Gigabyte Readies Feature-Packed Z68 Micro-ATX Motherboard

[btarunr]

Among a large selection of new Intel Z68-based socket LGA1155 motherboards taking shape at Gigabyte, is a cracker of a micro-ATX motherboard called GA-Z68MX-UD2H. Based on the Cougar Point B3 Z68 chipset that combines the overclocking capabilities of P67 and integrated display features of H67, the GA-Z68MX-UD2H squeezes in as many features as one can onto the 240x240 mm PCB. The LGA1155 socket is powered by a 7-phase VRM, and is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots for dual-channel DDR3 memory.

Expansion slots include three PCI-Express 2.0 x16. The first and third are wired to the LGA1155 socket, with electrical configurations of x16/NC or x8/x8, depending on if the third slot is populated. A PCI-E x1 and another x16 slot separates the two, creating room for graphics cards with dual-slot coolers on the first slot. The second x16 slot is electrical x4, and is wired to the Z68 PCH along with the x1 slot. Both NVIDIA SLI and ATI CrossFire are supported.



Display connectivity includes DVI, D-Sub, DisplayPort, and HDMI. There are two 2-port USB 3.0 controllers, one drives two ports on the rear panel, and the other drives two ports via an internal header (for front panel or expansion bracket).

Storage area includes three (blue) SATA 3 Gb/s ports from the PCH, two (white) SATA 6 Gb/s from the PCH, two internal (black) 3 Gb/s ports from a third-party controller, and a single eSATA 3 Gb/s port from the PCH.

8+2 channel HD audio driven by Realtek ALC889 CODEC, supporting Dolby HomeTheater, and featuring optical SPDIF output; one gigabit Ethernet interface; a number of USB 2.0 ports, a Power-USB front-panel header that lets you charge USB-charged devices with the system shut down (S5); Trusted Platform Module (TPM) interface; COM (serial) header, and DualBIOS with HybridEFI make for the rest of it. Expect the new board to be out soon.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[blibba]

Surely x8/x1/x8/x4 would make more sense than x8/x1/x4/x8 - I'd have thought that the only reasons for using multiple PCI-E slots on a board like this would be a matx SLI rig, in which case a dual slot card on the bottom slot won't fit; or a single graphics card with a sound card and revodrive, in which case it doesn't matter which way round the bottom two slots are.

In what situation, in a matx rig, is it better that the bottom bottom slot has more bandwidth than the second to bottom slot?

 

[Fourstaff]

Surely x8/x1/x8/x4 would make more sense than x8/x1/x4/x8 - I'd have thought that the only reasons for using multiple PCI-E slots on a board like this would be a matx SLI rig, in which case a dual slot card on the bottom slot won't fit; or a single graphics card with a sound card and revodrive, in which case it doesn't matter which way round the bottom two slots are.

In what situation, in a matx rig, is it better that the bottom bottom slot has more bandwidth than the second to bottom slot?

I think the idea is that if you have a 4+1 case, you can have 2 graphics cards along with another sound card, rather than 2 graphics card cockblocking all other slots. Sucks for people with a 4slot case though.

 

[blibba]

I'd have thought that the vast majority of people looking to build a matx SLI powerhouse want their rig to be as small as possible while retaining that ability. I could be wrong, though (i.e. 4 slot case).

 

[Fourstaff]

I'd have thought that the vast majority of people looking to build a matx SLI powerhouse want their rig to be as small as possible while retaining that ability. I could be wrong, though (i.e. 4 slot case).

I think its quite hard to judge, both of them have their own plusses and minuses, but the main question will be whether you are looking forward to a soundcard/revodrive/tv tuner/ whatever or not. If you are, then automatically this board shines, if not then perhaps the other is right. However, graphics cards nowadays are so damn powerful compared to what the games demand anyway, so our argument might be moot.

 

[blibba]

True story, I'd never consider an SLI or CF setup in the current gaming environment. Even if I had thousands to spend, I'd spend it elsewhere (e.g. revodrive, screen, case, new car, new house...).

 

[[H]@RD5TUFF]

That is a lot of mobo for a micro atx board!