ASUS Unveils Trio of PCI-Express 3.0 Motherboards Based on Intel Z68 Chipset

ASUS unveiled a trio of socket LGA1155 motherboards based on the Intel Z68 chipset, which feature PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (electrical x8/x8 when both are populated). The new motherboards are PCI-Express Gen 3.0 specifications compliant, complete with switches and electrical components. Leading the pack is the P8Z68 DELUXE/Gen3 in the $250-segement, followed by the P8Z68-V PRO/Gen3 in the $200-segment, and the P8Z68-V/Gen3 in the sub-$200 segment.

All three feature 16-phase Digi+ CPU VRM, an Intel-made gigabit Ethernet controller, and Lucid Virtu support. All three feature the same expansion slot loadout, with two PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (x16/NC or x8/x8), one PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical 2.0 x4), and two each of PCI-Express 2.0 x1 and legacy PCI wired to an ASMedia-made bridge chip.

The P8Z68 DELUXE/Gen3 is loaded with features, but lacks display connectivity, the bundled Lucid Virtu only works in D-mode, providing load-balancing between multiple installed GPUs. The lack of display connectors creates room for an additional gigabit Ethernet + USB 3.0 port cluster. The second gigabit Ethernet connection is controlled by Realtek 8111E. A PLX-made PCI-Express 2.0 bridge chip is used to create additional PCI-Express 2.0 x1 internal ports, driving additional USB 3.0 and SATA controllers. While the other two boards in this series use ASMedia-made USB 3.0 controllers, the P8Z68 DELUXE/Gen3 uses NEC/Renesas-made ones. Other connectivity includes HD audio, Bluetooth 3.0, and FireWire.

The P8Z68-V PRO/Gen3 is a tiny step down in terms of connectivity options, it gets rid of the RTL8111E-driven gigabit Ethernet connection the DELUXE variant has, makes room for iGPU display connectivity including DVI, HDMI, and D-Sub, and has one fewer eSATA port. The P8Z68-V/Gen3 is even slimmer, its HD audio CODEC lacks DTS decode feature, and it has two fewer SATA 6 Gb/s ports.