14 DAY TRIAL // Leaked just a couple of days ago, Asus' upcoming P8Z68-V PRO motherboard based on the Intel Z68 Express chipset just got a picture preview which detailed most of the board's features as well as all the various technologies introduced by Asus.
The motherboard features a total of seven expansion slots, including three PCI Express x16 slots, two PCI Express x1 slots and two PCI slots.
Of the three PCIe x16 slots, only the first one is capable of running in an x16 mode as the second has only eight PCI Express lanes linked to it and the third operates at up to x4 speeds.
The default setting in the BIOS runs this last slot in an x1 mode as “forcing” x4 operation disables the USB 3.0 front header, eSATA ports and both PCI Express x1 slots available on the P8Z68-V PRO.
Power is fed to the processor through a 12+4 phase VRM design and the memory gets an additional two phases power.
Unlike other motherboard makers, Asus has used a custom DIGI+ VRM for the P8Z68-V PRO, which should provide better voltage regulation to the CPU.
As far as storage is concerned, Asus has decided to install an additional Marvell controller on the board that raises the number of available SATA 6Gbps ports to four from the usual two.
In addition, the P8Z68-V PRO also sports four SATA 3Gbps ports that are driven by the Z68 PCH.
Moving to the back of the P8Z68-V Pro, we see the motherboard packs six USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, an eSATA port, D-sub, DVI and HDMI video outputs, a Gigabit Ethernet connector, 7.1-channel audio jacks, an optical S/PDIF out and a Bluetooth module.
An ASMedia ASM1042 SuperSpeed USB host controller provides support for two additional USB 3.0 ports via an on-board header. The motherboard also features Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR and LucidLogix Virtu support.
No details regarding availability and pricing were disclosed at this time, but the board is expected to reach retail on May 11 when Intel plans to officially launch the Z68 chipset. (via VR-Zone)
