Gigabyte H55N-USB3 : Mini-ITX done the Gigabyte way...
by Rajinder Gill on June 15, 2010 7:49 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- Intel
- Gigabyte
- Mini ITX
Not a bad start from Gigabyte overall, barring a few glitches we found with current BIOS releases and a couple of very minor things in bundled software. The first BIOS glitch is the AHCI SATA optical drive time-out - the work around for this is easy enough and a patched BIOS that sorts the problem should soon be available. The second issue relates to the problems that surfaced when changing to multipliers between 23x and 25x on an i7-875K Lynnfield; which results in the board POSTing at speeds other than what you’ve actually set – it should be a quick fix.
Had these issues not have surfaced; we’d be conducting a silver or bronze award ceremony at this point. However, we’re still on a crusade to encourage vendors to perform a little more in-house testing before they release products to retail so we’re holding back. Out of the sixteen other boards we’ve reviewed this year, there was only one other we considered for an award (ASUS’s excellent M4A89GTD Pro), and we held back there too, because we had to suggest a BIOS fix. Consider what we’ve said here today a part-accolade for the H55N-USB3 - it missed out on an award by a whisker.
Other than those gripes, the H55N-USB3 is a smooth operator in every way. All of our plug-in peripherals work and overclocking/stability with Clarkdale processors is also excellent. The whole journey is made very easy by Gigabyte’s BIOS, needing very few changes to reach high bus speeds. That alone makes the H55N-USB3 the board to go for if you’ve got any kind of Clarkdale overclocking or underclocking in mind – the boards we’ve tested from ECS, DFI, Intel and Zotac don’t have the same level of options, finesse or control.
Headroom for overclocking Lynnfield processors isn’t going to set the world on fire, but is bang on-par with DFI’s P55 MI-T36. Both boards have similar limits in power delivery, so it’s going to come down to subjective preferences; either Gigabyte’s BIOS (assuming the multiplier issues cited above are fixed), and slightly higher memory speed possibilities, or DFI’s component layout which leaves more room for processor cooling.
Looking at things in a more discerning manner, there are a few things we’d liked to have seen Gigabyte do to really elevate the H55N-USB3; a cleaner under-socket area for aftermarket coolers, onboard WiFi, and perhaps the addition of the Dolby up-scaling package that Gigabyte bundles with their micro-ATX motherboards - as they’re essentially the same price as the H55N-USB3. The other reason we can think of that you might want to look past the H55N-USB3 is if you’re looking to run RAID – Intel’s DH57JG is the only out-of-box mini-ITX choice for socket 1156 at present.
Apart from that, when we focus on what each vendor is offering on their mini-ITX boards as a total package, we think there are far more reasons to choose the H55N-USB3 than to shirk it. On balance, this is the best mini-ITX board currently available for Clarkdale and certainly the one we’d go for – it’s a keeper.
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Ipatinga - Tuesday, June 15, 2010 - link
Great little board... hope Gigabyte does a GA-H55N-UD4 with the following additions:- Mini PCI-E 1x slot for a WiFi module (like Intel 6000 series of WiFi Link) with two pigtails for two SMA connectors on the ATX IO.
- Audio Codec with Dolby (and BD capable), like ALC889.
Who knows, maybe a GA-H57N-UD4, with the above plus a H57 chipset for some RAID love.
tlmaclennan - Tuesday, June 15, 2010 - link
This looks to be just the motherboard I want! I have the Intel DH57JG and it serves it's purpose but the BIOS is quite limited. I've been wanting to have a gaming/HTPC rig that could bitstream for a while now and the only solution was to add an ATI 5xxx series card into the mix. I've tried a few and being a Nvidia fan I just didn't like it.I also don't like the Intel IGP, but having it on the CPU with bitstream capabilities is a huge plus. Someone on the AVS forums has gotten a Nvidia 9600GT to work in the PCI-e slot of the Gigabyte H55M-USB3, the mATX version of this board. I'm hoping to get a single-slot Nvidia 240GT working with this board so I can game a bit on my HTPC and use the Intel IGP to bitstream.
fidderman - Tuesday, June 15, 2010 - link
Great review on a very interesting little board.
Does the eSATA port on this board support Port Multiplier?
I don't think it does, but I'm not sure. I don't understand why a manufacturer would bother
to put an eSATA port on a board, and then not support port multiplier. Sheesh--if we need
an eSATA port, aren't we likely to want to plug in more than one thing?
Also, I very much appreciate the way you display the allowable ranges of the major
overclocking/underclocking variables in a table. Some websites don't know how to do this
right like you did here. Thanks for a great job.
staryoshi - Tuesday, June 15, 2010 - link
This board will be at my door on thursday. I'll be reviewing it with a few coolers and a core i3 530 / core i7 860. I'm going to try to use the h50 as well despite the IC. I'll just make sure there is a cushion between it and the mount. Thermal tape or something.forumator - Tuesday, June 15, 2010 - link
I got my board today but my H50 hasn't come yet, so I'll be interested to see how you make it fit :)Rajinder Gill - Wednesday, June 16, 2010 - link
The universal plate of the H50 will sit on the transistor and also on a few very small and fragile SMT caps. Make sure you do not generate enough down-force to break anything in that area. Long term, rather than using thermal tape, I'd probably cut/file the mount away to clear these components.Later
Raja
staryoshi - Wednesday, June 16, 2010 - link
That's a sensible idea. When I get the board in my hands tomorrow I'll figure it out. I Have extensive experience with the ITX form factor and the Corsair h50. I'll make it work :)NStriker - Wednesday, June 16, 2010 - link
Call me picky, but using jpegs where it should be png or gif just irks me, and this is a prime example. http://images.anandtech.com/doci/3769/test.jpgThat would be 40K at most as a png and be completely lossless if done from the original image.
IsLNdbOi - Wednesday, June 16, 2010 - link
Can anyone post an image showing where the H50's plate will need to be cut? I just returned my Zotac H55 so I could get this Gigabyte, but the cooler I have already is the H50.IsLNdbOi - Wednesday, June 16, 2010 - link
Instead of cutting the H50 brackets, can we use some thick washers (that are thicker than the components that get in the mounting plate's way)?