EVGA features (cont’d)

Triple BIOS

Another interesting feature EVGA has added to the P55 FTW is three BIOS chips. You can use this feature for a variety of different applications.

Say for instance you want to setup different profiles for each BIOS. You could have one BIOS with the clock speeds you want for a mild OC (say for instance you need complete stability to run very CPU-intensive tasks like encoding and rendering), a second gaming-oriented BIOS that OCs the CPU even further, and a third tailored for low power consumption.

You could also potentially use this feature to test out different BIOS’es without affecting your primary BIOS. A lot of enthusiasts like to tinker with different BIOS’es to see which gives them the highest stable OC, so this is helpful for them.

Oh, and there’s also the added security of knowing you’ve got two backup BIOS’ always on tap just in case you experience a bad flash.

To switch from one BIOS to the next, EVGA includes a 3-position BIOS selector switch on the bottom of the motherboard, just beneath the PCI slot. Simply push or pull the switch from BIOS 1, 2, or 3 to flip between BIOS’es.

EVGA EVBot support

While it doesn’t ship with the motherboard, the P55 FTW also supports EVGA’s external EVBot device. This is a handheld unit hooked up to the motherboard via ribbon cable that you can use to overclock your processor on-the-fly without having to load up a software utility. EVBot can also be used to adjust voltages, PCIe speeds, and other settings you’d expect to find in BIOS.

While we haven’t seen it firsthand ourselves, EVGA says that EVBot uses no system resources, and in addition to supporting CPU/motherboard OC’ing, EVBot will also be compatible with EVGA Classified video cards like the GeForce GTX 285 Classified. Presumably you’ll be able to OC all these devices at any time with the EVBot.

EVBot has yet to be released, and EVGA hasn’t mentioned a price for this device.

Onboard power, reset, clear CMOS buttons/diagnostic LED

Like other high-end EVGA motherboards, the P55 FTW ships with built-in power, reset, and clear CMOS buttons located on the bottom of the motherboard. This is a feature that won’t apply to most of the general public, but for anyone running their PC on an open test bench (like us), this is a feature you’ll really appreciate. As an added bonus, the reset button also acts as a HDD activity LED.

A second clear CMOS button is also located on the backplate of the motherboard for handy access.

EVGA also continues to equip the P55 FTW with a diagnostic LED display, which is located on the bottom right corner of the board. This is helpful for diagnosing problems during POST. If your system isn’t booting up properly, simply look up the hex code displayed by the diagnostic LED in your motherboard manual to determine what’s going wrong (incorrect VGA/RAM installation, CPU initialization, etc).

Like the debug LED on the ECP V2 module, this diagnostic LED reads the current CPU temp once the OS is loaded, so you instantly know how hot or cool your CPU is running. Sweet!

Double play heatsink support

In addition to the standard mounting holes for LGA-1156 CPU coolers, EVGA also includes mounting holes for LGA-775, so those of you with Core 2/Pentium coolers can use your existing cooling on the P55 FTW.