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Z68 Express Roundup: Three Motherboards Do Battle Around $200

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  • Sandy Bridge
  • Motherboards
  • Round-Up
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a b V Motherboard
May 16, 2011 4:00:03 AM

Intel reserved its most feature-rich LGA 1155 platform for (or four?) months past the launch of its Sandy Bridge-based processors, but was it worth the wait? We compare three upper-mainstream Z68 examples to a top-quality P67 predecessor to find out.

Z68 Express Roundup: Three Motherboards Do Battle Around $200 : Read more

More about : z68 express roundup motherboards battle 200

May 16, 2011 4:27:21 AM

ASrock comes with 4 eSATA cables?
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May 16, 2011 6:23:20 AM

The first UEFI screenshots for ASRock and Asus are switched.
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a b V Motherboard
May 16, 2011 6:48:48 AM

user 18ASrock comes with 4 eSATA cables?
KisakukuThe first UEFI screenshots for ASRock and Asus are switched.
Fixed, thanks!
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May 16, 2011 8:34:08 AM

mayankleoboy1a little something from MSI would have made this more interesting.


+1
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May 16, 2011 8:38:09 AM

->Thomas

"Gigabyte’s Quick Boost application sets our processor at 200, 400, or 700 MHz beyond its rated frequency."

Just so you know. Anyways, keep up the good work!

Cheers
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a b V Motherboard
May 16, 2011 9:57:04 AM

so, basicaly there is no difference in performance between theese boards as i can see.
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Anonymous
a b V Motherboard
May 16, 2011 10:29:40 AM

hmm .. was thinking of getting an Asus P8Z68-V Pro .. not so sure now knowing that the other boards offer the same performance and are both cheaper.
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May 16, 2011 12:01:37 PM

One additional feature of the ASRock card that isn't mentioned is its set of holes matching a socket 775 cooler. That feature was the main reason I ordered one of these cards three days ago, since I won't have to spend money on a new CPU cooler.
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May 16, 2011 12:29:54 PM

So a P67 is superior... interesting.
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a b V Motherboard
May 16, 2011 12:42:21 PM

Olle POne additional feature of the ASRock card that isn't mentioned is its set of holes matching a socket 775 cooler. That feature was the main reason I ordered one of these cards three days ago, since I won't have to spend money on a new CPU cooler.


ermm thats pro, since i have a socket 775 core 2 duo atm. Any other motherboards out there that suport this?? i would love to know

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May 16, 2011 12:53:17 PM

mayankleoboy1a USB 3.0 speed comparison between them would be more informative

Agree. A USB 2.0 speed comparison would have been nice as well. Otherwise, nice review.
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May 16, 2011 1:56:01 PM

crisan_tiberiu... socket 775 core 2 duo atm. Any other motherboards out there that suport this?
The other two (cheaper) ASRock Z68 mobos do support it as well, but I haven't seen it with any other manufacturer.
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May 16, 2011 2:12:59 PM

It would be interesting to experiment with having multiple graphics cards, adding hard drives, using controllers, basically testing how performance between all motherboards is affected by eating up bandwidth by using the pci-e slots and controllers.
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a b V Motherboard
May 16, 2011 2:44:38 PM

Thanks for the excellent review. How appropriate for me, since I was just in the market for a Z68.

Also, thanks (to the commentor) for the info about the LGA 775 compatibility with coolers - I was wondering if I was going to have to replace mine...not it looks like I might be able to use it still.
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a c 150 V Motherboard
May 16, 2011 3:21:16 PM

I'm itching for June to get here so I can finally decide, BD or SB, but in either case, the mobo will likely be ASRock.
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May 16, 2011 3:21:31 PM

16/0/4 pcie is a joke. that really doesnt leave you room for much of anything. video card, i cant even use my raid card properly (x8) at that point. i hope x68 hurries up and gets here fast.

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May 16, 2011 3:28:05 PM

I sure do love motherboard roundups. Incidentally, when I ordered my 2500k, the only motherboard in stock at the time was a H67 uATX board. So I bought it, and figured that the Z68 chipset would certainly be worth the wait. I think that it is for the most part. I'm using a pretty stripped down H67 board to boot. Even running at stock speeds, the 2500k and 2600k are pretty damn fast, so I really haven't regretted the decision. It sure feels like an upgrade from an aging Phenom II/Athlon II. The Z chipset might be icing on the cake.
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a b V Motherboard
May 16, 2011 7:09:47 PM

In previous reviews of various chipsets, I've noticed that ASrock consistently has boards with slower than normal bus speeds. Perhaps this is why they are slightly off the performance of other boards (especially the ones with faster bus speeds ie over 100Mhz)
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a b V Motherboard
May 16, 2011 7:49:08 PM

huronThanks for the excellent review. How appropriate for me, since I was just in the market for a Z68.Also, thanks (to the commentor) for the info about the LGA 775 compatibility with coolers - I was wondering if I was going to have to replace mine...now it looks like I might be able to use it still.

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a b V Motherboard
May 16, 2011 7:49:39 PM

Ooops...sorry...clicked the wrong button - was hoping to edit the post, not re-post
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a b V Motherboard
May 16, 2011 8:13:23 PM

huronOoops...sorry...clicked the wrong button - was hoping to edit the post, not re-post
Here's a link to the forum, where you can edit your previous post and delete the ones you made by mistake. Get that cleaned up, and I'll delete this one :) 

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/2939-56-express-round...
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a b V Motherboard
May 16, 2011 9:17:20 PM

I spent some time reading half a dozen chipset and half a dozen motherboard reviews. It appears as if I currently have no specific reason to upgrade which is fine with me.
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a b V Motherboard
May 16, 2011 10:28:28 PM

JohnnyLuckyI spent some time reading half a dozen chipset and half a dozen motherboard reviews. It appears as if I currently have no specific reason to upgrade which is fine with me.
Z68 isn't the upgrade for people who already have P67, it's for those who were about to upgrade from something even older and would like to have its extra features.
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a b V Motherboard
May 16, 2011 11:32:10 PM

Crashman wrote:

"Z68 isn't the upgrade for people who already have P67, it's for those who were about to upgrade from something even older and would like to have its extra features."

I read about that too. I've got an Intel Core i7 860 system that I use for semi-professional work. I'm okay with it. My bottleneck is my typing skills when I'm creating code.
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May 17, 2011 2:36:41 AM

Does anyone know when the UD3H is going to be on the market?
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a b V Motherboard
May 17, 2011 5:22:33 AM

ramon zaratAbout the PLX PCIe bridge on the Asrock solution: I don't usually trust that kind of gimmick. You just can't magically make for the lack of appropriate number of PICIe lanes just by adding a multiplexer to ''compensate''. So we have *only* 4 lanes competing for 2 X USB3 controller pushing 5Gb/s, a 2 port SATA3 6Gb/s controller, a Gigabit Ethernet controller AND a PCIe 4X slot? Hummm... I want to know the downside of this setup. Please, test the worse case scenario for us: 2 X Vertex 3 SSD drive in strip connected to those 2 6Gb/s port copying files over to a 4X RAID controller card into that 4X slot with 2 SSD drives also in strip. At the same time copy some file to an external USB3 SSD drive and transfer files at gigabit speed over the LAN. Something has to give. I just want to know what to expect if I use the product to the max and when/how I'll hit the wall with degraded performances. By testing all those scenarios separately and then combining them in different ways to finally make them going on all at the same time, we will know the limit of this PLX thing.
No. I don't do mass file transfers while playing a game, and neither do you. You're setting a false dichotomy.

The PLX bridge allows you to switch between slots and controllers, or share at reduced performance, depending on activity. Kind of like a network switch. In fact, they call it a PCIe switch. Without it, you CAN'T switch between controllers, but must instead physically remove one item to activate the other.
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May 17, 2011 5:24:11 AM

One thing that isn't mentioned about the ASRock is that it has holes for a 775 socket heatsink, so no need to buy another one when upgrading! Neat
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May 18, 2011 3:22:22 PM

I'm not happy with this review. Too bland and boring.
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May 18, 2011 7:57:19 PM

This is the first and, as far as I can tell, only shootout between the top end Z68 mobo's. Now it seems as if the z68 Extreme4 is sold out everywhere. Anyone know where they're available? PM me ;-}
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May 18, 2011 10:01:06 PM

ramon zaratAbout the PLX PCIe bridge on the Asrock solution: I don't usually trust that kind of gimmick. You just can't magically make for the lack of appropriate number of PICIe lanes just by adding a multiplexer to ''compensate''. So we have *only* 4 lanes competing for 2 X USB3 controller pushing 5Gb/s, a 2 port SATA3 6Gb/s controller, a Gigabit Ethernet controller AND a PCIe 4X slot?


You read the text wrong.

"Five onboard interface controllers and two PCIe x1 slots share four of the Z68’s eight PCIe 2.0 lanes, while the other four are directed to a single x16-length slot at the bottom."

As I understand from this paragraph. Z68 has 8 PCIe 2.0 lanes.
The 4 lanes to the bottom x16 slot are dedicated.
Then there are 4 lanes that are routed to the PLX bridge and shared among 5 devices PCIe x1 devices and 2 PCIe x1 slots.

So, your raid card in the x4 slot gets its own dedicated lanes.
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a b V Motherboard
May 19, 2011 7:35:11 AM

ywchang84You read the text wrong."Five onboard interface controllers and two PCIe x1 slots share four of the Z68’s eight PCIe 2.0 lanes, while the other four are directed to a single x16-length slot at the bottom."As I understand from this paragraph. Z68 has 8 PCIe 2.0 lanes.The 4 lanes to the bottom x16 slot are dedicated. Then there are 4 lanes that are routed to the PLX bridge and shared among 5 devices PCIe x1 devices and 2 PCIe x1 slots. So, your raid card in the x4 slot gets its own dedicated lanes.
Nope, he's right. When you have five controllers (listed in the specs sheet) plus a PCIe to PCI bridge and two x1 slots on the same board, you're up to 8. Add the x4 slot and you're up to 12. The x4 slot shares bandwidth by the PLX bridge/switch with four other interfaces.

The question here is whether you want those other interfaces to be enabled. With the Asus board, you install a card and lose front panel USB 3.0 etc. With the ASRock board you install a card and share bandwidth between those devices.

The PLX bridge/switch works best if you use these devices at different times, so that no bandwidth is lost. Otherwise, the switching function makes devices share it. Again, with Asus you don't get either of those options because the other device is completely disabled.
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May 21, 2011 3:59:53 PM

I just finished setting up my Z68 extreme4. According to the device manager, the 4X slot gets a x4 lane. The two eltron and one marvell each get its own x1 lane. In other words the 4X slot, two USB3 chips and the SATA6 will not be hindered by the plx switch.

Under the plx switch, I saw the VIA, Broadcom, and the asmedia. If you add up the max theoretical throughput of all three chips, you are still under what x1 PCIe 2.0 can provide. You'd only have to worry about bandwidth problem if the two x1 slots are populated and using a lot of bandwidth.
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a b V Motherboard
May 21, 2011 11:55:56 PM

ywchang84I just finished setting up my Z68 extreme4. According to the device manager, the 4X slot gets a x4 lane. The two eltron and one marvell each get its own x1 lane. In other words the 4X slot, two USB3 chips and the SATA6 will not be hindered by the plx switch.Under the plx switch, I saw the VIA, Broadcom, and the asmedia. If you add up the max theoretical throughput of all three chips, you are still under what x1 PCIe 2.0 can provide. You'd only have to worry about bandwidth problem if the two x1 slots are populated and using a lot of bandwidth.


I have an easier solution that I didn't mention before:

1.) Get rid of the x1 slot beneath the top x16 slot. Nobody uses it because it's either blocked-out by a double-slot graphics card, or putting a card there makes a single-slot graphics card run too hot. Just ditch the slot that nobody can use anyway.
2.) Use the Intel network PHY, which ties to a separate interface on the chipset. It doesn't use a PCIe lane.

There you go, if motherboard companies did that they'd get their two lanes back. But they could actually get THREE back if they also ditched the PCIe to PCI bridge. Do we still NEED PCI slots?
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May 23, 2011 4:31:02 PM

Actually there are people who do transfers and convert from Media Center recordings to DVD's while they are playing games (on multiple monitors too). I'm one of them. And have email, skype and YIM open also, not to mention quite a few tabs in FF open too.

I work weekends where I can bring my laptop and watch DVD's, so I routinely RIP a bunch to hard disk, and then copy those over to my laptop (so I don't have to actually carry a bunch of DVD's with me). I do this during the week on my off days while I'm playing WoW with all those other programs open, not to mention usually a VM of Ubuntu and another of XP. You see my rig specs in my sig.

Now it may not be something a lot of people do, but it's not something nobody "ever" does.
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a b V Motherboard
May 23, 2011 7:33:52 PM

davewolfgang said:
Actually there are people who do transfers and convert from Media Center recordings to DVD's while they are playing games (on multiple monitors too). I'm one of them. And have email, skype and YIM open also, not to mention quite a few tabs in FF open too.

I work weekends where I can bring my laptop and watch DVD's, so I routinely RIP a bunch to hard disk, and then copy those over to my laptop (so I don't have to actually carry a bunch of DVD's with me). I do this during the week on my off days while I'm playing WoW with all those other programs open, not to mention usually a VM of Ubuntu and another of XP. You see my rig specs in my sig.

Now it may not be something a lot of people do, but it's not something nobody "ever" does.
OK! You'll want X58, at least until its replacement comes around. We even made an exception for you in the article that proved Sandy Bridge a better gaming processor for everyone but you.
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May 27, 2011 10:12:35 PM

jtt283I'm itching for June to get here so I can finally decide, BD or SB, but in either case, the mobo will likely be ASRock.


So this information is nearly impossible to discern from looking at the 10 or so boards with Z68. Is the ASRock the only one who has compatibility with 775 coolers??? I was really wanting the gigabyte or even the asus pro from this article, but it would be nice not to have to replace my 775 waterblock. (For Intel BTX platform, P4 775, AMD K8 and K7: from the Thermaltake Kandalf VD4000SWA case). Should I just get a different waterblock (that's all I would need right?) or just get the ASrock board?
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a b V Motherboard
May 27, 2011 11:08:07 PM

dinkster9So this information is nearly impossible to discern from looking at the 10 or so boards with Z68. Is the ASRock the only one who has compatibility with 775 coolers??? I was really wanting the gigabyte or even the asus pro from this article, but it would be nice not to have to replace my 775 waterblock. (For Intel BTX platform, P4 775, AMD K8 and K7: from the Thermaltake Kandalf VD4000SWA case). Should I just get a different waterblock (that's all I would need right?) or just get the ASrock board?
I don't mention the 775 holes often because so many coolers have "fixed height" spacers. The new socket/CPU package is thinner, so your 775 cooler needs spring mounting without spacers just to get proper contact with 1155/1156 processors.
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May 28, 2011 12:10:49 AM

CrashmanI don't mention the 775 holes often because so many coolers have "fixed height" spacers. The new socket/CPU package is thinner, so your 775 cooler needs spring mounting without spacers just to get proper contact with 1155/1156 processors.


Thanks for the reply! My comment was more towards the MB manufactures info pages, definitely not this site or any article writer. Mine is not fixed height, but I'm actually thinking I might wait out and get an actual 1155 block and the asus z68 deluxe board, which puts together a few more of the features I'm looking for. Can't find it selling anywhere in the US yet, but soon I assume.
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a b V Motherboard
May 28, 2011 1:17:48 AM

dinkster9Thanks for the reply! My comment was more towards the MB manufactures info pages, definitely not this site or any article writer. Mine is not fixed height, but I'm actually thinking I might wait out and get an actual 1155 block and the asus z68 deluxe board, which puts together a few more of the features I'm looking for. Can't find it selling anywhere in the US yet, but soon I assume.
The Asus board is great if you don't need the third graphics card slot, or if you're willing to give up a few features to use that slot. I'd go for option 1, unless I was just using it for benchmarks (where I can afford to give up a few features).
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a b V Motherboard
May 30, 2011 8:14:41 PM

Asrock has gained a lot of ground in the past 3 - 4 years and this Z68 board of their's is continuing the trend.
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June 1, 2011 5:19:16 PM

Tom's should have used the GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD4-B3, it has a few more features than the UD3, and I just bought this board for $190. This board is awesome, 10 USB 2.0 ports on the back IO (2 are USB 3.0), 2 ports out the front, with headers on the board to add more 2.0 and 3.0 ports.

Note of Caution:
Gigabyte's "Easy Tuner 6" cause my game to crash with BF: BC2, you get nothing but blue screen errors. As soon as I uninstalled it, my system games smooth as silk and error free.
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June 11, 2011 7:46:12 PM

Knowing that Asus and Gigabyte boards don't have PCI-E bridge can somebody answer this question:

If all 5 PCI-E slots on Asus or Gigabyte boards will be occupied with TV tuners (only require PCIe x1 mode) will all of them be able to work simultaneously?

I understand that Asrock will work with this setup but wanted to know if Asus and Gigabyte will.
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a b V Motherboard
June 11, 2011 8:50:57 PM

cherry11 said:
Knowing that Asus and Gigabyte boards don't have PCI-E bridge can somebody answer this question:

If all 5 PCI-E slots on Asus or Gigabyte boards will be occupied with TV tuners (only require PCIe x1 mode) will all of them be able to work simultaneously?

I understand that Asrock will work with this setup but wanted to know if Asus and Gigabyte will.
If you fill all the slots up with cards, one of the slots will not function.
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June 11, 2011 9:27:29 PM

Crashman said:
If you fill all the slots up with cards, one of the slots will not function.

Here is a quote from P8Z68-V PRO review on another site:

"The three full length PCIe slots run in x16/x0/x4 or x8/x8/x4 mode for GPU setups. However, the bottom PCIe slot shares bandwidth with PCIe x1 slots, a two USB ports in the IO panel and the eSATA IO port—all of these are inactive if the bottom PCIe is in x4 mode. By default, the PCIe is in x1 mode, and requires a BIOS setting change for x4."

If I understud correctly, then according to the above quote it is possible to overcome sharing limitation by keeping the bottom slot in x1 mode in BIOS.

What do you think?
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a b V Motherboard
June 11, 2011 9:40:25 PM

cherry11 said:
Here is a quote from P8Z68-V PRO review on another site:

"The three full length PCIe slots run in x16/x0/x4 or x8/x8/x4 mode for GPU setups. However, the bottom PCIe slot shares bandwidth with PCIe x1 slots, a two USB ports in the IO panel and the eSATA IO port—all of these are inactive if the bottom PCIe is in x4 mode. By default, the PCIe is in x1 mode, and requires a BIOS setting change for x4."

If I understud correctly, then according to the above quote it is possible to overcome sharing limitation by keeping the bottom slot in x1 mode in BIOS.

What do you think?
Now you're asking me to do research...but if I recall correctly the Asus board also shares one lane between the first and second x1 slots. That's why I said they should have simply left the second x1 slot off the board.

You CAN download the manual for full details, that's what I did the last time I actually researched the issue.
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June 11, 2011 10:17:39 PM

Crashman said:
Now you're asking me to do research...but if I recall correctly the Asus board also shares one lane between the first and second x1 slots. That's why I said they should have simply left the second x1 slot off the board.

You CAN download the manual for full details, that's what I did the last time I actually researched the issue.


I have read the manual. Here is a quote from it:

"The PCIe x16_3 slot shares bandwidth with PCIe x1_1 slot, PCIe x1_2 slot, USB3_34 and eSATA. The PCIe x16_3 default setting is x1 mode".

So, when they say "The PCIe x16_3 slot shares bandwidth with PCIe x1_1 slot" does it mean they exclude each other or simply share?
Or, maybe they exclude each other if PCIe x16_3 slot is set at x4 in BIOS, and share when at x1.

Your opinion is greatly appreciated as this last slot is a decision maker for me and I really prefer Asus or Gigabyte.
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a b V Motherboard
June 11, 2011 10:20:32 PM

cherry11 said:
I have read the manual. Here is a quote from it:

"The PCIe x16_3 slot shares bandwidth with PCIe x1_1 slot, PCIe x1_2 slot, USB3_34 and eSATA. The PCIe x16_3 default setting is x1 mode".

So, when they say "The PCIe x16_3 slot shares bandwidth with PCIe x1_1 slot" does it mean they exclude each other or simply share?
Or, maybe they exclude each other if PCIe x16_3 slot is set at x4 in BIOS, and share when at x1.

Your opinion is greatly appreciated as this last slot is a decision maker for me and I really prefer Asus or Gigabyte.
Thanks, I didn't feel like looking that up.

It's a four-lane slot, it gets four lanes from two x1's and two controllers. If you set it to x1, you enable both controllers and one x1 slot.

So yes, it does mean they exclude each other.
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a b V Motherboard
July 13, 2011 5:33:46 PM

Just my .02, but people whining about bandwidth and throughput limits need to wait for a higher-end product. As Crashman said, x58's eventual replacement would be more suitable for these extreme setups. For the majority of users running a single card or mid-level SLI/Crossfire setup, a sound card, and a couple of hard drives, z68 is a great solution. The Gigabyte board is a great value. I don't need a pretty UEFI BIOS, and the extra 150MHz overclocking potential I lose is negligible. An i5-2500k at 4.5GHz is more than enough.
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July 17, 2011 10:10:31 AM

About Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H-B3.
This is from the manual.
"Please note the HDMI audio output only supports AC3, DTS and 2-channel-LPCM formats."

Is this correct?
What about 8-channel LPCM, Dolby TrueHD bitstream, DTS-HD Master Audio bitstream?
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