Asus P8Z68-V PRO .vs P8Z68-V LX

B

Badcop1124

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 28, 2008
Messages
164
My son and I are upgrading our two gaming rigs. The only parts we are reusing are our monitors, cases and PSU's.
So I went to Microcenter and picked up and i5 2500k P8Z68-V LX combo for $281 and change after taxes. I was planning on getting the P8Z68-V Pro but grabbed the P8Z68-V LX instead.

Is there a big difference between the two motherboards?
I will be using this combo for gaming. May be doing some overclocking in the future.

Complete PC specs:

Asus P8Z68-V LX
Intel i5 2500k unlocked
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus
MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III PE/OC Radeon HD 6950 2GB
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) F3-14900CL9D-8GBXL
ENERMAX INFINITI EIN720AWT / PC Power and Cooling S75QB 750W
Cosmos S / Cosmos 1000 case
Win7 Ultimate 64bit
 
Last edited:
Not to be facetious as it's an honest question, but Microsoft sells CPUs now?
 
Sorry. I apologize for being a dolt. We don't have Microcenters here in the Grape White North. :)
 
Here are the differences between the two:

1) The P8Z68-V PRO supports Nvidia SLI in addition to AMD CrossFire. The P8Z68-V LX supports only CrossFire.

2) The P8Z68-V PRO has an additional PCI-e x16 slot that runs in x8 mode when the primary x16 slot is in use. The P8Z68-V LX has only the single PCI-e x16 slot. Both boards have a PCI-e x16-length slot that runs at up to x4 mode.

3) The P8Z68-V PRO has an onboard Intel LAN versus the P8Z68-V LE's onboard Realtek LAN.

4) The P8Z68-V PRO has two ASMedia USB 3.0 controllers to allow the use of front-panel USB 3.0 ports (if the case that you're using has them). The LX has only one USB 3.0 controller - and you must reach into the rear of the PC in order to use the two USB 3.0 ports.

5) The PRO has an eSATA port that's connected to an onboard Jmicron eSATA controller. Plus, it has an additional Marvell SATA 6.0 Gbps controller with two additional SATA 6.0 Gbps ports. And it has an onboard IEEE 1394a (Firewire 400) controller with one IEEE 1394 port plus one header. The LX has none of those.

6) The onboard audio on the PRO is a Realtek ALC892, while the onboard audio on the LX is the lesser-specced ALC887. In fact, the onboard audio is the only significant difference between the P8Z68-V LX and the P8Z68-V LE (the latter of which has the more mainstream ALC892 audio chip).

At any rate, most people don't need the P8Z68-V PRO when they can get most of the PRO's features on the plain P8Z68-V (including SLI support and onboard Intel LAN) for $20 less. The only major difference between the plain P8Z68V and the P8Z68-V PRO is that the plain P8Z68-V lacks the Marvell SATA 6.0 Gbps controller and the IEEE 1394a controller.
 
Last edited:
E4g1e said:
Here are the differences between the two:

1) The P8Z68-V PRO supports Nvidia SLI in addition to AMD CrossFire. The P8Z68-V LX supports only CrossFire.

2) The P8Z68-V PRO has an additional PCI-e x16 slot that runs in x8 mode when the primary x16 slot is in use. The P8Z68-V LX has only the single PCI-e x16 slot. Both boards have a PCI-e x16-length slot that runs at up to x4 mode.

3) The P8Z68-V PRO has an onboard Intel LAN versus the P8Z68-V LE's onboard Realtek LAN.

4) The P8Z68-V PRO has two ASMedia USB 3.0 controllers to allow the use of front-panel USB 3.0 ports (if the case that you're using has them). The LX has only one USB 3.0 controller - and you must reach into the rear of the PC in order to use the two USB 3.0 ports.

5) The PRO has an eSATA port that's connected to an onboard Jmicron eSATA controller. Plus, it has an additional Marvell SATA 6.0 Gbps controller with two additional SATA 6.0 Gbps ports. And it has an onboard IEEE 1394a (Firewire 400) controller with one IEEE 1394 port plus one header. The LX has none of those.

6) The onboard audio on the PRO is a Realtek ALC892, while the onboard audio on the LX is the lesser-specced ALC887. In fact, the onboard audio is the only significant difference between the P8Z68-V LX and the P8Z68-V LE (the latter of which has the more mainstream ALC892 audio chip).

At any rate, most people don't need the P8Z68-V PRO when they can get most of the PRO's features on the plain P8Z68-V (including SLI support and onboard Intel LAN) for $20 less. The only major difference between the plain P8Z68V and the P8Z68-V PRO is that the plain P8Z68-V lacks the Marvell SATA 6.0 Gbps controller and the IEEE 1394a controller.
Click to expand...

Thanks man I was pondering this very question for a trip to MC. I have to have that SATA 6 Gbps for the C300 I already have.
 
Badcop1124 said:
My son and I are upgrading our two gaming rigs. The only parts we are reusing are our monitors, cases and PSU's.
So I went to Microcenter and picked up and i5 2500k P8Z68-V LX combo for $281 and change after taxes. I was planning on getting the P8Z68-V Pro but grabbed the P8Z68-V LX instead.

Is there a big difference between the two motherboards?
I will be using this combo for gaming. May be doing some overclocking in the future.

Complete PC specs:

Asus P8Z68-V LX
Intel i5 2500k unlocked
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus
MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III PE/OC Radeon HD 6950 2GB
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) F3-14900CL9D-8GBXL
ENERMAX INFINITI EIN720AWT / PC Power and Cooling S75QB 750W
Cosmos S / Cosmos 1000 case
Win7 Ultimate 64bit
Click to expand...

Hello, I've just bought the same mobo, chip and cooler and was wondering if you had any problems fitting the COOLER MASTER Hyper 212. Does it fit alright, as on some mobos it covers the memory slots, so it's recommended that you fit the memory first. Also what's your idle and load temps with this cooler.

Thanks! :D
 
Looks like the Pro model is more geared for those seriously into wanting to run dual GPU cards. USB 3.0 is also a factor but not as much as SLI/CF set up. Just my opinion anyway.
 
Is there still a way to do software sli support for nvidias? I'm possibly interested in linking up two g92's on the p8z68-v lx since I have a spare g92 now. I understand this board does not support proper sli. I remember there used to be a software method that wasn't as good, but I'm willing to try.

Don't have the sli bridge though, so I want to know before I buy one.

Also, will one card be in sleep mode while idle? Or will the second card also be drawing 30-40w at idle?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top