Biostar TPower i55 – Super Middle Weight Contender
by Rajinder Gill on November 25, 2009 12:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Board Layout and Features
The heatsinks bearing the TPower and DURA-MAX logos provide cooling for the 8-phase uPI CPU PWM circuit, with an additional 4 phase supply for VTT (the integrated memory controller). The IR FET’s are specified at around 30 amps each, which should allow for ample overclocking headroom. The two CPU PWM heatsinks are connected by a heatpipe which also links to the BIOSTAR logo heatsink you see in the bottom of the picture. This pipe extends further to the PCH heatsink, allowing the entire assembly to be cooled with a single fan. All heatsinks are fastened with push-pins rather than screw fittings, although we found contact pressure was sufficient in this instance.
Despite the bulk used in these heatsinks, were going to recommend users to apply active cooling across the central heatsink when overclocking, especially if ramping PWM switching frequencies for heavy load testing. On the subject of heavy loads; BIOSTAR is using revised FOXCONN sockets on their boards. We’ve had no socket related problems during the course of this review and have not heard of any user reports thus far using BIOSTAR boards.
We’re a little surprised to find that there are only three onboard fan headers, one of which is assigned to the CPU. This leaves two (actually one) additional headers for active board cooling should high temperatures become a hindrance to overclocking. Do note; the SYS_FAN 2 header at the right side of the board will not be accessible if you plug a long GPU into the primary PEG slot. We’d like to have seen BIOSTAR put a little more time and consideration with regards to the number of headers and their placement on this motherboard given the target audience.
Expansion slot layout from the top down is comprised of, PCI/e x16 (x8 if the second x16 slot is filled), PCI/e x1, PCI/e x4, PCI/e x8 and two PCI slots at the bottom. You lose access to the PCI/ex 1 slot as soon as you put a GPU with a dual slot cooler in the first PEG slot, although you can use the PCI/e x4 slot instead. Running dual GPU’s will also limit users to one PCI slot, although we don’t see that as a huge deal breaker these days.
While we’re on the subject of expansion slots, we found the PCI/e retention latches to be a pain when trying to remove our 4870X2 GPU from the board. The lever does not protrude far enough to allow access easily, especially if the board is placed in a case. We had to use a set of long-nose pliers to grab the latch and force it downwards so that we could remove the GPU from the slot.
Six right angle SATA ports are available via the Intel P55 PCH. A LED hex post code reader and power/reset switches are located in the lower right corner for open test bed users. A single DIL socket BIOS chip is located above the SATA ports, while the associated CMOS clear jumper is located to the right of the last PCI slot. CMOS clear access is certainly going to be hampered somewhat if the last PCI slot is occupied, but we never needed it. Unfortunately there is no rear I/O panel CMOS clear switch, which will leave users pulling side panels off cases should the board fail to post after changing BIOS settings.
ATX 12V and IDE connectors are placed along the right edge of the board. A full spread of voltage reading pads are provided, and located between the ATX 12V connecter and the last DIMM slot. DIMM voltage is supplied by a 2-phase PWM circuit, which is pretty much the norm for boards in this price range and should certainly be more than adequate for the platform.
Rear I/O options include: 1 PS/2, 8 USB, 2 E-SATA, 1 IEEE-1394a, 2 RJ45 LAN, 1 S/PDIF & 1 Optical out and finally 6 AUDIO out jacks (Realtek ALC888).
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dia - Thursday, November 26, 2009 - link
The fan header information is on page 3
"Fan control is only offered for the CPU fan header, offering full temperature range and speed control which is great. Unfortunately the SYS fans cannot be controlled independently from the CPU FAN header. "
There is also reference to software level control via TOVERCLOCK/TPOWER.
jackylman - Friday, November 27, 2009 - link
It's still unclear to me. The quoted section only seems to refer to the BIOS setting. The screenshot shows a fan RPM tab for TPOWER, but I don't see any reference to whether it actually controls the fans or just reports RPM's (I suspect the latter).The question we really want answered is whether the non-CPU headers support PWM and can be controlled with SpeedFan (e.g.). If not, it would really be a shame to see another good board skimping on cheap PWM hardware.
Rajinder Gill - Saturday, November 28, 2009 - link
Both TPOWER and TOVERCLOCKER can change fan speed and offer monitoring. The SYS FANS cannot be controlled at all, so they are 'full on' all the time.I've changed the page 3 comment to reflect this.
regards
Raja
jackylman - Saturday, November 28, 2009 - link
Raja,That is much better. Thank You.
Rajinder Gill - Thursday, November 26, 2009 - link
In terms of overclocking, the BIOSTAR handles 8GB memory better than the MSI GD-65 (memory clocking in general is easier). Sleep mode is also a little more robust, allowing recovery from higher BCLK's. Other than that, one of the marks against the Gd-65 was the incompatibility of OC GENIE with several PSU's.As for the rest, thx for the feedback - I'll add what I can within the timeframe of test. there are some things we miss on due to oversight. It's not possible to keep everyone happy unfortunately, as with all things.
regards
Raja
marc1000 - Wednesday, November 25, 2009 - link
No conclusion page on this review? Am I wrong or the conclusion is on the first page this time? =Delivebuy - Tuesday, December 8, 2009 - link
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ElderTech - Thursday, December 3, 2009 - link
RajaContrary to others, I find the new layout most efficient and a desireable journalistic change. As you point out, read the first page (or two) and determine if you want/need additional info. Also, your heading for the conclusion/summary section is clear and succinct. However, it doesn't surprise me that some may find it confusing, as there is a tendency to settle into a complacent pattern with much of life when we're able. But you'd think the younger average age of your readers would portend flexibility, but that's obviously not the case!