EVGA P55 FTW LGA1156 Motherboard Review

Included Software


Typical of most motherboards, the EVGA P55 FTW comes with an installation disk containing drivers needed for the board as well as a few additional programs and tools. The main page of the install disk contains a link to the drivers page (see pic on right) and install files for EVGA E-LEET, Adobe Reader, and Intel Matrix Storage. In addition, there are options to create a RAID disk, view the .pdf manual, and there are even EVGA wallpapers. Navigating to the driver page, users will find chipset, audio, LAN, and e-SATA drivers.

At the top of the main page are links to EVGA’s main website, their gaming site, and mod site along with a link to register your product in order to take advantage of full warranty service.


EVGA’s E-LEET Tuning Utility is basically a system monitoring and tweaking tool built off the well-known monitoring program CPU-Z. Before we go into each tab of the tool, there is one feature worth mentioning: Logitech keyboard LCD display support. This handy feature allows information from EVGA E-LEET to be displayed on Logitech keyboards such as the G15.

The first tab in E-LEET looks almost identical to CPU-Z and includes CPU information and speeds as well as vcore readings. Under the second tab you will find your memory information including size, frequency, memory ratio, and timings.


The third tab in E-LEET includes all of the voltage, temperature, and fan speed monitoring needed for your board. Voltages monitored include 3.3V, VCORE, VDIMM, VTT, PCH, 5v, 12v, VSB3V, and VBAT along with temperatures for CPU, VREG, system, and the four CPU cores individually. If you have fans installed using the board headers, fan speeds are also included.

The next tab is where you start with system tweaks. QPI and PCIE clocks are adjustable by simply moving a slider and clicking “apply” while there is also a turbo mode control which allows for adjustments on a core by core basis. E-LEET also includes a Brink OC feature that automatically saves a screenshot with every clockspeed increase which is a great feature for benchers that are on the brink of instability but need that extra Mhz in a screenshot.


Finally, the last tab contains all of the adjustments for key voltages that are available in the motherboard BIOS. This is where you tweak voltages to get rid of that last bit of instability when looking for the ideal overclock. Voltages available include VCORE, VTT, PCH, PLL, DRAM, and four VREF voltages. The default value is also noted so users will have a reference regarding how far past specs they are pushing things. It is important to note here that voltage and clock tweaks are intended for experienced overclockers and your system can easily be damaged with the high voltages available in this utility. Novice overclockers should read and understand overclocking guides before attempting to increase voltages regardless of how easy and user friendly this software is.