Pros: intel tech support is excellent even over chat

Cons: didnt come up to bios right out of the bow with my setup

Other Thoughts: usb flash the .bio file from intels website to get your video working if your having trouble

Pros: Good board, came up for me right away. Using i7-870 BX80605I7870 cpu and Kingston HyperX KHX1333C9D3K2/4G RAM. I will use this board again.

Cons: I didn't like the SATA connections turned on the side toward the front, and lucky that I only use a very large case otherwise there would not be room to get them connected.

Other Thoughts: This board has a different layout than past motherboards I have used so you better do the research as far as memory specifications, compatible cpu's, power supply needs etc. Download that manual and read it in detal.

Pros: Decent board.

Cons: Couldn't install Windows MCE on it.
Picky about RAM.
BSOD's.
May not be as fast as other boards, depending upon your configuration.

Other Thoughts: I've been able to install Windows MCE on every board except for this one. The board is very picky about RAM. I ran Memtest and got over 1000 errors using the Intel board. I ran Memtest with the same RAM on an MSI board and got zero errors. This board is hit or miss depending upon RAM and other variables. With this board, some people have no problems, while others have lots of problems, which is not the sign of a stable board. The board was somewhat slower with basic functions compared to a comparable MSI P55 board, which is baffling. Windows 7 runs and performs faster on the MSI board. This is my last Intel board.

Pros: Very nice board (once you get it running). Am running with Intel i5-750 CPU, Crucial memory (4GB - 2x2GB) and an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Rev 2 aftermarket cooler.

Cons: On initial bringup, POST stopped at code '21' and repeatedly cycled from there. Could not get past that point. Contacted both Crucial & Intel tech support - also scanned Internet for clues. See 'Other Thoughts' below for answers.

Also be aware - the Intel Desktop Control Center for making adjustments on this board supports Vista and Win 7 (but not WinXP).

Other Thoughts: This board is very fussy as to what memory it will accept. Although the Crucial memory was rated for this board, it seems that (says the Internet) where it was manufactured makes a big difference (even though the part numbers remain the same). Some work, others won't. Crucial RMAed the memory with some they said would work but the replacements gave me the same POST problem as before. Intel gave me things to try, but they did not work and then surmised that the problem could be in either the CPU (which drives the memory) or in the motherboard (a bad memory slot). I was on the verge of returning these items when I tried one last thing. I downloaded the LATEST motherboard BIO file from Intel, put it on a USB flashdrive, put the drive into a USB port, pulled the recovery jumper on the motherboard and fired it up. After the BIOS reloaded, I set everything back to normal and when I restarted the system - EVERYTHING WORKED! Every new board I buy will now get the latest BIOS - 1st thing.

Pros: Had config I wanted. 6 SATA II ports configurable for RAID10, and a PCI-E 8X slot.

RMA'ing process was simple and painless.

Cons: DOA. Failed to POST. From the digital readout it looked like it was in some sort of loop going between the same 3 numbers over and over without any pauses. I RMA'd this board and am waiting for replacement.

Other Thoughts: I took the board out of the case and visually inspected it, looking for possible clues. Checked for blown surface mount fuses (those small green rectangular things on the top side of the board). Turned board over to examine the back. What I saw was the probable cause. Over several sections of the board there was what appeared to be discolorations like you would get from a spilled liquid, but the discolored areas were too uniform. At the edges of these areas was some sort of residue remains like it bled out of the board. Then I found defective solders on some of the pins for the RAM and a couple others elsewhere on the board. I would suggest that anyone else running into failure to POST, crashing, or voltage stability problems turn their board over and examine for defects. My hypothesis on the probable cause is just that - my hypothesis. I could be wrong.

Pros: Sounds good thats it.

Cons: Sent the first one back DOA. 2nd its doing the same as first will not boot gives codes that dont exist. Cpu checks out in other computer, RAM is good . Board is a pain. Dont know if I should keep trying or eat the loss. I reccomend chooseing a different board.

Pros: this motherboard sounds wonderfull in writing but be aware "Talk is cheap ; this motherboard does not perform anywhere near what it claims to be"

Cons: Intel drivers are incompatible with windows 7 (x64)
Intel software is incompatible with windows 7 (x64)
Port Multiplication via eSATA is impossible
The pdf file that comes with the motherboard says that it does it , all you need is vista or windows 7 but Intel support teem pretends that no drivers exist for it (very conflicting stories)
conecting any more than 6 drives (this includes your optical drives ) will cause the system to destabilize
and / or to no longer recognize your optical drives,
there are some real issues with the power phase regulator , it constantly crash to Blue Screen and reboot for no reason ... "Critical Errors ... Power Kernel warning" i have contacted Intel 8 times in North America and Europe but they don't care , all i get from Intel are fiction stories, that the problem is being investigated and the issue is being escalated to the next level but no one from Intel has ever bothered to contact me. So much for looking after their loyal customer

Other Thoughts: i have been a loyal Intel customer since Pentium2 and spent top dollars expecting a stable platform but all i got instead , was grief and deception. This is the 5th time i do a clean install of Windows 7 but it's useless, this motherboard is unstable at default speeds with liquid CPU cooler , .... the motherboard , CPU , and Intel certified ram were extremly expensive at time of purchase and never performed , it devalue by the day and does not deliver any performance ........... Never thought i would say this but "it time to accept my lost , and look into something else" Anything else could outperform an unstable DP55KG" Maybe mine was built on a Friday afternoon and was overlooked , but Intel has been completely unresponsive in regards of their faulty drivers , bios , and hardware
the 1 egg goes to newegg for its fast service , Intel deserves none

Pros: It's a UEFI motherboard with an onboard raid5 controller for up to 6 SATA drives. It supports GUID Partition Table (GPT) disks, so the 2 TB limit on NTFS/MBR is history. Windows Vista & 7 64 bit versions support GPT, so six 2 TB drives yields a useable 9TB raid5 array.

Cons: According to the nice man at Intels help desk, Intel has decided to limit bootable disk sizes to 2 TB & has no plans to change this with a future firmware upgrade. So while one can build a 9 TB Raid5 disk, one cannot boot it. A workaround is to have a small boot disk on one of the two remaining SATA ports; this only leaves one SATA port for a DVD drive tho. No IDE, Floppy, ps2 keyboard or or ps2 mouse interfaces.

Other Thoughts: Booting - It will boot multiple times/day for several days with no problems & then bam! no boot & get out the Windows repair disk. This is not for the faint of heart or those who can't figure out how to regularly back up 9 TBs.

Pros: Ran strong right out of the box!

Cons: None, yet.

Other Thoughts: This is the first Intel board I have purchaced. I've always been a loyal ASUS customer. Very impressed with Intel on this one.

Thank You!

Pros: 1) No PS/2 ports, floppy, ATAPI(IDE) ports. I am glad someone finally retired them.

2) Has Intel Lan chipset. This is important to me because I've had issues with Realtek in the past.

3) Has PCI-e X4 slot (for my RAID card).

4) Really like the BIOS layout for setting options and overclocking. I am really surprised at Intel.

Cons: 1) Not a problem but annoying to novice users: You have to populate the correct memory slots otherwise system will not POST and give Error 22. Initially I thought my memory was not compatible but after populating the DIMMS correctly system runs fine.

2) PCB fabricated in China. Looks a little low on the quality side (like most China made boards).

4) PCI-e X16 slot is a little too tight clearance to memory requiring one to pull the video card to add or remove memory. Not really a big concern since I don't change memory out often but worth mentioning.

Other Thoughts: Updated BIOS after you get it up.

Running:

I7 860
3ware 9690SA
(2) Patriot DDR3 1600 (PVS34G1600LLK) (successfully running at 1600)


Did not buy product from newegg.