Asus Shows New Motherboards at Computex 2012

By Marcus Yam, Benjamin Kraft
published

If you're a fan of Asus boards, check this out.

Besides the neat ThunderboltEX add-in card, we also took a look at the new motherboards from Asus for both AMD and Intel platforms. First up are two Z77 Chipset mainboards equipped with Thunderbolt, the P8Z77-V Pro/Thunderbolt and P8Z77-V Premium

The Pro model has memory speeds up to DDR3-2600 (overclocked), whereas the Premium goes to DDR3-2800 (overclocked).

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Header Cell - Column 0 P8Z77-V PremiumP8Z77-V Pro/Thunderbolt
Socket (CPU)Socket 1155 (2nd/3rd Gen Core Processors)Socket 1155 (2nd/3rd Gen Core Processors)
ChipsetIntel Z77 ExpressIntel Z77 Express
MemoryDDR3-2800 (overclocked), max 32 GBDDR3-2600 (overclocked), max 32 GB
Graphics OutputThunderbolt, DisplayPort, VGAThunderbolt, HDMI, DVI, VGA
Multi-GPU Support4-way SLI4-way CrossFireXLucidLogix Virtu MVP2-card SLI (up to quad GPU with GTX 590/690)3-way CrossFireXLucidLogix Virtu MVP
PCI-E4 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x163x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16
SATA 6Gb/s64
USB 3.0Front x2Back x4Front x2Back x4
eSATA2 (6 Gb/s)Not available
LANDual Intel GbIntel Gb
Audio8-channel / DTS8-channel / DTS

 As for the AMD FM2 boards, specifications and pictures are as follows:

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Header Cell - Column 0 F2A85-M LEF2A85-MF2A85-V
CPUFM2FM2FM2
ChipsetAMD A85XAMD A85XAMD A85X
MemoryDDR3-2400 (overclocked), max 32 GBRow 2 - Cell 2 Row 2 - Cell 3
Graphics OutputHDMI, DVI, VGAHDMI, DVI, VGAHDMI, DVI, VGA
Multi-GPU supportCrossFireXLucidLogix Virtu MVPCrossFireXLucidLogix Virtu MVPCrossFireXLucidLogix Virtu MVP
PCI-E2x PCI-e 2.0 x162x PCI-e 2.0 x162x PCI-e 2.0 x16
SATA 6Gb/s777
USB 3.0Front x2Back x2Front x2Back x2Front x2Back x2
eSATA1 (6 Gb/s)1 (6 Gb/s)1 (6 Gb/s)
LANGbGbGb
Audio8-Channel8-Channel8-Channel
Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
38 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Shin-san
    Aw. None of the AMD boards are full-sized
    Reply
  • DroKing
    Why are they gimping on amd board comparing to intel? Dont tell me Intel is at their dirty business again trying to make themselves seem much much superior because they half ass features for AMD chipsets. This is bullsht.
    Reply
  • s3anister
    I wonder what the price premium on the ThunderNiche boards will be. The P8Z77-V is already $450 after all...
    Reply
  • sykozis
    DroKingWhy are they gimping on amd board comparing to intel? Dont tell me Intel is at their dirty business again trying to make themselves seem much much superior because they half ass features for AMD chipsets. This is bullsht.Those AMD based boards are FM2....meaning they use AMD's APUs... How many features do you really need on an entry-level/budget platform?
    Reply
  • Dragoon21b
    Hey look FM2 Motherboards...now if only there were actually CPU's to go in them...
    Reply
  • A Bad Day
    I was looking forward to higher RAM clock for the FM2 motherboards. Those APUs don't come with GDDR5 and need bandwidth from somewhere.

    DroKingWhy are they gimping on amd board comparing to intel? Dont tell me Intel is at their dirty business again trying to make themselves seem much much superior because they half ass features for AMD chipsets. This is bullsht.
    FM2s isn't a high end chipset. You can only do so much with a chipset that Intel/AMD gives you.
    Reply
  • geekapproved
    I dont understand the pic of the specs for the F2A85-V. It says VGA CARD: GTX660-2GB

    HUH? WTH?
    Reply
  • jimmysmitty
    DroKingWhy are they gimping on amd board comparing to intel? Dont tell me Intel is at their dirty business again trying to make themselves seem much much superior because they half ass features for AMD chipsets. This is bullsht.
    Intel has nothing to do with it. The FM2 socket is for, as said, APUs, not CPUs and is not a full featured as Intels Z77 chipset.

    The Thunderbolt is a seperate chip.

    And these are top of the line Z77 boards, hence the Premium tag or Pro tag. The FM2s are entry level. I am sure there will be better ones upon release.
    Reply
  • josejones
    LOL, so AMD STILL doesn't provide support for PCIe 3.0 - wow ... just wow.
    Reply
  • memadmax
    A AMD iFanboy that has no idea what he's talkin about...
    Sounds like an iApple cult member if you ask me...
    Who knew?
    Reply