|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The MSI P55-GD65 is based upon Intel’s P55 Express chipset and supports all current LGA-1156 CPUs including the Core i7 860 and Core i5 750 we reviewed recently. The P55 chipset moves all of the Northbridge functionality to the processor, so the PCI Express lanes for graphics cards are on the CPU die itself. This saves costs over having a CPU+NB+SB combination of earlier chipsets. The OC Genie is a new overclocking processor that MSI has put on their P55 motherboards. This allows one button overclocking of the CPU and Memory. The OC Genie button overclocks the system in 1 second compared to the 30 minute process of overclocking most motherboards require in the BIOS. MSI says the OC Genie will overclock the CPU 300% higher than using the traditional Intel Turbo Boost. Heat Pipes have been used in the cooling of chipsets for several years. MSI decided to use extra thick (8mm) heatpipes that are 60% thicker than the normal heatpipe found on most motherboards called SuperPipes. This is the thickest heatpipe used on motherboards today and MSI says the heatpipe offers up to 50C cooler operating temperatures compared to regular heatpipes. DrMOS is MSI’s patented MOSFETS which uses a single Phase DrMOS versus 4 phases on traditional MOSFETS. DrMOS has about 96% power efficiency. DrMOS has a operating frequency of 1MHz compared to traditional MOSFETs which have a 250KHz operating frequency. MSI also says that there is a lower power loss compared to the standard MOSFETS. Active Phase Switching allows the motherboard to control power demand depending on the load the computer is under. Under light loading such as running Word or surfing the Net, a lower number of Power Phases is in operation, allowing the computer to save power compared to when it is under Heavy loading such as running a 3D game. The P55-UD5 has APS for the CPU, Memory and Chipset PWM. Winki is a Linux-based operating system that is similar in many respects to the ones other motherboard manufacturers use such as ExpressGate. Winki has Photo View, Open Office, Instant Messaging, Web Browser and Skype functionality without needing to boot into Windows. The nice thing about Winki is the ability to open Word files, Excel files which many of the other mini-OSes do not have. You can either boot Winki off the DVD or off a Flash USB drive that has been set up to use it. Contents:
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
