch-B Data VRef. | 0.64 to 1.51 in 0.01-0.05 V steps |
| Ch-A Address VRef. | 0.64 to 1.51 in 0.01-0.05 V steps |
| Ch-B Address VRef. | 0.64 to 1.51 in 0.01-0.05 V steps |
The PC Health Status section is responsible for monitoring the system. Here you can track the values of the main voltages, the temperature of the processor and motherboard, the speed of the two connected fans. You can also configure the notification about CPU overheating or stopping a fan and automatic adjustment of the impeller speed. In the latter case, the fans must have connectors with a control contact.
For BIOS updates the built-in utility Q-Flash is provided. It is enough to connect a flash drive with microcode to the board and update.
The motherboard was tested with a discrete video card, so the settings related to the GPU built into the processor are not reflected in the BIOS Setup screenshots given (except for the supply voltage). If you use the integrated video core, then the user will be able to select the amount of memory for the needs of the video system (maximum 128 MB) and the frequency of the graphics processor.
Overclocking
To find out the overclocking potential of the board, the following configuration was assembled:
- CPU: Intel Core i5-660 (3.33 GHz);
- Memory: G.Skill F3-10666CL7T-6GBPK (2x2 GB, DDR3-1333);
- Cooler: Prolimatech Megahalems + Nanoxia FX12-2000;
- Video card: ASUS EAH4890 / HTDI / 1GD5 / A (Radeon HD 4890);
- Hard drive: Samsung HD252HJ (250 GB, SATAII);
- Power supply unit: Seasonic SS-750KM (750 W);
- Thermal interface: Noctua NT-H1.
With such settings, the board behaved stably up to Bclk 220 MHz, which is quite good for a product of this price category and mATX form factor. For further overclocking, the QPI bus multiplier was lowered to x16, and the voltage on it had to be increased to 1.39 V. But even with such settings, we managed to pass the tests at a base frequency that was only 5 MHz higher than the previous result. With a decrease in the processor multiplier to x15 and an increase in the chipset supply voltage to 1.16 V, 230 MHz has already been conquered - and this is already quite a decent result.
But for overclocking Lynnfield processors, the Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H motherboard is clearly not suitable. The fact is that with activated Hyper-Threading technology, the Xeon X3470 processor was overclocked to 3.8 GHz, after which the power supply went into defense. It was possible to start the system only after some time (I had to disassemble the stand, then reinstall all the components in their places and additionally change the processor to a Core i5-660). When the virtual multicore was turned off, the system remained stable at 3.8 GHz, but experiments to further increase the frequency were no longer carried out. Perhaps we just came across such a copy of GA-H55M-UD2H, but extra caution will not hurt users.
It is also worth recalling that the maximum allowable voltage values for Clarkdale processors are at 1.4 V for the processor, 1.4 V for the Uncore block (QPI bus, memory controller and L3 cache), 1.65 V for memory modules and 1 , 98 V for CPU PLL. The integrated graphics core can painlessly transfer 1.55 V, but such a value may be required (it all depends on the CPU instance) when overclocking a processor without a discrete video card or when raising the frequencies of the video core itself. Also, do not forget about temperature conditions CPU that must not exceed the 85-degree threshold.
Our next participant also refers to compact solutions that allow you to build small media centers or office machines. Although for the latter, the cost of ready-made systems based on the LGA1156 platform is currently too high.
The board comes in a small purple and white box with the main features of the product marked on the lid.
The kit included the following:
- instructions for the motherboard;
- a quick guide to building the system;
- instructions for working with images of hard disk partitions;
- a guide for using Winki (embedded OS, but not included in the kit for our region);
- CD with drivers;
- two SATA cables;
- rear I / O bar.
Like the previous model, MSI H55M-E33 is made in the microATX form factor. Unlike the red PCB and multi-colored connectors previously used for the production of inexpensive PCBs, the Taiwanese company has almost completely switched to a single strict style for its products in various price categories. Now that the board is based on Intel X58 Express, that on Intel G41 Express - all will be executed on a brown PCB with black and blue connectors and gray radiators. From the aesthetic point of view, it looks much nicer than a multi-colored Christmas garland. But the latter is especially appreciated in the Asian region. But we, of course, cannot understand them.
MSI H55M-E33 supports all modern processors with LGA1156 socket and DDR3 memory up to 2133 MHz, naturally in overclocking mode. The Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H motherboard considered above is also capable of working with modules at this frequency - you simply have to raise the base frequency and decrease the processor multiplier if you want to leave the CPU running in the nominal mode.
The layout of the elements on the board is more or less thought out and apart from DIMM slots there is practically nothing to complain about. But again, for such compact solutions, this disadvantage can be ignored. A pair of SATA connectors are rotated 90 ° relative to the board, so that they will not be blocked when installing an oversized video card.
The processor is powered by a 4-channel circuit based on the uP6206AK controller from uPI Semiconductor Corp. For the rest of the CPU units, there is one more channel on the Intersil ISL6314. Thanks to the APS (Active Phase Switching) hardware technology, the number of processor power phases can vary depending on the load on the system, which should have a positive effect on the power efficiency of the board. The connector for the additional power supply is standard, four-pin.
Cooling of the PCH chip rests on the shoulders of a small aluminum heatsink. The number of fan connectors is limited to three, including a 4-pin processor connector. This is more than enough.
The functionality of the board is even slightly lower than that of the GA-H55M-UD2H, although the price difference is about ten dollars. There is one graphical interface, two PCI-E x1, regular PCI, six SATA, 12 USB ports - all that is dictated by the specifications of the chipset and processor. Nothing extra. Although, the board also has pads for LPT and COM ports. But for them you still need to look for strips with connectors.
The standard set of external controllers - JMicron JMB368 is responsible for the IDE, the audio path is built on Realtek ALC889, and the network is built on the Realtek 8111DL chip.
The rear panel looks a little unassuming: two PS / 2, six USB ports, D-Sub, DVI and HDMI, one network port, and six audio jacks.
For fans of hardware overclocking, when the system itself selects the necessary parameters to increase the processor frequency, the board has a DIP switch (OC Switch technology) that allows you to overclock the system by 10, 15 or 20% of the nominal.
BIOS is based on AMI microcode. The number of various configurable parameters allows you to fine-tune the system.
All the necessary parameters for overclocking are concentrated in the Cell Menu section. Here you can immediately change the number of active processor cores, disable energy-saving technologies and Turbo Boost, control Bclk frequencies (100-600 MHz) and PCI Express bus (90-190 MHz), CPU and memory multipliers, as well as supply voltages. Alas, the QPI multiplier on our board was blocked.
In addition to OC Switch, the Auto OverClocking Technology item is provided for overclocking. It is enough to activate it, reboot the system and the board itself will select the necessary parameters to increase the processor frequency.
The management of a large number of technologies supported by the processor is already in the CPU Feature subsection.
You can find out information about the memory modules installed in the system in the Memory-Z subsection, and the timings themselves are already configured in the Advanced DRAM Configuration. The parameters are available for two channels at once.
The range of supply voltages is shown in the following table:
| Parameter | Range of change |
| CPU Voltage | |
| CPU VTT Voltage | 0.451 to 2.018 V in 0.005-0.006 V steps |
| GPU Voltage | + 0.0 to + 0.453 V in 0.001 V steps |
| DRAM Voltage | 0.978 to 1.898 V in 0.006-0.009 V steps |
| PCH 1.05 | 0.451 to 1.953 V in 0.005-0.006 V steps |
Monitoring is limited by voltages on the board's power lines, on the processor and integrated graphics core, rotational speed of three fans, CPU and system temperatures. This section also allows you to configure the fan control.
The M-Flash section is intended for updating the BIOS. Only the file must be located at the root of the disk, otherwise the board will not find it. Also, if the microcode is damaged, it will be possible to boot from the flash drive and restore the BIOS.
Enthusiasts will appreciate the ability to save up to six profiles with system settings in the Overclocking Profile section, each of which can be briefly named using any characters of the Latin alphabet.
It will also be possible to adjust the number of "start-stops" in case of unsuccessful overclocking, until the system starts to boot with more gentle default settings.
Software
In addition to drivers, the MSI H55M-E33 comes bundled with several other utilities. One of them, MSI Live Update 4, is designed to update the BIOS. But it is better to perform this process using M-Flash, since there is a possibility of failure during the firmware from under operating system, which is fraught with failure of the board.
Control Center is designed to monitor, overclock and control energy saving features.
Overclocking
It would seem that there are plenty of settings for overclocking, there are all the necessary supply voltages to change. But knowing MSI's love to cut the BIOS functionality of cheap motherboards, there is no reason to hope for a decent overclocking. In this case, the limiting factor was the inability to change the QPI bus multiplier. Fortunately, Clarkdale processors tolerate the high frequency of this interface well, which can exceed the threshold of 4 GHz.
To overclock the board, we used the same configuration as for the GA-H55M-UD2H. The voltage on the processor was raised to + 0.287, the rest of the settings were the same as when testing a competitor.
Concerns about overclocking were confirmed - the board passed tests stably at a base frequency of no more than 183 MHz. At the same time, the QPI bus worked at 4405 MHz, which ultimately gave a data transfer rate of 8810 MT / s. Increasing the CPU VTT voltage did not lead to a better result.
Interestingly, once MSI H55M-E33 was able to boot at a base frequency of 200 MHz (QPI 9600 GT / s!). Moreover, such an indicator was achieved in a random way - it was not possible to repeat it again.
If you don't want to mess with overclocking, but you want to raise the system performance, you can use the Auto OverClocking Technology, which itself will select all the necessary parameters to increase the processor frequency. But there is one but. Our Core i5-660 test board overclocked to 4.0GHz with Turbo Boost clocking at 4.15GHz. At the same time, the memory worked at 1280 MHz, the CPU supply voltage rose by + 0.179 V, but for some reason, the modules stood at 1.72 V.
This strange behavior with the memory voltage is not a peculiarity of this representative of the Intel H55-based product line. All MSI motherboards with auto-overclocking that were in our test lab were characterized by constant voltage ramping up to this value, while the modules always worked at a frequency close to 1333 MHz. What is the reason, we, alas, have not received an answer yet. Therefore, it is possible to recommend using such technology only at your own peril and risk.
The fixed percentage overclocking available when using the OC Switch sets the same voltages as in automatic mode. Only when the Bclk frequency is raised by 10 and 15 percent, the memory works with a multiplier of x5, and at 20% overclocking - with x4.
Test configuration
Testing was carried out on the same
There is no clear leader in Lavalys Everest, all participants in memory performance are equal. After integrating the memory controller and the entire north bridge into the processor, testing motherboards becomes almost meaningless, since the difference between them is negligible and can be easily attributed to the testing error. The only exceptions are raw BIOS versions, which can affect performance.
Archiving
Synthetic gaming packages on motherboards do not show themselves unambiguously - in 3DMark'06 they are more productive than GA-H55M-UD2H, in 3DMark Vantage - already MSI H55M-E33.
Products behave in a similar way in games. One has more fps on the model from Gigabyte, in the other - on MSI. But it should be borne in mind that testing was carried out at low resolution and average quality graphics. Under normal settings, there will be no difference between the boards in games.
conclusions
As in the past, Intel still offers solutions for various market segments without any hint of versatility. Want embedded graphics? Please, but you won't be able to install two video cards in a full-fledged CrossFireX or SLI mode later - for this, as usual, chipsets of a different level are provided. The same AMD in its arsenal has an integrated set of system logic with the ability to organize a bundle of Radeon series cards. On the other hand, the number of users who want to switch from integrated graphics to tandems is not so great, most likely, in the future, there will be a purchase of only one powerful video card. And in this case, solutions based on new Intel chipsets for the LGA1156 platform look great. Unlike products based on P55 Express, the new items allow using the functionality of the integrated graphics core in Clarkdale processors, while being cheaper, and for the mass user it is much more important than an additional PCI Express slot. The lack of support for RAID arrays in Intel H55 is also not critical for many.
The motherboard Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H, based on Intel H55 Express, has good functionality and quality for its price group. The model has all the necessary video connectors, and even a FireWire controller. BIOS Setup features not only ordinary user but also to the most demanding enthusiast. But in terms of overclocking, it is only suitable for new processors made using the 32nm process technology. The weak power subsystem does not allow overclocking solutions based on the Lynnfield core to high frequencies - for them it is better to take a closer look at more expensive products.
MSI H55M-E33 is a representative of inexpensive but high-quality solutions based on the most affordable chipset of Intel's new line. The Spartan kit will be enough to build a simple system or media center. True, without a hint of using FireWire devices. The changeable parameters in the BIOS are enough to customize the computer for yourself. It will even be possible to overclock the processor by 20 percent, but no more. But for some reason, MSI products with auto overclocking functions still suffer from a serious drawback, which consists in exceeding the permissible voltage supply of memory modules during overclocking. In this case, the company's programmers have something else to work on.
Test equipment was provided by the following companies:
- Gigabyte - Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H motherboard;
- Intel - Intel Core i5-660 processor, Xeon X3470;
- Master Group - ASUS EAH4890 / HTDI / 1GD5 / A video card;
- MSI - MSI H55M-E33 motherboard;
- Noctua - Noctua NH-D14 cooler, Noctua NT-H1 thermal grease;
- Syntex - Seasonic SS-750KM power supply unit.
H55 and H57 Express are two "integrated" chipsets from Intel.
Integrated video solutions are commonly referred to, but now the GPU has left the chipset and moved to the central processing unit, as well as the memory controller and PCI Express controller for graphics, so these chipsets are "integrated" in parentheses.
The H55 and H57 are very close in functionality, but the H57 is the older one, and the H55 is the younger ICH PCH in the family, with reduced functionality.
If we compare the capabilities of these chipsets with the chipset for Socket 1156 - P55 processors, it turns out that the H57 is the most similar to it, having only two differences in the implementation of the video system.
Key features of the H57:
... up to 8 PCIEx1 ports (PCI-E 2.0, but with PCI-E 1.1 data transfer rate);
... up to 4 PCI slots;
... the ability to organize a RAID array of levels 0, 1, 0 + 1 (10) and 5 with the Matrix RAID function (one set of disks can be used in several RAID modes at once - for example, on two disks you can organize RAID 0 and RAID 1, for each array its own part of the disk will be allocated);
. 14 USB devices 2.0 (on two EHCI host controllers) with the possibility of individual shutdown;
H55 specifications:
Support for all Socket 1156 processors (including the corresponding Core i7, Core i5, Core i3 and Pentium families) based on the Nehalem microarchitecture when connected to these processors via the DMI bus (~ 2 GB / s bandwidth);
... FDI interface for receiving a fully rendered screen image from the processor and a block for outputting this image to the display device (s);
... up to 6 PCIEx1 ports (PCI-E 2.0, but with PCI-E 1.1 data transfer rate);
... up to 4 PCI slots;
... 6 Serial ATA II ports for 6 SATA300 devices (SATA-II, the second generation of the standard), with support for AHCI mode and functions like NCQ, with the possibility of individual disconnection, with support for eSATA and port splitters;
... 12 USB 2.0 devices (on two EHCI host controllers) individually disabled;
... Gigabit Ethernet MAC controller and a special interface (LCI / GLCI) for connecting a PHY controller (i82567 for Gigabit Ethernet, i82562 for Fast Ethernet);
... High Definition Audio (7.1);
... strapping for low-speed and outdated peripherals, etc.
The architecture is one microcircuit, without division into north and south bridges (de facto, this is just the south bridge).
The H57 has a specialized FDI interface, through which the processor sends the generated screen image (whether it is a Windows desktop with application windows, a full-screen demonstration of a movie or 3D games), and the chipset's task is to pre-configure display devices to ensure timely display of this image on the desired screen ( Intel HD Graphics supports up to two monitors).
Any of the processors with Socket 1156 will work in the motherboard on any of these chipsets, the only question is whether the owner of the integrated graphics, for which they have already paid for, will lose it.
If you want to use the integrated graphics of Clarkdale - take the H57.
If you want to create a normal (2 x16) SLI / CrossFire - take the P55.
When you plan to use one external video card as video, there is no difference at all between the P55 and H57.
