Since the Intel X68 platform release is still a ways away, motherboard manufacturers are constantly trying to breathe new life into the aging X58 platform. Enter EVGA’s latest X58 offering, the X58-SLI3. Based on the popular X58 SLI LE motherboard, it has been reborn to include both USB 3.0 and Sata 3 600 Mbs support. The most eye catching feature is the price, this EVGA offering comes to market with a retail price of $199.99 (NewEgg).  We’ll take this latest offering from EVGA for a test drive and see how their first sub $200.00 USD X58 offering performs.

About EVGA

“Known for offering value and performance, as well as top notch customer service, EVGA is recognized through customer loyalty and the highest levels in customer satisfaction. In addition to the expanded product lines, consumers and channel partners will also benefit from increased sales and technical support programs:

• The EVGA Limited Lifetime Warranty – For all retail products ending in part number -AR.
• EVGA proprietary Advanced RMA (EAR) service – for allowing customers get a replacement card before sending the defective product back to EVGA.
• 24/7 Phone Technical Support – to assure users that courteous and friendly assistance will always be available at anytime of the day or night.
• Step-Up Program – for the ability to trade up existing EVGA products for newer technology.
• Community Message Boards -full of thousands of knowledgeable, friendly and satisfied EVGA customers.
• EVGA MODS RIGS – show off your rig, win cash prizes.
• EVGA Gaming – EVGA game servers open 24/7 featuring the latest games.

EVGA is the #1 NVIDIA authorized partner in channel sales throughout North America. Based on the philosophy of intelligent innovation, market knowledge, and the real time operation, EVGA continues to identify the need in the market place and providing the solution to that need. By offering product differentiation, 24/7 tech support, a 90 day Step-Up program, and other customer focused programs, EVGA is a clear leader in all categories: etail, retail, distribution, and system builders. With headquarters in Brea, CA, EVGA’s global coverage includes EVGA GmbH in Munich, EVGA LATAM in Miami, and EVGA Hong Kong. For further information online about EVGA, visit www.evga.com.”

Intel’s newest chipset offerings, the H55 and H57, promise to bring good performance at a reasonable price. The chipsets are very similar with only a few major differences.  The most glaring difference is the lack of RAID support on the H55, while the H57 does offer it. The other major difference is the amount of supported USB ports, the H55 supports 12, while the H57 supports 14. Combine either of these chipsets with one of the Intel processors offering built in graphics, and you’re well on your way to a price-conscious build. This review will be on EVGA’s H55 offering, the 123-CD-E635-KR .

How will EVGA implement the H55 chipset while keeping with it’s reputation of building high performance and highly overclockable motherboards? Read on as we explore this latest offering from EVGA!

Let’s begin by exploring the H55 chipset and what it has to offer. Here is the block diagram of how the chipset integrates with the processor and other system features.

As you can see, there are many features packed in to this chipset design. One of the more unique features is the ability to run graphics that are built into select Intel i5 and i3 processors. If you’re wondering exactly which processors offer built in graphics, here is the current list at the time of this review.

Now that we have a feel for the H55 chipset and what it’s feature set is, lets move on to a more in depth look at this EVGA board.