Z68 Express Roundup: Three Motherboards Do Battle Around $200

[guitargamery]

well about this new controller for ieee 1394(VIA® 6315N)...i was just almost dying when i realized that it had serious issues for music production, when connecting a pro firewire device from focusrite(saffire liquid 56).. the audio was just inaudible with drop outs cracking etc, my previous system was:asus p6x58d, i7 960, and i just felt crazy to make this update to new generation chipsets: ASUS p8z68 deluxe, i7 2600k, new memory as well( 4x4 sniper 1600mhz cas7) well and another few things , i spent like 1200 euros...you know very happy waitting for the packages...dreaming when i was putting all together...but a nightmare when after installing the firewire device and installing the controllers i just realized that..something was wrong...i already read some articles about this issue..and thats for real!! now i ask asus and intel, whats wrong with you guys?? you didnt made your homework and some solid tests??? and ABOUT the overall system..was very very unstable by the way!!!they just see money i suppose, well i had and reassemble all my old System back(p6x58d\i7 960) at least i upgrade the memory for now(lol) and i will wait for a fix till i reasemble everything again...conclusion: intel and asus just broke my dream...lol but seriously..,.its a shame for these two big names, and my studio was stoped for 2 days so...anyone out there....beware

 

[pependul]

hm.... why there is no MSI z68 platform.only comparing 3 platform.

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]pependul[/nom]hm.... why there is no MSI z68 platform.only comparing 3 platform.[/citation]Let me apologize for the name change, this is the $160-220 motherboard roundup. MSI did not have a Z68 motherboard in that price range in April.

 

[alexolog]

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.

I'm a little bit confused.

Does that mean that, on the Asus, I cannot use the the slot and the front USB 3.0 even if I plug an x1 card in it?
And that I cannot use two x1 slots simultaneously?

Edit: In that case, given your recommendation not to use the x1 slot near the graphics card, how many x1 slots are available?

 

[Crashman]

Fro[citation][nom]alexolog[/nom]I'm a little bit confused.Does that mean that, on the Asus, I cannot use the the slot and the front USB 3.0 even if I plug an x1 card in it?[/citation]From Asus

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 in x1 mode.

. I'm fairly certain that in x1 mode it steals a lane from one of the other two x1 slots.

 

[Guest]

Asus has updated the P8Z68-V PRO to P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 with PCIe 3.0 compatibility. Does this new one also have the issue regarding sharing of bandwidth?

 

[coolscorpio]

Asus has updated the P8Z68-V PRO to P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 with PCIe 3.0 compatibility. Does this new one also have the issue regarding sharing of bandwidth?

 

[coolscorpio]

Asus has updated the P8Z68-V PRO to P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 with PCIe 3.0 compatibility. Does this new one also have the issue regarding sharing of bandwidth?

 

[nikorr]

[citation][nom]Olle P[/nom]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.[/citation]
i7 Sb is about 26% larger than 775, old cooler would have hard time to cool all that extra space. Ans if OC'd, forget that.

 

[nikorr]

And if OC'd, forget that.

 

[Guest]

is there any chance that u guys/girls can give me a simpel answer, does this motherboard support PCI Express 3.0x16?