With another gamer-oriented microATX design, MSI is ready to also please the non-gaming crowd with DVI, HDMI, and VGA ports that can support two monitors through a Clarkdale processor’s integrated graphics engine.

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MSI keeps overclockers in the loop with a five-phase voltage regulator similar to those on some of its full-sized motherboards, although we wouldn’t shoot for 4.0 GHz on anything more power hungry than a dual-core. MSI even adds its OC Genie hardware overclocking buttons to the H55M-ED55’s front edge to capture the hearts of Clarkdale overclockers.

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A pair of PCIe x16-length slots completes the motherboard’s gamer appearance, although the second slot is fed by four half-speed lanes through the platform controller hub. The take-away for graphics card users is that the H55M-ED55 could be a great option for single-card compact-gaming machines, media centers that have gaming capabilities, and with its x16 slot in the top position, even slim-line cases that use a riser card for graphics upgrades. Enhanced overclocking features and a favorable slot layout match this board against several P55 predecessors, including MSI’s own P55M-GD45, while the reasonable selection of on-board video connections attempts to spread its appeal to integrated graphics users.

However, our own build experience tells us that the H55M-ED55’s layout won’t be perfect for some compact system builders. For example, four of the SATA connectors that face forward do a great job of allowing long graphics cards to fit, yet many microATX cases don’t have room to insert cables from this direction. And recent efforts, such as our PC-V351 case review, have proven that putting the front-panel audio connector in the bottom-rear corner is a bad idea.

There’s also the small problem that most mid-market and better microATX cases have a front-panel FireWire port, which is a controller not found on the H55M-GD55. While we can balance the fact that most people no longer use FireWire against the fact that most people hate nonfunctional front-panel connections, we have to wonder how artfully professional builders will be able to disclose this to their customers.

BIOS Features

As a compact-performance design, the H55M-ED55 includes the full range of overclocking features expected of larger, similarly priced “budget enthusiast” models.

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For example, the H55M-ED55 supports setting the CPU up to 0.3V above stock and memory up to 2.43V, perfect for those “suicide run” budget-overclocking competitions. MSI also adds vREF for memory overclockers and GPU voltage for those seeking integrated graphics performance records in 3DMark.

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As with its larger siblings, the H55M-ED55 makes tweaking a bit more difficult than it needs to be with its inability to set both memory channels simultaneously in manual mode. Tuners must remember to scroll through the menu and repeat their settings to the second memory channel, although the range of settings is at least adequate.

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One of the most useful items MSI provides in the BIOS of every performance motherboard is a user profile page, while this one allows up to six BIOS configurations to be saved in a protected area of the BIOS IC.

Accessories

Layout and overclocking features aside, MSI reminds us that the H55M-ED55 is a value-oriented solution by providing four SATA data cables and a single SATA power adapter in its installation kit.

MSI was the only company to provide a microATX board for AMD’s chipset launch, though this particular form factor is the most likely place to find an upper-range integrated-graphics chipset. Its 890GXM-G65 still provides most of the features of the full-sized Asus rival, minus an eSATA controller and two expansion slots.

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The rear panel does contain a single eSATA connection, improved to the 6Gb/s standard because it uses the chipset’s integrated controller. Like its rivals, the 890GXM-G65 also provides two USB 3.0 ports.

We think it’s a little humorous that all three motherboards provide HDMI display output, but not DisplayPort, since this AMD-backed interface is found on so many Intel-based motherboards. Yet, this particular board will likely find its way into many home-theater systems, where HDMI is the most common HDCP-compliant standard.

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The 890GXM-G65 actually looks like a compact game system motherboard with its short and fat heat pipe cooler, dual PCIe x16-length slots and electronic pathway switches for dual x8 or single x16 slot modes, and many among the AMD faithful will certainly see fit to use it as such. Game performance is an area where AMD processors remain competitive, though the chipset’s Radeon HD 4290 integrated graphics will likely be of little use to value-seeking gamers.

The 890GXM-G65 lacks the FireWire controller builders rely on to activate the often-unused front panel connection of most media-center cases. Its forward-facing SATA ports are likewise unsuited for many of those cases, since the motherboard’s front edge will often be blocked by drive bays. On the other hand, compact game system builders will often find its outward-facing SATA port blocked by the heatsink of large graphics cards, so it appears that MSI’s only solution would have been to eliminate the Ultra ATA connector and try to place its SATA ports there.

Like Asus, MSI positions its front-panel audio connector in the motherboard’s bottom rear corner. MSI moved it slightly forward, however, and we’ve encountered many builds where the extra inch solves cable installation woes.

BIOS

MSI applied full-sized overclocking features to its microATX 890GXM-G65, making it easy to extract peak performance from a portable gaming system. Underclocking is also possible, allowing reduced-noise cooling for “silent” PCs and media centers.

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The 890GXM-G65 has a relatively broad selection of memory timings, which can be configured separately per-channel. MSI adds several drive-strength controls for enhanced stability when operating memory beyond its intended parameters.

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Accessories

The 890GXM-G65 we received included an incomplete cable kit that doesn’t support an SATA hard drive and optical drive simultaneously. While many builders have cables to spare, those who don’t should take a second look at production samples to see if the package has been tweaked.

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Board revision 1.0; BIOS 1.3

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Our last motherboard is MSI’s P55M-GD45, one of five P55 boards in MSI’s lineup and the only one based on a microATX form factor. All capacitors on this motherboard are solid, as on the ASRock and Gigabyte boards. And as with Gigabyte, MSI equipped the P55M-GD45 with a  number of its differentiating enthusiast-class features, including OC Genie for automated dynamic overclocking, DrMOS voltage regulators, and Active Phase Switching (APS) to increase power efficiency. We used the Green Power setting in the BIOS and set CPU Phase Control to Auto mode.

MSI also equips the board with two x16 PCI Express slots. The primary slot employs the processor’s 16 PCI Express 2.0 lanes, while the secondary slot is driven by four PCIe lanes off the P55 chip. The board supports both ATI CrossFire and Nvidia SLI, though again, we'd recommend against dropping a pair of powerful GPUs onto a platform limited to four PCIe lanes running at previous-gen speeds. A third x1 PCIe slot is available for add-on cards, plus there's one PCI slot. 

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Serial and parallel ports are available, but they require slot panel adapters if you decide to use them. MSI’s I/O panel is crammed with ten USB 2.0 ports, PS/2 mouse and keyboard connectors, a gigabit Ethernet port, two eSATA ports, and audio connectors. Unfortunately, digital outputs are missing entirely.

MSI’s positioning of the floppy and UltraATA connectors is exactly the opposite of Gigabyte’s board. The floppy connector is on the front, while the IDE port can be found on the board's bottom. All six SATA 3 Gb/s ports are bent by 90 degrees, allowing users to access them, even if long expansion cards are installed. This board also comes with a piezo PC speaker and a PCB-mounted power button. The P55M-GD45 showed the lowest average and total power consumption numbers in our efficiency test. Combined with the quickest runtime results, this board proved to be our efficiency winner.

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