# Gigabyte P55/p55A motherboard choice



## Haggisx3 (Oct 5, 2008)

Dear TSF Crew,

I need some help to make up my mind on the motherboard for my gaming build. I am pretty set on getting an lga 1156 gigabyte board. After some research, I was about to place my order on a GA-P55A-UD4, as it is one of the cheapest boards to offer the (USB, power, SATA) X3.

However, I bumped into this:
http://forums.tweaktown.com/f19/gigabyte-ga-p55a-ud4-ud6-ga-ex58-extreme2-35800/

highlighting a bottleneck issue. This has put me off going for the p55a range a little bit. 

After discovering this, I decided that the bottleneck issue makes the SATA 6GB/s claim on lga 1156 GA boards a bit of a con. I would go further down the range as a result, but I still want to future proof my m.board as much as poss.

My question is whether there is a workaround on GA p55a boards as they are now, i.e. (no PLX switch chip), such as a pci expansion card, as with (Asus p55 series) or a future firmware update. Otherwise, I don't see why I should pay extra for a feature that isn't fully supported.

There is a £25 difference between the p55 and p55A UD4 motherboards. Any advice or insight would be ace.


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

I love giga boards, but they lost a step since the i5 & i7

as usual, the new sata standard is marketing hype 

I have been sticking with selling the Asus P7P55D-Deluxe, the board is much easier to overclock especailly for noobs

I would say either wait and see if they gets some things fixed ( i dont see it though) or go with the current winner of 1156 socket


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## Haggisx3 (Oct 5, 2008)

Thanks for your reply.

You are saying that ASUS is currently king for socket 1156?

I understand what you are saying about Gigabyte maybe missing a beat on the i5 and i7.


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

Haggisx3 said:


> Thanks for your reply.
> 
> You are saying that ASUS is currently king for socket 1156?
> 
> I understand what you are saying about Gigabyte maybe missing a beat on the i5 and i7.


I am disappointed they would release technology on a board that is bottlenecked or restiricted.

I dont doubt they will correct that in later revisions, but its clear giga is playing catch up with asus


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## Haggisx3 (Oct 5, 2008)

Hello Linderman,

I have since had a bit of a revised think about my motherboard choice. I had a look at the Asus boards that you suggested. Long story short, I decided to stick with the p55a ud4 Gigagbyte. I decided a long time ago that I was going to go for a Gigabyte build.

Its a pain, and I am a little miffed also that they released a technology claim, when its pretty much useless as is. However, Asus boards have the same problem and will require the pci expansion card, unless its the premium Asus mboard.

I guess Gbyte will release a pci card down the line also, maybe nearer the time when there is actually a need for the technology. I think Gbyte have sealed this by providing only the p55a ud7 with the bottleneck fix.

Finally, I decided to go p55*A* over p55 as there has been an issue with the foxconn cpu sockets. I decided to play safe here and go with the revised Lotes sockets that I am sure are in all revisions of the P55*A*.

So, my current plan build goes as follows:

GA P55a ud4 Motherboard
Intel Core i5 750 2.66Ghz Quad core Retail w/stock fan
Gigabyte GV-N250ZL-1GI (GTS 250 Nvidia)
Corsair 650w hx modular psu
Corsair 4GB Dominator ram
1TB SATA 2 Seagate Hard drive
Windows 7 64 bit oem
LG Bluray drive
Antec 902 Case

Any thoughts welcome.

I am now preoccupied with the case. Antec's stock fans that come with the case are molex connectors with manual control, (Front fans @ front switch, Back fans @ back switch). Even if I bought some 4pin Molex to 3 pin adaptors, and connected through the mboard, there would be no RPM monitoring on my speedfan software :sad:.

Is it normal for cases to come with molex connectors only, or are there any similar cases that make it easier to get what I'm looking for? Modern mboards come with a host of fan connectors, its a shame to not use them properly.

Also, if I stick with the Antec 902 (v. likely), what would be the easiest way to provide at least the rear fans with mboard and Rpm monitoring?

Thanx


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

The diff between P55 and the "A" version is the addition of USB 3.0 speed & sata 600mbs speed ........the sata 6mbs is a marketing hype considering hard drives havent hit 300mbs yet unless in a 5 drive raid config! 



motherboard fan controllers dont worth worth a darn, they will power fans but their accuracy for fan speed is horrible

the cpu fan will ramp up and down in speed if a user sets the motherboard fan features to do so, but only because the cpu temp sensors is built into the cpu, the motherboards temp sensors are less than stellar other than reporting temps

you would be FAR better to persue this avenue

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...llers+/+Panels+-+etc.-_-Scythe+USA-_-11998055


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## Haggisx3 (Oct 5, 2008)

Thanks for the insight. I am taking a look at the fan controller you mentioned. In the uk, it is easier to get the km1 model, rather than this one. i think I prefer the orginal design. Is there anything I should be aware of?


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## linderman (May 20, 2005)

I have had good luck with just about all except the super cheap fan controllers that fit into a 5.25inch drive bay

there are some really nice ones out there are show case interior temp, and other stuff too

its nice to be able to conveniently ramp up the fan speed when you are about to do something intensive and quite things down when you are not


enjoy


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