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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mongoosesRawesome - Wednesday, June 16, 2010 - link
use the integrated graphics (freeing up the PCIe) and a USB for the wireless. Or use a USB TV tuner with USB wireless, and then use whatever graphics you want. If you need extra expansion, mini-itx isn't for you.Barnaby W. Füi - Wednesday, June 16, 2010 - link
Newegg shows this board as using the Realtek 8111E LAN chipset. Doesn't the H55 already include gigabit LAN? Why wouldn't they use that?Taft12 - Wednesday, June 16, 2010 - link
Nearly all H55 motherboards use that crummy Realtek chip and it must be even cheaper than wiring up the integrated Intel networkRajinder Gill - Thursday, June 17, 2010 - link
I hear the Intel NIC costs as much on it's own to implement, as it does to buy the Realtek audio and LAN ICs as a pair (price break and volume purchase incentives). There's your reason.-Raja
pectin232 - Monday, September 20, 2010 - link
Raja can you help with BIOS settings for this board. I truly appreciate. I have the same board with the i7 860 instead of the 865. I got 8GB DDR3 1333 memory from G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL. Any help is truly appreciate.Phillip
Folterknecht - Wednesday, June 16, 2010 - link
This cooler will likely fit in any HTPC-Case and there should be no problems with backplates and parts of the motherboars "connecting". the review is german but numbers and pictures should do the job. Note that you can also mount a slim (12mm) 120mm fan on top of it.http://extreme.pcgameshardware.de/luftkuehlung/105...
I'm not sure if this cooler is available in the U.S.
Khenke - Wednesday, June 16, 2010 - link
If the end of the CPU to the graphics card is more than 27mm then it will most likely fit perfectly and with a 120 mm fan it will even cool the RAMs.As specs tell here: http://www.prolimatech.com/products/cpu_cooler/sam...
fr500 - Wednesday, June 16, 2010 - link
Do you think this board is a "safer" overclocker than DFI MI P55-T36? I have had 4 of those boards (2 for customers one for a friend and one for me)I did extended testing on my customer's PCs and everything went fine. My friend let the board overclock by itself via ABS II and it's board died after just one day. Had to RMA. Many people reported the same issue and I guess they addressed it with BIOS updates.
Does it need active cooling for the power circuitry? Inside my SG05 the DFI board needs a bit more airflow than the 120mm fan on front can provide. My build has an i5 750@150BCLK with 1.1v and the phases would get to 90c without active cooling. I had to add an 80mm slim fan from an old sff PSU to get temps on the safe side.
To sum up. Is it better auto protecting itself if you push too far? (DFI board pushes too far by itself via ABS) and, does it need active cooling for the power circuitry?
Rajinder Gill - Wednesday, June 16, 2010 - link
Hi,In my testing so far, the H55N-USB3 has better over-current protection. I've killed one DFI board just by booting it at 180 BCLK with an 870 oon the initial launch BIOS. Whether or not what I've found with teh H55N-USB3 will apply to all cases though I cannot say, as these things can be random. I did make a suggestion to Gigabyte to lock things down for the quad cores, and they told me they would look into what they feel is safe.
A bit of airflow across the VRM won't hurt things if you want to keep temps low (although this has nothing to do with OCP per se). If I were running any one of these boards long term, I would probably keep myself to a 3.6GHz cap on the quads.
-Raja
fr500 - Wednesday, June 16, 2010 - link
Yes that is the same thing i saw with the DFI on the shipping BIOS, after that i lost my confidence.Thanks a lot it's reassuring.
I think you could mount the H50 safely with 2 washers (included with the H50) on each hole by the way.