14 DAY TRIAL // One of the main features that Intel's Z68 chipset brings to the table compared to its P67 counterpart is the inclusion of an FDI interface that adds support for the Sandy Bridge integrated graphics core, but not all manufacturers have decided to enable this feature in their upcoming Z68 solutions as some boards will ship without the video outputs necessary for taking advantage of this feature.
All Sandy Bridge processors that are built today come with an integrated graphics core, but using this GPU requires the motherboard to feature an FDI link.
The only consumer chipset to sport such an interface is the H67, but this lacks support for CPU multiplier overclocking, so Intel has designed the Z68 Express PCH which joins these two features together.
The chipset is expected to become available on May 11 and all major motherboard makers are solutions based on it.
However, it seems like not all the mainboards that will come to market are compatible with the graphics core integrated inside Intel's Sandy Bridge CPUs as some boards lack the video outputs required.
Until now, Gigabyte is the only hardware maker that has decided to go this route, but at least two of its Z68 solutions lack any sort of video outputs for the on-die GPU.
Without video outputs, users can't use Intel's Quick Sync technology via the LucidLogix Virtu or Nvidia Synergy driver so the motherboards are just a P67 with support for SSD caching (dubbed Smart Response by Intel).
The Quick Sync technology was designed by Intel to increase the speed of video transcoding and it manages to cut to a fraction the time needed for running such tasks.
We don't know if any other motherboard maker outside of Gigabyte plans to release Z68 Express boards without any video outputs, but it might help checking for such ports before making a purchase. (via Nordic Hardware)