Eric Garay

Last week, I was privileged to attend the GIGABYTE P55 launch party. It’s funny that these kinds of events are labeled “launch party” when there’s very little, if any, partying. While there is a bit of food and hanging out lately, we do engage in some serious discussion about upcoming products for the better part of the day. By the days end, we’re usually all well versed in what’s new.

Most PC enthusiasts are well aware of Core i5 which is built on the Lynnfield processor core. There are also some Core i7 processors that are also built on the Lynnfield. These processors are considered the Mainstream series where the Nehalem Core i7 are considered the Extreme series. Make a bit more sense?

The Lynnfield core only needs Dual Channel memory to tap in to its uber, awesome processing power. Nehalem needs Triple Channel memory if you want its best performance. Lynnfield is positioned to offer the best mainstream performance at a more affordable level based on design as well as the supporting P55 motherboards. Exact prices have not been released just yet.

The P55 Chipset should live up to its predecessor and provide some exceptional performance. It’s hard to imagine a better chipset than the P45 and X58, but this could be it. Just from the preliminary look at GIGABYTE’s P55 motherboard line up, there are a total of 11 different models offering different features for every possible user. This includes a very stout Micro-ATX model featuring 12 Phase VRM (voltage regulating management).

The mid-range boards offer a new hybrid eSATA/USB port that can be used for both devices. This helps free up some space in the back and uses less materials. These boards also offer 12 Phase VRM to better ensure the odds of a very healthy overclock. (Hey, they build the boards for it, so why not?)

And the pinnacle of the line up is the model GA-P55-UD6. These powerful, 2 ounce copper monster offers 24 Phase VRM meaning it’s built for overclocking. This is also the very first of its kind which was proudly shown off by Fugger (XtremeSystems.org), who was easily pushing a Lynnfield processor and DDR3 memory in to uncharted territory using just Phase Change cooling instead of LN2.

In the end, the new P55’s look was inspired by racing, as it should be. I mean, these are going to the fastest Dual Channel platforms around, so why not make them look fast? To me, it reminds me of a Shelby GT 500. You can never go wrong when Shelby is involved!