ASRock Adds USB 3.0 and SATA 3.0 to P55 Motherboard

ASRock has just announced a new addition to its line of Intel Lynnfield-supporting motherboard series, introducing the P55 Deluxe3 model. Designed to provide consumers with support for Intel's LGA1156-compatible processors, the board has adopted a new design that incorporates some of the latest features in the industry, including USB 3.0 and SATA 3.0 technologies. In addition, the board's design will enable DIY and gaming enthusiasts to take advantage of the two leading multi-GPU technologies, namely SLI and CrossFireX, from NVIDIA and ATI, respectively.

The P55 Deluxe3 adds support for Intel's Core i7, Core i5 and Core i3 processors with compatibility for the latest LGA1156 socket. According to the Taiwanese motherboard maker, its new board delivers true 333 functionality, meaning that the board will offer support for USB 3.0, SATA 3 and eSATA 3. This is achieved through a built-in “True 333” bridge, which maximizes the boards performance for the aforementioned features, without sacrificing the speed on the PCI-Express slot. The bridge enables PCI-E 2.0 bandwidth for SATA 3 and USB 3.0, while, at the same time, delivering support for SLI and CrossFire configurations.

Aside from that, the board packs the usual four DDR3-2600+ memory slots, coupled with two SATA 6.0 Gbps and six SATA 3.0 Gbps ports, two PCI-Express x16 slots with support for both CrossFireX and SLI multi-GPU environments and the VIA VT2020 codec for 7.1 channel audio. There's also an eSATA port, FireWire, a debut LED, Power, Reset and Clear CMOS buttons, in addition to two USB 3.0 connections available through the PLX bridge chip, which adds the additional PCIe lanes. The new P55 board also comes with its own Instant Boot Linux operating system.

Although ASRock hasn't announced all the availability and pricing details, the board should become available in stores, in the near future, for an estimated price of around 180 – 200 Euro.