The current Gigabyte Z68 boards without graphics outputs don't have Virtu and don't have QuickSync. Why is it so hard to understand ? GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 - this one has graphics outputs. Notice the "Intel® Quick Sync Video","Switchable Graphics with LucidLogix Virtu GPU Virtualization" items. Now check out GA-Z68X-UD4-B - no QuickSync, no Virtu. Same in case of UD5 and UD7. So i repeat myself one more time again - Gigabyte Z68 without graphical output means the only feature which is usable from Z68 chipset and gives you something extra over the P67 boards is the SSD caching feature. All remaining Z68 features are unavailable. PS: You don't need Virtu for QuickSync. You need the IGP for QuickSync, which is connected to a display.
Registered to comment... I own a GA-Z68X-UD4-B3 so I thought I could shed some light on the issue. As faugusztin so graciously pointed out, the motherboard does not support quicksync. Bummer, right? Yeah it was for me to, but I knew that when I bought it. I decided that I could probably wait the extra time to convert a video. Having said that, I didn't want to run Lucid on my machine anyway. The power savings is marginal, but more importantly I own a nVidia 3D setup. The reason this becomes a factor is because lucid technology will undoubtedly hinder my 3D Vision setup. (To give you an idea, not having the correct USB drivers becomes an issue, as is running AMD C1E powersaving support). I would probably end up uninstalling it regardless. So, with that said, what benefit is there to owning this motherboard compared to the P67 UD4? Well... As donok has already pointed out, it does look quite sexy. The heatsinks are matte gunmetal grey/black and flows nicely with the rest of the board. +1 for the mobo... Although this seems to be widely disputed online, this motherboard has 16 power phases, not 12 like the p67 UD4. It does, trust me. I'm holding the box in my hand... This might be nice if you're the extreme overclocker type. I'm not, but having cpu power stability is allways a nice thing to have. +1 for the mobo. Another benafit is that there are now 8 SATA connections instead of the normal 6. In addition to this, the SATA connectors have been pushed to the edge of the board, allowing you to install right angle SATA cables if you desire... I don't, since that's dumb, but whatever floats your boat.. +1 for the mobo... Cons. Now pay attention here, as this is probably more important than you think, donok. The motherboard does not have the 1x pcie slot above the top 16x slot. This would normally be where you'd stick your soundcard. You stated that you will be running an SLI setup. Assuming you choose to buy a 1x pcie soundcard like most modern kids would, you would have to install that between both videocards. Getting proper airflow to the cards may become an issue if you choose to buy a 580 that doesn't exhaust air out the back. Most do, but not all... -1 for the mobo... maybe -2... I don't personally use an SSD, but I'm tempted to get one. Someone asked the question earlier about whether the loading times while playing movies would be improved. TaRkA DaHl gave a somewhat misleading answer. This is up in the air right now. The reason being, Dahl, that the caching on this device is at the block level, not at the file level... meaning it would be possible to cache only parts of a file, if the software chose to. No one has really given the intel SSD cache an in-depth review. Having said that, it could potentially make a difference if you own multiple hard drives. In my case, I do. All of my movies are stored on one hard drive, which is left spun down most of the days. By default, Windows 7 automatically shuts hard drives off after 20 minutes not in use. When I want to open a movie, I have to wait 3 or 4 seconds for the hard drive to spin up before playback. Perhaps intel has solved this with their SSD caching technology. I don't own an SSD yet, but I plan to find out. yeah yeah, long post, sorry.. guess you'll just have to read it.
Okay for decided to go for it. Received the mobo on Friday and looks more amazing then in the pics. Also decided to cut a window in my case (fractal r3)
Bit tech is the only tech-site around that hasn't found out yet that it can be done the other way around. Connect your discrete card to the display, and use the IGP for transcoding via Quicksync. No need for the on-board-video-out to be connected.
Why do you mix bit-tech into it ? Did you realize that i talk about the Gigabyte product page ? Do you realize that Z67 versions with H (=display outputs) in name do support QuickSync, but those without it doesn't ? Unless you give me proof that it works (which i doubt)...
No need for this comment. Perhaps understand the phrase 'if you don't have nothing nice to say don't say anything at all'
I thought this topic was about choosing between two boards and not a "i want Z68-UD4-B3 no matter what you say, just please say it's cool and it is a good buy" thread. Sorry for not understanding it on first. Shame on me for thinking you were here to discuss the +/- of the boards.
I guess you know the hardware differences, right ? P67 has 1 more PCI-E x1 port and both eSATA are 6gbps Z68 has 2 more internal SATA, 1 firewire at back panel, 1 internal firewire header, one of the eSATA connectors is only 3GBps but it is a eSATA/USB combo. The issue with positives in first post is : 1) "4 sata3 ports off two controllers (marvell and intel)" - if you are going to use all 4 SATA3 ports, then you don't really need the RST feature, as the only real reason to use SATA3 ports is to have a SATA3 SSD. But when you buy 4 SSDs, you are really not in the category of users who use the RST feature. Plus you can't make RAID from all 4 SSDs anyway, because you can't create RAID over different controllers. 2) "intel smart response if required " - if you are going to use the RST feature, then you again don't need 4 SATA3 ports, because you will probably have just one small 20-40GB SSD and mechanical hard drives. Of course, there are SATA3 mechanical hard drives - except the only reason they are labeled as SATA3 is because they can be. They are far even from the speed limits of SATA2. 3) "better overclocking" - uhm, yeah, sure, Gigabyte . If you want better overclocking, you don't buy middle range boards, and especially not Gigabyte. Just look around how many problems people have with P67A-UD4-B3, and same will be true for Z68 UD4-B3 (the differences are too small, and what really matters for OC was not changed). 4) "Onboard sound features" - the only positive thing about onboard sound on Gigabyte Z68 is that Gigabyte FINALLY moved the F_AUDIO (AC97/HDA) connector from the back panel to the side of the board. Hallelujah! 5) Looks - there are just very subtle differences between the boards, but if the blue stripe on the cooler disturbs you, then yeah, Z68 is "better looking". The famous "if I'm never going to use it" line... What are you going to do after one wrong graphics card BIOS flash, or when your card dies ? So let's sumarize : - do you plan to buy more than one SATA3 SSD ? If not, you don't need 4 SATA3. - do you plan to buy a small sized SSD and use it for RST ? If not, you don't need Z68. - do you plan to use the firewire port ? If not, then you don't need the Z68 UD4. - do you need the powered eSATA on the back panel ? If not, then you don't need the Z68 UD4. The "if I'm never going to use it" line is double sided you know, you argue for the board with features you will probably never use and dismiss the real shortcomming of the board by the line you could dismiss also the features you like on the board, because you will probably don't use them as well.
So what would you suggest ? I want top quality and a decent overclock on my i7 2600k Will be using a pair of gtx 580 and a single OCZ vertex 3 max iops 120gb. Also want to use a xonar dx sound card. Cooler will be a corsair h70 and I will use 8gb xms3 memory. Want to hook all that up to a dell ud2411 and my samsung 46" smart led tv.
So -i7 2600k - gtx 580 SLI - OCZ vertex 3 120GB SSD - Asus sound card - 8gb ram - 2TB HDD (optional 40gb SSd for intel smart response) System will be used for games, video editing, CAD and image rendering
All you need to look for is a good overclocker board, with SLI support. 1) What would be the point of 40GB SSD as cache for the 2TB drive, when you will have a 120GB SSD for system ? 2) Xonar DX is a PCI-E x1 card, right ? The only place you could put it in GA-Z68X-UD4-B3 is between the two graphics cards! Did you take that into account ?
1. SSD would keep windows and applications and games. The intel smart response raid would keep all media. Such as large CAD files and images. Just to speed loading time into application. This would keep my SSD with enough space for games etc. I work as an assistant architect. All I do is draw buildings in cad. 2. As far as the soundcard goes it was an extra I would have brought but not essential.
Fitting is not the issue. the heat from the card bellow and blocking of the intake fan of the card above could be a issue. How much data are we talking about ? Isn't a dedicated SSD a better option for this kind of work ?
Dedicated SSD would be nice but were looking at over a TB of data of drawings over the last 2 years. Having a fast way to show them to clients would help and save time. As most drawings have similar features referring back to them is vital. Buying an SSd for data is out of the question way over my £2000 without vat limit
