P67/Z68 ITX: what the manufacturers say

Really? 4,5GHz not enough for SB daily use? I think it's awesome news so far.

I'd be really happy with a 4.5GHz STABLE oc (key word being stable) on a 2600K with a mitx motherboard. I'm sure when the board is released we'll be hearing about 5GHz+ OC's but will they be truly stable? I see alot of SB cpu's on these forums at 5GHz+ on air and I have to wonder if they're truly stable at that speed.
In my limited experience with a 2600K and asus P8P67 I was linx and prime stable at 4.8GHz but x264 would cause the system to lock up after a while. I had to dial it back to 4.5GHz to be truly stable.
 
Memory most likely. I wonder how the VRM is @4.5+ But i doubt they built this for extreme overclocking. It is a miniITX board that is supposed to go in a small case with not so great cooling posibilities.
 
After reading that article, I think I will wait a little longer for someone else to build a Z68 ITX board. Seems to have a few issues.
 
The overclock3d review is crap tbh...extremely poor written. They got no clue what ITX means...9 pages of crap.
Presentation of it is kinda poor and laughable.
Like the EPS12V socket, the SATA ports have been relocated to help make the most of the tiny footprint. Being so much further from their normal spot it's worth double-checking you've got longer cables.
Really...cause we are talking about a full ATX mainboard here right?

Oh wait, if I'm overclocking I want some good cooling on my CPU don't I? Well if you can find a single discrete GPU on the market that will fit into the PCIe slot once a tower cooler is inserted, you can win a prize*. We certainly couldn't think of one we've ever seen, much less have to hand.

You couldn't think...Prolimatech Samuel, Thermalright AXP-140, Scythe Shuriken, Corsair/Antec AIO WC.

The single useful information I got, is that it has a poor overclocking BIOS support.
Nothing about VRM temps, nothing about how wifi is performing. Nothing about intergrated USB3.0, SATA3 controllers. Just some synthetic benchmarks that a monkey with a Z68 board could do.

The board is "fresh" in Europe so I expect some serious reviews.

So far it's kinda expensive compared to the h67 ones. (saw it lowest at 160euros). Just ordered my SG07 and I'm really thinking do I need Z68?
 
The overclock3d review is crap tbh...extremely poor written. They got no clue what ITX means...9 pages of crap.
Presentation of it is kinda poor and laughable.

Really...cause we are talking about a full ATX mainboard here right?



You couldn't think...Prolimatech Samuel, Thermalright AXP-140, Scythe Shuriken, Corsair/Antec AIO WC.

The single useful information I got, is that it has a poor overclocking BIOS support.
Nothing about VRM temps, nothing about how wifi is performing. Nothing about intergrated USB3.0, SATA3 controllers. Just some synthetic benchmarks that a monkey with a Z68 board could do.

The board is "fresh" in Europe so I expect some serious reviews.

So far it's kinda expensive compared to the h67 ones. (saw it lowest at 160euros). Just ordered my SG07 and I'm really thinking do I need Z68?

I got one for 139.50 :p
 
The single useful information I got, is that it has a poor overclocking BIOS support.
Nothing about VRM temps, nothing about how wifi is performing. Nothing about intergrated USB3.0, SATA3 controllers. Just some synthetic benchmarks that a monkey with a Z68 board could do.
I agree 100%
The board is "fresh" in Europe so I expect some serious reviews.
You got it!
Just ordered my SG07 and I'm really thinking do I need Z68?
This is a legitimate question...:rolleyes:
I've never had a system so snappy, with the Gigabyte H67 ITX and i7 2600K:eek:
Why to risk with Zotac when the H67 is so fast???:confused:
Anyways, I know myself and I predict that I'll take the Zotac Z68 ASAP... Geek's contraddictions...
 
Well you see, i can get Gigabyte GA-H67N-USB3-B3 or Asus P8H67-I
almost as half the price of Zotac Z68. I'm tempted on the Asus board also wonder how come it has so few capacitors compared to the gigabyte one.

My reasons to stay H67:
1. Price. My budget is limited, hell with a H67 board i could even squeeze a 60GB SSD.
2. Future upgrades. Well I usually upgrade computer every 2 years. Think a non-k i5 2500 would be fine, considering it still has Turbo. The Z68 is supposed to support IvyBridge with BIOS updates, but knowing Zotac, got some doubts. Even so, Ivy is supposed to bring quad channel, so on an old chipset it would not run at full performance.
 
Well you see, i can get Gigabyte GA-H67N-USB3-B3 or Asus P8H67-I
almost as half the price of Zotac Z68. I'm tempted on the Asus board also wonder how come it has so few capacitors compared to the gigabyte one.
It seems capacitors on the ASUS one are enough, based on the reviews from Newegg and this forum. Maybe, for the long time use, Gigabyte gives more warranties of durability though...
A also read about issues with the Gigabyte from Newegg reviews about brocken HDMI. I got a eprfect one, but never checked HDMI.
My reasons to stay H67:
1. Price. My budget is limited, hell with a H67 board i could even squeeze a 60GB SSD.
2. Future upgrades. Well I usually upgrade computer every 2 years. Think a non-k i5 2500 would be fine, considering it still has Turbo. The Z68 is supposed to support IvyBridge with BIOS updates, but knowing Zotac, got some doubts. Even so, Ivy is supposed to bring quad channel, so on an old chipset it would not run at full performance.
i5 2500 seems the best bang for the buck, if you are not going to upgrade to Z68.;)
I don't worry about Ivy compatibility; it's a way too long shot!
 
<snip>
Even so, Ivy is supposed to bring quad channel, so on an old chip set it would not run at full performance.

Just my opinion, but I don't think you will see much, if any, of a difference between dual channel and quad channel with Ivy Bridge on Z68. Sandy Bridge (and I'm assuming Ivy Bridge) is not bandwidth starved for memory.

This Xbits labs article shows that moving to faster and faster memory doesn't buy you much increase in performance in dual channel mode for a typical desktop usage pattern.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/memory/display/sandy-bridge-ddr3.html

Move to a server usage model and then I can believe that quad channel will help, but for the typical gamer/user they won't see any real benefit.
 
Anyone knows when the Z68 Gigabyte board will ship? Has anyone asked them?
 
Wonder how Giada MI-H67-01 and Foxconn H67S compare ?
These have a superior (classic) MB layout, but seems otherwise rather cheap.
I know that the H67S bios is poor, but is the MI-H67-01 bios any better ?
 
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Got my hands on my Zotac Z68 card yesterday. I must admit. First thought about it when it was fresh out of the box. Awesome! The components looked good and everything on the board smelled quality. The 5 years warranty that Zotac gives the board is not bad either .

It comes with alot off stuff! And it was easy installed and up and running. I didn't need the WIFI so i did remove the card (yes, its removable). An i not gonna use almost half of the stuff on the card. But for a so small card and so much stuff. I give it thumps up.

The first hard bang i had with it was the BIOS overclocking. You can just tell Intel turbo what to do and how high to go. Almost nothing else. Yes, u can set you memory to for an example 1600. And tell CPU to get some more juice but that's it. I do hope Zotac comes with a new bios. This one is terrible.

At least I now run my 2500k at 4.5Ghz and my memory at 1600. And that was my goal. So I am happy either way.

I do recommend this card. But keep in mind the small BIOS faults, and headakes it gives. And pray for a new one! For this card have the opportunity to be great!
 
i5 2500 seems the best bang for the buck, if you are not going to upgrade to Z68.;)

According to reviews its the best bang for the buck regardless. The only place the the i7 comes out ahead is in heavy multithreaded tasks.And unless you made a living at it, nor by enough to justify the added price.
 
Someone asked the question earlier in this thread but I don't think it was ever answered definitively.

LIAN LI PC-Q08B

+

Noctua NH-C14 (fan on the bottom)


Will it fit?

Like the rest of you i'm eagerly awaiting this Zotac Z68 board!
 
Someone asked the question earlier in this thread but I don't think it was ever answered definitively.

LIAN LI PC-Q08B

+

Noctua NH-C14 (fan on the bottom)


Will it fit?

Like the rest of you i'm eagerly awaiting this Zotac Z68 board!
No, it doesn't...:mad:
I tried seriously to have it fitting in, but after measurements based on Noctua specs and CPU grove in the MoBo, no way... it needed at least 10mm clearance for the VGA! Maybe 15mm...:(
You can see all the measurements on the first page of this thread, the Hardforum community has been really helpful to nail this down.
Anyways, the biggest heatsink fitting in a ITX/PC-Q08 ticket is the Thermalright AXP-140; a real beast covering the entire board, except for PCI and back I/O. I made this build in another thread, if you want double check.
About the Zotac Z68 ITX: forget any aftermarket CPU heatsinks with a backplate; Zotac filled the back of the CPU with "stuff", so only push-pin solution, as on this review. Blah!!!!:mad:
 
http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1037515809&postcount=30
got my zotac z68 working with an antec h20 620 and it was super easy
;)
Great, thanks!
I have a "spare" H50 (purchased from BestBuy when it was on crazy sale) that I could use with Z68 ITX...:rolleyes:
Thus, no circuits in the back of the MoBo that were interfering with the retention bracket?
Can you please post some more detailed pics of your solution? That would be really helpful!:p
Footnote: I was tempted to reply to you in Italian, but I gave up!
 
The AXP-140 and other "flat" metallic backplates need some sort of riser around the 4 holes on the MoBo...:rolleyes:
nothing impossible, except you can't find the axp-140 here in europe, it's everywhere out of stock, don't know if is still in production
 
No, it doesn't...:mad:
I tried seriously to have it fitting in, but after measurements based on Noctua specs and CPU grove in the MoBo, no way... it needed at least 10mm clearance for the VGA! Maybe 15mm...:(
You can see all the measurements on the first page of this thread, the Hardforum community has been really helpful to nail this down.
Anyways, the biggest heatsink fitting in a ITX/PC-Q08 ticket is the Thermalright AXP-140; a real beast covering the entire board, except for PCI and back I/O. I made this build in another thread, if you want double check.
About the Zotac Z68 ITX: forget any aftermarket CPU heatsinks with a backplate; Zotac filled the back of the CPU with "stuff", so only push-pin solution, as on this review. Blah!!!!:mad:

Thank you thank you thank you!

Thanks also for the link to that awesome build of yours! I will use yours as a baseline when I decide to jump into a project such as this (hopefully sooner than later).
 
Thank you thank you thank you!

Thanks also for the link to that awesome build of yours! I will use yours as a baseline when I decide to jump into a project such as this (hopefully sooner than later).
Compliments taken, and appreciated.:p
I'm glad to share!
 
nothing impossible, except you can't find the axp-140 here in europe, it's everywhere out of stock, don't know if is still in production
Why don't try with this [ame="http://cgi.ebay.com/Thermalright-AXP-140-RT-Low-Profile-HeatSink-CPU-Cooler-/250832994661?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a66cfc165"]auction site[/ame]?
Good rating for the seller, and worldwide shipping.
The price seems fine to me as well.;)
 
Well...anyone else knows when (and if) the Z68 Gigabyte itx board will be coming out?
 
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