The Gigabyte GA-M55SLI-S4 and the Gigabyte GA-M57SLI-S4 are desktop PC motherboards from Taiwanese computer product manufacturer Gigabyte Technology. Each motherboard is named after its basis on Advanced Micro Devices processor and Nvidia chipset technology. As of August 2011, the motherboards' last revision is rev. 2.0, with the GA-M57SLI-S4 sporting a few advantages over the GA-M55SLI-S4.
Form Factor, Processor, Chipset
The Gigabyte GA-M55SLI-S4 and the Gigabyte GA-M57SLI-S4 use the Advanced Technology eXtended form factor, with a measurement of 30.5 by 23.4 cm, or 12 by 9.2 inches. The central processing unit socket on the M55 is Socket AM2, which semiconductor company AMD introduced in 2006 for certain entries of the company's mid-level Athlon and low-end Sempron processor brands. The M57 motherboard, however, has Socket AM3, which AMD introduced in 2009. Socket AM3 not only is compatible with some CPUs of AMD's flagship Phenom processor brand but is backward compatible with CPUs of Socket AM2 and its immediate successor AM2+.
Chipset
Each Gigabyte GA-M55SLI-S4 and Gigabyte GA-M57SLI-S4 motherboard has the nForce 570-SLI chipset from graphics processing unit manufacturer Nvidia. It includes the Marvell 88E1116 Gigabit Ethernet controller for wired networking. The Ethernet controller is partly named after its ability to provide a peak data transfer speed of one gigabit, or 1,000 megabits, per second. Other integrated peripherals of the Nvidia nForce 570-SLI chipset are an Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers 1394, or FireWire, port, and the 8-channel Realtek ALC883 audio driver for the computer's stereo sound.
System Memory, Expansion Ports
The Gigabyte GA-M55SLI-S4 and the Gigabyte GA-M57SLI-S4 motherboard offers four dual inline memory module slots for the PC's system memory. Adhering to second generation Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic RAM architecture, the DIMM slots can support up to 16GB. Also included on each motherboard are seven Peripheral Component Interconnect interfaces -- two PCI slots, three PCI Express x1 slots and two PCI-E x16 slots -- for expansion cards such as network cards and video/graphics cards.
Connectors
The Gigabyte GA-M55SLI-S4 and the Gigabyte GA-M57SLI-S4 motherboard have a multitude of connectors for the PC's back panel. This includes a RJ-45 port for Ethernet, two PS/2 ports for the PC's keyboard and mouse, serial and parallel ports, two Sony Philips Digital Interfaces, and six audio jacks. Also included are an ATX power connector and ATX 12-volt connector. For connecting a hard disk drive or optical disc drive, the M55 motherboard has four Serial Advanced Technology Attachment interfaces, while the M57 has six of them.
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