ASUS Ivy Bridge/7-Series Chipset Q&A
by Anand Lal Shimpi on April 12, 2012 7:00 PM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
- Intel
- Motherboards
- Asus
- Ivy Bridge
Intel officially launched the Z77 platform earlier this week, and later this month we'll see the official launch of Ivy Bridge, Intel's 3rd generation Core processors. ASUS has agreed to cart nearly everything it makes (including a handful of unreleased products we saw at CES) over to me in NC for a hands on look on video. More importantly - we're going to be doing a Q&A with you all.
ASUS and I will both be answering your questions on camera. If you have any questions you'd like to see us answer or topics you'd like us to address, respond to the comments here or mention @anandtech with the hashtag #asusivy on Twitter along with your question/topic. We won't be able to get to all of them but we'll pick the most interesting/relevant questions and answer them on camera. The topic is obviously going to be Ivy Bridge and the 7-series platform. Simple questions are fine but what I'd really like to see are topics we can have a good discussion about.
When the video goes live, ASUS is also going to let us give away some new Z77 boards as well. We'll have more details on the giveaway closer to the Ivy Bridge launch.
Make the questions good and I look forward to answering them on camera.
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zebibyte - Sunday, April 15, 2012 - link
Will ASUS ever offer a motherboard layout that puts the two 8x capable slots further from each other? Is there a technical reason we can't have 3 open slots between SLI/Xfire cards? This would really help keep the "crowded" GPU from running so hot compared to the GPU furthest from the CPU.DEFLORATOR - Sunday, April 15, 2012 - link
Please explain PCI-Ex1 lanes configuration on Asus P8Z77-V Deluxe board. The board has 4 PCI-Ex1 slots. Do PCI-E lanes come via PLX chip or directly from Z77 chipset to these slots? For example, I want to install a sound card on P8Z77-V Deluxe, and of course I'd like that the card is fed with PCI-E lane directly from chipset, not via PLX chip (due to latency, compatibility, etc). Unfortunately, Asus manual doesn't explain this (unlike Gigabyte).ashrafi - Sunday, April 15, 2012 - link
Asus is innovative ! If Asus motherboard has a dedicated USB port ( something like their Asus Rog connect usb port) for USB boot.Whatever connected to this port would be set as Default boot without changing the UEFI setting and jamming f12 for boot order. I think it simple , very marketable and Convenient for users.
unrulycow - Sunday, April 15, 2012 - link
Does UASP require OS drivers, or is it solely in hardware. If drivers are required, are they available for linux?DarkRogue - Monday, April 16, 2012 - link
The question I would like to pose to ASUS is..How do they expect anyone to figure out how their motherboard lineup looks like?
Both ASUS and Gigabyte have about a dozen models out for Z77 alone, with more coming down the pipeline. With Gigabyte, each letter of the model stands for some feature, with a higher number (eg; 3, 5, 7) denoting its placement along the full lineup.
Glancing over ASUS' models, I have to say I am completely confused. How does ASUS expect new customers, or those unfamiliar with their naming conventions to figure out it? For the record, I have owned ASUS boards in the past, and I STILL have no idea what the various suffixes stand for (-V, LE, LX, LK, Pro, Deluxe, etc.)
Is there a guide to decoding ASUS' model numbers, or is there any plan in the future to come up with a more intuitive naming scheme?
gsuburban - Monday, April 16, 2012 - link
I agree on model numbers however, from what I can see, most of the boards with the same chipsets are all the same except for features such as Wi-Fi, 4 USB ports vs. 6, IDE vs. no IDE, form factor and so forth. I think they all have the same performance specs.It would be fair to say Asus could post a chart of the various boards with the same chipsets showing what the major and minor differences are for us customers.
ertw - Monday, April 16, 2012 - link
Like many other posts here, I was a bit disappointed in the lack of Thunderbolt support in Z77 boards. When I looked over the Z77 product briefs on Intel's site, however, it looks like adding that support would require using 4 of the 16 lanes from the processor. As such, my question is whether or not my reading of that is correct or if there is there is a way to use PCI-E lanes from the southbridge for this task? If not, I'm guessing that some sort of PLX setup would be required to add both x16 graphics and Thunderbolt?On a related note, is it at all possible to make an aftermarket Thunderbolt solution or is the only option to buy a motherboard with explicit support? Naturally, it would be impossible to exploit the third graphics channel from the Z77 in this configuration - however I'd imagine that most people are more interested in the external PCI-E aspect of the bus so that's not a huge liability. I've got to replace a dieing motherboard pretty soon so I don't have the luxury to wait for TB-equipped motherboards (especially if creative solutions will be required), but I'd love the capacity to add it down the road.
gsuburban - Monday, April 16, 2012 - link
My confusion with the P67/H67 VS the Z68 and now, Z77 chipset. I'm keen on the differences between he P and H series in that the H is video ready and cannot overclock the CPU but I think that is about it.Since the H67 will overclock video only, I'm confused on what the differences are with the Z 6 and 7 series are since they also have GPU ports. I'm unsure if the H67 or Z chipsets are worth using in the event a graphics card is chosen over the Intel HD 3000 graphics.
It would be nice to see a chart with commentary showing the differences between these chipsets as Intel's website has changed so much and no longer has this in simple language.
Jorgisven - Wednesday, April 25, 2012 - link
Things Z77 supports that Z68 does not: native USB 3.0 controller, support for low-voltage memory and/or higher clocks (up to 2800 have been reported stable, with some reaching over 3000). If you're using them for gaming, the integrated GPU's are typically not sufficient for most that would call themselves PC gamers. They're a big improvement over previous attempts at GPU integration, but they are still just that: integrated GPU's. Even most basic discrete GPU's are going to trounce the Intel GPU. Also, the Z boards all support smart SSD caching, whereas the H series do not. (folks, please correct me or add on, I'm doing this off the top of my head).gsuburban - Monday, April 16, 2012 - link
Sure do like the idea Asus made for flashing and updating the bios via a dedicated USB port and the push of a button. They call it USB BIOS Flashback.