Motherboards based on the new H55, H57 and Q57 chipsets are targeted to the new Core i3 and Core i5 processors with integrated video, and MSI has so far released four different models based on H55 and one model based on H57, H57M-ED65 (a.k.a. MS-7587), which brings lots of extra features. Let’s take a look at this motherboard.

The main differences between H55 and H57 chipsets is the support of RAID feature on H57, the support of up to 14 USB 2.0 ports on H57, against 12 on H55, and the presence of eight PCI Express lanes on H57, against six on H55.

It is important to understand that with socket 1156 CPUs the integrated video is produced by the processor and not by the motherboard chipset, as it occurred until now. There are processors with integrated video and processors without this feature. The board has only the interface and connectors necessary to route the video signal generated by the CPU. You can install CPUs with an integrated video processor or without, but with CPUs without a video processor you won’t have on-board video, needing an add-on video card. Of course with a processor with integrated video you still have the option to install an add-on card and disable its video engine. For a more detailed explanation, please read our Core i5-661 review.

As you can see in Figure 1, MSI H57M-ED65 is a microATX motherboard.

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Figure 1: MSI H57M-ED65 motherboard.