Intel H55 chipset is a single-chip solution. The basic features provided by this chipset include six SATA-300 ports (no RAID support), no support for parallel ATA (PATA) ports, 12 USB 2.0 ports supporting port disable, embedded Gigabit Ethernet MAC (Medium Access Control) and six x1 PCI Express lanes.

ASRock H55DE3 provides four SATA-300 ports with the other two SATA ports being converted into eSATA-300 ports on the rear panel. These eSATA ports share the same connectors with two USB 2.0 ports, as we will show in Figure 5. The four SATA ports are installed on the motherboard lower left corner, so video cards won’t block them.

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Figure 4: SATA ports.

The chipset doesn’t support a parallel ATA (PATA) port and this motherboard doesn’t come with an external controller supporting this kind of connection. ASRock H55DE3 also doesn’t come with a floppy disk drive controller.

On the other hand, this motherboard comes with a legacy serial port, as we’ve shown in Figure 2 (the board doesn’t come with the adapter to use it). Several H55-based motherboards are also coming with a legacy parallel port, which is not the case of H55DE3.

ASRock H55D3 comes with an infrared circuit, so if you want to have infrared communication you will only need to buy the receiver/transmitter module and install it on the available “IR1” header on the motherboard.

This motherboard has all the 12 USB 2.0 ports supported by the chipset, six soldered on the rear panel and six available through three motherboard headers. As mentioned, two of the rear USB 2.0 ports share the same connectors with the eSATA ports. Being a low-cost product, it doesn’t support FireWire ports.

Audio is generated by the chipset using a VIA VT1718 codec, which is an eight-channel component. Unfortunately VIA doesn’t publish the technical specifications for this codec on their website. This motherboard comes with an on-board optical SPDIF output, which is great. The motherboard has an SPDIF header, so you can install an I/O bracket containing a coaxial SPDIF output if you need one (this adapter doesn’t come with the board).

The audio jacks provide independent 5.1 analog outputs, but shared 7.1 analog outputs. Translation: if you use a 5.1 analog speaker set, you will be able to use the mic in and line in jacks at the same time. However, if you install a 7.1 analog speaker set, you will have to “kill” either the mic in or the line in jack.

ASRock H55DE3 has a Gigabit Ethernet port controlled by a Realtek RTL8111DL controller, which is connected to the system through a x1 PCI Express lane and thus allowing the Gigabit Ethernet port to achieve its maximum performance.

In Figure 5, you can see the motherboard rear panel with keyboard PS/2 connector, six USB 2.0 ports, VGA output, DVI-D output, HDMI output, two eSATA ports (sharing connectors with two USB 2.0 ports), Gigabit Ethernet port, optical SPDIF output and analog audio jacks (independent 5.1 output or shared 7.1 output).

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Figure 5: Motherboard rear panel.

This motherboard comes with three video connectors, but only two of them can be used at the same time. This motherboard surely is a good option for building an HTPC (Home Theater PC), as it provides an HDMI output and an optical SPDIF output.