Our testing methods
The P55 Express is the only chipset compatible with Intel's new Lynnfield CPUs, so it's essentially without direct competition. Our closest bet is the other Nehalem platform: the X58 Express. Since these two chipsets can't share a common CPU, we'll be looking at somewhat of a lopsided comparison. The X58 gets an eight-thread Core i7-920 running at 2.67GHz while the P55 must make do with a Core i5-750 that has the same clock speed as the 920, but lacks Hyper-Threading, and is thus limited to four threads.

Of course, we're primarily focusing on chipset and motherboard performance today. Our X58 system's more powerful CPU won't affect those too terribly.


I should point out that our P55 rig will have a slight advantage over the X58 in one area: memory speed. Our X58 platform sports an engineering sample Core i7 CPU whose memory clock is capped at 1066MHz. Lynnfield CPUs can crank memory up to 1333MHz, and since OCZ sent over a pair of DDR3 DIMMs that are quite happy at that speed with tight 7-7-7-20-1T timings, we couldn't resist running the P55 a little faster. Besides, the X58 platform's extra memory channel more than makes up for the MHz difference. Incidentally, the OCZ modules are rated for operation at up to 1866MHz on just 1.65V; hitting that speed with a Lynnfield CPU requires overclocking the processor's base clock, though.

Each motherboard was run through a full suite of memory, power, peripheral performance, and overclocking tests. I also put the X58 platform and the Gigabyte P55 board through a second wave of chipset-specific application, gaming, and peripheral performance tests.

All tests were run at least three times, and their results were averaged.

Processor Intel Core i5-750 2.67GHz Intel Core i7-920 ES 2.67GHz
CPU/chipset link DMI QPI
Motherboard Asus P7P55D Deluxe Gigabyte GA-P55-UD6 MSI P55-GD65 Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5
Bios revision 0504 F3 100 F3
North bridge Intel P55 Express Intel P55 Express Intel P55 Express Intel X58 Express
South bridge Intel ICH10R
Chipset drivers Chipset: 9.1.1.1015
AHCI: 8.9.0.1023 		Chipset: 9.1.1.1015
AHCI: 8.9.0.1023 		Chipset: 9.1.1.1015
AHCI: 8.9.0.1023 		Chipset: 9.1.1.1015
AHCI: 8.9.0.1023
Memory size 4GB (2 DIMMs) 4GB (2 DIMMs) 4GB (2 DIMMs) 6GB (3 DIMMs)
Memory type OCZ OCZ3P1866LV4GK DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz OCZ OCZ3P1866LV4GK DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz OCZ OCZ3P1866LV4GK DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz OCZ OCZ3G1600LV6GK DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz
CAS latency (CL) 7 7 7 7
RAS to CAS delay (tRCD) 7 7 7 7
RAS precharge (tRP) 7 7 7 7
Cycle time (tRAS) 20 20 20 20
Command rate 1T 1T 1T 1T
Audio codec VIA VT2020 with 6.0.1.7300 drivers Realtek ALC889A with 2.31 drivers Realtek ALC889 with 2.31 drivers Realtek ALC889A with 2.31 drivers
Graphics Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 896MB with ForceWare 190.62 drivers
Hard drive Western Digital Raptor X 150GB
OS Windows 7 Ultimate RTM x64

Our test system was powered by a PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750W power supply unit.

We'd like to thank Western Digital for sending Raptor WD1500ADFD hard drives for our test rigs.

We used the following versions of our test applications:

The test systems' Windows desktop was set at 1280x1024 in 32-bit color at an 85Hz screen refresh rate. Vertical refresh sync (vsync) was disabled for all tests.

All the tests and methods we employed are publicly available and reproducible. If you have questions about our methods, hit our forums to talk with us about them.