ASUS P7P55D Deluxe Motherboard Review

Introduction

Continuing in the line of fine ASUS motherboards is their P7P55 Deluxe motherboard. As the name implies, it is designed around the P55 chipset that supports Core i7 and Core i5 CPU’s(LGA 1156), as well as the upcoming Core i3 line. ASUS has long been known for high quality and high value hardware, a tradition that extends to their P7P55 line of mainboards. Featuring 12 different iterations, picking out one of these boards for your system can be a little daunting.

Today we’re going to give you a point of reference to the lineup and take a look at the Deluxe offering, which I would rate as an Enthusiast board. Priced as low as $212.99, it is the third most expensive motherboard in the P7P55 lineup. The board features all of the high-end over clocking options and tweaks that anyone looking to get a bit more out of their CPU is looking for. If you’re in the market to really push for the highest overclocks possible (beyond air cooling) and do more benchmarking than computing, the P7P55 Premium would likely better fit the bill.

ASUS P7P55 Deluxe motherboard specifications:

CPU

• Intel Socket 1156 Core i5 Processor/Core i7 Processor
• Supports Intel Turbo Boost Technology

Chipset

• Intel Chipset:
  – Northbridge: Intel P55 Express chipset

System Memory

• 4 x DIMM, Max. 16 GB, DDR3 2200(O.C.)*/1600/1333/1066 Non-ECC,Un-buffered Memory
• Dual Channel memory architecture
• Supports Intel Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)

Expansion Slots

• 2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot (single at x16 or dual at x8/x8 mode)
• 1 PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot (at 4x mode)
• 2 PCI Express 2.0 x1 slot (2.5GT/s)
• 2 PCI slots

Multi-GPU Support

• Supports NVIDIA Quad-GPU SLI Technology
• Supports ATI Quad-GPU CrossFireX Technology

Storage

• Intel P55 Express Chipset built-in
  – 6 xSATA 3.0 Gb/s ports
• JMicron JMB363 PATA controller
  – 1 xUltraDMA 133/100/66 for up to 2 PATA devices
• JMicron JMB322 (Drive Xpert Technology)
  – 2 x SATA 3.0 Gb/s ports (navy blue and gray)

Audio

• VIA VT2020 10-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC
  – Absolute Pitch BD192/24 featuring ENVY HD
  – DTS Surround Sensation UltraPC
  – Supports Jack-Detection, Multi-streaming, Front Panel Jack-Retasking
  – Coaxial / Optical S/PDIF out ports at back I/O

LAN

• Dual Gigabit LAN controllers Realtek 8112L / 8110SC Gigabit LAN controller featuring AI NET2 and Teaming

IEEE 1394

• VIA 6308P controller supports 2 x 1394a ports (one at mid-board; one at back panel)

USB

• 2 USB 2.0 ports (4 ports at mid-board, 8 ports at back panel)

Rear Panel I/O Ports

• 1 x IEEE 1394a
• 2 x LAN(RJ45) port
• 8 x USB 2.0/1.1
• 10 -Channel Audio I/O
• 1 x PS/2 Keyboard port (Purple)
• 1 x PS/2 mouse port (Green)
• 1 x Coaxial S/PDIF Output
• 1 x Optical S/PDIF Output
• 1 x Clear CMOS switch

Internal I/O

• 2 x USB connectors support additional 4 USB ports
• 1 x IDE connector
• 1 x TPM connector
• 1 x IEEE 1394a connector
• 1 x CPU Fan connector
• 1 x Power Fan connector
• 1 x COM connector
• 6 x SATA 3.0Gb/s connectors (blue)
• 2 x SATA 6.0Gb/s connectors (gray)
• 2 x Chassis Fan connector (1×4-pin, 1×3-pin)
• Front panel audio connector
• 1 x S/PDIF Out Header
• 1 x CD audio in
• 1 x 24-pin ATX Power connector
• 1 x 8-pin ATX 12V Power connector
• System Panel(Q-Connector)
• 1 x TURBO_CON header (for TurboV Remote)
• 1 x MemOK! button
• 1 x Power on switch
• 1 x Reset switch

Power Management

• Supports ACPI specification and OS Directed Power Management
• Supports ACPI STR (Suspend to RAM) function
• Wake-On-Events include:
  – Wake-On-PS/2 Keyboard/Mouse
  – Wake-On-USB Keyboard/Mouse
  – Wake-On-LAN
  – Wake-On-Ring
  – RTC timer to power-on the system
• System power management supported
• Microsoft/Intel APM 1.2 compliant
• Soft Power supported – ACPI v3.0b specification
• AC power failure recovery

PCB

• ATX form factor
• 12 inch x 9.6 inch ( 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm )