Z68 chipset motherboard w/full x16/x16 PCIe lanes?

[willardthor]

Has anyone come across a Z68 chipset motherboard which delivers full x16/x16 lanes? If so, I would really appreciate a link.

By this I don't mean
■ two PCIe x16 slots that share 16 lanes so when you use both slots, they both effectively become PCIe x8 slots, or
■ one PCIe x16 and one PCIe x8 slot

I would prefer a motherboard that does not obtain x16/x16 using the NF200 ship.

I would prefer a microATX board.

Thanks!
Willard.

 

[jaquith]

I would prefer a motherboard that does not obtain x16/x16 using the NF200 ship.

Doesn't exist and never will, the LGA 1155 Sandy Bridge has only 16 lanes to the GPU native. You'll need the NF200 or bust for x16/x16 for the Sandy Bridge <or> get an X58 MOBO and i7-9xx CPU.

IF you want and can wait the Sandy Bridge LGA 2011 {SB-E} will have Native 32-lanes to the GPU, and if things don't change the new PCIe 3.x, in other words FOUR times the lanes potential bandwidth. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGA_2011

FYI:
The better two NF200 P67/Z68 are the Gigabyte's with the NF200 and both run nearly identical, so the GA-P67A-UD7-B3 with its $305 is the better deal. SSD Caching is absurd with the high-end Z68 MOBO and since the GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 lacks the iGPU so does Quick Sync, an iGPU is required.
1. GA-P67A-UD7-B3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128480
2. GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128499

The difference between x8/x8 and NF200 x16/x16 is marginal and the NF200 adds latency.

 

[willardthor]

Doesn't exist and never will, the LGA 1155 Sandy Bridge has only 16 lanes to the GPU native. You'll need the NF200 or bust for x16/x16 for the Sandy Bridge <or> get an X58 MOBO and i7-9xx CPU.

Ech, nuts. Thanks for clearing this up, though.

IF you want and can wait the Sandy Bridge LGA 2011 {SB-E} will have Native 32-lanes to the GPU, and if things don't change the new PCIe 3.x, in other words FOUR times the lanes potential bandwidth. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGA_2011

Nice. I was planning on getting my build this summer, though

FYI:
The better two NF200 P67/Z68 are the Gigabyte's with the NF200 and both run nearly identical, so the GA-P67A-UD7-B3 with its $305 is the better deal. SSD Caching is absurd with either MOBO.
1. GA-P67A-UD7-B3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128480
2. GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128499

The difference between x8/x8 and NF200 x16/x16 is marginal and the NF200 adds latency.

The rig I am building can be found here http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/313677-31-gaming-build-good-lots . In short, I am going for an Asus Maximus IV GENE-Z motherboard http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/Maximus_IV_GENEZ/#specifications , and an i5 CPU.

 

[willardthor]

Best answer selected by willardthor.

 

[jaquith]

I just glanced at it, the i5-2500K clock-per-clock to the i7-2600K is the same for 'Gaming' no differences; games don't HT.

If you're using 3-monitors then you'll probably need 3-WAY CF/SLI unless looking at an internal dual-GPU e.g. GTX 590. Meaning I'd be planning ahead, I run triple HD 120Hz monitors and 3/4-WAY is where you're heading