News Intel Z68 Board on Show at MSI MOA 2011

Intel's new chipset on show for all to see in Istanbul

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2011/04/16/z68-board-on-show-at-msi-moa-2011/1

 

I still think most overclockers would want a separate graphics card.
For those building a media PC, I don't think overclocking will be a major issue as they'll want it running as quietly as possible.
I'm sure some people will want the ability to overclock the CPU and built in GPU, but not many.
More interesting is the RST SSD Caching technology.

 

Yea keep an eye out for this. I cannot comment yet though (unless Intel revealed it at IDF China, anyone?)

 

I guess many of these high end boards will have the lucid vitru solution and so will enable you to use both on cpu and discrete graphic as appropriate for the task.

Also it means that the cpu's hardware transcoder is still available which many will wish to retain the use of.

I don't know why they bothered releasing the P67 and H67 boards...this a much more complete solution to accommodate everyone's needs.

 

Why can't intel release a k version of sandybridge with no GPU.
Aren't there already hybrid hard drives with something akin to this RST.

 

What point would RST be if you are already booting off an SSD ?

Just wondering since many, if not all, high end setups (This looks a pricey board) would have SSD boot at least.

 

The opposite I assume?

 

There's a typo in the article near the beginning in the first sentence of the third paragraph:

Also that sentence is a bit misleading. It sounds like you could be saying that there's a board with 2+ LGA1155 chipsets that supports GPU/CPU overclocking. A better phrase instead of "a single" would be "any". Also, I believe that "which" should be used instead of "that" but I'm not completely certain about that.

Might as well just redo the sentence xP:

"This is because the chipset is known to offer both CPU overclocking and the ability to overclock the on-board GPU, two features which are not currently available in any LGA1155 chipset."

Sorry for being a grammar Nazi, but after seeing the typo I analyzed the sentence more in my head .

 

Interesting article. SSD caching looks like a potential performance gain, so that could be good. But otherwise, meh, why pay for extra features when a discrete gfx card will always be in play? Am I missing the point? I heard that it would be possible to effortlessly switch between the two in a kind of power/noise saving mode? Is that real, or was I sleeping?

And another typo... use of apostrophe in the its "and thus without the (B3) suffix it’s boards now carry". Its doesn't require an apostrophe unless it's being truncated from it is or it has.

 

Combined with Virtu, the Z68 should offer lower 2D power usage.

 

For the video connectors, could they not still have the analogue connector with an adaptor? The DVI connector has pins for analogue out aswell, so there shouldn't be a problem, plus how many people still use analogue connections?

But that sentence could mean that you can't get CPU overclocking or the GPU with any chipset.
The original sentence read to me as the isn't a single chipset that has both these features included.

 

Seagate do a range of Momentus XT hybrid drives like this:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/320gb-seagate-momentus-xt-solid-state-hybrid-drive-7200rpm-sata-3gb

I was looking to buy one for a quick, low-powered nettop build, (which only has space for one drive, making this ideal) but on reading differing reviews I can't make up my mind. AnanadTech absolutely loved them, whereas PC Pro thought they were an unreliable waste:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3734
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/hard-disks/360301/seagate-momentus-xt-500gb
Reading through other reviews shows a mixed bag of opinions as well.

I'm wondering if the implementation of it on Z68 means that there would actually be a NAND chip on the motherboard itself though? That would be really interesting...

 

The Sandybridge K chips without the on board GPU would be called Sandybridge-E (extreme, enhanced? Enuui?)

Anyway, SB-E isn't necessarily all K parts, but to the best of my knowledge all will be sans GPU and include quad, hexa and possibly octocore parts. I imagine the base SB-E quad are going to be about the equivelent of a 2500(k) or 2600(k) minus the GPU and build up from there (with the other SB-E perks like quad channel, 32x PCI-e lanes, etc).

 

Is triple-channel memory going to be supported in the z68, or are we waiting for the LGA2011 silicon to be released?

 

8th of may, do i get one for a bithday present?

 

Unless there are orher features or performance enhancements which have yet to be revealed I see no compelling reason to replace my P67 board when the Z68 boards are released.

 

...to simplify their product range. The biggest cost Intel would have for a single die business model is the cost of setting up the production line. If they can set up one line and then tweak to make K's or not on the package then this is a much simpler model than a line for K's, a line for K's sans gpus etc etc. Economics of porduction...

 

True, here's an edit:

"This is because the chipset is known to offer both CPU overclocking and the ability to overclock the on-board GPU, two features which are not currently available together in any LGA1155 chipset."

 

Did Paul take those pictures? If so, please tell him to improve his camera skills.

 

Depends what the idle wattages is. It'll benefit those with multi-GPU setups a LOT more in this instance though, I agree.

I'm keen to see Virtu drivers (given Lucid's history of drivers..), however, not every Z68 will come with Virtu as it costs a licensing fee - which is why AMD and NV are looking for their own free alternative.