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
Far Cry 2
Featuring fantastic visuals courtesy of the Dunia Engine, this game also features one of the most impressive benchmark tools we have seen in a PC game. For single GPU results we set the performance feature set to Very High, graphics to High, and enable DX10 with 2xAA.
Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War II
We are big fans of the Warhammer franchise, especially Dawn of War II. One of the latest RTS games in our library is also one of the more demanding titles on both the CPU and GPU. We crank all options to Ultra, enable AA, and then run the built-in performance benchmark for our result.
Nothing special to report on the frame rate front, these boards all perform to similar levels at a given clock frequency.
AutoCAD 2010 x64—Cadalyst 2008
We utilize AutoCAD 2010 x64 and the Cadalyst Labs 5 benchmark.
ECS holds an advantage in this benchmark over every other motherboard we've reviewed. We're still not sure on the cause, although we suspect it's related to C-States.
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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)?