EVGA P55 FTW LGA1156 Motherboard Review

A Closer Look at the EVGA P55 FTW


Above is a map of the EVGA P55 FTW motherboard layout with descriptions of the various parts.

Similar to the rest of the EVGA P55 lineup, EVGA went with a black theme for the P55 FTW and it actually looks similar to the P55 Classified but instead of red as the second color, grey is used. The PCB is black, the heatsinks are black, and the memory and PCI slots are a combination of black and dark grey. It may sound a little boring just reading about it, but the FTW looks very sharp and has just the amount understated looks that we love so much. There are also a number of led lights around the board, each indicating something different and the power, reset, and clear CMOS buttons light up adding a nice modern look to the whole affair.


Beginning our clockwise tour around the board, we have the two 8-pin 12v connectors which provide power to the CPU. In case you were wondering what was up with this setup, supposedly EVGA provided a second 12V connector to ensure extra power and stability for extreme voltages and overclocking.

Next up we have two MOSFET coolers situated around the CPU to dissipate heat from the hotspot which allow enough space to use most coolers but the fitment of our waterblock was a bit tight. These could always be replaced with smaller coolers if there is a conflict with your CPU heatsink or waterblock.


Moving over to the CPU socket we have two sets of mounting holes: one for socket 1156 and another for socket 775. This is handy for those upgrading from a 775 system since it will save the cost of a new cooler or mounting bracket but we noticed the 775 holes do tend to leave coolers at an angle. This looks a little strange as you can see from the photo above right, but the temperatures were fine so there is nothing to worry about. This is because the offset of the 775 mounting configuration is so close to 1156 that EVGA had to put the 775 holes slightly off center to ensure there was enough PCB support.. All in all, we were happy the Apogee we have been using for a few years fit without issue.


Still in the CPU area, we have the 1156 socket itself as well as the ICS 9LPRS139AKLF clockgen chip, commonly found on x58 boards. We have word that EVGA is now using Tyco AMP and LOTES sockets for the FTW boards instead of the Foxconn sockets that many enthusiasts reported socket burn with. A few early models had Foxconn sockets but unless you got one of the first few batches you will be fine.


Next up we have a couple UPI chips which are responsible for PWM which provide switching frequency up to 1,189KHz and the cleanest possible variable power switching on the market. The uP6213A chips also provide accurate and reliable short-circuit protection, adjustable over current protection, and a delayed power OK output.

Moving up to the top left corner of the board, we have the voltage measurement points for enthusiasts to get exact VCORE, VDIMM, PCH, PLL, and VTT voltages with a multimeter. This is a nice addition since in the past enthusiasts had to read through circuit diagrams to determine appropriate voltage measurement points.


Up on the same corner of the board as the points we mentioned above, we have the memory slots and 24-pin ATX power connector which is the board’s main source of power. The EVGA FTW supports dual channel DDR3-1600+ memory and officially supports up to 16GBs of DDR3 memory.


Moving along the top of the board over to the right corner we come to the chipset heatsink and SATA ports. First of all, you may ask is that not the southbridge? Actually no, the P55 chipset controls both northbridge and southbridge functions on one chip thus eliminating the southbridge (or northbridge if you prefer) on the motherboard. EVGA chose to cool the P55 chipset with a passive cooler since it is a relatively cool running chip which in effect reduces noise by eliminating any type of active cooling on the board.

Immediately next to the chipset cooler you will find six SATA ports for connecting your hard drives. EVGA went with the side mounted ports which seems to be becoming more popular nowadays.


Next we come to the debug LED on the corner of the board and three sets of headers for extra USB ports and front panel headers to connect to your case. The debug LED is a great tool to help diagnose any issues you may have POSTing and when the motherboard has finished booting, it dubs as a temperature readout. Error codes are found in the appendix of the motherboard manual and include a brief description of what the error may be.


Above you will find a map of the front panel header for the P55 FTW including descriptions by pin type and as you can see, it is quite unique.

Meanwhile, midway down the right side of the board we find another chip which is marked 96A830W TSB43AB22A and made by Texas Instruments, This is capable of transferring data between the 33-MHz PCI bus and the 1394 bus at 100M bits/s, 200M bits/s, and 400M bits/s. Skipping the technical jargon, the TSB43AB22A runs your firewire ports.