ASUS P7P55D Premium Motherboard Review

Board Layout and Bundle

The physical layout of the Deluxe and Premium are quite different. One of the first things we noticed was that there were only two x16 PCIe slots on the Premium, whereas the Deluxe had three. Not a deal breaker but anyone looking to run 3 graphics cards in one board is out of luck.

Also in this photo, you can see the ASUS Express Gate SSD (above the screen print “TurboV Remote”). This provides you nearly instant access to a Linux operating system prior to booting into Windows. Quickly and easily access the internet with FireFox, Skype. You can even play a few different flash based games!

We also noticed that the Remote V plugin had moved to the top of the CPU socket, instead of behind it. This is a much better location as you will actually be able to use your fingers to unplug it if needed!

Here we see the SATA ports, the 6Gbp/s ports are on the right. These are provided by a Marvell 88SE9123 controller. You can also see the onboard power and reset buttons that can be used for testing the motherboard outside of a case.

Looking around the CPU socket area, you can see the 32+3 power design in all its glory! The area around the socket is clear of any obstructions, so there is no problem getting a large cooler installed.

This motherboard has plenty of I/O! 8 USB ports in the back, along with Coaxial and TOSLINK audio outputs. We again see legacy PS2 Keyboard and Mouse ports. Notice the small button just to the right of the PS2 ports, that is a CMOS clear button!

The bundle is typical ASUS, which is very good! They provide 6 black SATA cables, 3 of which have a right angle on one end. On the left is the SLI bridge, in the middle is my new favorite piece, the “Q-Shield.” An IDE cable and PCI USB breakout are also included.