A key benefit of almost every INTEL P55/P55A motherboard that we’ve reviewed is the overclocking capability. Chances are you can walk into your favourite computer store and locate several capable INTEL P55 boards capable of unlocking the potential of that stock CPU. How much potential depends on how much you want to spend and what expansion features you want.
Among all the brands and models of “55” series boards were that we’ve played with, the previously reviewed MSI P55-GD65 Xtreme Speed motherboard would be at the top of the list. This is thanks in part to the excellent OC Genie feature. But what about MSI’s latest H55-GD65 motherboard? Does it also take advantage of the overclocking friendliness of the MSI OC Genie feature? Let’s find out!
Features Worth Talking About
There are several features that set this board apart from the rest. Among them is the aforementioned OC Genie Auto Overclocking Processor. This is one of MSI’s latest motherboard innovations that allows any user to overclock their system, mainly the CPU’s Bus Clock, with a simple press of the button. As you press the button, the CPU Bus Clock (stock 133 MHz) will slowly increase in 1 MHz intervals which is nice for fine tuning. This a great feature for novice overclockers.
The H55-GD65 credits its stability to DrMOS which is MSI’s Phase PWM that cleans up electrical noise that can interfere with your overclocking success. Engineers believe that a single DrMOS Phase is better than a conventional MOSFET 4-Phase. APS (Active Phase Switching) also helps to manage power when the system needs it and saves power when you don’t. Based on experiences with their P55-GD65, we’re inclined to agree with the MSI engineers.
Lossless audio technology ensures that the integrated Realtek ALC889 Processor produces more reliable 24-bit/192kHz sampling rates over 7.1 channels. Simply put, it makes sure the audio quality is clear and accurate whether it be through the SPDIF, analog or HDMI ports. The INTEL integrated graphics fully supports HD video playback as well.
While MSI doesn’t support dual or redundant BIOS features, one can save the BIOS image to a flash drive and recover using that route. Called “M-Flash”, this feature should help cut down on unusual issues where the BIOS crashes or corrupts. Just make sure you use a good quality flash drive so it can be detected properly and reloaded in case of a BIOS melt down.
MSI also includes Winki which is a Linux quick boot distribution. You can boot into Winki through your DVD or USB drive to browse the web, listen to music, view photos, watch movies, Skype, instant message or use Open Office. It’s just an alternative OS that’s smaller than Windows for users who need quick, simple access without accessing the windows desktop.
Of course, we’ll be looking at many of these features and more as we proceed along in our review. More detailed specifications can be found on the MSI product page for those that like to brows “spec-pr0n”.
What’s in the Box?
Well, how can we say it without saying it? We know the economy isn’t in its best form, but the included bundle, I feel, is a little too light even for budget boards. But on the same note, it seems that every vendor is cutting back on that once glorious bundle that used to come with every board. Among MSI’s economy class bundle you’ll get a the flat legacy floppy and ATA cable along with two red SATA cables. At least the SATA cables have the metal locking clips, making them at least decent. There’s even a 4 pin MOLEX to SATA power adapter in case your PSU is lacking those spare SATA power connectors.
Of course you will continue to get the always handy User’s Guide and an extra manual devoted to setting up that Winki Linux distribution. As far as bundles go, this seems to be your bare minimum these days. There isn’t even a case badge which is something you may frequently find in ASUS or GIGABYTE bundles.
The Mission of the H55-GD65
In a nutshell, the H55 chipset is mainly aimed at supporting multimedia platforms. What makes the MSI H55-GD65 unique is that it’s the only full sized ATX H55 motherboard on the market. Most of the regular H55 motherboards on the market are micro-ATX (m-ATX) models meaning they’re smaller, more compact, but with a few less expansion features. That is not the case here.
The platform also supports Intel Turbo Technology. Turbo is a new H55 feature that dynamically overclocks your Clarkdale 32nm Core i3 and i5 Processors when the system is hard at work. And, since the Clarkdale Core i6 Processors contain an integrated graphics processor (IGP), users now have the choice of using a discrete add-on PCI Express graphics card, or they can use the IGP which easily does everything you need in a basic PC including HD playback.
If you take a look at the H55-GD65, you’ll notice it offers every possible expansion feature including dual x16 PCI Express slots that support CrossfireX, but revert to 8x once you populate both slots. You’ll also find VGA, DVI, HDMI, and SPDIF out ports. These options are normally found on HTPC (Home Theater PC) multimedia motherboards.
No matter what you may be doing, this motherboard is designed to provide users with a full sized PC experience whether it be extreme gaming, overclocking, or HD movies. You’ll just have to decide if you’re doing it on your desktop HD monitor or on the 50″ HDTV in the living room.
Motherboard Design and Layout
If you look at the bottom, right corner of the board, you can see the OC Genie button which enables the motherboard’s on-the-fly overclocking function. This sexy chocolate flavored motherboard sports touch sensitive buttons built into the PCB as well which are left of OC Genie button and are marked [-] and [+]. These buttons are for decreasing and increasing the CPU’s Bus Clock. And, to the right are the Reset and Power buttons, which are also touch sensitive.
One thing we noticed is that the board takes about two seconds to power up after pressing the power button. But, these particular kinds of buttons should continue to work long after you’ve upgraded this motherboard as they aren’t mechanical. Sure, it’s not necessary to have this feature, but it’s one tiny innovative step in personalizing the platform.
As far as the board’s layout, or design, there are only a couple things to note. First, kudos for the CPU socket’s location. It offers plenty of room for large CPU coolers and doesn’t encroach on the DIMM slots too much. Any CPU tower cooler will have plenty of room for installation.
Second, while the horizontal IDE and SATA ports are appreciated, there are three SATA ports that are conventionally mounted facing up. The #7 port is the only SATA3 port on the board. Wiring doesn’t quite look so neat compared to the horizontal ports.
If anything could be improved, these three SATA ports and IDE ports could be revamped. We’d also like to see SATA 3.0 ports, but none are to be had at this price point. While the purpose of the IDE port is to help users upgrading from an old system, it is time to get with the decade. We’re well past the slower IDE interface and working with Solid State Drives now. Eliminate the IDE and at least pick a couple SATA2 drives. You won’t be sorry.
Having said that, we do recognize that some users buy what they can afford and MSI is just making sure that on this end of the price spectrum, these users are taken care of.
System Setup
Working with the H55-GD65 is a lot like working with the P55-GD65. We opted to use the new Clarkdale Core i5 661 Processor since the platform supports it. The only two extra steps in the installation were the need for the JMicron 363 driver and the video driver for the i5 661’s IGP. Naturally, any basic drivers are on the disk to get you started.
The great thing about this platform is that everything installed quickly and properly in Windows 7. If there is a glitch somewhere in this matrix, we couldn’t find it.
Here’s what our test system will look like for our battery of tests:
- Intel Core i5 661 Clarkdale Processor
- MSI H55-GD65 Motherboard
- MSI P55-GD65 Motherboard
- Corsair Dominator 4GB 1600MHz Dual Channel DDR3
- ZOTAC Geforce GTX280 Graphics Card
- Kingston SSDNow V+ 128GB SSD (Rev 2)
- Antec SG-850 Power Supply
Our test barrage will include PCMark Vantage, 3DMark Vantage, SANDRA CPU, Cinebench R10, Crysis, Heaven Demo, and RightMark Audio. Intel Turbo was enabled, except during overclocking. We’ll also take a look at overclocking using the OC Genie and compare it to our efforts through the BIOS.
BIOS and Overclocking Options
You bet your old school 16MB video card we gave overclocking a shot! The BIOS pages are arranged in such a way that it’s easy to set up the system by feature. When it comes to overclocking, there’s a single M-Cell page that gives you every feature associated with this dark art whether it be voltages or frequencies. Just remember to turn off Intel Turbo for best results.
Media chipset or not, we were able to push the Core i5 661 to about 4.4GHz using 1.32 volts CPU VCore. The VTT was also increased to 1.28 volts which afforded the extra stability needed.
The maximum CPU Bus Clock the motherboard could maintain was 190. However, getting to a 180 CPU Bclk was much easier and didn’t require a great deal of voltage tweaks. Either way, the platform seems to push the sample Core i5 661 to its max settings.
Using the OC Genie feature, the platform topped out at a 160 CPU Bclk which is happened to be the same XMP Profile setting using the 1600MHz Dominator memory. That’s still 4GHz for the novice who never has to even touch the BIOS to enjoy some extra performance.
Not putting the overlcock to waste, we’ve included them in our barrage of benchmarks for your viewing pleasure.
PCMark Vantage
Since the chipsets are so close, there’s really not a great deal of performance difference. What we wanted to show you here is that H55-GD65 is an equally formidable platform if you feel like getting your gaming fix for the day.
3DMark Vantage
Hey, what do you know. When a ZOTAC Geforce GTX280 AMP! is tossed in to the mix, we get an out right aggressive platform. Sure, we could use the Core i5 661’s integrated graphics, but we are reviewing a “Gaming Series” motherboard. Not to mention, the only gaming you will be doing with the integrated graphics is “Farmville”.
SANDRA CPU Math & Multimedia
This benchmark is just extra curricular. Even if you went with the innovative Core i5 661, you still get a very capable platform. If you want to see something interesting, compare your Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad to these scores.
Cinebench R10
Here, you can see just how well the H55-GD65 does with some aggressive CPU overclocking. The motherboard easily unleashes the beast from within a rather docile Core i5 661 Clarkdale processor.
Crysis
Here we just get some playable frame rates with just a single GTX280 video card. But, again, the H55 adds some extra power behind the card giving it a decent little frame rate boost. Again, the integrated graphics and the word gaming should never be used in the same sentence. Let’s not even go there.
Heaven Demo
This is a new DirectX 10 and 11 intensive benchmark we decided to add to the benchmark suite. Since we don’t have a DX11 card in the system, it automatically performs the tests in DirectX 10.
Here, we just wanted to show that the platform, again, easily supports graphic intensive applications. It’s a Gaming Series, so we really wanted to confirm there’s nothing coming up short in the PCI Express department with an adequate graphics solution in the slot.
RightMark Audio
To put the integrated Realtek ALC889 into perspective, it’s one of the most successful integrated audio codecs you can currently get in any motherboard. The only other codec that tops it is the ALC890.
After running four different tests while manipulating settings, the integrated audio solution proved to be somewhat robust as far as clarity and volume are concerned. It should be enough to more than satisfy the budget consumer or regular gamer.
If you want more than just adequate integrated audio, you’ll have to invest in a discrete solution. Something like the ASUS Xonar 2 or Creative Extreme, or Gamer X-Fi audio card should offer a noticeable upgrade at a price. Otherwise, the onboard audio isn’t that bad for what you pay.
Input/Output Functions Tested
Here’s a look at how the I/O on this board checks out…
These results are pretty standard averages as far as SATA2 and USB 2.0 devices are concerned. As for the single SATA2 port powered by a JMicron 363 integrated controller, I really have no idea why they put that there and what for. Unfortunately, the board has no SATA3, but it is a budget board.
Power Consumption
Some of the new improvements to the Intel H55 Chipset are better energy efficiency in some areas. When coupled with a motherboard that features better power management like DrMOS and/or supporting software, the benefits can be seen.
What we observed was some power consumption differences between enabling and disabling the DrMOS 4 Phase feature. It may not seem like much, but it’ll add up over a year’s time. Rest assured that you will have this platform running smoothly for longer than that. Of course, your power savings can pretty much go up in smoke if you use a powerful GPU, but at least you’re ahead by a few watts to begin with. There’s nothing wrong with greener gaming.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, the MSI H55-GD65 is a surprising performer despite what you might think. While many users think that H55 means it’s only a multimedia motherboard, the benchmarks say the H55-GD65 is in fact a performance based motherboard capable of a lot more than media. Think of it as a media platform on steroids. Not to mention, it overclocks pretty well for something at this price point and in this category.
Whether coupled with a good GPU liks a ZOTAC Geforce GTX285 or an ATI HD5850 video card, the MSI H55-GD65 Motherboard will eat every video game available and go looking for dessert. But, if you feel like tapping in to one of the Core i5 32nm Clarkdale Processors with the IGP, expect it to handle HD playback flawlessly without scoffing at the task.Unless of course that task is gaming and when I mean gaming I don’t mean “Farmville”.
Looking around you can easily find one of these boards for $134.99US. At that price you might be able to forgive the minuscule bundle, the lack of USB 3.0 and maybe even the omission of SATA 3.0. It would definitely be a solid budget upgrade for someone looking to grow out of an older LGA775 system and into a Core i5 without having to purchase a lot of new parts.
Pros:
- Nice design and color theme
- Innovative power, reset, and OC Genie buttons
- OC Genie perfect for the overclocking novice
- Fully loaded with video and audio connectivity
- CrossfireX PCIE graphics
- Overclocks nicely
- Excellent performance and overclocking for the price
Cons:
- Bundle is lacking
- No SATA 3.0
- No USB 3.0
Overall Rating: 8.0 / 10.0
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MSI H55-GD65 Gamer Series LGA1156 ATX Motherboard Photo Gallery
