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Intel DH55TC LGA1156 motherboard review

Intel DH55TC LGA1156 motherboard
Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £82
inc VAT

Intel's DH55TC is a very capable LGA1156 microATX motherboard, but there are cheaper alternatives.

Specifications

LGA1156, microATX, Intel H55 Express chipset, supports: Core i3, Core i5, Core i7

http://www.scan.co.uk

Intel’s DH55TC is a microATX LGA1156 motherboard. Its compact size and H55 Express chipset, which supports the HD-capable integrated graphics of the latest Core i3 and i5 processors, make it an appealing choice for building a home theatre PC.

There’s an HDMI port for connecting a TV. An S/PDIF header is present for connecting a surround-sound amplifier once you’ve bought the necessary backplate.

Unsurprisingly for an Intel motherboard, there aren’t any overclocking controls in the BIOS for eking out more performance from your processor. Intel would much rather you buy a faster processor instead. This isn’t a critical flaw for most people, however.

If, for some reason, you feel the need to fit a massive 16GB of RAM, then this motherboard will recognise it all. There are six SATA ports, but no RAID support which isn’t surprising for a microATX motherboard.

There are parallel and serial headers for connecting older peripherals, plus three USB headers allowing a total of nine ports if you use all USB headers. All slots and ports are sensibly laid out, with no tightly spaced slots or protruding parts to it tricky to fit components.

Intel’s DH55TC is a good microATX LGA1156 motherboard, but unless you must have an Intel board, the similar Biostar TH55B HD motherboard is better value at £14 less.

Basic Specifications

Rating ***
Processor socket LGA1156
Form factor microATX
Size 244x244mm
Processor support Core i3, Core i5, Core i7
Processor external bus 133MHz (2.0GB/s Direct Media Interface)
Chipset north bridge Intel H55 Express
Chipset south bridge Intel H55 Express
Passively-cooled north bridge yes
Integrated graphics Yes
Supported memory type DDR3 1066/1333
Maximum memory speed PC3-10600
Memory slots 4
Maximum memory 2GB
Dual-channel support yes

Buying Information

Price £82
Supplier http://www.scan.co.uk
Details www.intel.com

Internal Ports

Power connectors 1x 24-pin ATX, 1x 4-pin ATX
PCI-E x16 slots 1
Dual graphics architecture none
PCI-E x4 slots 0
PCI-E x1 slots 2
PCI slots 1
Fan headers 2
Floppy ports 0
IDE ports 0
Serial ATA ports 6
RAID chipset (max disks) none

Features

Wired network ports 1x 10/100/1000
Sound (ports) Realtek ALC888S (3x analogue out, S/PDIF header)
USB2 ports / headers 6/3
Firewire ports / headers 0/0
Legacy ports 1x PS/2, parallel header, serial header
Other ports HDMI, DVI, VGA
Cables included none
Brackets included none
Software included none

Setup and Overclocking

Voltage adjustment none
CPU clock max adjustment 0MHz

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