14 DAY TRIAL // A recent leak has managed to uncover the names of Intel's first Z68-based motherboards to reach the market, the Santa Clara-based company planning to launch an extreme and a multimedia model, both expected to arrive in the second half of 2011.
According to the VR-Zone website, the top of the line motherboard is called the DZ68BC and the midrange model will go under the name of DZ68DB.
The Z68 chipset comes as a hybrid between the P67 and the H67 and was designed so as to allow for overclocking Sandy Bridge CPUs while using the integrated graphics.
Presently, this isn't supported by the P67 or H67 chipsets as the first one lacks the flexible display interface (FDI) that is required in order to use the on-die GPU while the latter doesn't allow for CPU multiplier adjustment.
Although most enthusiasts won't be interested in running the Sandy Bridge integrated GPU, opting for the Z68 could allow them to use the Quick Sync media accelerators packed inside Intel's second generation Core architecture.
This will significantly speed up the transcoding process without affecting the image quality of the resulting video, a feat that Nvidia's discrete graphics cards aren't capable of.
In addition, the Z68 enables motherboard makers to split the 16 PCI Express lanes available from the CPU in two x8 PCIe slots, and implements SSD caching.
However, this technology won't be supported since day one as the feature relies on Intel's Rapid Storage Technology drivers which will only add SSD caching in release 10.5.
SSD caching also requires a firmware update for the on-board SATA controller, but this will be part of the BIOS upgrade for the Z68-based boards.
In spite of the fact that Intel's Z68 boards won't become available until H2 2011, the Z68 chipset is scheduled to be released in Q2 2011 (probably April) together with Intel's budget H61 chipset.