14 DAY TRIAL // Intel's extensive line of central processing units now has an extra motherboard to use as a platform, one made by Biostar and designed with the ATX form factor, as befitting of mainstream-to-high-end platforms.
ASUS could be said to have covered the AMD facet of the motherboard industry when it revealed the E45M1-M PRO, even if it was just a micro-ATX item.
Now, Biostar is covering the other side of the field, that of Intel-ready desktop platforms, going for the full ATX form factor.
The product it designed goes by the name of TZ68K+ and is, essentially, an ATX motherboard based on the Z68 chipset.
For those that don't know or just need their memory refreshed, the Z68 chipset is the one that supports Intel's 32nm-based Sandy Bridge central processing units.
As far as possible performance goes, any compatible Core i5 or Core i7 central processing unit should feel right at home in its LGA 1155 socket.
Also, with four DDR3-2200 memory slots backing up the CPU, no resource shortage issues should emerge, provided buyers also get a suitable amount of RAM.
Furthermore, though CPUs have their own integrated graphics nowadays, Biostar made sure to add two PCI Express x16 slots.
Here is where it should be mentioned that the AIB (add-in-board) slots have support for CrossFireX as well as LucidLogix' Virtu technologies.
Other specifications include multiple display ports (D-Sub, DVI, HDMI), Gigabit Ethernet, 5.1 channel audio, a pair of USB 3.0 ports and two SATA 6.0 Gbps connectors.
Finally, Biostar threw in the BIO-Remote2 technology, which lets one remotely access the system from an iOS device or a mobile gadget running Android.
Unfortunately, though not at all surprising, Biostar did not say what price the product sports, although it did set up the official product page (users can check it out at the other end of this link).