Z68 News: Gigabyte is done making P67 boards

That is very interesting! I am so close to pulling the trigger on a sb rig and even more so the gigabyte p67x!

Maybe now ille wait but I wonder how expensive the z68 boards will be!
 
of course

Z68 = "higher" end version of P67, commands higher premium = higher profits? :D

that saying, where are P67 mITX or more P67 mATX boards? don't tell me they all are waiting for Z68 :(
 
if this is true, i wonder if this has more to do with a constrained supply of p67 chips than strategy. as a general strategy, it doesn't make much sense (unless for some reason they're getting low pricing on z68 than p67). z68 is more expensive and will price them above the competition for the same functionality for most of the enthusiast market (while the non-enthusiast market happily buys H-variants).

however, if they're having so much trouble sourcing p67 that they'd be better off devoting all their factory time to z68 then it makes more sense. this might also explain, eg, why intel's dp67bg has yet to make it back to market.

then again, this is the only major board manufacturer that still doesn't run uefi.

personally, i'm completely nonplussed by z68. video transcode acceleration is wildly unexciting to me, and the software hack that enables it will probably negatively impact stability. similarly, ssd pricing is going to easily outrun intel's softraid drivers at the rate they're progressing, making the feature completely moot (not to mention the stability, reliability and fault tolerance issues). finally, vague promises of "better overclocking" seem pointless if i can get 4.5ghz out of p67. above that is stretching my acceptable power envelope with sandy bridge and not worth paying more afaic.
 
Doesn't make my UD4-B3 bad. Love the board, but strategically it makes sense. Z68 is a newer chipset and has slightly more use and capabilities.
 
well i've to make one more PC in near future, in which i'll get the new chipset if i like it and pass this to some one who wants it. i planned this time very carefully as i've to start saving for university. also hopping someone else other than OCZ comes with affordable fast SSD (like their vertex 3)
 
If I didn't already have an AMD card with 3 display outs, the Z68 might be appealing to connect my 2 monitors plus an auxilliary like a Cintiq, but that is a pretty niche application. Quick transcoding doesn't really appeal to me either. Maybe if I was regularly uploading Youtube videos every other day it would be a big deal, but meh.
 
Makes my decision to not touch a gigabyte p67 board easy. I need to pick one out soon so I can scratch them off the list.
 
Quick sync sounds awesome. I'm also looking to get rid of my 8800GT for my fourth monitor and push it off the motherboard instead. SSD caching sounds promising, but as we approach $1/GB it's less of a big deal. Rumors are that z68 will be launched in the next 60 days according to the latest Pcper podcast.
 
-Sn1PeR- said:
Quick sync sounds awesome.
Click to expand...
Apparently it doesn't have top notch image quality though. X264 will wipe the floor with it (though it will likely be slower).
Rumors are that z68 will be launched in the next 60 days according to the latest Pcper podcast.
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Z68 is supposed to be launched May 8th according to the 2nd link in the OP.
 
Looks like 1394 on the one and 2 x eSATA 6Gb/s on the other. That and the colors / appearance.
 
Thuleman said:
Since you have one of those perhaps you can help me figure out the difference between the GA-P67A-UD4-B3 and the GA-P67X-UD3-B3? Seems like the UD3 has more stuff and yet it is less expensive?
Click to expand...

Different power design I believe. UD4 is 12+2 phases, the UD3 (except the R variant) are 4+2? (not sure, but it is lower for sure). In theory the UD4 will OC better. In practice likely negligible difference unless you are going "extreme."
 
It won't really hurt Gigabyte that much to no longer support P67, remember there still is the H67 and H61 for the lower-end market (although they lack crossfire/sli and overclocking).
 
Cool good for overclocking the onboard graphics and cores a bit more for faster quicksync. Other than that there is nothing special about the Z68 that the P67 isnt delivering. Bout it!
 
tombew said:
I've been wondering the same thing. P68 sure seems less crippled than P67, and Intel seems to say it is just about same silicon.
So Enthusiast Users now have to drop P67...... hhhhmmmmmmm......
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Can you explain why they must replace their p67 boards with z68 ones simply because they are "enthusiast users?"
 
i guess that makes sense in some kind of alternate universe where anything intel does makes sense. i suspect anything above or at the level of a gigabyte UD4, asus p8p67 deluxe, msi gd80, etc. will go z68 only and cost about 10-20$ more in a couple months.

you know, in case you want to buy an multi-gpu capable 2-300$ motherboard and run sandy bridge integrated graphics on it.
 
I'd guess the Z68 chipset isn't really any more expensive than the P67 chipset. So, any price increases will be due to component cost increases thanks to the Japan earthquake.
 
I'm considering the Z68 for a system that will not be a gaming rig (programming, Photoshop, Lightroom, Office, Folding).
Any idea if the onboard graphics are sufficient for Photoshop? And, I presume that one could always add a dedicated video card later...right?

 
Hoping to see an 8x/8x Z68 for ~$300 or less in early May. I'm getting antsy. Just ordered my RAM. My Arma 2 playing needs a performance bump.
 
In the past photoshop could not make much of any use of a graphics card but now I believe photoshop employs GPU acceleration. So ya it would work but don't know if it would be that good of a system.
 
Thanks rudy. Hopefully someone who knows for sure will reply.

Does anyone know if the newest Photoshop uses / benefits from a discrete graphics card (for photos)?
 
Thanks for the input. Will have to see if there are any Z68 boards with video outputs...
 
Damn, I was about to get a the P67A-UD4/ram combo. I guess I'll wait another month too see what comes out so I'm not buying a discontinued mobo.
 
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