Intel® P55 Express Chipset

Desktop PC platforms based on the Intel® P55 Express Chipset combined with the Intel® Core™ i7-800 series processors and Intel® Core™ i5-700 series processors create intelligent performance for faster multi-tasking, digital media creation and gaming.

The Intel P55 Express Chipset continues to push innovation with a new architecture designed to deliver quality, performance and industry leading I/O technologies.

Features and benefits

Intel® Management Engine Ignition Firmware support	Provides essential platform functionality such as clock maintenance and thermal reporting
Intel® Matrix Storage Technology◊	With additional hard drives added, provides quicker access to digital photo, video and data files with RAID 0, 5, and 10, and greater data protection against a hard disk drive failure with RAID 1, 5, and 10. Support for external SATA (eSATA) enables the full SATA interface speed outside the chassis, up to 3 Gb/s.
Intel® Rapid Recover Technology	Intel’s latest data protection technology provides a recovery point that can be used to quickly recover a system should a hard drive fail or if there is data corruption. The clone can also be mounted as a read-only volume to allow a user to recover individual files.
Intel® High Definition Audioπ	Integrated audio support enables premium digital surround sound and delivers advanced features such as multiple audio streams and jack re-tasking.
Universal Serial Bus (USB)	Hi-Speed USB 2.0, provides greater enhancement in performance with a design data rate of up to 480 megabits per second (Mbps) with up to 14 USB 2.0 Ports.
USB 2.0 rate matching hub	Enables lower power requirements and manages the transition of the communication data rate from the high speed of the host controller to the lower speed of USB full speed /low speed devices.
Serial ATA (SATA) 3 Gb/s	High-speed storage interface supports faster transfer rate for improved data access with up to 6 SATA ports.
eSATA	SATA interface designed for use with external SATA devices. It provides a link for 3 Gb/s data speeds to eliminate bottlenecks found with current external storage solutions.
SATA port disable	Enables individual SATA ports to be enabled or disabled as needed. This feature provides added protection of data by preventing malicious removal or insertion of data through SATA ports. Especially targeted for eSATA ports.
PCI Express* 2.0 interface	Offers up to 2.5GT/s for fast access to peripheral devices and networking with up to 8 PCI Express* 2.0 x1 ports, configurable as x2 and x4 depending on motherboard designs.
USB port disable	Enables individual USB ports to be enabled or disabled as needed. This feature provides added protection of data by preventing malicious removal or insertion of data through USB ports.
Intel® integrated 10/100/1000 MAC	Support for the Intel® 82578DC Gigabit Network Connection
Green technology	Manufactured with lead-free and halogen-free component packages