Features and SpecificationsOne of the interesting things that has come from the increased [and aggressive] competition between the major motherboard manufactuers is the increasing number of features that are getting stuffed into our products. Some are usless to the average consumer while others are excellent and make us eager for more. We will cover a few of the more interesting features of the P7P55D Deluxe below.
One of the "new" features that we are starting to see, and like, is the increasing attention to the way the power regulation is laid out on the board. The P7P55D Deluxe comes with what the company is calling the 24 Hybrid Phase Design. On the surface, it would seem to say that there is a 24 Phase power design on the board. This is not the case but mearly a marketing ploy from ASUS to get you to think that.
Now, having said that we have to say that the board does feature a true 16+3 phase design. You have 16 phases for CPU power [vCore] and 3 for RAM power. The 24 Hybrid Phase Design comes from the combination of this 16+3 design and the inclusion of T.Probe. The T.Probe is capable of adjusting the power phases in real time based on temperature. This reduces the amount of heat produced by the board and should extend the life of the components.
Another one that we found very interesting and actually worked is the TurboV EVO. This is actually a combination of features that allow you to easily overclock your system. These include Auto Tuning, TurboV and the TurboV Remote. The first one is probably going to be use the most often in this class of board; this is the auto tuning option found in the software. With Auto Tuning the system will automatically find the highest stable overclock for your system based on the hardware inside. This is a pretty cool feature and also a great one to get you started.
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But things do not stop there; you can also have individual overclocks that you can call up quickly. This is called Turbo Key. These are found on the TurboV remote and allow you to OC your system with the push of a single button.
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Of course if this is not good enough for you, Asus has included the usual manual overclocking method. There are both easy and advanced options depending on your skill level. One final feature that we found very nice was the ability to bump up the Bclk one step at a time with the TurboV remote. This actually allowed us to get a much higher stable overclock inside the OS than we were able to POST and Boot with.
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Next up on the feature hit parade is the Asus Crystal Sound. As an Audiophile I tend to be much more critical of the audio quality on any motherboard [or add-in audio cards] The move by Asus to add a higher-quality audio onto the motherboard is a welcome addition. The audio codec is capable of full Blu-ray Disk [192kHz/24-bit] using Absolute Pitch BD 192/24. The new sound CODEC also features Envy HD 10 channel Surround Sound. Other more common, but still welcome features are DTS Surround Sound UltraPC and Noise cancellation.
Express Gate is a feature that we have received a lot of feedback on. Some love it, others loathe it. In most of our talks with consumers they really do not get the need for it. This is a stripped dow Linux OS that provides an "instant on" operating system for use with e-mail, web browsing, chatting [via Skype] and image/video viewing. It allows for very limited access to files on the main OS HDD. But in the end is not meant as a fully functional OS but only as a quick use tool. The problem is that Linux is a frightening OS to too many mainstream users to be of much value. The problem is not one of implementation - ASUS has done an excellent job with this feature it does everything they claim it does. The problem is just too many people do not know [or want to learn] how to use it. We contacted ASUS about it and they explained that Express Gate is a feature they stand behind completely. It is meant to provide an almost turn-key system. In all reality you could get a new motherboard with Express Gate home and run it as is without installing any OS. For those that are not interested Express Gate can be turned off in the BIOS.
The last of the features we see as welcome on the P7P55D Deluxe is the Asus EPU. This is one of the best power management solutions that we have had the chance to work with. You can easliy see and set any level you like including an Auto setting that will dynamically adjust power to ensure you are only using what you need. If you overclock this feature will automatically adjust to high-performance mode and cannot be changed.
For eco-crazed among us, there is even a counter in how much CO2 emissions you are saving, as you can see in the picture below:
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