EVGA P55 LE Motherboard

Other Features

EVGA P55 LE has other smaller features. It comes with a POST display, which helps you to diagnose why the computer isn’t turning on through a two-digit number. You can also configure this display to show the CPU temperature after the system starts loading the operating system. This is done on the option “P80 Show CPU Temperature” present on the “Advanced Chipset Setup” from the BIOS setup.

Figure 6: POST diagnostics display.

It also has reset and powe
r buttons soldered on the motherboard, which helps a lot when you are building a PC outside a case or are debugging your PC. And besides these buttons there is a second clear CMOS button (and not just a plain jumper like it usually happens).

Figure 7: Reset, power and clear CMOS buttons.

The voltage regulator circuit uses only solid capacitors, as mentioned before, and also uses ferrite chokes, which are better (25% less power loss). There is also a passive heatsink on top of the voltage regulator transistors.

Figure 8: Voltage regulator circuit.

But one small detail may make all the difference in the world for some users. The CPU cooler for socket LGA1156 processors don’t fit socket LGA775 processors and vice-versa. This happens because the positioning of the motherboard holes is different. EVGA made something ridiculously simple yet ingenious: they added holes for both socket LGA1156 and socket LGA775 CPU coolers. So if your favorite CPU cooler is only available for socket LGA775 there is no problem: you can install it on EVGA P55 LE. It is important to note that motherboards from other manufacturers may not provide this feature.

Figure 9: EVGA P55 LE provides holes for socket LGA1156 and socket LGA775 CPU coolers.

In Figure 10, you can see the accessories that come with the motherboard.

Figure 10: Accessories.

The printed manual included with the motherboard is really bad, failing to provide the basics like a detailed list of features from the motherboard and the exact use of the SPDIF2 header. Inside the CD, however, you can find the full manual in PDF format.