OK, help me out...why should I purchase a Z68 motherboard?

[soarwitheagles]

Hi everyone!

Ok, today I saw a local vendor has released several different versions of the Z68 motherboard:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=chipset+Z68+&x=16&y=33

I am curious...why should I purchase a Z68 motherboard?

Can someone here help me make an educated decision?

I do see some positive changes as well as some seemingly not so positive changes:

3 Positives:

You can now do gpu overclocking and cpu overclocking + video out all on the same MB
You can now use the integrated graphics of the SB chips w/ QuickSync which improves video encoding over a discrete GPU by over 200%.
You now have SSD caching

So far, I see one very major drawback:

RAM speeds limited to 1333 for every Z68 Gigabyte Motherboard?  What is with that?

Example: GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Specs found here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128499&cm_re=chipset_Z68-_-13-128-499-_-Product

So who can help me make a well educated decision?

It's me,

Wondering Soar

[soarwitheagles]

Here's the specs I read on the GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard:
 
Discrete Graphic Card is required

Number of Memory Slots:4×240pin
Memory Standard:DDR3 1333/ 1066/ 800
PCI Express 2.0 x16:4 (2 @ x16 or 4 @ x8)
Onboard Video Chipset:None
Audio Chipset:Realtek ALC889
Max LAN Speed:10/100/1000Mbps
SATA 3Gb/s:4
CPU Type:Core i7 / i5 / i3 (LGA1155)

[Dark Mantis]

Hi Soar,

The thing is that this is the best of the best of the best....so far. In saying that though if you have a P67 motherboard then there really is no reason to upgrade unless you just want the latest and greatest. There is little difference between the P67 and the Z68 boards and the few "software" extras are going to take a while to get the bugs ironed out as always.

[runn3R]

Regarding this memory support please have a look:

"Support for DDR3 2133/1866/1600/1333/1066 MHz memory modules"
http://uk.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3847#sp

The same is written in the manual 

So Newegg must be wrong.

[soarwitheagles]

Regarding this memory support please have a look:

"Support for DDR3 2133/1866/1600/1333/1066 MHz memory modules"
http://uk.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3847#sp

The same is written in the manual 

So Newegg must be wrong.

Runn3r,

Wow!  That is a very BIG NEW EGG MISTAKE!  So sorry for posting wrong posts!  I never would have posted if I had realized New Egg has it all wrong.

Perhaps someone at Gigabyte can give NewEGG reps a call and have them immediately change their posted misinformation!  I think the misinformation can turn many, many, people off to Gigabyte's new Z68 MOBO's.

Just a suggestion!

Also, please feel free to remove my entire post/thread so others are not mislead by the erroneous specs.

So sorry!

I did not know New Egg's specs for said MOBO were false!

Soar

[Dark Mantis]

Although misleading, the thing is most people will check with the manufacturer's website for details like that if they are unsure. Quite often I see incorrect data on these retailer's sites.

[Aussie Allan]

 So just to add my 2 Australian cents worth!....in real world applications, critical to life as we know it in this reality , like gaming and image editing......... what is the Z68 platform going to give me over my now antique X58A board .....taking for granted R&R-ing as many pieces as possible out of my old Bakelite tower

 Aussie Allan

[Dark Mantis]

Hi Allan

To be fair with a fairly hiogh end setup like you have I doubt you would see any real benefit because the slight increase in performance you would see from the new CPU, assuming you would use the 2500K or 2600K on the Z68 motherboard, would be counteracted by the loss of memory bandwidth by only having Dual Channel instead of Triple Channel access.

[Aussie Allan]

Hi Allan

To be fair with a fairly hiogh end setup like you have I doubt you would see any real benefit because the slight increase in performance you would see from the new CPU, assuming you would use the 2500K or 2600K on the Z68 motherboard, would be counteracted by the loss of memory bandwidth by only having Dual Channel instead of Triple Channel access.

  You being in the Gigaloop and a masters in tinkerology under your belt, it's nice to get conformation from the top, you know thinking about it every 4 to 6 years there's a development that really kicks butt through the industry......where well over due! ...what area do you think it might be.....Memory, cpu, storage.....?  and for that matter ...What's the reasoning  of going away from Triple channel.....I understand adding the third channel didn't see the jump in performance of going to two channel from single........but performance is still performance.....why the backward step

 Aussie Allan

[Dark Mantis]

I think you will find Triple Channel and maybe even Quad Channel will enter the arena again in the not to distant future probably with socket 2011. There is a massive board in the wings that they are going to have to make a new case to hold it even and I think you will be surprised at what that has spec wise.

[Badbonji]

  You being in the Gigaloop and a masters in tinkerology under your belt, it's nice to get conformation from the top, you know thinking about it every 4 to 6 years there's a development that really kicks butt through the industry......where well over due! ...what area do you think it might be.....Memory, cpu, storage.....?  and for that matter ...What's the reasoning  of going away from Triple channel.....I understand adding the third channel didn't see the jump in performance of going to two channel from single........but performance is still performance.....why the backward step

 Aussie Allan

LGA1155 is not meant for the "high" end really, it is replacing the mainstream/performance socket 1156. It is definitely not meant to be the LGA1366 replacement! So they haven't gone away for triple channel, but are saving money which is then passed onto the consumer by only using 2 channels. The third channel as you mentioned doesn't even produce a noticeable increase except for memory benchmarks!

LGA2011 is what you want to be waiting for, this socket is likely to have the new features you are after! From the many rumours and news articles I have read this will feature 4 channels for memory and also PCI-e 3.0 slots! I think the first processors will still only be 6 cores, however.

[Aussie Allan]

  ONLY 6 cores!...Dam! Actually quad channel makes a hell of a lota sense for many reasons.....But are they too late!......... The move away from triple channel could be a sign that DDR3 is gunna get the Axe in favour of DDR4 due to be released in 2012..speed of up to 4266Mhz and kick-off density's of 8-12Gb per module have been bandied about but the real killer feature is "Point to Point connection per module with the memory controller.....here's a snip.....

 DDR4 itself is a DRAM interface specification. Its primary benefits compared to DDR3 include a higher range of clock frequencies and data transfer rates (2133 - 4266 MHz and MT/s compared to DDR3's 800 - 2133[1][2]) and significantly lower voltage (1.2 decreasing to 1.05 volts,[2] compared to 1.5 – 1.2 V for DDR3). DDR4 also anticipates a change in topology – it discards dual and triple channel approaches in favor of point to point where each channel in the memory controller is connected to a single module.[2][3] Switched memory banks are also an anticipated option for servers.[2]

 Could this be the Secret behind the LGA2012 release as all my reference points /people are being more tight lipped then normal.......Even double Malt is not having the desired effect!

 And then there's the imminent release of the next generation OCZ RevoDrve x3......reported speeds vary but 950Mbs write and 1100 read are common.and release is a in the next couple of months.  ... YeeeHaaar!

 Aussie Allan

[Dark Mantis]

Top be honest the Quad Channel memory bus makes a lot more sense in the way it can be addressed anyway. Just have to keep our fingers crossed.

And then there's the imminent release of the next generation OCZ RevoDrve x3......reported speeds vary but 950Mbs write and 1100 read are common.and release is a in the next couple of months.  ... YeeeHaaar!

You can already get 1300 Mbs read and 1000 Mbs write if you have deep pockets.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/512gb-ocz-technology-z-drive-p88-mlc-flash-x8-pci-e-ssd-read-1300mb-s-write-1000mb-s-512mb-cache

[Aussie Allan]

   1800.... My wife's still rolling around on the carpet eyes streaming........it really would mean divorce..........I'm gunna miss her!

 AA

[Dark Mantis]

Maybe she could meet up with mine and console each other!

Grats on your ton by the way!