Z68 Motherboard Roundup: ASUS, EVGA, ASRock, GB, MSI, ZOTAC
Gigabyte Z68XP-UD4
The second of our pair of Gigabyte boards is the Z68XP-UD4, which, unlike the XPZ68-UD3-iSSD, has a svelte black and charcoal gray color scheme. Actually, it looks quite a bit like the ASRock Z68 Extreme7 Gen3 we’re covering here, right down to the all-black memory slots that make it hard to tell where to put a pair of DIMMs.
Gigabyte Z68XP-UD4
Other than the difference in looks, the Z68XP-UD4 is strikingly similar the the Z68XP-UD3-iSSD. They offer the same CPU, memory, and SLI/CrossFireX support. The Z68XP-UD4 has one less PCI-E x1 slot, but they have the same number of SATA 3Gbps/6Gbps ports and USB 2.0/3.0 ports. The Z68XP-UD4 also has a second Marvell 88E9172 chip that provides two back panel eSATA 6Gbps ports.
The two boards even have most of the same extras and utilities. The major differences between the two are that the Z68XP-UD4 lacks the on-board SSD but has some power features that the Z68XP-UD3-iSSD lacks. This board also costs less at $199.99.
The Z68XP-UD4 has a 16-phase power design for better CPU power delivery and cooling; Dual CPU Power Technology, which enables better efficiency for the CPU power phases and promotes motherboard reliability; and Driver MOSFETs that are designed to deliver more efficient power by integrating the MOSFETs and driver IC.
Gigabyte Z68XP-UD4
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| CPU: | Support for LGA1155 Intel Core i7/i5/i3, Pentium, and Celeron processors |
| L3 cache varies with CPU | |
| Memory: | 4 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM sockets supporting up to 32 GB of system memory |
| Dual channel memory architecture | |
| Support for DDR3 2133/1866/1600/1333/1066 MHz memory modules | |
| Support for non-ECC memory modules | |
| Support for Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) memory modules | |
| Onboard Graphics: | Integrated Graphics Processor: 1 x HDMI port, supporting a maximum resolution of 1920x1200 |
| Audio: | Realtek ALC889 codec, High Definition Audio, 2/4/5.1/7.1-channel |
| LAN: | 1 x Realtek RTL8111E chip (10/100/1000 Mbit) |
| Slots: | 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 (PCIEX16) |
| 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x8 (PCIEX8) | |
| 2 x PCI Express x1 slots | |
| 2 x PCI slots | |
| Multi-GPU: | Support for AMD CrossFireX/NVIDIA SLI technology |
| Storage Interface: | Chipset: |
| 2 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (SATA3_0, SATA3_1) supporting up to 2 SATA 6Gb/s devices | |
| 4 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors (SATA2_2~SATA2_5) supporting up to 4 SATA 3Gb/s devices | |
| Support for RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10 | |
| 2 x Marvell 88SE9172 chips: | |
| 2 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (GSATA3_6, GSATA3_7) supporting up to 2 SATA 6Gb/s devices | |
| 2 x eSATA 6Gb/s connectors | |
| Support for RAID 0 and RAID 1 | |
| USB: | Chipset: |
| Up to 14 USB 2.0/1.1 ports | |
| 2 x Etron EJ168 chips: | |
| Up to 4 USB 3.0/2.0 ports | |
| IEEE 1394: | VIA VT6308 chip: |
| Up to 2 IEEE 1394a ports | |
| I/O Controller: | iTE IT8728 chip |
| Form Factor: | ATX Form Factor, 30.5cm x 24.4cm |
Other than the difference in looks, the Z68XP-UD4 is strikingly similar the the Z68XP-UD3-iSSD. They offer the same CPU, memory, and SLI/CrossFireX support. The Z68XP-UD4 has one less PCI-E x1 slot, but they have the same number of SATA 3Gbps/6Gbps ports and USB 2.0/3.0 ports. The Z68XP-UD4 also has a second Marvell 88E9172 chip that provides two back panel eSATA 6Gbps ports.
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The two boards even have most of the same extras and utilities. The major differences between the two are that the Z68XP-UD4 lacks the on-board SSD but has some power features that the Z68XP-UD3-iSSD lacks. This board also costs less at $199.99.
The Z68XP-UD4 has a 16-phase power design for better CPU power delivery and cooling; Dual CPU Power Technology, which enables better efficiency for the CPU power phases and promotes motherboard reliability; and Driver MOSFETs that are designed to deliver more efficient power by integrating the MOSFETs and driver IC.
