EVGA P55 LE Mainboard 123-LF-E653-KR
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- Intel P55 chipset
- Supports 4 DIMM Dual Channel memory up to 1600MHz
- 14 USB ports with 6 onboard
- 8 channel HD audio
- Firewire IE1394 and 1 x16 and 1 x 4 PCI Express lanes
The P55 LE Motherboard from EVGA is designed for the win. Expect easy overclocking within seconds with EVGA Dummy OC for overclocking at the touch of a button, EVGA Vdroop Control for extra stability and E-LEET OC Utility enthusiast software to adjust overclocking. Dual Clock Generators (PCI and PCI-e) ensure the best signals for CPU overclocking. With 4 DIMM Dual-Channel memory slots for up to 16GB of memory, 100 % solid state capacitors for higher quality longer lifespan, and 8 channel HD audio, your system will be able to handle the latest games and high definition video with ease. The 123-LF-E653-KR features the Intel P55 chipset with Intel Active Management technology 6.0, Anti-Theft technology, Rapid Storage Technology, Remote PC Assist technology, Remote Wake Technology, and Identity Theft Protection. Additional feature include an onboard CPU temperature monitor, 2 phase Memory Power Design, CrossFire support, DPHS Double Play Heat Sink support for Socket 775 and 1156 CPU cooler
Evga desktop motherboard
EVGA P55 LE Mainboard 123-LF-E653-KR
List Price: $ 183.99
Price:
EVGA P55 LE MID-BUDGET PERFORMER,
I personally like the all black with some gray design on the motherboard. Looks more professional than other boards that have all the fruity colors.
The manual that it comes with is very basic and is not even model specific. It doesn’t list the P55 LE specific features and bios options. Its more of a refresh for those of you that know what you’re doing. I guess making a generic manual was a cost cutting measure for evga. For those of you that are new to system building I suggest reading the visual installation guide that has step by step instructions with pictures and also taking a look at the full featured manual that is included in the cd as a pdf for info on the P55 LE bios features and settings. The cd also comes with several other model’s specific pdf manuals (another cost cutting measure by evga) so make sure to read the one labeled “E653_user_guid” which is the P55 LE guide.
While installing the cpu, it made a weird crunchy scratchy noise when lowering the cpu plate lever although it never caused any problems. The front audio connector was in the worst position posible, right below the main video card slot. Make sure to install the front audio before the video card. The angled sata slots made it difficult to install the sata cables but its not a big deal, you will be very thankfull of this feature when you have a very long video card or two that would otherwise block the sata ports if they were facing straight up. It booted up perfectly on the first try. Note that this board powers on twice and seems to be normal but it sure freaked me out when the board started up and lit up and within 3 seconds shut off setting me in a panic and instantly it powered back on. It powers up twice on every cold start. When the board powers on, it displays the EVGA P55 picture shown on the box, I thought that was cool. You can disable that feature if you don’t want it. It also has a quick boot feature that instantly boots the OS after showing the P55 picture making start up times very quick, this feature can also be disabled. The debug lcd is pretty slick and can be set to show the cpu temp, its pretty neat but too bad my case doesn’t have a window to show it off. The onboard power, reset, and 2 cmos buttons are also neat to have, especially if your case has a window since the power and reset buttons light up. They’re not really necessary for me since I don’t overclock or fiddle too much with the bios but they would come in handy if you’re an overclocker. I do want to mention that there are 2 cmos clear buttons, one inside the motherboard and one on the outside where the usb, keyboard, lan, and audio ports are located. I’m not a big fan of the external clear cmos button because it makes it too easy for some joker to press it and clear all your bios settings. This board accepted my G.skill memory but I had to manually set the ram timings (not really a problem). Also make sure to put your dual channel ram into slots 1 and 3 or else the board wont post. I found 6 onboard fan headers which should be more than enough for most builds. I really like the optical audio port which lets me connect my pc to my home theater system.
I didn’t like the I/O shield that came with my board. It seemed to have been made for a more featured motherboard model but with some holes punched out and some blocked. It didn’t have the right setup for my specific motherboard model since 2 of my usb ports were completely blocked. It was an easy fix since the blocked holes were made to easily remove the metal blocking the port. This must have been another cost cutting measure of using the same I/O shield for every model, but I didn’t like that installing this board made me have to physically alter an item that came with it and the I/O shield looks like a generic knock off because of its obviously blocked holes. I included a picture of my I/O shield as proof. In the end this isn’t really a big deal and I probably got a rare I/O shield in which the factory worker forgot to punch out 2 usb port holes.
PROS
Awesome price after rebate
Sexy black design
Accepts both 1156 and 775 cpu coolers
Dual Gpu Crossfire support
Debug LCD with cpu temp
Onboard power, reset, and clear cmos buttons
Overclockable
Angled Sata ports
Cons
Somewhat obsolete now that the LGA 1155 sandy brigde platform has come out
No Sata III 6GB/s ports
No USB 3.0 ports
No SLI support
Very basic generic Users Manual
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|Terrific,
After building comps for almost 20 years now I have eventually wound up using mostly EVGA products. This board does not disappoint, has been working flawlessly as you’d expect for the reasonable price.
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