Power Consumption and Conclusions
Power consumption
During power consumption testing, we were very surprised to see how high the power draw was on the H55N-USB3. We did not enable the Dynamic Energy Saver 2 technology that supposed to help reduce power consumption and deliver optimized auto-phase-switching for the CPU, Memory, Chipset, VGA, HDD, and fans. One of the reasons we decided to disable it was to test the true capabilities of the board without any power limitations by using the extra software. We are still perplexed at the idle and load wattage results compared to the other motherboards we tested with the same chipset and processor. The processor we used with the H55N-USB3 was overclocked a tad to 2.928GHz versus 2.8GHz at stock settings, which would account for a small increase in power consumption.
Performance
After a grueling set of benchmarks and overclocking, the H55N-USB3 turned out to be a strong performer, especially considering its small footprint and how much real estate Gigabyte had available to fit an LGA1156 processor, H55 chipset, and other higher-end components that are usually reserved for micro and full ATX motherboards. the inclusion of USB 3.0 support is also a huge plus for those who want a “future proof” motherboard, but I would have liked to see a SATA3 controller to ensure all new motherboard technologies were included.
One surprising outcome we noticed during testing was that the H55N-USB3 is exceptional at performing frequently-used computer tasks like music, productivity, memories, and even PC gaming. Most people who build small form factor systems use them for PC gaming, multimedia, and home theater systems and the H55N-USB3 seems to excel at in all of these areas.
Features
Gigabyte didn’t have to sacrifice many features typically used in larger form factors, but there are a few key things that had to leave out like dual PCIe slots for CrossfireX and SLI configurations and SATA3 capabilities because of the mini ITX form factor. But, for their first entry into the mini ITX world, they did a good job of organizing all the available components to make it a fully functional and capable mini ITX motherboard.
Pricing and Availability
As of Oct. 10, the Gigabyte H55N-USB3 was available at Newegg.com for $104.99 before shipping. This board is also available at Amazon for $104.99 and Buy.com for $108.24.
Final Thoughts
We’d like to thank our friends at Gigabyte for providing the H55N-USB3 for our evaluation today. I’ve been testing mini ITX motherboards from a variety of vendors including Zotac and VIA to name a few, but never I’ve tested one with the power, performance, and feature set included with the H55N-USB3. Gigabyte’s first mini ITX board should give other vendors something to strive for as they look to create a small motherboard with full-size features.
The inclusion of USB 3.0 support was a great move, and we think adding SATA3 would have put the icing on the cake. The overclocking features were surprising good for this type of board and our multimedia, gaming, and encoding benchmark scores rivaled what we normally see with micro ATX and ATX motherboards. This board should be on anyone’s wish list if they want a strong overclocker with good multimedia and gaming capabilities.
Strengths
- Excellent overclocker
- USB 3.0 support
- Good multimedia and DVD encoding capabilities
Weaknesses
- No SATA3 support
- A tad expensive
This was the worst board I
This was the worst board I ever had. Chipset kept overheating in a well ventilated case, causing system to shut down randomly. A bit of online research found that this happened to many other buyers of this case.
AVOID this board at all costs.
correction to above post of
correction to above post of mine…
” A bit of online research found that this happened to many other buyers of this BOARD” (not case, LOL)