A couple years ago, ASRock, a seemingly quiet motherboard company decided to change the way they do business in hopes of stepping up their image as well as taking some market share for themselves. This meant that any and every motherboard they produced had to see big changes in function, form, and performance. Yes, that included product themes and colors too.
We were recently surprised by their X58 Extreme Motherboard which is still the most affordable LGA1366 solution on the market. The board was capable of overclocking with the best of the mid-ranged X58 motherboards. Once again, we’re very curious to see if ASRock’s new aggressive approach has been applied to their next generation performance based P55 Deluxe LGA1156 Motherboard.
Features and Specifications
While many of the features are common among P55 motherboards, some of these features are common among upper echelon performance based boards, yet again, that cost more.
A good example would be the Advanced V16+2 Power Phase design which does it’s best work when you’re overclocking the processor. This is further complimented by supporting DDR3 memory overclocked all the way up to 2600MHz! Of course, that means you’ll need DDR3 memory that can go that high. The fastest we’ve seen so far was about 2500 MHz and only marginally stable at the time.
Another high end feature is the board’s 3-Way CrossfireX and Quad-SLI support. Of course, the slots clock down to x8/x8 when both slots are used. A third PCI Express 2.0 slots operates at x4 when occupied like when adding a third video card for Physx. However, a couple GIGABYTE GTX260 SO (Super Overclocked) video cards should be more than fast enough for the pickiest of gamers.
The P55 Deluxe includes software utilities like Turbo Boost which works well with LGA1156 processors for dynamic overclocking performance , OC DNA for sharing your overclocking with other ASRock owners online, and OC Tuner which is so easy a novice can use it. If you think the BIOS needs a tune up to get a better overclock, ASRock makes it very easy with Instant Flash.
Checking Out the Contents
Included in the box is a standard motherboard bundle. It’s nothing “uber” by any means, but you do get at least four yellow SATA cables, two 4-pin to SATA power cable adapters, manual, driver CD, motherboard IO case shield, blue floppy, and ATA cable.
An optional external SATA PCIE card is also included. This adds another eSATA port to the back expansion possibilities. The card itself offers two more SATA ports increasing the total count to eight regular ports and two eSATA. It’s kind of a cool rather than necessary extra since most users probably won’t need this many ports.
Hands on Inspection
Once again, as I handled the motherboard, it would seem engineers are doing their job better these days. We’ve all handled at least one old school ASRock motherboard at some point and questioned the theme. But, the P55 Deluxe continues to wipe out any remaining questions of quality. This board feels quite solid.
A couple of things that convey the feeling are the heat pipe heat sinks over the power management components. These look like they can really do some cooling as well as improve the overall theme of the board. The only thing that doesn’t fit is the Southbridge heat sink with its sun-like design. I’m sure something nicer and probably cheaper could’ve been designed to match the heat pipes.
The southern region of the board kind of leaves me questioning the use of orange PCIE slots instead of either blue or red slots. I understand that they’re probably there to attract attention to the fact that this is a triple PCIE slot motherboard (or maybe they were on sale at the PCIE slot supplier), but a matched theme goes a lot further with the consumer and especially gamers.
One thing we can all appreciate is the fact that all of the USB, Firewire, SATA, ATA, Floppy, Power, and HD audio ports are all kept near the outer edges of the motherboard. This helps keep cables out of the way of important components with moving parts, like fans. The SATA and ATA data ports are horizontal further simplifying installations.
While this may not be important to everyone, it’s quite useful to all end users. ASRock engineers included good quality Power, Reset, and Clear CMOS buttons. The Power and Reset are located next to the memory which is an area where there is less likely to be wiring crowding their function. And, an ever so useful CMOS reset button is on the back of the motherboard.
If you take a look at the back, you can see plenty of the usual features like USB 2.0, eSATA, Firewire, Dual GIGABIT Network, including the CMOS reset button next to the PS2 ports at the top. The analog audio, coaxial out, and optical out ports are powered by a Realtek ALC890 Audio Codec which supports Blu-ray, DTS (Digital Theater Systems), and is rated to do so in the 110dB dynamic range. We will be testing this new codec out farther down.
Installing the ASRock P55 Deluxe
We’d like to thank ASRock for creating another issue-free installation. The board booted up so easily without needing so much as a setting changed. However, we like to check out things like the BIOS at the start. Before getting to far ahead, I flashed the BIOS so we can see what’s really going on under the hood.
It’s easy to navigate through the BIOS. There aren’t a lot of extra intricate BIOS settings This is actually not a bad thing. We’ve messed with plenty of advanced BIOS features around here and very rarely do any of them actually help improve stability especially when overclocking. It most often comes down to the meat and potatoes of BIOS settings like CPU Bus Clock, Memory Dividers, Frequencies, Voltages, and various CPU regulation settings.
Once the system was patched up, drivers updated, and ASRock P55 disc utilities installed, the system went through all its normal paces right up to working well with the OC Tuner. We can all appreciate an uneventful, blue-screen free installation!
Test Systems and Notes
The assembled test systems below were all updated with the latest BIOS, video drivers, and motherboard drivers. Video drivers were left set to 3D Quality, AA/AF left to Application Decides but set to 8X AA/2X AF in program, and Vertical Sync was Disabled. Here’s the break down:
- Intel Core i7 870 Lynnfield Processor
- ASRock P55 Deluxe
- Intel DP55KG Extreme
- Patriot Memory 4GB 2000MHz Sector 5 Dual Channel
- Zotac Geforce GTX295 1792MB Graphics Card
- Kingston VSeries Plus 64GB SSDNow
- Antec CP850 Power Supply
The benchmark programs used included SANDRA CPU/Memory Bandwidth, Cinebench R10, PCMark Vantage, 3DMark Vantage, Crysis, and RightMark Audio. The system’s USB, Sata, and eSATA were also tested just in case we find some weaknesses in the motherboard’s drivers or functions.
SANDRA CPU Benchmark
Alright, here we see both systems at their finest. It was kind of interesting to see both systems match performance. There’s usually a little more variance in these tests, but not with these two platforms. The Deluxe pulled some very respectable numbers.
SANDRA Memory Bandwidth
After a recent SANDRA update, it seems that the program is running smoother than usual. Since we’re using the same CPU with identical BClocks, memory frequencies, and timings, both systems produce nearly the same results.
Cinebench R10
Cinebench definitely executes nicely under the Deluxe. It was ever so slightly slower than our reference INTEL DP55KG board.
PCMark Vantage
It’s not uncommon to see Intel boards edge out others here under PCMark. We’re not saying that they do anything special in their drivers, it’s just that engineers usually tune their platforms for more productive performance than crushing 3D. Still, the P55 Deluxe keeps up in several of the results.
3DMark Vantage
Once again, the Core i7 870 throws out some impressive scores despite using only dual channel memory. If you’re considering a Core i7 860, you’ll only lose a about 1500 CPU points, or so. At any rate, go ASRock go!
Crysis
Well, there isn’t much to say here. Both platforms make pleasant mince meat out of Crysis. Those AA and AF settings sure do eat in to the frame rates though.
Motherboard Operations
Both platforms are quite close in terms of connectivity. The eSATA PCIE card didn’t slow things down or speed them up. It would take a performance based controller card like those from Adaptec to get any extra performance in the transfer rates, if any.
RightMark Audio
Audio performance is naturally one half objective or personal preference and one half technical when testing. I find that using several different genres of music and video games can help answer the question of perception. You can better hear any limitations whether it be the audio’s depth, clarity, and noise with this range of material. RMAA is just a handy tool for comparing the Codecs hardware specs with other various audio Codecs.
Starting off with the ASRock P55-Deluxe, four different RMAA tests were completed to help give us a comparison by measuring its ALC890 Codec performance. These results are the standard to beat.
This second batch of tests came from the MSI P55-GD65 and its ALC889 Codec. Note the Frequency Response and Dynamic range (dBA) are much lower than the ASRock. More on this at the end.
Here you can see the ALC889A Codec in action found on the GIGABYTE GA-P55-UD5. Rather than bombard you with technical speak, that little “A” points to some internal differences that really make a difference. If you’re wondering, the second ALC889A2 column reveal what happens when there’s a little too much distortion in your audio test settings. The first, third, and fourth tests were ultimately the Codec’s sweet spot.
Objectively speaking, all three motherboards produce clear, audible audio. However, of the three, the ASRock produced the deepest, richest audio experience, but only ever so slightly over the UD5. When comparing recording quality, it was again marginally in favor of the ALC890 over the ALC889A Codec. This was a nice change of pace to say the least.
If nothing else, we hope that this gives vendors the clue to drop the ALC889 altogether because it just isn’t enough. We understand that integrated audio is a budget solution, but sometimes it’s worth spending a bit more for something that sounds more like HD and not just amplified stereo.
Overclocking
As with any and all overclocking, your results will undoubtedly vary due to about a thousand variables whether it be your components or power supply. It also helps if it’s a well polished BIOS, which we have here. Based on this particular test system, I managed to get a very, healthy, stable 200 MHz CPU Bus Clock from the motherboard. That maxed the CPU out at about 4.2 GHz which passed some OCCT abuse.
One thing worth noting is that reaching the system’s maximum OC was achievable both through the OC Tuner software as well as through the BIOS. As with any Windows installation, the software is always the riskiest method. You can always rest assured that the BIOS will keep up as long as you can.
Unfortunately, I was not able to test whether or not the board does indeed support DDR3 memory frequencies up to 2600 MHz. Some of the 2000 MHz here maxes out at about 2250 MHz. But, for all intents and purposes, you really need a high CPU BClk to unlock the true memory divider to get real performance. Otherwise, you’ll be just showing off an empty DDR3 frequency.
Final Thoughts
First, let’s get past any stigmas. ASRock may not be your first choice based on former experiences from 3 generations ago, but you have to give credit where credit is due. If nothing else, this is now the second ASRock motherboard to surprise us based on its BIOS, configuration, expansion capabilities, and audio performance. It’s the performance and price that should convince you that it’s a worthy choice if you need a fully featured motherboard at the sub $200 level.
Visually speaking, the ASRock P55 Deluxe Motherboard is a step up compared to the X58 theme we saw a few months ago. The changes to the theme and heat pipe coolers really make you take notice of the board. PC enthusiasts are more than likely going to do a double take to make sure this is indeed an ASRock board. Other than a few oddities like the orange PCIE slots and Southbridge chipset cooler, there’s really nothing to gripe about. Perhaps the next revision will match reds, blues, and white sockets.
The P55 Deluxe is actually a good aggressive performer keeping up with the very well tuned Intel DP55KG Motherboard. Overclocks compared, they are actually both capable of pushing a Core i5 750 or Core i7 870 in to the 4.2 GHz area and a little extra in change. Let me say that again for those not paying attention. The ASRock P55 Deluxe is perfectly capable of operating a Core i5 and Core i7 LGA1156 processor at 4.2 GHz!
Currently, at $179.99, the P55 Deluxe is priced about $10-15 higher than the entry level LGA1156 motherboards available. However, it does offer a full array of features including CrossfireX/SLI, Power, Reset, and CMOS buttons as well as a nicer ALC890 HD Audio Codec. Despite a few misplaced orange sockets, it’s these extra features that make it worth the extra money.
Pros
- Aggressive Heat-Pipe theme
- Functional layout and socket placements
- Full featured budget LGA1156
- Realtek ALC890 HD Audio
- 200 MHz CPU B-Clocks
- Good software support
- Perfectly stable platform
Cons
- Needs color coordinating
- That is all!
Overall Rating: 9.0 / 10.0
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ASRock P55 Deluxe LGA1156 ATX Motherboard Photo Gallery
