From $100 To $160: Five Z68-Based Boards, Compared

[johnnyb_27]

[citation][nom]Crashman[/nom]Not PS/2, just VGA. They leave the Multi-I/O controller on the board for compatibility in other areas, so PS/2 is "free" and some people still use it at the high end.Some cheap monitors still use VGA, but these boards are not for the budget market! For VGA compatibility (for external capture devices and such) they could just use DVI-I and let the oddball user who needs VGA for that oddball purpose supply his own adapter.[/citation]
Alright i see..

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]torque79[/nom]I read through the specs twice, and I still can't find Bluetooth mentioned. The ASRock board is listed as a "pro" version, does that have bluetooth? You know lots of people have cell phones that synch contacts and calendar using bluetooth right? I have a hard time beleiving none of the TH reviewers don't, so why is it never listed in your motherboard shootouts? In another recent (higher-end) motherboard shootout it was also missing.[/citation]It's listed in the "Other Devices" box whenever it appears, typically on "Media Center" boards. Check the E350 motherboard shootout as an example.[citation][nom]rflynn88[/nom]The ASRock Pro3 has 2 USB 3.0 Ports. That chart needs correction.[/citation]It's listed on the I/O panel because that's the only place those ports appear.[citation][nom]crisan_tiberiu[/nom]I am the owner of 1 Asrock Z68 Pro 3 MB. It is enaugh for me. I dont need an extra PciE x 16 slot, 2 x Sata 3 its enaugh for me, and the overclock is decent (i have the i7 2600 k, but seriously, i dont need to OC it yet ^^). Only one thing, i dont know where did u get those temps for the Z68 pro, mine isnt that hot (its between 8 -10 C over ambient...not over 20 like you said[/citation]You should try running eight threads of Prime95! These test use a thermal probe and look for the hot-spot.

 

[conejos]

I greatly appreciated the article comparing examples of top-quality Z68 motherboards. After reviewing this article, I emailed Asrock Tech Support to inquire about the presence of multiple BIOS installations on the P67 EXTREME4 (B3) as are provided on some high-end boards.
After I received their response below, I decided that one of the other Z68 motherboards would be a better choice for me.

To: Asrock Tech Support Team
From: XXXXXX
Sent: Friday, July 08, 2011 9:10 AM
To: support@asrockamerica.com
Subject: P67 EXTREME4 (B3) BIOS

Does the P67 EXTREME4 (B3) board have more than one BIOS installed? If
not, is there a way to recover if the BIOS becomes corrupted or damaged?

Thanks,
XXX



Reply from: Asrock Tech Support July 11, 2011 9:43 AM

Hi,

If you are experience the bios data corrupted, there is no any other way to send it back to where you purchase.

 

[AppleBlowsDonkeyBalls]

The MSI motherboard had a better power phase design than the Gigabyte and it also used UEFI instead of a traditional BIOS. And while I know it's not that important, it looks a lot better too.

You didn't count any of these things as benefits in the conclusion.

Otherwise, good review.

 

[jamie_1318]

man that's a funny reply for so many reasons. Not having a second BIOS is reasonable because they don't fail terribly often, but that reply has terrible English and a very negative response. They should be able to do some kind of recovery work for refurbished products so it seems strange they wouldn't accept them at all.

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]jamie_1318[/nom]man that's a funny reply for so many reasons. Not having a second BIOS is reasonable because they don't fail terribly often, but that reply has terrible English and a very negative response. They should be able to do some kind of recovery work for refurbished products so it seems strange they wouldn't accept them at all.[/citation]I've had several motherboards fail to initialize the second BIOS when the first one is corrupt. Most boards with dual BIOS do not allow manual selection.

That makes a cheap BIOS socket a more valuable option than a more expensive second chip. You can always replace the chip. Better still would be a simple JUMPER on boards that have dual BIOS.

 

[Da_Man]

i just have one suggestion to people wanna buy z68 board, STAY AWAY FROM ASROCK!!!

 

[The Halo Don]

brah!

 

[ivy_ruto]

I'm using ASUS boards... and this specifications are good to know!

 

[ivy_ruto]

I've been looking for this kind of articles and I found another website with interesting articles at www.techyv.com.

 

[ChiefTexas_82]

I really like Gigabyte's selection of z68 boards. They have a broader range of Z68 boards to offer than any other motherboard makers I have seen. Even ASRock has a gap between their $120 and $190 Z68 boards, which Gigabyte was all too happy to fill. ASUS flat out refuses to tread on anything lower than $180 so far.

 

[Guest]

a motherboard comparison, and not a word on ASUS???

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]Ebi1[/nom]a motherboard comparison, and not a word on ASUS???[/citation]Let me quote the article:

In fact, there's one popular board vendor that doesn't even have a mid-ranged Z68-based offering; everything is intended for more enthusiast-oriented environments.

Did we miss anything?

 

[jowunger]

Hi, could someone point me on what CPUs are supported by those boards? Sry, cant find it in short time I have left.

Thnx!

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]jowunger[/nom]Hi, could someone point me on what CPUs are supported by those boards? Sry, cant find it in short time I have left.Thnx![/citation]LGA 1155 CPUs. If you look at a site like Newegg or Tigerdirect, you can search for CPUs by socket type.

 

[rebel1280]

Great article TH guys, I’m a huge Gigabyte fan as Asus has taken a turn for the worst (IMHO at least). Fried my NB on my old Giga board (not enough air cooling on a liquid cooled computer) I am currently looking to upgrade and thanks to this article it has solidified what I had already been thinking was a great board! Great review and great timing may the Electron gods smile upon you this day!

*Also, I still can’t post using IE9 only Firefox

 

[Guest]

Asrock "PWM temperature above ambient" is quite high relative to other models... lower PWN number means better? i'm thinkg asrock or gigabyte... thanks for advice.
p.s. i need overclock but not gaming.

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]superpooh[/nom]Asrock "PWM temperature above ambient" is quite high relative to other models... lower PWN number means better? i'm thinkg asrock or gigabyte... thanks for advice.p.s. i need overclock but not gaming.[/citation]Yes, take the air temperature and add the temperature you see, if it stays under 80 you're OK and beyond that you're on your own. I've seen them melt down at 100.

 

[Guest]

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?

 

[Zamboni]

I'm interested in a new build and was considering the Intel board. Can anyone explain to me how the Intel board throttled itself back down to stock speed during the OCing test? Does this mean I will not be able to maintain a stable OC even if its a lower OC to around 4.4 GHz?

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]Zamboni[/nom]I'm interested in a new build and was considering the Intel board. Can anyone explain to me how the Intel board throttled itself back down to stock speed during the OCing test? Does this mean I will not be able to maintain a stable OC even if its a lower OC to around 4.4 GHz?[/citation]The system will be stable (no crashes) but the clock won't.

 

[Guest]

I'm confused as to why the Intel deserves an award here. If it won't hold a stable overclock, what's the point in buying it? Intel's H67 board will do the same thing for $25 less. What am I missing?

 

[Guest]

Ok now I am completely confused. Can someone point out a good article that outlines P67 vs H67 vs Z68. I thought the earlier two were different sockets and Cpu's made for those cant be used with the newer Z68... or am I completely wrong. With z68 I assume it uses the GPU built into the processor for minor stuff and then can switch to dedicated GPU for gaming etc, is this correct? How does it work when say you want to use the GPU for encoding video?
thanks

 

[Wish I Was Wealthy]

Bad luck you couldn't add Asus & a lot more other motherboards to boot.

 

[youssef 2010]

[citation][nom]vilenjan[/nom]What about looks? The gigabyte board looks so meh, while the MSI board is sexy![/citation]

Will you look at the board or use it?