Gigabyte (as we have told you) is working on remaking their image. They want to be known as a company that builds components for the enthusiast. They are, and have been, working very hard to reach this goal. Their Ultra Durable series of boards have received numerous awards and accolades from review sites and from people who have bought these boards. We have been fortunate enough to review a couple of these and have given you our thoughts on the GA-890FXA-UD7 and are working on a revised impression of the GA-P55A-UD7 as well. For now we are going to move from the big to the small. This is the H55N-UBS3 a Mini-ITX board that features the Intel H55 Express chipset, USB 3.0 and a few Gigabyte special features. Follow along as we dive into this $104.99 board and see if size does not matter.
Value -Value is another very subjective topic. What is expensive to some might be a deal to others. You can look at this topic in multiple ways. One is raw price and the other is what you get for the money. Each is accurate and both are correct ways to look at price/value. We tend to look at features, performance and real-property when we discuss value. However, we also take into account the raw cash cost of the item.
The H55N-USB3 is a small board with a small price tag. At the time of this writing you can pick one of these up for only $104.99 at most e-tailers. That is not a bad price for a socket 1156 motherboard and goes a long way to covering the cost of manufacture and the higher quality components used on the H55N-USB3. Now, you might feel that $100+ for a motherboard that only has one PCIe slot and limited options for cooling. Still you have to take into account the market this product is aimed at (although Gigabyte seems to want to change that). The H55N-USB3 is a mini-ITX board meant to be used in lost cost but high-usage systems. The PCIe slot is an added bonus and allows you to choose the level of graphics performance you like. By offering this at around $100 you are getting something of a deal. You can still build a decent system (up to 8 GB of RAM with 2x 4GB DDR3 modules) with up to a Core i7 875 (Socket 1156) and of course drop in a good GPU on the side.
Looking at the H55N-USB 3 in these terms $104.99 is not too much to ask.
Conclusion -The H55N-USB3 is an interesting product. On the one hand I love the size and the possibilities it offers. I find myself wanting nothing more than to load it up with the fastest pieces and parts I can and then see what it can do. On the other hand I see myself wanting to use it in a more “work” related area (like a gateway or unified threat management system). There are just so many possibilities available to you with this product. The price is good for what you are getting and believe it or not the HDD performance is better than many other boards on the market (even X58 boards). Gigabyte completely stands behind this product as they have organized a few overclocking events with this board at the center. The problem is that no matter how you slice it, the H55N-USB3 is something of a niche product. It does not have the same draw that your more common sized boards do. Of course with the increase in the number of ITX boards on the market and the growing number of cases available I have feeling this will be a market to keep an eye on and one that the H55N-USB3 (and follow on products like this from Gigabyte) will be a leader in. For now if you are really looking for a small, clean board with good performance and lots of options for usage, then the H55N-USB3 is one you should seriously take a look at.
