USB 3 and SATA 6bps aren’t always supported natively by chipsets, which doesn’t stop manufacturers from announcing new models including them.
Today it’s over to ASRock to present its P55 Deluxe3. This motherboard represents ASRock’s high end with socket LGA1156. SLI and Crossfire compatible, the P55 Deluxe 3 also has a chipset via its Via VT2020 announced as perfectly adapted to reading Blu-Ray audio supports. The transistors are all Japanese and ASRock has highlighted manufacturing quality on the card. The usual Nec chip provides for two USB3 ports while the two Sata 6 Gbps ports are handled by the no less standard Marvell controller. Note also the “eSATAIII” port which is a standard eSATA port wired to the Sata 6Gbps controller.
ASRock also says that the USB 3 and SATA 6Gbps ports are linked up to PCI-Express 5 GT/s lanes supported by the CPU and not the the PCI-Express 2.5 GT/s lanes of the P55. With CrossFire or SLI then, the speed of the second graphics port will be reduced from 8x to 4x.
Availability and pricing haven’t yet been given for this card, which looks as if it will be positioned opposite the Asus and Gigabyte mid-range.
