(Note: this is not the GeneZ gen 3, which is looking forward to Ivy Bridge with full PCIE 3.0 compatibility, but will require a PCI-E gen 3 CPU, which will be Ivy Bridge).

Z68 is the latest of cougar point based socket 1155 chipsets that combines most of the features of the preceding chipsets while adding some new ones. It has the Integrated Video capability of H67, the overclocking capability of P67, and workstation Virtual IO capabilities (Vt-d) like the Q67/C200 series products.

Adding on to that, the Z68 brings Lucid Virtu graphics to the table and Intel’s (RST) SSD caching capabilities to give your system more features and performance without breaking the bank.

Lucid Virtu enables a combination of the integrated graphics core present in all Core I 2nd generation chips with a discrete video card for when gaming power is needed. There are two methods, combined and discrete. The first allows the user to use the integrated controller until 3D graphics mode is needed, then the discrete power kicks in. Discrete mode uses the added in video card (and monitor is connected to that card. This allows the PC to use discrete cards 24/7 but still have access to AVX encoding features of the CPU.

In the last Z68 review this was not a good trade off unless you routinely encode 1080P video into ipod format. For transcoding (one codec to another), or 1080P to 720P the difference was minimal. So the 2-10% performance detriment across the board was not worth it to save 100% of the time in ipod conversion and no time to slower conversion in high def transcoding.

SSD caching uses up to a 64GB SSD in combination with a regular HDD, giving you the low latency and performance of an SSD with the previously low cost and large capacity of a mechanical drive. It sounds incredible a way to purchase cheap SSDs and get high performance benefit. This gets tested in this review.

ASUS

ASUS comes from the last four letters of the word “Pegasus.” A mythical winged horse, it has been chosen for the company’s name because it represents Strength, Creative Spirit, and Purity. Winged (or even terrestrial) equine science is not something you will find in abundance here at TechREACTION, but rigorous testing and evaluation of manufacturers’ PC-related products is. Strength is definitely an attribute ASUS brings to the table, being the largest motherboard manufacturer in the world. Creative Spirit is epitomized both by being early to market with new technologies as well as the aesthetics they put into their product designs. Purity is exemplified by the total package experience. Products that go above and beyond what one expects, and a knowledgeable staff to help get you working or playing beyond your expectations.

Republic of Gamers

For years since its establishment, ASUS aimed to put an ever-greater emphasis on PC gaming. This process resulted in the 2006 founding of the Republic of Gamers brand (ROG), formed for the sole purpose of delivering the most innovative hardcore hardware for truly dedicated gamers. 
 
Since then, the efforts of the ROG team have led to a constant flow of PC gaming technology that has become legendary among enthusiasts for its performance. ROG is more than just hardware, though – we take an active part in the global gaming community, helping develop the industry by sponsoring events such as QuakeCon, BlizzCon and Dreamhack. Worldwide media have recognized ROG as a leader in PC gaming, with many of our products winning awards and gaining very positive feedback from hardware pros. 
 
With this great response from gamers and the industry, ROG has all the resources it needs to keep working on enabling even better experiences – technology never sleeps, nor should the action!

Packaging:

The video card:

Specifications and features:

Next: Test System, and Overclocking

SilverStone engineers aim to create another first-class, no-holds-barred chassis with the Temjin TJ11. The TJ11 incorporates some great features from past SilverStone products along with new designs, such as the “Air Penetrator” fans, to help achieve this goal. In addition, there are plenty of ergonomic touches, such as quick access filters, hot-swappable hard drive bays, removable motherboard tray, CPU back plate cutout, and optimized cable routing paths to keep your system running as efficiently as possible.

For hardcore enthusiasts, the all-aluminum TJ11 was specifically designed to be easy to work with, as the entire chassis is free of rivets, so everything can be taken apart. It also has a larger “downstairs” compartment than the TJ07, built to house the largest 4×140mm radiators available on the market.

The potential and the flexibility of TJ11 should be unrivaled in today’s marketplace. However, we will be tossing the TJ11 on our test bench to find out just how good Silverstone did in the creation of the TJ11. Let’s see how it stands up to these lofty expectations, shall we?

Packaging:

Specifications and Features:

Next: A look at the Silverstone Temjin Series TJ11

The P8P67 PRO is one of the latest Cougar Point motherboards from ASUS for the LGA 1155 “Sandy Bridge” architecture. Targeted between the basic P8P67 and the Deluxe, the motherboard aims to bring nearly all of the power of the Deluxe, at a more modest price point.

For a more detailed breakdown of the Sandy Bridge Architecture with features like ASUS DIP2 and Digi+ VRM (covered in brief in this review), please check out the P8P67 Deluxe review.

The P8P67 Pro brings choices to the table. Without the added cost of a PCIE PLX chip, the Pro still brings 3 PCIE x16 slots and 2 PCIE x1 slots into play leaving the exact configuration up to the user, because not all slots can run at the same time.

The Pro version of the P8P67 series includes: integrated Bluetooth connectivity, DTS Ultra-PC audio license, and an Intel Network device to socket 1155 much like the Deluxe. It lacks the full bandwidth of the Deluxe model, and focuses on users that are not running multiple GPUs with bandwidth-hungry SATA3 (6GB/sec) and USB3 devices.

ASUS

ASUS comes from the last four letters of the word “Pegasus.” A mythical winged horse, it has been chosen for the company’s name because it represents Strength, Creative Spirit, and Purity. Winged (or even terrestrial) equine science is not something you will find in abundance here at TechREACTION, but rigorous testing and evaluation of manufacturers’ PC-related products is. Strength is definitely an attribute ASUS brings to the table, being the largest motherboard manufacturer in the world. Creative Spirit is epitomized both by being early to market with new technologies as well as the aesthetics they put into their product designs. Purity is exemplified by the total package experience. Products that go above and beyond what one expects, and a knowledgeable staff to help get you working or playing beyond your expectations.

Next: Specifications & Packaging

As Netbooks become more and more popular in our lives, it will be nice to know you can extend the Netbooks life longer with a few easy upgrades you can do yourself. Most Netbooks will come with 1GB of RAM, which in todays world or memory hogging applications, is an extremely minuscule amount of RAM. You could get some work done, but if you wanted multiple programs open or even multiple documents open at the same time, you will start to push the boundaries of the 1GB capability. I ran into this problem, which was most noticeable while typing reviews and trying to listen to music on Youtube and Pandora. I would start to get random freezes in my system, which would make me want to toss the Netbook out of the window from pure frustration! The multiple tabs in my Firefox and Chrome browsers were too much for the lonely little 1GB stick of RAM. I finally had enough and bought a Crucial 2GB stick of RAM, max for my Netbook, and decided to install it while taking some pictures to share with everyone else.

Model and Specs:

Uninstalling The RAM:

To get started, turn your Netbook over and you should see something close to this.

Before we do anything, we will need to make sure the power brick is uninstalled for safety reasons. Better safe than sorry as the old adage goes. To do this, find the two buttons highlighted and push them inwards and the power brick will be released.

Once the power brick is out of the way, find the highlighted area on your Netbook. Once you lift of the tab you will find a screw, unscrew it and give the tab a good yank. We basically had to pry the cover off because it was stuck on there pretty good.

Once you get the covering off, you will be greeted by your RAM. There will be two clips, one on each side, holding it into place. Take a look at the second picture for an up close look at what I am talking about with the clips. Just use your finger and pull it back on both sides, like you see in the bottom picture.

When both locking mechanisms have been pulled back, the RAM can pop up to be installed/uninstalled. From here the RAM will slide out nice and easy for you.

Installing The New RAM:

Once you get the old stick of RAM out, just slide in your new stick like you see above. Make sure it is fully inserted, which we have highlighted in the picture. It should look exactly like this if it is installed correctly.

Now back to the locking mechanisms for the RAM. Push down on the memory to get it ready for locking in place and then push the clips back into place. It should look like the highlighted area in the picture if done correctly.

Let’s double check your installation real fast. Make sure both locking mechanisms are pushed in holding the RAM down in a locked position, and make sure the RAM is fully inserted into the RAM slot. It should look exactly like above if done correctly.

To shut the covering, line up the two pieces that you see highlighted above and insert them. Once that is done, push down on the covering and it will pop back in place.

Now that the covering plate is back on, make sure to tighten the screw back to make sure the plate does not come off. You have now, hopefully, successfully installed your new RAM. Install your power brick back and boot up your Netbook to see if it has been successful.

Final Thoughts:

The plate covering the RAM is somewhat of a pain to get off, like we said above we had to somewhat pry it off. Overall everything was simple and easy to do, took about 10-15 minutes to complete.

I must warn you that my 1015PN was extremely picky about what type of RAM was installed. I went through about 3 different types before I found one it liked. This RAM from Crucial was the winner after all the time spent to find compatible RAM for this ASUS Netbook. Now my Netbook does not freeze or stutter when I have multiple applications open, which makes me very happy.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments section or join our Forums to ask your questions there.

Stay tuned for a new “How To: changing hard drives in your laptop” … coming soon!

Packaging:

The ASUS HD 6950:

Specifications:

Next: Test System & Overclocking

With the new release of the GTX 550 Ti upon us, we have the ASUS factory overclocked GTX550 Ti DirectCU TOP for review today. The 550 Ti is not intended to a be top contender in the market, but rather a lower-end card with great upgrading potential via overclocking and SLI. With the ASUS 550 Ti coming with the DirectCU cooling solution, we anticipate seeing some very low temperatures. The ASUS GTX 550 also comes with SAP (Super Alloy Power) design which is said to deliver 15% performance boost over non-SAP models, 2.5 times longer lifespan, and run 35C cooler. Now let’s move on past all of the niceties and get on to why you are really here, the actual results. Read on…

Packaging:

The ASUS GTX550 Ti:

Specifications:

Next: Test System & Overclocking

Gigabyte has been on a role in the last few years with their mid-range lineup of motherboards, specifically the UD3 and UD4 series, have a huge following and are highly regarded within the community.  They have earned their spot for good reason too, and the value pricing combined with top notch overclocking capabilities have been a tough act to follow.  With the release of Intel’s latest platform, will the Gigabyte mid-range hold onto it’s competitive edge? 

The Gigabyte P67A-UD4

P67A-UD4 & box

The motherboard that we have for you today sits right in the middle of the P67 lineup at $189.99.  It carries the “Ultra Durable 4″ naming scheme of it’s predecessors, which indicates a balance between price and features, in comparison with the UD3 line and the higher end UD5 and UD7.  For example, the UD4 shares the Realtek ALC892 audio codec of the UD3 boards, but supports Crossfire and SLI technology like the UD5 and UD7 boards.  However, if you plan to run two graphics cards in your system, whether AMD or Nvidia based, this is the least expensive solution that will support a dual PCIe x8 configuration.  It also splits the difference with a 12 phase VRM design, compared to a 6 phase design on the UD3, and a 20 or 24 phase on the UD5 or UD7 respectively. 

A Closer Inspection

On paper that means the UD4 is the best choice for a serious gaming machine or workstation at a mid-range price.  The UD5 and UD7 do have compelling features, but the difference in price will make the UD4 the choice for most cost sensitive buyers.  The question is; does the UD4 have what it takes to convince buyers in this highly competitive market? 

P67A-UD4 layout

We are big fans of the new color scheme, it’s aesthetically pleasing while remaining unique.  This is the first time we’ve seen a matte black PCB on a mass production motherboard and looks great!  The UD4 only includes 4x fan headers, which is about average for a mid range board, however 5x or more would make it a bit more appealing. 

P67A-UD4 top

The board supports up to four 8GB DDR3 DIMMs and has a 12 phase VRM design cooled by a robust heatsink. 

P67A-UD4 onboard I/O

1. 1 x front panel audio header
2. 1 x S/PDIF Out header
3. 3 x USB 2.0/1.1 headers
4. 1 x USB 3.0/2.0 header
5. 1 x serial port header

It’s also worth noting that the UD4 does not feature any on-board buttons. This makes using the board on a test bench a bit more tedious, but for most users, it will be a non-issue.  The CMOS jumper may be an issue for many users (more on that in a bit). 

P67A-UD4 storage

1. 2 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
2. 4 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors

The P67 chipset supports native control of up to 6 SATA hard disk drives, two of which can be SATA3 devices.  There aren’t any 3rd party controllers built-in, so no legacy IDE drives here.  In order to get more storage options, you’d have to step all the way up to the UD7, or simply add on a 3rd party PCI/PCIe controller.  The board does have Gigabyte’s DualBIOS™ technology for redundancy in case of BIOS corruption.  Gigabyte also claims 3GB+ boot compatibility, typically a limitation of this “old” BIOS technology.  Gigabyte is also promising compatibility with UEFI in the future. 

P67A-UD4 PCIe layout

The UD4 has a fairly straightforward layout with two physical PCIe x16 slots for dual graphics cards.  If only the top slot is occupied, it operates electrically at PCIe x16.  When both slots are in use, each one operates electrically at PCIe x8. 

P67A-UD4 CPU socket

The LGA1155 socket will accept all aftermarket cooling solutions developed for the LGA1156 socket as well.  Here you can see the 12 phase VRM design, which Gigabyte actually calls a 6+6 design allowing the board to run on only 6 phases to save power when the CPU isn’t fully loaded. 

P67A-UD4 back panel I/O

1. 1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse port
2. 1 x coaxial S/PDIF Out connector
3. 1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector
4. 8 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports
5. 2 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports
6. 2 x eSATA 6Gb/s ports
7. Gigabit ethernet jack
8. 6 standard analoug audio connectors

P67A-UD4 backside

Next: Overclocking on the UD4…

ASUS comes from the last four letters of the word Pegasus. A mythical winged horse that they have chosen for their company name; it represents Strength, Creative Spirit and Purity. Flying Horse Experience is not something you will find in droves here at TechREACTION, but rigorous testing and evaluation of manufacturers PC related products is. Strength is definitely an attribute ASUS brings to the table, being the largest motherboard manufacturer in the world. Creative Spirit is epitomized both by being early to market with new exciting technologies as well as the aesthetics that they put into their product designs. Purity is exemplified by the total package experience. Products that go above and beyond what one expects, and a knowledgeable staff to help get you working and playing beyond your expectations.

The P8P67 Deluxe is a LGA1155 Socket motherboard supporting Crossfire and SLI in a x8/x8 configuration, or a single GPU with up to 16 Lanes of PCIE 2.0 bandwidth at its disposal. 16+2 phase power supplies more than enough clean power to the CPU to max out the capabilities of the Sandy Bridge architecture, and 4 additional phases will handle the DRAM slots for pushing modern 2000+ MHz DDR3. The board features a UEFI BIOS, Bluetooth, Power Over E-SATA, and an Intel Network IC. Two integrated USB 3.0 ports with 2 more added through the included front panel expansion device, and 4 SATA 3 (6 Gbps) ports provided by the PCH and Marvell controller.

Digi+ Power Dual Processor enhancements allow the motherboard to both overclock, and enhance low power capabilities of the architecture, through use of the EPU and TPU processors. ASUS again institutes the Mem Ok! feature to enhance memory compatibility. Firewire is included on the IO panel, as well as up to 10 channel audio by mixing the 7.1 rear connections with concurrent 2 channel front panel audio.

LEDs abound with post indicators for Memory, CPU, VGA, Boot devices and RAM. (Dubbed the QLED Diagnostic system).Decorative LEDs, a 2 digit post code display and lit on-board power and reset buttons round out the illumination fixtures.

In an effort not to put the cart before the horse, the full feature portion of the P8P67 Deluxe review will follow an introduction to the new Sandy Bridge CPUs and Cougar Point based motherboards.

Sandy Bridge In Brief:

Sandy Bridge is the newest “tock” architecture from Intel. Based on the popular Westmere chips of 2010, the CPU has been redesigned with multiple new features. Ring bus topology has replaced QPI with bandwidth up to 96GB/s, new 256 bit AVX instructions for improved FP operations, an improved GPU with turbo feature, and 32nm design for lower power usage. The Sandy Bridge CPU is more efficient than previous generation CPUs. Sandy Bridge will also include a Video Transcoder on-die, as well as a new cache for micro-ops.

Sandy Bridge uses an LGA1155 socket for mounting, and is not compatible with the previous generation LGA1156; neither CPU or Motherboard. The heatsink mounting pattern, however, is 1156 compatible. So a new HSF will not need to be purchased if you are upgrading from a P55 platform. While certain features remain the same, (IOH and ICH have been replaced with a singular PCH, like LGA1156) other improvements have been made. In lieu of using an MCM design of CPU and NB on silicon, the LGA1155 is a true on-die chip with IMC and GPU included as a single unit.

The GPU shares L3 cache with the CPU and will come in one of two styles, single or dual core (referred to as GT1 or GT2), which will have 6 or 12 Execution Units respectively. The 12 unit GPU is reported to be equal to or better than a Radeon HD 5450 Discrete GPU, and slightly more than twice as powerful as the old LGA1156 GPUs. The GPUs will also feature Turbo mode, much like the CPUs do today. A special motherboard (dubbed H67, with H61 available at a future date) will be needed to use the integrated graphics core.

With the abolition of QPI and UnCore, the L3 Cache will now run at CPU speed. When CPU turbo is initiated, L3 Cache speed will also increase. However, CPU and GPU Turbos are mutually exclusive, and only one item can use the Turbo feature at a time. The L3 Cache being tied to CPU means that when the GPU cores increase in speed, the memory speed does not. This may not be an issue at all as the amount of memory is very small to begin with, however on memory deprived discrete GPUs, memory speed often has a very limiting effect on performance.

DMI 2.0 will provide x8 PCIE 2.0 lanes operating at 5GT/s (full speed PCIE 2.0). This doubles the bandwidth of the the LGA1156 DMI bus and is a much needed change, as USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbs drives are becoming more common, it will be easier to saturate the old standard. Providing 4GBs in one direction provides future scalability for multiple drives in RAID arrays, USB 3.0 Ready Boost devices and Gigabit Ethernet.

The Sandy Bridge platform will have minimal Bus Clock adjustment capability in an effort to reduce overclocking. However, to offset this, Intel has also lowered their prices on the “K series” CPUs, which are multiplier unlocked. Unfortunately, at this time even the unlocked multiplier CPUs have an upper limit. Theoretically 57x, in practice however this number is often much lower.

Sandy Bridge Motherboards:

Not all “chipsets” are created equally. At launch time, manufacturers released P67 and H67 motherboards. The main difference according to Intel specification is access to the integrated GPU via the Flexible Display Interface (FDI). H67 also does not natively support dual 8/8 PCIE 2.0 slots, but only a single x16 Lane slot. However, Manufacturers will be free to make changes to these specifications based on 3rd party hardware as will be commented on in the following review.

H61 will be a low cost motherboard solution. Removed features will be RAID support, 2 less PCIE lanes for the DMI Bus, and 4 less USB 2.0 ports. None of the chipsets feature USB 3.0 support, so manufacturers will include them using chips from VIA or NEC (now called Renesas Electronics Corporation).

Another important note is that H67 and H61 at this time feature locked memory multipliers. The P67 does support unlocked memory multipliers. Combined with the poor BUS speed adjustments available on the Sandy Bridge platform, this could result in a lack of high-end memory sales for the H series chipsets.

Overclocking Limitations:

As mentioned previously, Intel has decided to limit overclocking on the Sandy Bridge platform. However, with the 2500K and 2600K bringing unlocked multiplier goodness to the masses at a reasonable price, the limitation to manipulate the BUS speeds will effect those purchasing the lower tier CPUs more than anyone. The flexibility to control memory speeds will also be hindered without the ability to control the BCLK beyond a few points, unless manufacturers offer greater control over memory multipliers than what is present on current gen motherboards.

The limitation of the overclocking ability is tied to the fact that Intel has one clock generator for every bus on the CPU. Be it USB, SATA, PCIE or CPU. It remains to be seen if motherboard manufacturers will be able to implement a work around as they have done in the past with PCI/AGP locks, or more recently with PCIE.

ASUS has been great with Intel BUS speeds in the past, root for their R&D team to figure out this dilemma.

Next: First Look…

If you haven’t already seen our complete Asus Maximus IV Extreme (MIVE) motherboard review, Parts ONE and TWO, you’re missing out. Part 1 covered synthetic testing with the i7 2600K CPU at 5.1GHz to give an idea of the power that this platform contains. Part 2 was a full blown comparison between X58 and Sandy Bridge, with a helping of AMD Thuban for good measure. We also awarded the MIVE the TechREACTION.net Gold Silicon award for its outstanding performance.

Today, we’ll give you a look at another top P67 choice; the Gigabyte P67A-UD7. Currently it is the top choice for Sandy Bridge users looking for Gigabyte flavor in their builds. This will be a true head-to-head comparison between the two motherboards’ performance, overclocking, and ease of use factors. All of these things are important for enthusiasts in this market, so with luck, Gigabyte will meet and exceed our expectations in regards to these features with the UD7. Read on…

Gigabyte P67A-UD7

V.S.

Asus Maximus IV Extreme

Both of these boards represent each company’s premier P67 offering at this time. They each support numerous USB3.0 ports, dual NICs, triple SLI and top quality components. Each company has attempted to infuse a plethora of overclockinging features to keep all enthusiasts, from gamers to hardcore overclockers, happy and…well…enthused. Each claims to be the best, but there is only one problem with that; they both cannot be the best. This statement creates a conundrum, but never fear; TechREACTION is here!

Next: A Closer Look At The P67A-UD7