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!

I’ve been stretched pretty thin as of late more mentally than physically. When I get like this, some regular-joe play time is in order. After unplugging with some physical activities like working out and bbq’n, it was pretty easy getting back in to some of the cool tech toys that make PCs fun.

Enter, the Patriot Memory Viper II 2000 MHz (GT-RT10-VR4-R32-WRX-STi-OMFG-NOS) Triple Channel Memory. Ok, you got me. It doesn’t really use NOS to run fast, but you’d think so with the way it operates on a humble little ASRock X58 Extreme motherboard.

Right from boot, the motherboard insisted on running the memory at 1066 MHz (via BIOS and CPUZ) which is actually 2133 MHz because it’s double data rate RAM. That’s as far as the RAM would go with this BIOS which is the norm with the X58 Chipset and Intel Core i7 processors.

Between the Auto overclocked settings in the BIOS and memory, SANDRA’s memory benchmark test posted 34,654 MB/s (or, 34.6 GB/s) almost consistently. You can see on the stickers that these run stock 8-8-8-24 memory timings. Between those timings and 2000 MHz, you can get a lot of things done sooner than later. That bandwidth makes for extremely quick Photoshop and/or video rendering.

On the non-technical side of the things, the new Viper II memory sinks are pretty dang nice. The original Viper resembled fangs which were great for an intro. The Viper II sinks return to a more contemporary, well manicured fin design.

If you’re looking for something a little less elite to save some cash, check out their new Patriot Gamer Series. The timings are a little higher, but they accomplish the same objective in any video game. The memory comes in Dual and Triple Channel flavors supporting AMD AM2 and AM3, as well as Intel Core 2 and Core i7.

Alright, enough blabbering. It’s time to load up World at War or Left for Dead. This Zotac GTX295 needs heating up!