CPU/Mobo Z68 Motherboard discussion thread

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sasikanth8

sasikanth8

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This thread was created to discuss the pro's and con's of z68.

Pro's
-overclocks SB k series from 3.7 to 5.7 Ghz and SB series from 3.7 to 4.1 Ghz
-on board and discrete graphics can be used by installing virtu
-Price approx near to P67 mobo

con's
-caching of ssd dont provide much performance differrence.

If someone posses/tested this mobo update the info on the same.
 
Where did you come up with the list???? :).

Overclocking wise even P67 can overclock same, infact SSD caching is the only real benefit of Z68
 
SSD caching starts to show benefit with only regularly used files/folders
Click to expand...

Yes,you were right and Z68 wont cache large files like movies.

Going for a boot drive and installing games and other hardware intensive apps on it will be better choice.

Heard that hybrid drives are a failure.
 
Virtu doesn't seem to be offering anything other than access to QuickSync. With Virtu enabled, you don't get the full potential of the Discrete graphics card considering the performance losses as high as 40% in games like Metro 2033. There are no savings in idle power consumption either. IMO QuickSync is probably not worth the performance losses for the avg user.

Even Smart Response is not that great. From what I read in the reviews, there doesn't seem to be any real benefit in boot times indicating that the tech probably requires software that kicks in only after booting. Also the tech doesn't seem to be easily approachable with all the head ache of setting up RAID, which is is a feature that is far from perfectly implemented on most main stream boards.

Also considering that we already have third party controllers that are specifically made to achieve this very hybrid SSD+HDD thing and usable on any motherboard, the novelty of this feature on Z68 is lost in a sense.
 
I am just hoping that the Z68 drives down the price of P67 Mobos. They are priced close to the P67 counterparts and in case they push the P67 prices down, then that will be an advantage for people getting the p67 ;)
 
Actually wasn't nVidia's destop Optimus equivalent supposed to be releasing for Z68 boards? If that happens, it would become a big win for Virtu
 
One more review-

Intel Z68 - The True Sandy Bridge Chipset - HardwareZone.com

Lord Nemesis-

I was checking the features/specs of some Z68 motherboards.

The ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe doesn't seem to have any onboard graphics ports like the P8Z68-V PRO and still LucidLogix Virtuâ„¢ switchable graphics avaliable in all ASUS Z68 models listed.

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/Intel_Z68

So the 3D graphics performance being directly off the discrete GPU will not take any hit, if any via iGPU i.e. and let us use QuickSync too. :)

On some further digging-

“ASUS is the only motherboard manufacturer able to integrate diverse new technologies in tandem on its Z68-based motherboards on launch. These include the universal implementation of LucidLogix Virtu™ switchable graphics to harness the capabilities of Intel® Quick Sync Video for faster video transcoding and the extreme performance of the latest NVIDIA® and AMD graphics cards, along with Intel® Smart Response Technology to accelerate hard drive performance and reduce energy consumption.”

ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
 
Virtu offers two modes....

1) iGPU as primary, dGPU as virtualized

2) dGPU as primary, iGPU as virtualized.

First mode will let you use iGPU as graphic output, using it as primary GPU for 2D and video decoding tasks. dGPU will kick in for 3D games and remain idle for rest. Since dGPU is virtualized it will take little performance hit, so far on an average it seems to be around ~10-15%. Although some games like Metro 2033 have shown the performance hit to go as high as 40%. There is some power saving in this mode, since dGPU remains idle most of the time. However it's not a lot as the current generation dGPUs have very good idle power states. Plus, there is a issue with wrong identification of DX runtime (DX10 vs DX11) since difference between iGPUs DX capabilities vs. dGPU, in some games. Mostly this good for average users or light gamer crowd.

Second mode will let you use dGPU as graphic output. This will be quite like using your regular dGPU as you would use now. But this mode also gives you access to QuickSync. The QuickSync performance takes a very minor hit even in virtualized state. So this option is most viable for gamers and enthusiast crowd.

As for SSD caching... the benefits of this can be questionable at this stage. But as SSD prices go down, specially for smaller capacity SSDs. throwing a 20-32GB SSD as cache could give a significant benefit as cache versus the traditional mechanical drive. Pure SSD setup will always trump this, but think of this as stop-gap solution for users on budget. Buy a second-hand or smaller SSD, throw in as cache and still get a good performance boost compared to regular HDD. Use the money saved on better GPU or other things. Of course, if your budget permits, getting a good 60-80GB SSD is always preferable. But I don't think it's right to completely write off SSD caching or hybrid drives. I recently upgraded my 3 year old macbook with Seagate Momentus XT drive, and with 7200RPM and SSD cache the overall improvement is noticeable.

On top of everything else, Z68 boards doesn't seem to be that overpriced on their P67 counter-parts. So Z68 is definitely a win-win for users, specially the enthusiast crowd. I was waiting for Z68 boards, however, now for some other reasons I've decided to push my upgrade schedule till Ivy Bridge. :)
 
There are however, couple of distinct advantages to Synergy over Vitru.

Although the details are scarce, it seems that using Synergy, one can completely shut-off the dGPU and use iGPU exclusively. Which is similar to Virtu's primary iGPU mode but with ability to completely shut-off GPU, like nVidia's Optimus for notebooks. If this materializes then it will bring significant power savings.

Secondly, while using Virtu's primary iGPU mode user don't have access to dGPU's control center (a la nVidia Control Panel or Catalyst Control Center), as the dGPU is virtualized. But with Synergy user will be able to access the dGPU control panel while using iGPU as primary display output.

Both these advantages makes Synergy much more compelling over Virtu, albeit only for nVidia cards. This is the reason why AMD should also come up with their own graphic switching mechanism for desktops soon. Till then, Virtu remains the most viable universal solution.
 
pegasus said:
So the 3D graphics performance being directly off the discrete GPU will not take any hit, if any via iGPU i.e. and let us use QuickSync too. :)
Click to expand...
From the initial reviews that I read, the iGPU must be the primary GPU in other to use QuickSync. My understanding is that QuickSync is not available at all if you use Discrete GPU as primary. I am not sure if they have a new release of Virtu that some how allowed QuickSync to work even using Discrete GPU as primary.

The Intel IGP has to be the primary display adapter for QuickSync to work, so you'll always need at least one display hooked up to the motherboard.
Click to expand...

http://techreport.com/articles.x/20911/2
 
MAXIMUS IV EXTREME-Z is Rs. 24500/-

MAXIMUS IV GENE-Z is Rs. 11950/-

P8Z68 DELUXE is Rs. 16550/-

P8Z68-V PRO is Rs. 13550/-

P8Z68-V is Rs. 12450/-

source

1. Can i play games using a dGpu without Virtu coming into picture so that it does not affect the dGpu's performance ?

2. What if i do not have a dGpu now :ashamed:, can i use the iGpu just like the way in H67 ?
 
@carbonn:

1) You can use dGPU as primary even while using Virtu and it will not affect your 3D/dGPU performance. When using Virtu if you use dGPU as primary, you get best 3D performance just like stand-alone dGPU and also access to QuickSync. So with or without Virtu your dGPU performance doesn't effect in primary mode.

2) Yes, you can use iGPU just like H67 without dGPU... as long as, you pickup Z68 motherboard with display outputs. Some Z68 boards do not have display output (DVI/HDMI etc) onboard, on those board dGPU is must. But the board which have display output options, yes, you can use the iGPU without dGPU.
 
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