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Lundi, 19 Septembre 2011 08:00

Round-Up: Four Z68 Motherboards From $220 To $280

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A real enthusiast chipset deserves a real enthusiast motherboard. Today we're comparing four feature-packed platforms that most folks who call themselves hardcore (and informed enough to know what hardware meets their needs) can actually afford.

Tom’s Hardware editor Andrew Ku called Intel’s Z68 Express a “real enthusiast chipset” back in May, when it was revealed that this platform controller hub is the only one able to utilize all of the features packed into Intel’s Sandy Bridge processors. Multiplier-based processor overclocking and Quick Sync-optimized video transcoding were mutually exclusive on the P67 and H67 platforms. It took Z68 to make them both accessible on the same chipset. Intel also added a much-anticipated technology that turned small SSDs into caches for mechanical hard drives (though we still recommend loading your performance-sensitive apps onto a larger, dedicated SSD if that fits within your budget).

Power users could argue that Intel's X58 platform is the only one suitable for enthusiasts, since it features more than two times as many PCI Express 2.0 lanes than an LGA 1155-based processor. However, Sandy Bridge incorporates that connectivity onto the CPU itself, facilitating quicker access. Besides, some enthusiasts don’t need the extra lanes. Those same power users could also argue that X58's LGA 1366 interface is the only one able to accommodate six-core CPUs. But we've already seen a notebook version of Sandy Bridge best those Gulftown-based chips in applications that use four or fewer cores. Desktop-oriented Sandy Bridge processors are available at even higher clock rates, and the K-series parts facilitate some pretty impressive overclocking results, too.

So it turns out that Z68 is suitable to at least some (actually most) enthusiasts. But what sets enthusiast-class Z68 boards apart from their mainstream counterparts?

Round-Up: Four Z68 Motherboards From $220 To $280

Enthusiast Z68 Motherboard Features
 ASRock
Z68 Extreme7
Asus
P8Z68 Deluxe
Gigabyte
GA-Z68XP-UD5
MSI
Z68A-GD80
PCB Revision1.031.001.03.0
ChipsetIntel Z68 ExpressIntel Z68 ExpressIntel Z68 ExpressIntel Z68 Express
Voltage Regulator10 Phases16 Phases21 Phases13 Phases
BIOSP1.1 (08/25/2011)0706 (08/05/2011)F4e (08/25/2011)V17.2 (07/18/2011)
100.0 MHz BCLK99.8 (-0.2%)100.0 (+0.0%)99.8 (-0.2%)99.8 (-0.2%)
Internal Interfaces
PCIe 3.0 x161 (16 Lanes, Shared)NoneNone2 (x16/x0 or x8/x8)
PCIe 2.0 x164 (x16/x16/x0/x4 or x16/x8/x8/x4)3 (x16/x0/x4 or x8/x8/x4)3 (x16/x0/x4 or x8/x8/x4)1 (x4, 3 Lanes, Shared)
PCIe x1/x41/02/02 (Shared w/x16-3) / 02/0
Legacy PCI1222 (Shared w/x16-3)
USB 2.04 (8 ports)2 (4 ports)2 (4 ports)3 (6 ports)
USB 3.01 (2 ports)1 (2 ports)2 (4 ports)1 (2 ports)
IEEE-13941111
Serial Port1NoneNone1 (mini)
Parallel PortNoneNoneNoneNone
SATA 6.0 Gb/s6423
SATA 3.0 Gb/s4444
4-Pin Fan2221
3-Pin Fan4344
FP-Audio1111
CD-AudioNoneNoneNoneNone
S/PDIF I/OOutput OnlyOutput OnlyOutput OnlyOutput Only
Power ButtonYesYesYesYes
Reset ButtonYesYesYesYes
CLR_CMOS ButtonYesNoneYesNone
Diagnostics PanelNumericNumericNoneNone
I/O Panel Connectors
P/S 2None111
USB 3.04242
USB 2.0286 (2, shared w/eSATA)4
IEEE-1394112 (shared w/USB 2.0)1
NetworkDualDualSingleDual
eSATA1221
CLR_CMOS ButtonNoneYesNoneYes
Digital Audio OutOptical OnlyOptical + CoaxialOptical + CoaxialOptical Only
Digital Audio InNoneNoneNoneNone
Analog Audio5666
Video OutVGA, DVI, Displayport, HDMINoneHDMIDVI-I, HDMI
Other DevicesNoneBluetooth TransceiverNoneNone
Mass Storage Controllers
Chipset SATA2 x SATA 6Gb/s
4 x SATA 3Gb/s
2 x SATA 6Gb/s
4 x SATA 3Gb/s
2 x SATA 6Gb/s
4 x SATA 3Gb/s
2 x SATA 6Gb/s
4 x SATA 3Gb/s
Chipset RAID Modes0, 1, 5, 100, 1, 5, 100, 1, 5, 100, 1, 5, 10
Add-In SATAASM1061 PCIe88SE9128 PCIe88SE9128 PCIe88SE9128 PCIe
USB 3.02 x AMS1042 PCIe2 x D720200F1 PCIeD720200F1 PCIe
2 x VLI VL810 Hub
2 x D720200F1 PCIe
(Shared w/x16-3)
IEEE-1394VT6315N PCIe
2 x 400 Mb/s
VT6315N PCIe
2 x 400 Mb/s
TSB43AB23 PCI
3 x 400 Mb/s
VT6308P PCI
2 x 400 Mb/s
(Shared w/x16-3)
Gigabit Ethernet
Primary LANBCM57781 PCIeWG82579V PHYRTL8111E PCIeRTL8111E PCIe
Secondary LANBCM57781 PCIeRTL8111E PCIeNoneRTL8111E PCIe
Audio
HD Audio CodecALC892ALC889ALC889ALC892
DDL/DTS ConnectNot SpecifiedNot SpecifiedNot SpecifiedNot Specified


Unlike some of the boards in our low-cost Z68 Express round-up, all of these enthusiast-class models are designed specifically for multi-card graphics configurations. MSI’s Z68A-GD80 is specifically intended to provide two installed cards the bandwidth benefits of PCIe 3.0 transfers, which will double the data rate once Intel’s next-generation LGA 1155 processors (based on the Ivy Bridge architecture) reach the market.

ASRock’s Z68 Extreme7 is even designed for three-way SLI, using the NF200 PCIe hub as a repeater (Nvidia Broadcast mode) to provide two of its cards with full x16 transfers.

Asus adds a Bluetooth transceiver, while Gigabyte doubles the number of available USB 3.0 connections. All four companies beef-up their voltage regulators for increased stability (especially when overclocking). Three of these boards include two network controllers, and Asus leans on Intel’s gigabit PHY in the hope of providing a more dependable connection.

But we can’t describe every detail of each motherboard on a single page, so let’s take a specific look at the details that make each of today’s motherboards special.

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