EVGA P55 Classified 200 LGA1156 Motherboard Review

EVGA P55 Classified 200 LGA1156 Motherboard Review



Price: $365+ CND Price Comparison
Manufacturer Product Page: EVGA Corporation
TechWIKI Info: EVGA P55 Classified 200 - TechWIKI
Manufacturer's Part Number: 160-LF-E659-KR
Warranty: 3 Year Limited Warranty w/Registration
Buy from: NCIX | DirectCanada | BestDirect


What is black and red and full of sexy all over? Well we can't tell you because it is Classified. That's right, this is another installment of the EVGA Classified show. Our guest star is of the P55 variety sporting the latest mainstream LGA1156 socket from Intel. The term mainstream, which is what the Intel P55 chipset is billed as, doesn't exactly correlate with ultra high-end which is what the Classified name from EVGA is generally paired with. It is this sort of oxymoron that makes this board quite intriguing.

What we have here is the absolute top end of the EVGA P55 lineup. This list of motherboards includes the P55 V, up through the P55 Micro, and the penultimate P55 FTW 200 with a few more motherboards filling in the cracks. The EVGA offerings reach a crescendo with the motherboard we are looking at today, the EVGA P55 Classified 200. EVGA decided that just because the P55 chipset is considered the mainstream counterpart to the enthusiast level Intel X58 chipset, it didn't mean people wouldn't be looking for premium motherboards in this segment.

This is where the Classified steps in. Based on the P55 chipset the EVGA P55 Classified 200 supports LGA1156 i5 and i7 8xx series processors. But unlike other P55 motherboards, the P55 Classified 200 can accommodate Tri-SLI thanks to the implementation of the of the NF200 chipset. The NF200 allows the motherboard to split up some of the PCI-E lanes allowing for three, four, or technically even five video cards to be used at the same time. Typical P55 motherboards only allow two-way SLI or CrossFireX so this definitely opens doors on a platform not typical of its capabilities.

Of course there is much more to the EVGA P55 Classified 200 feature list which we plan on having a look at in full. If you are not familiar with the Classified brand, you are in for a treat. If you are familiar with previous EVGA Classified motherboards, then you know what to expect as EVGA is sure to keep the strong tradition of the Classified name with this latest installment. So sit back, relax, and grab a fresh bowl of popcorn; the show is about to begin and there is something in here for everyone.

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Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7
LGA1366 Motherboard Review

Manufacturer's Part Number: GA-X58A-UD7
Price: $360CDN+ Price Comparison
Manufacturer's Product Page: Giga-Byte Technology Co., Ltd.
Warranty: 3 year limited warranty
Buy from: NCIX | DirectCanada | BestDirect


At this year's Computex we had the priviledge of taking an early look at Gigabyte's X58A motherboard lineup. Even though all of the models were very early samples, it was obvious that these second generation X58 motherboards would bring a lot to the table. People were so impressed with these new models that the EX58A-EXTREME was actually one of 25 products shown off at Computex 2009 that was selected for the Best Choice Award.

After being long delayed due to a problem with Marvell's SATA 6Gb/s controller, the EX58A-EXTREME eventually became the X58A-UD7 that we are reviewing today. This is the Cream of the Crop, the best and most expensive motherboard in Gigabyte's entire motherboard roster. With many motherboards it's hard to know what to talk about but with this one, where do we start? First, this model utilizes Gigabyte's brand new 24-phase power design, which should not only allow for superior extreme overclocking, but higher reliability, lower temperatures, and better energy efficiency as well. Secondly, thanks to the aforementioned Marvell controller, this motherboard support the new SATA 6Gb/s interface. Mostly important though, like all X58A motherboards, the X58A-UD7 supports USB 3.0, which is absolutely going to be one of the most important new technologies of 2010.

Speaking of USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s, it should be mentioned that Gigabyte has devised an easy way of distinguishing the motherboards which support these technologies from those that don't. Basically, any of their boards that use the "A" designation after the chipset name (X58A, P55A, etc.) make use of the new USB and SATA interfaces while other models don't.

Befitting its high-end roots, this is one of the few Intel X58-based motherboards with four mechanical PCI-E x16 slots which are capable of x16/x16, x16/x8/x8 and x8/x8/x8/x8 configurations. Officially, this motherboard 'only' supports 3-way CrossFireX and 3-way SLI, but with single-slot cards Quad CrossFireX is definitely do-able as well. Oddly enough, perhaps the best part of this motherboard is the software. As you will see in the coming pages, Gigabyte have created some interesting new utilities to help manage your system, secure your data, and even lower power consumption, all with a bluetooth-enabled mobile phone.

This is a review that you won't want to miss, if only to see how well USB 3.0 performs compared to USB 2.0. Trust us, it will blow your mind.

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ASUS P7H57D-V EVO
LGA1156 Motherboard Review

Manufacturer's Part Number: P7H57D-V EVO
Price: $220CDN+ Price Comparison
Manufacturer's Product Page: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
Warranty: 3 year limited warranty (with 1st year advanced RMA service)



As you all undoubtedly know Intel recently released the first CPU+GPU hybrid processors on the market in the form of the Clarkdale LGA1156 family, which is comprised of the i5-600 series, i3-500 series, and Pentium G6000 series. These new models cater to the mainstream PC market, with a slant towards budget systems and home theater PC's (HTPC). Specifically, these are the chips that Intel plans to replace the venerable Core 2 Duo series with.

With the release of the processors, Intel also unveiled three new chipsets (H55/H57/Q57). The two chipsets that consumers are likely to encounter in the retail market are the H55 Express and H57 Express. For all extent and purpose, both chipsets are identical, with the H57 distinguishing itself from the H55 with 2 additional USB 2.0 ports and 2 additional PCI-E x1 slots. Not a significant difference by any means.

However, while nearly all H55 motherboards are sub-$150 models, the H57 chipset has given motherboard manufacturers a reason to create some higher-end motherboards sporting more PCI-E x16 slots, SATA 6Gb/s and USB 3.0. The P7H57D-V EVO is one such product. While designing a premium motherboard around an affordable processor series might seem counter-productive, the simple fact of the matter is that most Clarkdale's really aren't that cheap, yet that hasn't stopped them from selling well.

Coming in at around $220CAD, the P7H57D-V EVO is priced more along the lines of a fully featured P55 motherboard. This makes sense though since this model has exactly the same layout and feature set as the $200CAD P7P55D-E PRO, and can also support the Lynnfield LGA1156 processors. An extra $20 for DVI/VGA outputs is not unreasonable, but can this Clarkdale-oriented motherboard distinguish itself enough to warrant its high price? Well that's what we are here to find out.

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Sapphire Radeon HD 5830 1GB Review

Sapphire Radeon HD 5830 1GB GDDR5 Review

Product Number: 11169-00-51R
Price:Approx $250 USD / $280 CAD
Warranty: 2-years



ATI has been attacking the DX11 market from every single price point as of late and they finally have what appears to be a full deck of cards which appeal to literally every market niche. They have released an astonishing nine cards in the last six months with a few more to come while the competition seems to be doing nothing but spinning their wheels and respinning chips. Even though NVIDIA’s March 26th launch of their GF100 parts is just around the corner, ATI isn’t by any means sitting back and watching the world pass them by considering they are actively working on refreshing their lineup in addition to releasing new products. This in itself is no small feat and it really shows how far this company has come since AMD stepped in to purchase them.

In what probably seems to be a wet dream for many people looking to upgrade their GPUs and a reoccurring nightmare for reviewers, ATI is releasing yet another GPU today: the “Cypress LE” or HD 5830 1GB as it will be commonly referred to. ATI’s HD 5000 series lineup does span almost every price bracket but they felt that there was a big enough performance gap between the higher-end HD 5850 and decidedly more mainstream HD 5770 to warrant a product that would bridge the gap between the two. Previously, this spot was taken up by the HD 4890 1GB which was retailing for around $200 USD before getting the axe in preparation for the HD 5830 launch. With the HD 5850 currently sitting in what many consider to be the leading price / performance spot at around $315 USD and some HD 5770s retailing for less than $170, there was plenty of room to play with.

For all intents and purposes, this is a bit of a “freak” since what we are looking at is a card which is based off of GPU cores that weren’t able to meet the binning requirements for use in the HD 5850. This translates into an identical die size and transistor count as the HD 5850 but in a product that is significantly less powerful. This is a great move from a cost savings standpoint since the cores that were going unused can now be recycled into a competitive product. To make matters even more interesting, ATI is supposedly not giving their board partners a set reference design for them to base their products off of. As such, at launch you will likely see all manner of HD 5830s; some based off of HD 5850 PCBs while others will be using slightly lower-end starting points and more cooler designs than you can shake a finger at.

When it comes to a card like the HD 5830, price is everything and when we reached out to our retailer contacts they came back with answers. Basically, expect launch prices for this card to go all the way up to (and maybe even slightly over) $275 CAD / $245 USD depending on the accessory and game packages. This puts ATI’s new card in an interesting position at $70 USD less than a HD 5850 and about $70 more than a HD 5770 we’re really talking about the middle ground here. As has been tradition with ATI launches these days, stock will also be a bit tight for the first few days at some locations but should improve quickly following that.

In this particular review we will be looking at the Sapphire HD 5830 1GB which makes use of a cooler that is akin to the one used on the HD 5850 Vapor-X and is based off of that card’s PCB. This should give it some incredible temperatures but will also make it significantly longer than the HD 5770. That being said, without further ado let’s get on with this review.

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