Intel makes your CPU. Why not have them make your motherboard, too? The BOXDP55WB is an LGA1156 board supporting latest IntelCore i7 and Intel Core i5 processors. You can add up to 16GB of DDR3 1333/1066 memory to support the operating system.
The motherboard is designed to support the advanced features that today's power users are looking for. It has an 8 channel audio system and 3 analog audio ports that support Intel High Definition Audio. It also has 8xUSB and a Gigabit Ethernet port.
File sizes are getting larger, especially for audio and video, so we need more secure ways to manage our data. There are 6xSATA ports, so you can hook up plenty of drives. Since you have plenty of available connectors you can use one drive for the OS and software and have extra drives for data.
Intel Core i7 and Core i5 SupportBased on the Intel P55 express chipset, the Intel BOXDP55WB supports the Intel's latest Core i7 and Core i5 series processors, to deliver ultra powerful performance.
DDR3 Memory SupportThe Intel BOXDP55WB features four DDR3 DIMM slots to support up to 16GB of DDR3 1333MHz/1066MHz memory for extreme overclocking performance.
Gigabit Ethernet ConnectivityThe Intel BOXDP55WB features a fast Gigabit network interface for high-speed LAN connections at up to 1000Mbps data transfer rates with advanced security features to ward off malicious attacks. Gigabit LAN is ideal for supercharged seamless streaming of Internet audio and video content.
IEEE 1394a SupportIEEE 1394 is a widely used standard of interface between personal computers and digital AV equipment. With IEEE 1394a you can easily connect digital devices such as a digital camcorder to the IEEE 1394a port provided on this motherboard for up to 400Mbps data transfer speeds.
Serial ATA with RAIDThe Intel BOXDP55WB features revolutionary Serial ATA interface to provide scalable performance for storage devices. SATA technology enables easy-to-install, high-performance and low-power hard drives. The six SATA ports support RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10 for better performance, enhanced data security, and flexible capacity upgrades.
Pros: Inexpensive no-frills 1156 board. Some may complain that it does not have PS2 ports or support IDE devices, but these are dead technologies at this point and there's really no need to include them.
Cons: It's a little tight to work with. I have to remove my graphics card (Gigabyte GTX 260) in order to add/remove RAM, and the card blocks one of the PCI Express slots, but thankfully that's not something I'll need. I also had to move my hard drive and optical drive from SATA 0 and 1 to SATA 2 and 3 in order to install the card. This could be due to the fact that the GTX 260 is the biggest graphics card I've ever seen though.
Overall Review: CHOOSE YOUR RAM WISELY! I originally installed 8GB (4 x 2GB) of Crucial 1333 in this board and kept having intermittent rebooting problems. Others have reported similar issues with Crucial RAM being used in motherboards with the P55 chipset. Kingston is the only brand certified for this board so far by Intel. I swapped the Crucial for comparable ValueRAM and have not had any rebooting issues since.